Personal financial plan. How to create a personal financial plan: an example. Why do you need a financial plan?

Any modern company that conducts economic activities in one or another area of ​​business engages in planning. Planning in business plays, if not the leading, then at least an important role in matters of economic efficiency and is aimed at maximizing the efficiency that the business is able to show.

The financial plan of an enterprise is a subtype of a group of management, interrelated documents, which is compiled and maintained for long-term planning and operational management of the resources available to the company in cash. Simply put, thanks to the financial plan, a balance is ensured between planned and actual revenue receipts, and, on the other hand, planned and actual expenses for the company’s activities.

The balance of the financial and economic state of the company, which is achieved through high-quality financial planning, is perhaps the main benefit of using such a management tool as the enterprise’s financial plan.

Types of financial plans for a modern enterprise

The intense competition in today's marketplace forces businesses to work much harder to find resources and opportunities to become more competitive within their operations. Subject-based financial plans, as well as their variable use in operational business issues, make it possible to solve these management problems based specifically on the company’s internal plans and resources, avoiding, if possible, serious dependence of the business on a continuous flow of borrowings. Or, if not decide, then at least create a balance within the economic issues of the organization using financial planning tools.

It is worth noting that financial plans at enterprises differ not only in the size of the planning period (duration), but also in their composition. The composition of indicators or the composition of planning items will differ in two parameters: purpose and degree of detail. Relatively speaking, for one company the grouping of expenses “utilities” is sufficient, but for another, the planned and actual value of each grouping indicator is important: water, electricity, gas supply and others. Therefore, the main classification of financial plans is considered to be the classification by planning period, within which each specific company independently chooses the degree of detail of the financial plan.

As a rule, modern companies in Russia use three main types of financial plans:

• Fin. plans for short-term periods: the maximum planning horizon is a year. They are used for operational activities and can include maximum detail of planned and actual indicators managed by the company’s team.
• Fin. plans for medium-term periods: the planning horizon is more than a year, but not more than five years. Used for planning over a 1-2 year horizon, they include investment and modernization plans that contribute to the growth or strengthening of the business.
• Fin. long-term plans: the longest planning horizon, starting from five years, including the interpretation of the company's long-term financial and production goals.

Figure 1. Types of financial plans of modern companies.

Development of a financial plan for a modern enterprise

Development of a financial plan for an enterprise is an individual process for each individual enterprise, depending on the internal economic characteristics and talent of financial specialists. Moreover, any approach, even the most exotic, to the financial planning process requires financiers to include mandatory, that is, identical for everyone, financial data when drawing up financial plans:

• Planned and operational data on production and sales volumes;
• Planned and actual estimates of departments;
• Expense budget data;
• Revenue budget data;
• Data on creditor and debtor;
• Data from budgets of taxes and deductions;
• Regulatory data;
• BDDS data;
• Specific management accounting data for a particular enterprise.

Figure 2. Data composition for the financial plan.

In practice, the role of financial plans in modern business is enormous. It can be said that financial plans are gradually replacing traditional business plans because they contain only specific information and enable management teams to constantly monitor the most important values. In fact, for middle and senior managers, the system of financial plans drawn up at the enterprise is the most dynamic tool. That is, any manager who has access to management information and the competence to manage such information can continuously improve the efficiency of the department entrusted to him through the use of various combinations of financial planning tools.

Form of a financial plan of an enterprise and management tasks solved using the system of financial plans

Today there is no approved form or recognized standard of a financial plan for an enterprise, and the variability of the forms of this management tool is due to the internal specifics of enterprises. In management practice, there are traditional tabular forms of the system of financial plans of enterprises, proprietary IT developments in the form of special programs and bundles of these programs that provide import and export of data, and specialized packaged software packages.

In order for an enterprise to determine the required level of detail in its own financial plan, it is worth listing a list of management problems that the financial plan will help solve:

• The financial plan solves the problem of preparing and implementing a system for continuous assessment of the company’s financial performance at the enterprise;
• The financial plan allows you to set up the process of continuous preparation of forecasts and plans for the company’s activities;
• Determine sources of income and volumes of financial resources planned for the enterprise;
• Formulate plans for the financing needs of the enterprise;
• Plan standards within the enterprise;
• Find reserves and internal capabilities to improve efficiency;
• Manage the planned modernization and development of the company.

Thus, the system of interconnected financial plans becomes that part of the enterprise management system that reflects and makes it possible to manage all financial, economic, production and business processes, both within the enterprise and in the company’s interaction with the external economic environment.

Enterprise financial plan - sample

To create a high-quality financial plan, it is recommended to use the following sequence of actions:

1.Formulate the goals of drawing up a financial plan;

2. Specify the composition of indicators and the degree of detail;

3. Study examples and samples of financial plans;

4. Develop an example of a financial plan form and agree within the organization;

5. Based on feedback from users of the enterprise financial plan sample, develop a final individual template for the company’s financial plan.

Financial plans are drawn up not only to plan the work of a single company as a whole, they can perform different tasks - be the basis of projects, calculations within individual divisions, or reflect financial data for a single manufactured part.

Figure 3. Example of a spreadsheet financial plan for a small project.

Conclusions

The market economy dictates new requirements for business to its own organization. High competition forces businesses to focus on predicted results, which in turn is impossible without planning. Such external market conditions encourage companies to engage in financial planning to ensure their own efficiency.

Competent calculations and plans can provide an enterprise not only with current operational benefits, but also help in managing its prospects for the production of works and services, cash flow, investment activities and the commercial development of the enterprise. The current financial condition of the enterprise and the corresponding reserve for the future directly depend on financial planning. A well-drafted financial plan for an enterprise is a guarantee of protection from business risks and an optimal tool for managing internal and external factors affecting business success.

How to create a personal financial plan and what is it? Personal financial plan (LPP)- this is a forecast of income and expenses of the family budget for the long term. Like any plan, physical therapy allows you to achieve any goals.

This could be: paying off all debts, saving for a major purchase: a vacation trip, a car, a summer house, apartment renovations, etc., or creating a family reserve fund for a rainy day, investing in financial instruments, and so on. Before you make any major financial decision, make a plan.

A personal financial plan is a course that allows you to correctly move towards your intended goal, but it can be adjusted taking into account changes that have occurred in the family’s financial flows.

The effectiveness of the plan depends on its duration - the longer the period, for example, 5-10 years, the higher the result will be from it than from a plan drawn up for several months. True, the longer the period, the more difficult it is to make forecasts; for starters, you can try to make a plan for 6 months - 1 year.

Always leave a certain amount as a reserve for unexpected expenses - this is the financial security of your family.

Accounting for income and expenses

In order to create a personal financial plan, experts advise starting to track your income and expenses. And only after 2-3 months of accounting, compile a physical form. I believe that one month will be sufficient to determine the correct statistics of the family budget.

With income, everything is simple, usually it is a small list - wages, bonuses, scholarships, pensions, child benefits, income from rental real estate, and so on. Income is easy and pleasant to track, but expenses are more difficult.

If monthly expenses are of the same type, they can be identified by elimination. For example, calculate the amounts for utilities (rent for housing), kindergarten, Internet, mobile communications, loan payments, travel. These amounts are repeated from month to month.

If there are no other expenses (entertainment, recreation, clothing, etc.), then everything else is food and household chemicals. The main thing is to be honest with yourself when accounting for expenses and not reduce them. If you spent half your salary on a handbag, cosmetics or computer games, honestly reflect this in your accounting.

So, we sorted out the income and expenses. If you can break down your monthly budget into items and clearly define the amounts for them, then you can move on to the next step.

Goals

You need to define and clearly formulate goals for the period for which you will draw up a plan. For example, pay off your mortgage loan as quickly as possible and save money on interest, and invest the money that previously went to the bank.

Or save money for your dream car, a cool computer or a vacation in the Canary Islands. There will most likely be several goals: both large and small, here you need to decide what is priority and in what sequence to complete them.

The plan will help you find out how achievable your financial goals are and how long it will take to achieve the goal. If your goals are unattainable, for example, buying an apartment, you need to think about a loan or give it up for a while until your financial situation improves. When drawing up a plan, the interests of the whole family must be taken into account.

How to draw up a personal financial plan: an example of a personal financial plan

For an example of drawing up a plan, take the following data:

Family of 4, with two minor children. A husband and wife together earn 100,000 rubles a month. They purchased an apartment with a mortgage, the monthly payment is 25,000 rubles. For the purchase of an apartment, the spouse receives a property deduction for personal income tax.

The family formulated goals for themselves:

• Partially repay your monthly mortgage early.
• Save for a vacation trip. Save the amount of 100,000 rubles. To ensure that the amount does not depreciate in six months, convert monthly savings into dollars.

The amount that the family saves for vacation also serves as reserve capital. If there is an emergency with money, it can be used.

Following this plan, the mortgage debt in the amount of 145 thousand rubles will be repaid ahead of schedule in six months. An amount of 55 thousand rubles will be accumulated for vacation.

Who needs a financial plan?

All people with a modest income believe that creating a personal financial plan is pointless for them. Practice shows the opposite: the less income, the more a person must control his expenses so as not to go into debt. This is especially true for those who have .

Planning is what will help him not make meaningless spontaneous purchases, and clearly understand how much he can spend per day on groceries or clothes.

A wealthy person controls not his expenses, but his income. He needs to draw up a plan for investing personal income so that income is not only maintained, but also increased.

Every family will benefit from a personal financial plan. Try it now and take control of your budget.

Nina Polonskaya

Hello friends!

What is enterprise planning? This is the optimal allocation of resources to achieve its goals. What is the life of an individual or a family like? Isn't it the same?

Then why does any enterprise consider it vital to plan, but a person (family) does not? The enterprise has a development plan, every citizen (family) should have a personal financial plan. How to compose it? This is what we will talk about today.

What is LFP and why is it needed? All of us have goals. These could be simple everyday goals, such as making it to payday debt-free, getting some renovations done next year, or upgrading your computer.

Or they can be global - save for a car, an apartment, children’s education, etc. You can mentally estimate how much money you will need to achieve your goal, calculate your income for this period, and subtract expenses. Realize that with such a salary you won’t be able to achieve anything at all and go to the bank for a loan.

But even if you write down on a regular piece of paper what you tried to keep in your head, the picture may change. A clear demonstration of the discrepancy between your expenses and income is more sobering than any medicine. Where exactly is money flowing, how to stop this uncontrolled process and what to do so that your money river is replenished every year and does not ultimately turn into a swamp? A personal financial plan will answer these questions.

LFP is a financial tool that helps analyze and optimize the cash flows in which we find ourselves throughout our lives. And this, in turn, allows you to develop a mechanism for achieving your goals and see the entire financial picture for several years in advance.

Some people have been planning since childhood, then this habit brings excellent dividends in adult life.

I'll tell you about myself. I was born in the Soviet Union and went to pioneer camps in the summer with gingerbread, crackers and cookies in my bag. Everything is as it should be. Only everyone’s home gifts ran out after 3–4 days, and only I had enough until my parents arrived with a new portion of treats. The fact is that I divided my supplies into the number of days remaining until the day of the visit and ate exactly as much as I measured out. And no more gingerbread.

In adulthood, the ability to save and control ourselves allows our family to always live according to our income and get more from life than can be expected from our salary. And since I became interested in the issue of personal finance, things have gotten even better. Therefore, from my own experience I responsibly declare that physical therapy works. You just need to compose it correctly and start implementing it. The result of the process should be financial independence.

How to create a personal financial plan?

Stages of constructing LFP

Stage 1. Setting goals

To justify ourselves in our own eyes, we often convince ourselves that we are unable to achieve our goals. In fact, we are not powerless, but weak-willed.

Francois La Rochefoucauld

Where to start? Set aside an hour of free time. Have paper and pen ready. Write down what you want to achieve in the near, medium and long term. In other words, define your goals. You just have to do it right.

The meaning, I think, is clear. Goals should have:

• time limit,
• monetary value,
• specifics (vacation location, number of people, car make, name of university, etc.)

They also need to be realistic. For example, I never set a goal for our family to buy a villa on an island in the ocean. Because I can distinguish a fantasy from a real dream, which should always come true.

Stage 2. Financial analysis

After setting your goals, you should conduct a thorough analysis of your income, expenses, assets and liabilities. If you lead, then no difficulties will arise. If not, then it is better to postpone drawing up a plan for 2 to 3 months. And during this period, record all your income and expenses every day, down to the penny.

You can do this in a notepad with a regular pen, in Excel or Google Doc spreadsheets, in special programs on your computer or applications on your smartphone. Choose a method convenient for you. The main thing is to do this every day and teach the family to inform you about their cash receipts and expenses if you draw up a family financial statement.

Without waiting for data on monthly income and expenses, create another table to analyze assets and liabilities.

Assets are what bring you income. Liabilities are things that require expenses.

Please note that some items from liabilities can be easily converted into assets. For example, rent out an unused garage or sell a plot of land if you do not plan to build a house on it. Likewise, a car, if it is used to generate income (taxi, cargo transportation), can go to the “Assets” section.

Once you have a clear breakdown of your assets and liabilities, monthly income and expenses, you can move on to the next stage, “Reviewing goals and setting priorities.”

Stage 3. Goal adjustment and optimization

This is one of the most difficult and painful stages. There are many goals set, and I want to achieve them as quickly as possible. But an analysis of income and expenses shows that this is impossible. What to do?

Possible ways to solve the problem:

1. Review goals to highlight the most important and priority ones.

If your neighbors have leaked, then, of course, repairs in the apartment can be considered a priority task. What if not? Maybe we should postpone the renovation for a year or two? Re-read all the goals that you wrote. What do you really want for real? It’s not like it was like a neighbor, friend, colleague. And not something that increases status.

2. Adjustment of goals to change the timing of achievement and their cost.

It's great to want the latest iPhone, but if summer and another family vacation are ahead, are you really going to trade it for a piece of hardware?

Although there are plenty of such examples. My friends saved for a year to go to Thailand. But with this money they bought a large plasma TV that fit perfectly on the empty wall of their new apartment. To each his own.

3. Cost optimization.

If you already have before your eyes your expenses for 3 months, then you can easily find holes in the budget, and sometimes real “black holes” where money is drained. Buying expensive gifts, celebrating another birthday on a grand scale, going to cafes and restaurants, etc. The list can be endless.

Just look at what's happening in supermarkets before the New Year. At this moment it seems to me that people haven’t eaten anything for a whole year, so that they can then eat... Sorry, eat and drink for the whole next year. Shelves are being trashed with products and gifts that store employees kindly put together for you. It doesn't matter what you buy or at what price. It's a holiday...

Bad habits are a separate matter. I tried to convince people who smoke a pack a day to calculate their annual cigarette expenses. Yes, they were horrified, but they didn’t give up. The same, by the way, applies to a cup of cappuccino in your favorite cafe every morning.

There are many. And it is not at all necessary to deny yourself or your family some weaknesses. In my article on the topic of saving, I showed not all the techniques that help, for example, my family live at a decent level and regularly save money to achieve goals.

4. Increase in income.

An excellent motivating and developing way. It was he who helped me escape from the budgetary swamp into which university workers were driven by beggarly wages and humiliating treatment from the state. I began to learn a new profession, began to respect myself again and am confidently on the path to financial independence. And working at the university is now more of a hobby for me than a source of income.

What helped me and can help anyone:

• patience and perseverance - I had to study tons of information on the Internet to find something that could interest me in the issue of additional income;
• self-education - you don’t have to take expensive courses to learn, start with free lessons, webinars, trainings, articles, books;
• discipline - every day I devoted several hours to education;
• focus on results - I had a clear goal ahead, so nothing and no one could stop me.

And there is no need to whine about miserable wages and the indifference of the state. Nobody owes you anything. Make your life yourself and it will turn to face you.

All 4 methods considered can and should be used simultaneously. Then it will be a whole system, and not individual attempts to change the situation for the better. But, as they say, you can’t argue against the system. Its main goal is to free up money from your budget for investment.

Stage 4. Creation of a reserve fund

I have already discussed what a reserve fund is and why it is needed in my article on financial independence. Therefore, I will only mention here that it is an obligatory part of a personal financial plan. Without an airbag, it will be painful to fall if something goes wrong in life. You are left without a job or your salary has been sharply cut, a serious illness requiring expensive treatment, and many other factors that are difficult to foresee. But you can protect yourself.

Keep a bank deposit equal to 3 or 6 months of expenses and your mental well-being will be much better. And this will give you confidence that you will solve all your problems during this time.

If it happens that the fund has been spent in whole or in part, the first thing you should do after the situation normalizes is to replenish it to the optimal size.

Stage 5. Formation of an investment portfolio

This is the last and important stage, the result of which will be the achievement of your goals and the pride of your children in such “cool” parents. Where to start investing? From the plan, of course. But here you cannot do without the experience of competent financiers and consultants. Not everyone can afford them, although the costs are recouped several times over.

There are our domestic experts. For me they are real instructions for action. You can gain experience in investing on your own, no one argues. Trial and error will give results. The main thing is that it is exactly what you are counting on.

A friend of mine invested all his available money in one of the mutual funds. Over the course of 1–2 years, it lost a lot in value. A friend panicked and rushed to save his remaining savings. At the same time, he violated two conditions for successful investment:

• Didn’t diversify the portfolio, i.e. invested all the money in one asset.
• I started to panic and do stupid things. Investing in mutual funds is a long-term project for several years. The fund loses in value as well as rises. There's no hurry. 1 year is not an indicator.

As a result, he does not trust any investment instrument and prefers to keep his money in a bank account.

Determine your investment strategy. How much risk are you willing to take?

There are:

• conservative investments,
• moderate,
• high-risk or aggressive.

There are different investment instruments for different purposes. But I repeat once again - without special knowledge you can make a lot of mistakes.

The investment portfolio should include instruments with different levels of risk. The older you are, the higher the proportion of conservative investments. Make a simple table for yourself. For each type, put your share. For example:

Now in each group you need to write down the selected investment instruments.

When the portfolio is formed, the main and most difficult part of the LFP remains - its execution. Basic principles that you must follow strictly:

1. Developing physical forms for yourself, for your goals, income and expenses, and not blindly copying examples from books.
2. Strict discipline, which manifests itself in investing regularly over a long period of time.
3. Annual review of the plan and its adjustment taking into account external and internal changes in the situation.
4. Diversification of the investment portfolio, i.e. investing money in various assets.

Conclusion

A personal financial plan is the most important document in your life. And the sooner you realize this, the easier it will be for you to do it. After all, in planning it is important to take into account all types of resources, including time.

If you wish, you can make not just one, but several plans. It all depends on the type of planning chosen. A short-term plan will help you save up for essential purchases in the coming months. Medium-term - will allow you to achieve the goals that you planned to achieve in a few years. And the long-term plan is worth drawing up if the priority goal is to ensure a decent old age in a couple of decades.

But any of them may remain on paper if you don’t pick up a pen and notepad right now and write down your goals. And starting tomorrow, you won’t start recording your income and expenses every day. I did this six months ago. Catch up.

Greetings! I noticed that personal finance management is becoming a mega-popular trend in Russia.

More and more people are turning to professionals for financial advice. Keep records of household income and expenses. Invest money in something. But many sorely lack consistency!

And today we will talk about what a personal financial plan is and how to draw it up correctly.

LFP disciplines, motivates and helps achieve your goals. This is the very first step to!

A financial plan can be compared to a detailed travel itinerary. There is a starting and ending point of the path. There are intermediate landmarks and time limits. There are assistant tools (compass, map, navigator). And the route itself will have to be adjusted from time to time to suit the current situation.

Don't like the comparison with the route sheet? Another good analogy is a weight loss chart.

There are two ways to lose extra pounds.

1. Start running in the morning. Eat sprouted wheat sprouts for two weeks, washing them down with clean spring water. Lose 3 kg. Be happy. Celebrate this occasion with pizza with sausage and a liter of beer. Scold yourself for being weak-willed. Sleep through morning training. Little by little, return to your normal lifestyle. Gain 5 kg in a week
2. Seek professional help from the very beginning. Consider a set of training and balanced nutrition. Lose 10 kg in a year and maintain that weight constantly. Stay healthy, balanced and confident after losing weight

People in a panic run to a “money specialist” for advice. And for some time they follow his recommendations. And then the market situation levels out. And the financial plan is “pushed forward” as unnecessary.

A few years later the situation repeats itself.

What's good about an advisor? Competent specialist:

1. Objectively assess the current financial situation and your capabilities (income-expenses, assets-liabilities). Even at this stage, you will learn a lot about your personal finances.
2. Highlights strengths and weaknesses.
3. Adjusts financial goals from the point of view of their reality and achievability.
4. He will prescribe a clear step-by-step algorithm for achieving it.
5. Describes several possible future scenarios.
6. Selects the right instruments, taking into account the specifics of the client (income level, risk appetite, investment period, etc.).

All this, of course, you can do yourself. But most likely, due to inexperience, you will make a lot of mistakes and lose a lot of money and time. For example, I did it myself, but then a consultant checked me.

Option #2. On your own

However, no one is stopping you from working out the “material parts” yourself and drawing up a financial plan yourself.

Hint options:

Books

There is a sea of ​​educational materials on the Internet. Almost all of them can be downloaded for free in fb2 or epub format.

1. Vladimir Savenok “How to compose a physical form. The path to financial independence." The author literally tells on his fingers what, how and why. Savenok even provides an Excel sample at the end as an example to fill out. Another huge advantage of the book is that it is based on the author’s experience working with Russian clients!
2. Another great book: Andrey Paranich “LFP. Instructions for compilation." But I’ll say right away that just reading such books is not enough! It is necessary to put useful recommendations into practice as soon as possible.

Educational “live” format (webinars, open lessons, trainings, courses)

During the course you will learn a lot of useful things: from planning personal finances and time management, to business relationships and loans with investments.

Stages of drawing up a physical form

How to compose a physical form yourself? As usual, “eat the elephant piece by piece.”

Here is my brief step-by-step guide to creating your own financial plan.

First stage. Formulating financial goals

I am sure that this phrase causes a gag reflex in many people. But, alas, you cannot do without setting a goal. In order not to be scattered on global or secondary goals, answer three questions first:

1. What monthly income do you want to receive in the future?
2. At what age do you plan to retire?
3. What problems need to be solved over the next 5-10 years?

I promise it will clear your head a little. And you will be able to prioritize everything.

Second stage. We estimate the cost of the goals set

An example of the distribution of funds across different assets:

• 20% on the purchase of financial instruments to create an additional source of income (stocks, bonds, mutual funds)
• 25% in real estate
• 25% towards pension savings
• 20% to your own business
• 10% to the bank on account and deposits

Sixth stage. Creating an airbag

Before you start active investments, you need to “insure yourself.” The path ahead is long and difficult. And during this time, anything can happen. will not allow you to retreat from physical therapy even in the most difficult periods! Below I will briefly analyze it so that you understand that free cheese can only be found in a mousetrap.

How to implement LFP taking into account force majeure? Consider risk management from the very beginning!

It includes four points:

1. Insurance
2. Creating a reserve
3. Risk diversification
4. Concern for liquidity

Insurance

To be honest, I am against insuring “everything against everything.” In Russia, the insurance institute is expensive and not always honest. But at a minimum, it is worth insuring the life and health of the main breadwinner of the family. And expensive property (apartment, house, car).

Financial reserve

Frequently asked questions and life hacks

What electronic program should I use to compile physical therapy?

LFP can be easily compiled in good old Microsoft Excel or Google Doc (for access from different gadgets). You can also use special software.

I also advise you to download budgeting applications to your phone or computer - they seriously simplify your life and automate the accounting of income and expenses. Good reviews, for example, about “Home Accounting” and EasyFinance. I use CoinKeeper.

What information is needed to compile the LFP?

At a minimum, a figure of monthly income and expenses divided by category. Before drawing up a document, you need to clearly maintain home accounting for at least 2-3 months.

What is more important: cutting costs or increasing income?

In theory, both are important. But as practice shows, the regime of total economy is incompatible with the thinking of a wealthy person. Achieving money goals by denying yourself the essentials for years is not the best way.

Current income should be enough to maintain a comfortable standard of living (everyone has their own)! Plus there should still be something left for a nest egg, insurance and investments.

Hence the conclusion: it is possible and necessary to optimize costs. But the main emphasis should be on increasing income: active and passive. Constantly ask yourself the question: where and how can I earn extra money?

TOP 9 mistakes when developing physical therapy

Unclear financial goals

The blurring of goals is the leader of the conventional hit parade of mistakes in a personal financial plan. It is very important to formulate them as specifically as possible: with amounts and deadlines.

Just in case: “become rich”, “get rid of debt” and “achieve financial freedom” - but sweet dreams.

Excessive optimism in assessing one's own capabilities

Don’t set yourself overly ambitious and obviously impossible goals. Especially in the short and medium term.

Such Napoleonic plans were doomed to failure from the very beginning. You shouldn’t once again convince yourself that “this nonsense doesn’t work” or “I’m a complete failure.”

Excessive pessimism when setting goals

Underestimation always leads to delays in achieving goals. This is not as scary as overestimation, but it also greatly weakens motivation.

Financial goals, deadlines and ways to achieve them should be realistic and a little difficult for you personally. Agree, “earning 100 rubles a day” is more than a realistic task. But do we need such a small goal?

Other people's goals

Why don’t financial advisors encourage “independent activities” when drawing up financial statements? Not only because they lose income from their paid consultations. Most often, Russians draw up a plan based on ready-made examples from books and publications. Why is this dangerous?

The physical fitness of a Russian is fundamentally different from the physical fitness of an American or a German. The plan of a Muscovite is from the plan of a resident of Ryazan or Novye Vasilki. LFP of a single employee - from LFP of a private entrepreneur with a wife and three children.

Well, and besides, it’s not a fact that someone else’s financial goal will suit you in principle. The plan, first of all, is developed for yourself!

The LFP does not take into account force majeure expenses

The life of each of us is full of surprises and surprises. 90% of them put an additional burden on the family budget. And it is worth taking into account force majeure expenses when drawing up the physical form. Be sure to save a nest egg for a rainy day.

Yes, yes, I’m talking about a stash, which for some reason many do not consider as a “must have” thing. With it you will feel much more comfortable and if force majeure does occur, you will be ready for it both economically and psychologically.

The plan does not include an increase in everyday spending

Statistics show that as we age, we spend more and more on housekeeping. An apartment, a car, having children, helping elderly parents and grown children, expenses for one’s own health.

But even if you buy the same thing every month for 20 years, your spending level will be . Therefore, when drawing up the LFP, we include an increase in current expenses of at least 10% annually.

Calculation of passive income

– the dream of every investor. But you can afford a comfortable life “on interest” only when you have solid capital and practical experience in the field of investment. Getting both takes time, patience and discipline!

Calculation of constant return on investment

Fixed returns on the market are guaranteed by just a couple of conservative instruments! For example, highly reliable bonds or deposits in a state bank (often even nominal).

In all other cases, income is an unstable and floating value. And this point must be taken into account when drawing up the physical form. Don’t rely on the maximum possible profitability! Always focus on the average.

LFP is not performed in practice

One of the most common mistakes! LFP is a route map for achieving your dreams. A plan is absolutely useless if you just print it out and hang it on the wall. Every day you need to take tiny steps towards intermediate “destinations”.

Imagine that you have put together an excellent itinerary for a three-day climb to a mountain peak. We bought everything we needed, packed our backpack, but never left the house. As a result, the cherished intention is as far away as before.

It's the same with LFP. If the plan calls for an “increase in monthly income by 20%,” then you need to look for another job or create your own business. If you planned to set aside 10,000 rubles for investments every month, then you will have to do this not “when you remembered,” but every month.

Otherwise, the plan will remain a beautiful example of a table in Excel.

Let's sum it up

It's actually not that difficult to create a basic plan. It is much more difficult to strictly adhere to it for years. However, I still recommend showing your first physical therapy to a professional!

Unfortunately, any plan is not a panacea or a “secret tool” for millionaires. This is just the first step towards financial freedom. Tested on myself: it really helps you take control of your personal funds and achieve goals without getting wasted on nonsense. This is the only way you can avoid gross mistakes and immediately move in the right direction. After all, the most important thing in this life is time. Isn't it?

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Every day a person is faced with making financial decisions.

A personal financial plan (PFP) is needed to minimize mistakes, as well as to achieve your goals as a result.

When deciding how to spend his money, a person acts based on the current situation, often under the influence of emotions.

He assesses current needs, makes monthly payments, bears planned and unplanned expenses, and also takes care of funds that will be needed in the future.

There are many such solutions, for example:

• purchase of goods and services;
• investing in financial instruments;
• loan processing.

In addition to everyday worries, a person thinks about set a financial goal, For example:

• buy a car, an apartment;
• pay for training;
• organize a wedding.

There are two main ways achieving a financial goal, namely:

• , to quickly achieve your plans, or
• use financial instruments with which the delivered the goal will be achieved in the future.

In both cases, a person has to manage his personal finances.

Approaches to financial management

Highlight two main approaches:

• spontaneous;
• planned.

In this case, he acts without a plan and system.

Thus, a person can make an investment in a business only because his neighbor does so, although for him in the end it will turn out to be uninteresting, unprofitable and unprofitable. Or he, because he was taken and recommended by a colleague, without taking into account the large expenses in the near future.

The result of such actions may be the impossibility of repaying the loan.

An example from life. The man planned to buy a car in 2 years, buy a home in 4 years, but he did not provide for the expenses for his son’s education, which he will need in 7 years.

A man successfully saved up for a car, but transportation costs increased, which did not allow him to collect the down payment on an apartment loan.

As a result, the man bought an apartment smaller in area than he wanted and without a down payment, since he simply did not have enough money for more.

Due to very large loan payments, the man was unable to save for his son’s education at the desired university. And if at the time of his son’s admission the tuition is paid, then he will not be able to receive an education.

Conclusion: the person identified incorrectly investment terms, that's why such an unpleasant situation occurred. If he had taken into account all the investment goals, he would have correctly invested his savings in investment instruments, or he would have been able to save up for an apartment and take out a car on credit. In other words, the person did not analyze in which case it would be better to take out a loan, and when it would be more appropriate to save funds.

Mistakes with a spontaneous approach

Highlight three main mistakes and, which are allowed by people who do not have a clear plan:

• incorrect goal setting;
• inaccurate assessment of the current situation and its development in the future;
• incorrect selection of performance tools.

Consequently, if the financial situation, goal and tools are incorrectly defined, the possibility of achieving such a goal is zero.

Therefore, it is better to act not spontaneously, but in accordance with the financial plan.

What is a personal financial plan?

A personal financial plan (LPP) is a strategy for achieving financial goals using the most effective financial instruments in the current situation.

Here's another definition.

LFP is a person’s business plan that is needed to achieve financial goals with the least effort and using the most effective tools.

There are no standards for drawing up a personal business plan, but it is still worth including the following sections in it.

1. Income and expenses. This part of the plan examines the composition and structure of income and family, preferably item by item.
2. Assets and liabilities. This part of the plan examines the family's assets and savings (real estate, etc.), as well as existing loans.
3. Risk protection. It involves analyzing the protection of a person and his family from various unfavorable future events that may become an obstacle to achieving financial goals: damage and loss of property, damage to third parties and their property, loss of ability to work, illness, etc.
4. Financial goals. This section of the plan describes all the goals that the family wants to achieve, their time frame and approximate cost. For example, this could be buying an apartment in 2 years, purchasing a yacht in a year, expanding your own business, or even having a child.
5. Plan calculation. This section contains a list of actions by year, a table with calculations for the entire period, and also, if desired, a savings schedule for the entire billing period.

Everything in the world is changing very quickly, and at the same time the situation in the family is changing. As a result of which The family's financial plan requires changes. It must be reviewed at least once a year. It is advisable to adjust your personal plan whenever the situation changes. For example, during a crisis, the plan may be revised quarterly.

By making a plan, a person can determine whether his goals are achievable and what needs to be done to achieve them.

Such a financial plan does not provide a 100% guarantee of achieving goals, since it is impossible to predict everything:

• future income;
• inflation rate;
• unforeseen expenses and other factors.

But the existing plan will allow you to quickly respond and adjust actions when the situation changes.

Strategy for achieving goals

The LFP is compiled for one year, or better yet, several years in advance. Ideally, such a plan is drawn up as long as a person has financial goals. The deadline for its completion may vary. An example of compilation and a sample in Excel can be downloaded from the link.

You can create a physical therapy exercise for yourself and for the family as a whole. to manage all family finances. Do not forget that any financial plan must be adjusted depending on changes in family income and expenses.

To summarize, let us recall that there are two main approaches to financial management - spontaneous and planned.

With the first approach there is almost zero favorable outcome. A person does not clearly understand the financial situation, so he sets the wrong financial goals and chooses the wrong tools to influence them.

With a planned approach a person analyzes in detail income, savings, loans and builds a detailed plan to achieve his financial goals, while selecting suitable financial instruments.

Additionally, watch a short video on how to create a personal financial plan: