My Financial Goals For The Next Five Years

 

I know for some it’s really hard to think long term, myself included! A lot can happen in five years. In less than five years, I’ve moved several times, including a different state, graduated school and re-enrolled to continue on with my education at another. I’ve had three different jobs and now make the most money I ever have in my life which is a good thing. But, at the same time, without a vision, you don’t know what to do or even what to work. Telling yourself to “save money’ is good but it’s not good enough. In a further blog post, we’ll be talking about how to set financial plans for yourself but for now, I’d like to take the time to discuss what I would like to accomplish for myself. Perhaps you can get a new idea or consider things outside your comfort zone!

1. Goal Number One- Graduate with my bachelors in Criminology from ASU. This may even be considered an educational goal as well, but bachelor degrees anywhere in the country as super expensive since student loans flow like wine. I’m not complaining since I’m one of those drinking the student loan wine and without being eligible for student loans and taking them, I wouldn’t have went to school in the first place or have my current position helping disadvantaged youth. I’ll be looking to finish my degree after three more semesters and then continuing the public service loan forgiveness program.
2. Goal Number Two- Move into my very own apartment. I’ve never lived alone (eep!) in all of my life, I’ve always lived with family, roommates or a significant other. I know I’m not alone, especially those from metropolitan cities such as NYC where it’s extremely hard to live alone. Although I do enjoy living with my roommate, her boyfriend will be moving in soon and I’d like to be out by that time to give them their privacy. I was really tempted just to get another roommate but I decided to get my own apartment while I could somewhat afford it on my own with ease. Everyday I want to move into a different apartment but hopefully I can narrow it down to one I like and can live in until I graduate school.
3. Goal Three- Establish an emergency fund of $5,000 and then $10,000. I currently have a baby e-fund that has served me well and I’ve worked hard to keep current but I’d like to have more in the bank. I’ll go into detail about why I need a larger one but it comes down to having not great health and not a lot of family support. I don’t feel that $1,000 is enough to get me through everything so I’d like to increase it.
4. Goal Four- Start regularly contributing to retirement. I haven’t contributed regularly into any retirement accounts for almost two years and I’d like to start again, especially since I don’t want to eat cat food well into my old age.
5. Goal Five- Enroll and make progress in the public service loan forgiveness program. Since my current career goal is to continue to move up the ladder in the non-profit sector, and eventually being an executive director of one, it would be a great idea to enroll in the public forgiveness program. I think it’s great that the government is acknowledging the low pay but great work the public sector is both known for and I also think it’s great now teachers, public sector workers AND non-profit professionals can benefit from this program!
6. Goal Six- Get a pet. People don’t usually consider this a financial goal BUT smart savvy latinas and other millennials should! Pets are expensive and not only that, but a huge responsibility. I plan on getting a cat myself since I travel a lot and that is a possible 16 year commitment right there. Since I’ll be living in an apartment, a cat is a wonderful pet option and it would be wonderful to have someone to come home to since I’ll be living by myself. I just hope I get lucky and get a cat who likes to cuddle!
7. Goal Seven- Save up a moving fund and move OR start saving up for a ranch home. After I graduate with my bachelors, I’m not sure what the future holds for me. I currently LOVE my current position at my non-profit and I love my company so I’m currently not looking for anything else at the moment. I have a great benefits package ( 10 weeks paid PTO? I’ll take it!) and my company is very flexible with my current full time school schedule so it would definitely be silly to. But I would like to earn more and move up once I graduate school and I’m really interested in moving to the east coast to see what opportunities I could find, mainly in NYC, for my criminology degree I’d have. My current boyfriend lives in New Jersey and it would be nice to live by him as well. For some reason though, if I decide to stay in Phoenix afterwards, I’d like to start looking into real estate, specifically ranch homes. I love older ranch homes and my new apartment I’m considering will be in the same area I’d be looking to buy if I stay. If I fall in love with the neighborhood, I’d like to be able to put a down deposit on a home to start building equity in my net worth. Either decision I make would require at least a decent amount in savings, so this is something I’ll be starting to save up for with my tax return.

Now that I’ve share all of my financial goals for the next five years, I’d love to hear some of yours! What are you most excited for? Trying to accomplish? Dreaming about?