The 10 Year Plan

9/26/2023

Post by Richard Bell, Partner, Senior Financial Planner

A 10-year financial plan is a comprehensive strategy that helps you achieve your long-term financial goals. It provides a roadmap for managing your finances over the next decade. Although there are different types of 10-year financial plans, one common example is a 10-years-from-retirement plan. This plan is designed to help individuals who are approximately 10 years away from retiring to reach a solid financial position before they stop working.

Creating a 10-year financial plan involves several steps, such as assessing your current financial situation, identifying sources of income, setting retirement goals, creating a budget, and exploring ways to save more. It may be useful to hire a financial planner to help you stay on track and suggest additional ways to grow your retirement savings.

How to Create a 10 Year Financial Plan and Achieve Your Money Goals

Do you have a clear vision of where you want to be financially in 10 years? If not, you might be missing out on a great opportunity to plan ahead and achieve your money goals. A 10 year financial plan is a roadmap that helps you set realistic and measurable objectives, track your progress, and adjust your strategy as needed. It can also help you avoid common pitfalls and overcome challenges that might otherwise derail your financial success.

In this blog post, we will show you how to create a 10 year financial plan that works for you, regardless of your income level, lifestyle, or aspirations. We will also share some tips and best practices to help you stay on track and reach your desired destination.

What is a 10 Year Financial Plan?

A 10 year financial plan is a document that outlines your financial goals for the next decade and the steps you need to take to achieve them. It can cover various aspects of your personal finances, such as:

• Income and expenses
• Savings and investments
• Debt and credit
• Retirement and estate planning
• Taxes and insurance
• Education and career
• Travel and leisure

A 10 year financial plan is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It should be tailored to your specific situation, needs, and preferences. It should also be flexible enough to accommodate changes in your circumstances, such as income fluctuations, life events, market conditions, or new opportunities.

Why Do You Need a 10 Year Financial Plan?

Creating a 10 year financial plan can benefit you in many ways, such as:

• It can help you clarify your financial vision and values. By defining what you want to achieve financially in the next 10 years, you can align your actions with your purpose and priorities. You can also identify what matters most to you and what you are willing to sacrifice or compromise on.
• It can help you set SMART goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. By setting SMART goals, you can break down your long-term vision into smaller and more manageable milestones. You can also track your progress and measure your results more easily.
• It can help you create a realistic budget. A budget is a plan that shows how much money you have coming in and going out each month. By creating a budget based on your 10 year financial plan, you can allocate your resources more efficiently and effectively. You can also identify areas where you can save more or spend less.
• It can help you build wealth and achieve financial independence. A 10 year financial plan can help you grow your net worth by increasing your income, maximizing your savings, investing wisely, reducing your debt, minimizing your taxes, and protecting your assets. By following your plan, you can achieve financial independence, which means having enough money to cover your living expenses without relying on a job or external support.
• It can help you prepare for the unexpected and the inevitable. A 10 year financial plan can help you cope with unforeseen events that might affect your finances, such as job loss, medical emergency, divorce, or natural disaster. It can also help you plan for the inevitable events that will happen in the next decade, such as aging, retirement, or death.

How to Create a 10 Year Financial Plan

Creating a 10 year financial plan might seem daunting at first, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are some simple steps to follow:

1. Assess your current situation. The first step is to take stock of where you are now financially. You can do this by gathering all the relevant information about your income, expenses, assets, liabilities, net worth, credit score, tax situation, insurance coverage, retirement accounts, etc. You can use online tools or apps to help you organize and analyze your data.
2. Define your goals and priorities. The next step is to decide what you want to achieve financially in the next 10 years. You can start by brainstorming all the possible goals that come to mind, such as buying a house, paying off debt, saving for college, traveling the world, retiring early, etc. Then, you can prioritize them based on their importance and urgency. You can also categorize them into short-term (1-3 years), medium-term (4-6 years), and long-term (7-10 years) goals.
3. Create a realistic budget. Based on your current situation and your goals, you can create a realistic budget that shows how much money you need to save and invest each month to reach your objectives. You can use the 50/30/20 rule as a guideline: allocate 50% of your income to essential expenses (such as housing, food, utilities), 30% to discretionary expenses (such as entertainment, hobbies), and 20% to savings and investments (such as emergency fund, retirement fund). You can adjust these percentages according to your needs and preferences.
4. Implement a savings and investment strategy. Once you have a budget, you can implement a savings and investment strategy that suits your risk tolerance, time horizon, and goals. You can use various vehicles to save and invest your money, such as bank accounts, certificates of deposit, bonds, stocks, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, real estate, etc. You can also diversify your portfolio to reduce your risk and increase your returns. You can consult a financial planner or advisor to help you choose the best options for you.
5. Reduce your debt and improve your credit. Another important part of your 10 year financial plan is to reduce your debt and improve your credit. Debt can be a major obstacle to achieving your financial goals, as it can eat up a large portion of your income and limit your cash flow. Credit can be a powerful tool to access more opportunities and resources, such as loans, mortgages, credit cards, etc. You can reduce your debt by paying more than the minimum amount each month, consolidating your debt into a lower-interest loan, or using the debt snowball or avalanche method. You can improve your credit by paying your bills on time, keeping your credit utilization ratio low, checking your credit report regularly, and disputing any errors or fraud.
6. Review and update your plan regularly. The last step is to review and update your plan regularly to make sure it is still relevant and effective. You can do this by tracking and evaluating your progress, celebrating your achievements, adjusting your budget, revising your goals, changing your strategy, or seeking professional help if needed. You can also use online tools or apps to help you monitor and manage your plan.

Tips and Best Practices for Creating a 10 Year Financial Plan

Here are some tips and best practices to help you create a successful 10 year financial plan:

• Be realistic and flexible. Don’t set goals that are too ambitious or unrealistic, as they might discourage you or set you up for failure. Don’t be too rigid or inflexible, as that might prevent you from adapting to changing circumstances or taking advantage of new opportunities.
• Be specific and measurable. Don’t set vague or general goals, such as “save more money” or “invest better”. Instead, set specific and measurable goals, such as “save $10,000 for a down payment by 2025” or “invest 15% of my income in a diversified portfolio by 2030”.
• Be consistent and disciplined. Don’t procrastinate or skip steps in your plan, as that might delay or jeopardize your results. Don’t deviate or compromise on your plan, as that might undermine or sabotage your efforts.
• Be optimistic and motivated. Don’t let fear or doubt stop you from pursuing your goals, as they might paralyze or demoralize you. Don’t lose sight of or interest in your goals, as that might distract or derail you.

Conclusion

Creating a 10 year financial plan is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your future. It can help you clarify your vision, set SMART goals, create a realistic budget, implement a savings and investment strategy, reduce debt and improve credit, and review and update your plan regularly.

By following these steps and tips, you can create a 10 year financial plan that works for you and helps you achieve your money goals.

If you need more guidance or assistance in creating your 10 year financial plan, feel free to contact us at Planning Capital Management. We are a team of certified financial planners who can help you create a personalized and comprehensive plan that suits your needs and preferences.

We hope you found this blog post helpful and informative. If you did, please share it with your friends and family who might benefit from it as well.

Planning Capital Management Corp is a Registered Investment Advisor with the SEC, and we are held to a fiduciary standard with all of our clients. We offer full financial planning in conjunction with investment advice and portfolio management. Should you have any questions or concerns about current market conditions, or just general financial planning questions, schedule a call with us!