Effective Planning for 2025 – Asking the Right Questions
Planning for the future can be overwhelming. It’s hard to sort through all the differing advice, the various strategies, and the random ideas that friends and colleagues share. Yet, in the area of finances, having a good plan can make all the difference. Whether you are thinking about your personal finances in the coming year or you are making plans for your small business in 2025, it is a good idea to take some time to plan now so that you can be ready to hit the ground running at the start of the new year. If you’re looking for the answer to your planning dilemma but aren’t sure where to start, we would like to suggest that you start with some questions.
Where do your finances stand right now?
This is such a basic question that sometimes people may forget to consider it. But before you can figure out where you are going or how you will get there, you have to have a good idea of where you are right now. For an individual who is trying to put together a plan to become more financially stable or a small business owner that wants to grow their business to the next level, doing an honest assessment of the current situation is a unquestionable necessity.
What are your goals for the future?
Once you have a grip on reality, you are ready to engage in a little bit of dreaming. All of us have some idea of what we would like our future to look like and finances often play a big part. Perhaps you want to buy a home in the next few years. Maybe you are looking at sending your kid or kids to college. Or for business owners, you might want to expand your operations into other services or hire more workers. Whatever your goals or dreams may be, you need to be specific about them if you are going to plan for them. Write down two or three specific and reasonable goals for the near future before you begin outlining your plans for achieving them.
What steps can you take to achieve your goals?
Okay, now that you’ve had a little time to dream, it’s now time to step back into the real world. Now that you know where you are and where you want to go, you will need to do the work of figuring out what steps you need to take to get there. This question may be the one that takes the longest to answer, but giving it some thought and doing a little research will definitely be worth the time and effort. Ask the people you know, read what the experts have said, and then outline the path you will set out on to achieve your goals.
What roadblocks might you encounter?
As you begin to map out the road ahead, it’s good to have a positive outlook regarding your journey, but we all know that there will most likely be some obstacles that you will run into along the way. Part of good planning is anticipating the problems that may be waiting for you further down the road. Think through potential issues and find out what thought leaders in personal finance or your particular industry are saying about the future. Knowing what pitfalls might await you can give you time to prepare or have contingency plans in place.
What opportunities might you have overlooked?
Finally, ask yourself what opportunities may be out there that you have not noticed. As you ask yourself this final question, it can be good to get the opinions of others around you. Friends, family, colleagues, and even competitors might be able to help you see an opportunity that you have missed. Often people get used to thinking in a certain way about our finances, and you might not realize that there are some potential choices that could be advantageous but that you haven’t even considered.
As you plan for your finances in 2025, remember that Federated Bank is here to assist in any ways we can. For personal finance, we have saving vehicles as well as lending products, from small auto or personal loans to larger home mortgages. For business owners, we provide a wide variety of savings, loans, lines of credit, and even leasing options. We are a local partner, dedicated to helping you bring your personal and business plans to fruition.
