Investment objectives

Although people may have very different goals depending on what life stage they are at, their goals can be broadly categorised into essential needs, lifestyle wants and legacy aspirations.

Planning for financial success in each of these areas can be complicated in today’s world. A broad knowledge of everything from complex retirement and investment products to risk management strategies and tax laws is required.

Financial roadmap

Your financial roadmap should provide you with clarity about your future. It should detail every aspect of your vision – your hopes, fears and goals. It should also describe exactly how your future will look and help you to know exactly where you are headed and when you are likely to arrive.

Take some time and ask yourself these questions:

• Can I sleep comfortably knowing I will have enough money for my future?
• Do I have the security of knowing where I am heading financially?
• Am I going to be able to maintain my current lifestyle once I stop working?
• Do I feel empowered financially to live the life I want today and tomorrow?
• Have I made sufficient financial plans to live the life I want and not run out of money?
• Do I have a complete understanding of my financial position?
• What is my number to make my current and future lifestyle secure?

Make sure you do not run out of money

Initially you need to identify the goal for which you wish to invest and assess the time you have to reach it. Once that is done, it is important to find how much the goal costs today. Add a reasonable amount of inflation to that, and then you would know what the goal would cost you in the year you wish to accomplish it.

This process requires you to understand your number – in other words, the amount of money you will ultimately need to ensure complete peace of mind in knowing your future lifestyle is secure and making sure you do not run out of money before you run out of life.