Preparing the personal financial plan, personal financial goals, and balance sheet and income statements felt like a daunting task. Primarily because finances were something that I always thought about, but I did not want to know the “real” truth regarding my financial health. The second principle of personal finance, “Nothing Happens Without a Plan” fits well in my situation because I persistently avoided viewing the entire picture when it came to our family’s finances in order to create a financial plan. Of course, setting short-term goals for a vacation or buying a new refrigerator is relatively easy to place into short-term goals. However, the scarier thought of retirement planning was avoided like the plague and I felt more comfortable addressing the here and now. I like to think that I am a frugal person, but like most people, I can spend money without thinking about it and saving money is very difficult. …show more content…
In addition, to creating a financial plan I find value in the last principle of personal finance, “Just Do It”. My past attempts at maintaining a financial plan were thwarted by the monotony of record keeping, unplanned financial events and lack of discipline. Ultimately, I need to reverse my mindset from saving what I don’t spend to spend what is left over after saving (Keown, 2013, p.25). In my opinion, I have done well creating the flexibility and liquidity to account for unplanned events as well as protection using proper limits of insurance etc. On the other hand, I have found that I know very little to reduce taxes so I can repurpose the money to my short, intermediate and long-term