Those who fail to plan are planning to fail

Benjamin Franklin said "if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail". This is a very simple and relevant statement applicable in many areas of life including wealth accumulation. Vincent Thomas Lombardi, an American football coach, said that there is not such thing as a perfect game. You cannot control the weather, the referees, injuries or any number of other variables. You can, however, have a perfect practice – with a plan to respond to any eventuality.

Same goes with investing, there is actually a great deal that we cannot control. But Planning, however, is one of the few things we can control. Unfortunately, most people do not do this . Most of the people I come across, have an outcome in their mind such as buying a house, education for children, retirement etc, however, they have not taken the effort to define the outcome, set a time-frame for it and calculate what they will need in order to fulfil that goal. Almost everything is in the mind, hence, they end up investing their money without a great deal of thought or planning. 

To say that we should plan our financial goals is just to state the obvious. However, in spite of this knowledge, most people do not put in the required effort to plan for their financial future. But the same people would have a much detailed plan for a holiday trip - When will they go? Where will they go? How will they get there? How much money is needed? etc etc.

A plan brings structure and it reduces the effect of chance and gives purpose. With a plan in place, we have more chance to succeed. The absence of proper planning can detrimentally affect the financial success, especially in the current turbulent times.

So friends, take some time out from your busy schedule, write down your goals and construct a plan for achieving them. If you cannot do it yourself or you are struggling to start, take the help of a financial advisor who will provide you with strategy and planning. Don’t ignore it, or live in ignorance of it.