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CFO Corner Week 3: How to Set Financial Goals for 2026

Setting 2026 Money Goals

Welcome to Week 3 of CFO Corner! This week, we're turning awareness into action by setting your financial goals for the year.


What You've Accomplished So Far:

  • Week 1: Reviewed your December spending and identified patterns

  • Week 2: Calculated your net worth baseline to understand your starting point

  • Week 3 (Today): Setting 1-3 specific financial goals for 2026


Why Goal-Setting Matters Now: We're still early in the year when you're in planning mode and have momentum from Weeks 1-2. This is the perfect time to create focus before life gets busy and good intentions fade. Your goals will build directly on what you learned about your spending patterns and financial position.


The Power of 1-3 Goals: Too many goals = diluted focus. When you try to fix everything at once, you end up making progress on nothing. Instead, we're choosing 1-3 goals that actually matter to YOU based on your life and priorities - not what you see on social media.


Four Goal Categories to Choose From:

  1. Emergency Fund: Save a specific amount by December (e.g., "Build a $3,000 emergency fund" or "Increase emergency fund from $1,000 to $5,000")

  2. Debt Payoff: Pay off specific debt (e.g., "Pay off $5,000 credit card debt" or "Eliminate car loan by November")

  3. Investing: Start or increase contributions (e.g., "Max out Roth IRA with $7,000" or "Increase 401k from 3% to 8%")

  4. Savings Goal: Save for a specific purpose (e.g., "Save $2,000 for summer vacation" or "Save $10,000 for house down payment")


What Makes a Goal Work: Specificity is everything. "Save more money" is a wish, not a goal. "Save $3,000 for an emergency fund by December 31st" is a goal you can track and achieve.


Your Action Steps:

  1. Review your findings from Week 1 (spending patterns) and Week 2 (net worth baseline)

  2. Choose 1-3 goals that address YOUR needs and priorities

  3. Write each goal with a specific dollar amount and deadline

  4. Put your goals somewhere visible (phone notes, mirror, fridge, phone wallpaper)


Remember: Your goals should match your season of life. Don't compare your Chapter 3 to someone else's Chapter 20. These goals will guide every CFO Corner check-in throughout 2026.


Coming Up in Week 4: Set up your Money Calendar for 2026! We'll map out when bills are due, paydays, annual expenses (like insurance renewals), and tax deadlines. This 20-minute task will prevent financial surprises and keep your goals on track all year long.


Find our FAQs here.

 
 
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