Achieving financial freedom is a long journey that many people have successfully completed.

Financial independence means you no longer need to work to support your desired lifestyle.

Remember, this journey is like a marathon, not a sprint. It requires patience, discipline, optimism, resilience, and regular check-ins on your progress. By measuring your progress, you can avoid the common mistake of realizing too late that you’re not on track for your financial goals.

Many unsuccessful investors make similar mistakes:

• Not saving enough
• Making poor investment choices
• Acting on emotions rather than logic
• Not having enough financial protection

The biggest mistake, however, is not regularly reviewing your financial situation. This prevents you from identifying problems and making necessary changes.

Financial planning isn’t perfect. Our guesses about the future will likely be wrong, so we need to be flexible and aware of our progress. Like flying a plane, successful investing requires constant adjustments to reach your goal.

To make the right changes, you need to track the right numbers. As management expert Peter Drucker said, “What gets measured gets managed.” Here are some important things to keep track of:

1. Your wealth window: How many months until you reach financial independence? For example, if you’re 52 and want to retire at 62, you have 120 months left.
2. Your savings percentage: What part of your take-home pay are you saving? The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Aim to save at least 20% of your income.
3. Your investment in stocks: What percentage of your investments are in global company shares? Historically, stocks provide the best long-term returns.
4. Your retirement income needs: How much monthly income will you need to live comfortably in retirement?
5. Your retirement income gap: The difference between what you’ll need and what you expect to receive from pensions or other sources. Your investments need to cover this gap.
6. Your income protection: What percentage of your income is protected by disability and life insurance? This is important for financial security.

The more you understand about your finances, the faster you can progress towards financial freedom. We encourage you to track these numbers regularly.

Knowing your true financial situation gives you more control over your future. Some people let life happen to them and end up with an “accidental” retirement income that’s lower than they’d like. Others take charge and shape their financial future to meet their goals. We encourage you to be in this second group.

If you haven’t yet completed our free financial planning scorecard, you’re missing out. It helps you see how confident you are about your financial future and rates your current planning situation. It takes less than two minutes and is free. You don’t need to provide your email unless you want your report or to share your score with us.

Click the link below to find out your financial planning percentage.

ScoreMy Financial Planning