Financial success doesn’t happen by chance. Plan today for future financial success.

Financial planning is something individuals tend to put off as they focus on other important life issues. Too often people say, I’ll start planning for retirement after my student loans are paid off or after the children graduate from college. Others might think estate planning is something they should tackle during retirement. But that might be too late to reap the most benefits. So, even if you have significant financial responsibilities that prohibit you from contributing a great deal toward an individual retirement account (IRA) or annuity, now is the perfect time to review your finances and establish a plan for your future. Your children — you know, the ones you’re putting your retirement on hold for — will thank you in the long run. If you already have a financial plan, consider reviewing it following the steps below.

Getting started
Taking the initial steps toward planning for your financial future will set you on the path to success. Here are six tasks to get you going. These are steps you can tackle in a matter of days or spread out over a few weeks, but don’t put them off forever if you want a successful financial future.

1. Review your finances | When was the last time you took a hard look at all of your finances? We’re not just talking about your pay stubs or credit card bills. It’s important to pull up your retirement and investment statements, bank accounts, life insurance policies and any other type of financial history. It’s also important to pull all of your revenue and expense streams and look at them as a whole. If you haven’t done it already in the past year, request a credit report. This is the first step toward funding your future. Just by locating these important documents, you are well on your way toward accomplishing step No. 2.
2. Get organized | If you haven’t already done so, consider scanning and saving your files digitally. By making these digital, you can clear out needless paper clutter, and when you need to locate a specific document, finding it digitally will be easy. Make sure you have a flash drive or external hard drive.
3. Create or review your budget | If you already have a budget system, take a look at it and assess how you’re doing. If you find that you are consistently going over budget, make adjustments to your plan. There might be areas you can cut back on to spend more in other categories. If your grocery spending is over your budgeted amount, perhaps you could change your cable or satellite TV plan or cancel a gym membership you never use to offset the extra expenses. A review of your finances can help you identify ways to save or stay on budget.
4. Establish goals | Now that you’ve done the hard work, you can start planning. Start by envisioning the type of retirement you would like to live. Will you travel or move to a warmer location? Think about these dreams, and discuss them with your spouse. If you’re not sure, that’s OK, too. If you haven’t done so already, meet with a financial planner. These seasoned professionals can help you determine how to take your dreams and make them a reality.
5. Plan for a future financial surplus | As you crunch numbers and try to stay within budget today, it might be difficult to imagine someday having more than you need. But that might happen, and it’s good to have a plan. So think through what you will do if your company provides a bonus or you get an unexpected raise. If you don’t have a plan, you might find yourself going on a shopping spree (or three) and wasting money you could be investing for your future.
6. Follow through | Once you have established a budget and goals, simply follow through with your plan and make adjustments as needed.

Planning for retirement

Now that you have all of your finances in order, it’s time to start mapping out the path to your retirement. To start, review your current investments and research additional savings and venture opportunities to maximize your efforts. A lot of your up-front work will come in handy as you take a different look at your budget and the ways it will change over the next 10, 15, 20 and 30 years.

1. Review current retirement plans and investment portfolios | Take a closer look at your employer-sponsored retirement plan for ways to make adjustments. If you are able to fit it within your budget, contribute the maximum amount of your pay toward your plan or at least what your employer will match. This is also a good time to evaluate other retirement plans and portfolio investments you have started.
2. Identify expiring expenses | Are you currently making payments that will be paid off within a certain time frame? Pay close attention to the big payments especially, like mortgages and day care expenses. Once these expenses are no longer part of your budget spreadsheet, you need to think about how to invest the funds to maximize your retirement fund.
3. Compare future payments to current expenses | Using your retirement plans as a guide, compare your projected retirement payments with your current expenses.¹ Your goal is for the two numbers to be equal, so if they aren’t, consider ways to cut your current budget, or think through ways to invest now or in the future. This step may be one you will need to revisit annually to ensure you are on track for retirement success.
4. Consider starting an IRA| If you have the means to do so, start an IRA to supplement your employer-sponsored retirement plan. You can contribute $5,500 annually tax-deferred up to age 49 and $6,500 at age 50 or older.
5. Evaluate your life insurance | Some might not consider life insurance part of financial planning, but you should. You might have a term policy right now, but that will expire and you should consider replacing it with a permanent policy. With permanent life insurance, part of each premium payment is placed in a cash value account you can access in retirement.

Establishing an estate plan

While evaluating your current financial status and planning for retirement can be accomplished within a relatively short period of time, establishing an estate plan usually takes longer. Sometimes that can be one of the biggest reasons people don’t follow through with it, but you can accomplish this task by divvying up the tasks and setting manageable deadlines. And, once again, the effort you have already put into your current financial plan and your retirement plan will come in handy. Here are four steps you can try to accomplish with each season of the year. If you follow this time frame, by the time 2018 rolls around, you will have all of your financial affairs in order, which means you’ll need a new resolution.

Winter 2017
Decide on inheritances | Over the winter months, start small by creating a list of individuals and organizations you want to inherit from you. As you think through this important decision, you should also consider the amount (in dollars or percentages) that would want each person or organization to receive.

Spring 2017
Determine when they receive money | After you have identified who should receive money from you, think about when they should get it. If you have minor children, consider choosing a restricted account to hold onto their inheritance until they become adults.

Summer 2017
Choose an executor | While this might sound like an easy step, before you jump into a decision, you should evaluate any potential candidates on their ability to make sound decisions. It’s also important to consider the individual’s health and age (how likely will he or she be around to act in your place?).

Fall 2017
Formalize your plan | After you have determined what you want, make it formal. This step will likely include creating or updating your will. If you haven’t already done so, you will likely need to work with an attorney to ensure all of your plans are legal and properly documented.

Now that you’ve got the initial plan in writing, maybe your resolution for 2018 (and every year following) can include a review so that you can make proper adjustments and changes as needed.

SIDEBAR | When is a good time to see a financial planner? As you think through planning for your financial future, you might feel confident that this task is one you can achieve on your own. You also might lean toward the other end of the argument, wondering how you will ever realistically accomplish these tasks. If you are not confident in your financial planning, you can seek the advice of a financial planner. There is not a specific point within the process to seek help, but if you find yourself questioning whether or not you need one at any point during the process, the answer is probably yes. 

¹ Philip Moeller, 9 Steps to a successful retirement plan (Aug. 5, 2014), http://time.com/money/3082560/retirement-plan-9-steps-to-success/