By Stefanos Gregoriou, The Sports Financial Literacy Academy
As we highlighted in our previous article, setting financial goals is a vital component of constructing a robust financial plan for athletes. However, merely setting financial goals is insufficient to ensure their attainment. To successfully reach your financial objectives, a well-crafted action plan is crucial. Achieving financial stability and success as an athlete is a lifelong pursuit that necessitates patience, determination, and unwavering discipline.
It is important to remember that the road to financial success is not always straightforward, and setbacks are inevitable. However, by taking the necessary steps to establish a solid financial plan and sticking to your strategy, you can navigate these challenges and make progress towards your financial goals. To this end, several ways can be employed. In this article, we will examine the most important steps to take to transform your financial goals into reality.
Once your financial goals are set, you need to come up with different ways to achieve them. For example, you may need to save more and/or cut unnecessary spending, or even focus on investing, which could provide you with additional income streams. You need to keep in mind, that having alternative courses of action to achieve a certain goal is vital. Things may not go according to your initial action plan, since there are various factors that are outside of your control. Therefore, having alternatives is crucial for making good decisions. Alternative courses of action, usually fall under the categories of continuing the same course of action, expanding the current situation, changing the current situation, or taking a new course of action. Furthermore, when prioritizing your goals, you first need to focus on your short and medium-term goals before dealing with your long-term goals.
Taking into account and evaluating the potential courses of action is key. You need to base your financial decisions on your life situation, the values which define you as an individual, whilst also reflecting on the conditions of the economy. Keep in mind that every action plan comes with its advantages as well as its risks, costs and consequences. Make sure you weigh these sufficiently, knowing that you always need to forego some things to gain others.
However, given the difficulty in evaluating risk, sometimes, seeking professional advice and guidance is recommended. Financial professionals, such as financial advisors, accountants, and attorneys are significantly important, especially when it comes to making important financial decisions, such as when deciding to invest a large portion of money.
Finally, whichever action plan you choose to follow, you constantly need to review and adjust it to reflect your current financial reality. Moreover, your priorities may change over time, which will consequently have an impact on your goals. What you want may change over time, so try to be flexible with the idea of revisiting goals and making adjustments to your financial plan. Reviewing your plan over time, will also allow you to assess your progress and keep track of it; identifying areas in need for improvement and making effective changes towards the achievement of your goals.
In conclusion, as an athlete, it is important to plan for your financial future and make smart financial decisions. Having a solid action plan as well as alternative courses of action in place, can enhance your proactivity, helping you achieve your financial goals and secure a bright financial future.
The Money Smart Athlete® Blog is established and run by the Sports Financial Literacy Academy® (SFLA). Through its education programs, the SFLA has the vision to financially educate and empower athletes of all ages to become better people, not just better athletes. For more information on our courses, our SFLA Approved Trainer Program®, and how they can benefit you and your clients, please get in touch with us at [email protected].
