A lack of motivation, financial knowledge, and sudden financial burdens are common reasons why many of our family and friends struggle to make and maintain their financial goals.
But are there more serious reasons that stop many of us from progressing toward our financial goals?
Here are 4 reasons that could be stopping you from succeeding.
You Didn’t Plan A Realistic Budget
Is your plan to save RM200 every month for a new gadget while ignoring to plan for your other expenses?
Often, many Malaysians miss their financial targets by not preparing for unexpected occasions and overlooking all their expenses.
For example, you may have gotten news your friend is getting married and you are expected to get a gift for the wedding. Do you take it out of your monthly goal savings?
Budgeting is a key to gaining control of your finances and preparing for sudden and unexpected situations. So when you have a sound budget, you don’t have to worry about surprise expenses eating into your financial savings.
You Didn’t Learn Ways To Grow & Preserve Your Money
As things become more expensive, your savings from your EPF and active income is probably not enough to buy you a new house or start a new business.
To stay ahead of rising cost and reach financial goals, many successful Malaysians must learn about other ways to earn a passive income and to grow their existing money.
You Made Financial Habits Optional
“Aiyah I didn’t spend so much yesterday so today I can treat myself to an expensive dinner now!”
We can make hasty decisions now that isn’t helpful to our financial goals in the future and that is because we don’t develop healthy financial habits.
Good habits such as always paying yourself first are necessary to make sure you don’t sabotage your own financial goals.
Most importantly, financial habits help us make automatic money-conscious decisions that build our wealth.
Read more on our list of financial habits and rules that will change the way you manage your money.
You Put Off Debt (and took on more)
Many of us are often guilty of buying more things when we haven’t fully paid off previous debt.
Installments, credit cards, and payment plans are great ways to pull you further from your goals when you have existing debt that you aren’t currently paying off.
It’s simple: even when you make more money, that money will go into paying off debt instead of building your financial goals.
So the next time you see a new coffee machine offering an installment plan, ask yourself, “Can I take on more debt?”
You Didn’t Make A Promise To Yourself
Phil Town is a successful investment advisor that believes that goals are intentions that you can choose to do or not to do. Promises, on the other hand, are declarations that you will achieve what you set out to do, no matter what.
In other words, when things are optional, you are less likely to follow through with them. So make a promise to yourself that you will achieve a financial milestone within a given timeframe. That way you’ll have no excuse to not meet your financial goals.
Watch Phil Town’s video ‘6 great financial goals you should set for yourself’ to find out how promises can change your approach to managing your finances:
You CAN make financial goals and succeed
You never have to fail your financial goals, worry about growing your money and stress about making a savings budget with HelloGold’s SmartSaver Plan.
SmartSaver is a smart, automated, monthly gold savings plan designed to help you save and grow your money to achieve your specific financial goals.
So all you have to do is decide how much to save every month, sit back, relax and watch your gold savings grow!