Your Guide to Achieving Every Financial Goal

We've all been in a situation when a friend or colleague has walked into the office showing off the keys to their brand new car. Or, when that woman you're constantly competing with makes an announcement about the fact that she's finally made a down payment on her dream home. At first, we try being happy for them, but more often not, we're overcome with jealously and then a sense of helplessness as we feel like we're drowning in our financial plan and unable to meet our goals.

Of course, you've been putting money away in that savings account religiously. You even started a recurring deposit, but the returns are hardly enough to help you keep your head above the water, leave alone help you purchase that car you've been eyeing, or even buy yourself that fancy new laptop you really want.

When it comes to planning your finances, the first thing you need to do is list down your goals. What are you saving for? You might want to purchase a new car, or you may be saving up to be able to afford your own home. Your goals don't all have to be so serious. You could also be saving up to finally embark on that solo backpacking journey across South America, or maybe, you simply want to save up for your retirement. Once you list down all your goals, it's a good idea to prioritise them and put a time limit on them.

Travelling might be most urgent, because you want to do it before you're ready to get married and settle down. Of course a car is next on your list, followed closely by being able to purchase a home in India's ever-growing real estate market. Finally, retirement comes at the end, but not because it's the least important.

Now that you know approximately how much you need to gather and by when, it's easy for you to figure out where you need to invest your money to get the kind of returns you need to meet your goals. When you have a clear-cut goal in mind, with an equally clear price tag, it becomes much easier to put away money to achieve it.

However, while planning for your retirement, it isn't easy to keep a figure in mind. You have to consider inflation and the rising cost of living before understanding how much money you may need per year when you aren't working. But, even then, you don't know how many years you will need the money for. At times like that, investing to gain the right amount of returns becomes increasingly hard.

Thankfully, you have HDFC Life to help you. Not only do we have investment plans that are tailored to help you meet your retirement goals, but we also offer investment plans to help you realise your short terms goals, too. Right from saving up for your wedding to planning for your child's future, there's an HDFC Life investment plan that will help you meet your every goal.

So, if you want to be the next person to walk into office with that amazing new car, or if you finally want to buy that home you've been dreaming of, it's time to start investing right now. Remember, it's never too early to invest, but if you start too late, you may have already missed the bus. If you're ready to get started with your financial planning, click here.