My Big Three Financial Priorities

My Big Three Financial Priorities

When it comes to financial planning, one of the first steps is getting clear about your goals. For me, keeping my focus on my top three has always worked best. You might have two or even four, but the trick is to keep it manageable—if everything is a priority, then nothing truly is. Pick a few things that really matter to you and make them your mission.

It’s totally fine (and actually pretty great) to have lots of life and financial dreams. But choosing a few key ones you’re determined to accomplish, no matter what, helps you stay focused when things get chaotic. Here are the big three that have guided me for over a decade—and honestly, they haven’t changed much since the beginning.

Retirement

If I’m being honest, retirement could easily be my number one, two, and three. But let me explain: my goal isn’t just to retire, but to save like crazy so that if, say, nobody ever needed a financial planner again (what a sad world!), I’d still be able to provide for myself and my family. I’m no psychologist, but having watched my dad become disabled while I was in college, I know firsthand how quickly fortunes can flip. I’m just wired to stash money away regularly and plan for whatever curveballs the future might throw.

College Funding

I’m a dad of three awesome, bright, and wonderful kids (and yes, I’m hoping my 13-year-old daughter lands back on planet Earth soon). There’s a lot I want to give them—a loving home, basic life skills like reading, swimming, riding a bike (two out of three kids are good to go there)—and my parents made sure we never had to stress about paying for college. In over twenty years as a financial planner, I’ve seen so many young people weighed down by college debt, which is why I’ve made saving for their college a major priority. I’d say I’ve done a solid job so far, but the work isn’t finished yet.

Debt Elimination

The last item that was crucial to me at the start was living debt-free—specifically, being mortgage-free one day. My thinking was simple: if I had enough saved for retirement, didn’t have to worry about college costs, and owed nothing, then no matter what happened professionally, I’d be protected from life’s curveballs. Again, it doesn’t take Sigmund Freud to psychoanalyze why these things matter so much to me, but they are important! This goal is probably the least critical of my top three (since aggressive retirement savings kind of helps take care of it), but I still get a kick out of rounding up my monthly payments and tossing in an extra payment here and there just to stay ahead.

Final Thoughts

Sure, I’ve got plenty of other financial goals that fall more into the “nice to have” or “maybe someday” category. But these three? They’re the foundation and absolutely mission-critical when it comes to my finances. So, what about you? What fires you up every day, and what are your big three?