When mapping out your financial resolutions, it can be easy to stick to whatever seems most urgent. For many, that can be paying down debt, beginning an emergency fund or fixing bad credit.
But, according to experts, your financial goals should aim to be higher than just getting by.
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“It’s really important to get the balance right between ambitious and achievable when setting financial resolutions,” said Alex Langan, financial advisor and chief investment officer for Langan Financial Group.
Adam Garcia, certified financial planner and founder of The Stock Dork, agreed. “Resolutions that call for a stronger determination and strategic plan should evoke self-growth and self-confidence regarding future finances.”
Below are some ways to know if your financial resolutions are ambitious enough.
Next, read an expert’s take on the best financial resolution you can make.
According to Garcia, an effective way to evaluate whether your resolution is strong enough is to ask yourself: “If I pursue this, will it have a large impact on achieving my financial goals in the long term?”
If your goal feels routine or seems too easy — like saving a fraction of your income — it’s not ambitious enough, he said. Instead, he recommended setting resolutions like increasing retirement contributions to 15% of your income or vigorously repaying high-interest debt to merge ambitions and possibilities.
“Regularly monitoring progress, reevaluating goals and measuring against proven benchmarks, like saving three to six installments of pre-defined expenses into an emergency fund or pursuing a stage of financial independence, has proven effective in ensuring the goals are realistic and ambitious,” he explained.
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“First off, always check if your goals are specific, measurable and time-connected,” said Langan.
He said vague goals like “save more money” or “invest wisely” just don’t cut it, because they usually lead to subpar outcomes.
Instead, he advised shooting for precise targets, like “save $10,000 in my emergency fund by the end of the year” or “improve my retirement contributions by 2% by the next quarter.”
“Take a hard look at if you’re fully using your latest resources,” said Langan.
For instance, if you’re underutilizing tax-deferred options, like a 401(k) or an IRA, or if you’re not rebalancing your investments periodically, he said you could be missing out. “I’ve found that it’s the little adjustments, like maximizing employer contributions or consolidating debts with high interest, that really make a difference.”
