Ways To Achieve Your Financial Goals In 2023
As the new financial year has begun, it is time to reassess our financial journey and see how far we have come in achieving our financial goals.
It is important to understand where we stand, whether there are any mistakes to correct, and how we can improve our process to achieve our goals faster.
When the new year starts, we make a list of financial goals we wish to achieve in that year. The new financial year has begun from April 2023 and it is time to see how far we have come in achieving those goals.
Recently, Indians have become more serious about managing their finances properly and have started setting a lot of goals for themselves.
According to Bajaj Allianz India’s Life Goals Preparedness Survey 2023, as many as 71% of Indians’ most important life goal is the financial security of their families.
The other important life goals include career growth, traveling abroad, and caring for aging parents. It is awesome that Indians have a lot of solid financial goals but if we need to achieve them, we need to have a basic understanding of how personal finances work.
The problem here is that in a survey by S&P, more than 75% of Indian adults do not adequately understand basic financial concepts. This is an alarming number. If we need to achieve our financial goals smoothly, we need to have a better understanding of financial concepts.
However, it doesn’t stop there. In our blog, we will be explaining the five ways in which you can achieve your financial goals in 2023 with ease.
1. Learn About Personal Finance
As mentioned above, not understanding the basics of finance can land you in trouble. You don’t have to be an expert but you need to know the basic financial concepts.
In order to do this, you can try reading a personal finance book or blog. You can also try reading blogs from Koshex, where we have written about various investment instruments, tax planning, budgeting, money management, and more.
If you hesitate to learn about personal finance, you will not be able to take informed investment decisions. So, start slowly and read regularly to get a handle on the concepts.
Learning a little bit every day can help you get a hold of your financial life and make decisions confidently. It can also help you learn about different instruments and how you can include them in your portfolio to earn high returns. So, start learning from today.
2. Build A Budget
It’s 2023 and people still underestimate the importance of building a budget. If you hesitate to track your expenses and build a budget accordingly, you will struggle to understand how much you spend.
When you don’t know how to spend, you will not be able to see whether you have any bad financial habits or whether you are making any financial mistakes.
Firstly, track your expenses as best as you can. Then, create a budget by allocating a portion of your salary towards necessities, savings, and fun stuff. T
he 50/30/20 rule of budgeting is simple and easy to follow where 50% of your income will go to needs, 30% to wants, and 20% to savings and investing. Only when you tell your money where to go, you will be able to achieve financial success.
3. Pay Off Your Debt
Your debts can hold you back from achieving your financial goals, as you need to allocate a certain amount every month to pay off your debt.
You could be using this amount to either save or invest. However, paying off your debt is no easy task. So, this financial year, try paying off your smallest debt at least.
You can pay off your small debts quickly, and this will give you the confidence to attack your big debts.
It is also a good idea to make a list of all your debts and find the one that has the highest interest rate. Most times, your credit card debt might have the highest interest rate, so pay it off as soon as you can.
Also, refrain from taking new loans until you have paid off at least most of your debts. This will help you maintain a good credit score and help you get loans with a low-interest rate in the future.
4. Start Investing Regularly
If you only save money and don’t invest it, this blog is your sign to start doing so. Building a saving habit is essential so that you can have an emergency fund for uncertain times.
However, after creating an emergency fund, it is time to focus on investing your money. Investing a little portion of your salary in multiple instruments is how you can earn inflation-beating returns and achieve your goals quickly.
There are several benefits to investing regularly and one such advantage is the power of compounding. Compound interest means the interest on interest.
Each time you earn interest on your principal, it is added to your original investment amount, which then becomes the principal for the next cycle. This helps increase your returns exponentially over a long period.
For example, if you invest ₹5000 every month for 10 years and expect a rate of return of 8% per annum, you will be investing a total of ₹6 lakhs over the years.
On top of that, if you stay invested for another 10 years, without making any new investment, you will be accumulating a total wealth of nearly ₹20 lakhs. So, start investing today to enjoy the benefits of compounding.
5. Plan For Taxes Now
Most people plan for their taxes towards the end of the year. Last-minute tax planning can lead to unnecessary panic and mistakes.
So, at the beginning of the financial year, understand which regime will you be choosing, and whether you will be required to make any tax-saving investments.
If you are already investing in tax-saving instruments and your income has increased over the last year, you should analyze and see whether you need to increase your investment amount in these instruments.
You should also see if you need to include more tax-saving instruments in your portfolio to reduce your taxable income and pay less tax.
Some people make tax-saving investments in March i.e. at the last minute to take advantage of the deductions and exemptions.
All of this unplanned spending can be avoided if you start planning for taxes at the beginning of the year. So, sit down with a pen and paper today to see how much taxes you need to pay and how you can avoid paying them, legally, of course.
In The End…
We hope you understood how you can achieve your financial goals swiftly in 2023. Write down your goals and learn the basics of financial planning so that you can take informed investment decisions with confidence, which will help you fulfill your goals.
The next step is to build a budget and come up with a plan to tackle your debts. Understand this: if you keep on paying off your debt for years, you will not be able to save or invest to achieve your goals.
If you believe that saving your money alone can help you become financially successful, then you would be wrong.
It is important to invest in instruments that suit your risk tolerance and investment horizon so that you can earn inflation-beating returns, which isn’t possible if you stick to only saving your money.
The final step is to plan for your taxes properly and if you require help on how you can do this efficiently, create a free account today and get personalized investment recommendations.
With Koshex, you can also track your net worth, build smart saving habits, and invest in multiple instruments, such as Mutual Funds, Smart Deposits, Digital Gold, and Fixed Deposits.
Koshex is here to simplify your financial life and elevate your money management strategy. Download our app today.
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