Your Financial Bucket List

In the page, “How To Build An Investment Portfolio”, we talked about creating a “Bucket List” for your financial goals. Specifically, you should group your financial goals into 3 Buckets, and then you’ll go about using these 3 Buckets to allocate your savings and investments.

To review what these 3 Buckets are, here they are again:

Divide your list of goals onto 3 lists – or Buckets. You should have a:

• Short-Term Bucket (things happening in the next year)
• Mid-Range Bucket (things happening in the next 2-5 years)
• Long-Term Bucket (more than 5 years away)

Filling Your Buckets

It’ll take us a few articles to get into specifics about what types of investment vehicles you should use for each type of Bucket. This article will give you a general overview of “how” to start filling the Buckets.

Remember that most of you who found this website probably got here as you searched for solutions to credit and debt problems, and you may not think these types of articles about saving and investing apply to you just yet. You’re thinking, “As soon as I pay off my current debts, I can start saving and investing for the future.” The problem is, the future happens BEFORE that.

Life is NOT going to stop and wait for you to get ready for it. There are no “time outs” or “hold on a second’s” in life. Whether or not you’re ready, it’s going to happen. Those things that are going to happen this next year – they’re going to happen this year. Nothing you can do about it – they’re coming.

So, are you going to be ready for them? Or are you going to be cursing and acting surprised when they do happen? Making your Bucket List and then Filling your Buckets is an absolutely practical and necessary thing for you to do. ESPECIALLY if you have debt you’re trying to pay off.

Anyone Can Create a Bucket List

So don’t think that because you’re so deep in debt that you shouldn’t start a savings plan, an investment plan, a plan for the future. It is BECAUSE you have so much debt that you need to be even more careful and smart with your money. Sick people go to the doctor to get a plan to get better. Healthy people don’t need a plan to get better – whatever they’ve been doing is working so far.

Thinking of your Bucket Lists in terms of your physical health is really a great idea. If you’re sick (in debt), you need urgent and immediate care to get over your sickness. Maybe some antibiotics, ointments, or other remedies to help you beat the current sickness will help. Healthy people don’t require such things – they don’t need help beating a temporary sickness.

But both sick and healthy people can do things to take care of their bodies better. Eating better, exercising, sleeping right, etc. You can always do things that can help maintain and enhance your physical health and help you live a longer life.

The things you are doing to pay off your old debts are like the antibiotics. You’re taking steps to defeat the illness and get you back to normal health. Filling your Buckets is like the things you can do to improve your overall health – the exercise and proper diet.

It’s Okay to do BOTH!

When you’re sick, it’s okay to do BOTH! While you try to defeat the illness, it’s okay to work on improving your overall health at the same time. If you’re not sick, you can devote your full attention towards becoming healthier.

So if you’re in debt, work on getting caught up AND work on putting yourself in position for a better financial future – all at the same time. If you’re not in debt, congratulations! You can use your Bucket Lists to create a great future for yourself – and ensure that you don’t end up with debt problems in the future.

Make your Bucket List and we’ll show you how to fill them here.

Related Articles:

• The Half-n-Half Way to Improve Your Finances
• The Cost of Whistles – Living Successfully
• Need Cash? Try an “Income Blitz”
• Is This Necessary? Evaluating Your Everyday “Latte” Purchases to Save Money
• Why Standard US Savings Rate Calculations are Completely Wrong