But through the budget of each person for the working period of life are decent amounts. Say, with a monthly income of 40,000 rubles for 40 years of work, a person will receive 19,200,000 rubles. The amount is more than impressive, but in fact this money is enough only for living. And for a normal life, you need an apartment, a car (better - for each family member), funds for the education of children, and so on. Therefore, the specified amount must be maximized. How to do it correctly? How to make money work to achieve your goals, not someone else's? The answer is simple: you need to create a personal financial plan. What is needed for this - we will tell in our article.

How to draw up a financial plan: stages

All dreams are realizable. The main thing is to act correctly: to move towards the fulfillment of desire, clearly following the previously drawn up schemes. But how do you develop a financial plan? Let's talk step by step.

Setting goals

The first stage is to determine for yourself what exactly you want to achieve and in what time frame. The goal can be almost anything - an apartment, a house, a car, the education of children, passive income, travel, caring for loved ones, and so on. Desires can be very different, but each of them has its own cost equivalent.

Further, in order to properly draw up a financial plan, you should prioritize depending on the significance of desire. For example, if you are renting a rental property, then buying a property will be a priority. The priorities should be divided into A, B and C:

A - what should be achieved in any case;
. B - necessary;
. S is desired.

At this stage, it is necessary to identify total cost your desires, as well as look once again into yourself and think about whether they really have value for you.

Tab. 1. Objectives by priority and their financial equivalents

Determination of the origin

The second step for those who decide to build a financial plan is to determine their own current financial situation. The fact is that many people answer such a simple question completely wrong. It is necessary to draw up on a sheet of paper (or in Excel) a table divided into two groups: assets and liabilities. Assets are what bring you money. Liabilities are things that spend your money. It is necessary to clearly understand what in your case is an asset and what is a liability.

If you have a car, then it can be both an asset and a liability. If you spend money on its maintenance, fuel, etc., using the car only for personal purposes, it is a liability. If a car helps you make money, it's an asset. The same is true with real estate. If you have a house in the countryside, which you hardly ever visit, but pay taxes for it, then this is a liability. And if at the same time you rent it out for the summer months, then it is an asset. If you don’t have a car and real estate, your salary is an asset.

Liabilities are cost items. These are loans, debts, spending on household needs (clothes, food, entertainment, etc.).

Tab. 2. Assets and liabilities

Optimization of assets and liabilities

Looking at the resulting table, you can immediately find that small expenses - cafe visits, spontaneous purchases and entertainment - take away a certain part of the income that could be spent more rationally.

Also, according to the table, you can take a look at your own assets and liabilities from the outside. And to understand whether there is an option to turn one into another - let's say, to rent a house in the country for the summer.

At the stage of compiling the table, it will become clear where the money goes. In addition, the most priority items of their income (work, part-time work, business) will become clear. For example, if a part-time job brings more money than the main activity, you should think about whether it is worth spending most of your working time so inefficiently. After a few hours of thinking, you will understand how to spend and receive funds more rationally. Having correctly drawn up such a financial plan, you can optimize your spending. The main goal of this stage is to create a surplus in your budget.

Tab. 3. Optimization of assets and liabilities

Microplane

At this stage, it is worth systematizing your spending. For example, if you, trying to save money, deny yourself new clothes for a month or two, and then go and buy all this in season at an inflated price, this is the wrong approach. You need to clearly understand when and what to buy. It is also worth considering whether it is possible to optimize food costs, for example, by purchasing products from a wholesale base, and so on.

It may seem that such an approach will doom you to count every penny. But this is far from true. You must clearly understand: rest is needed, and money will be spent on it. It is only important to systematize this process (for example, to have fun once every two weeks for a certain amount). It is impossible to cross out important items of expenditure, because they can return a hundredfold - in the form of unplanned expenses.

Get into the habit of keeping a financial diary, recording daily expenses in it. This can be done both on paper and in a special program. home bookkeeping which can be downloaded from the Internet. It is not necessary to write down in a diary every purchased bun. Record expenses according to the following principle: date, receipts (salary, part-time work), expenses for food, fuel, shopping.

After a while, a picture of your financial flows, and you can see how the financial surplus will form. The purpose of this stage is to streamline your spending, since most of them are unplanned.

Tab. 4. Example of a daily financial diary

The biggest secret

The main secret of any financial plan is based on the principle of "pay yourself first." It is necessary to set aside 10% of your financial income in a financial egg. But not just under the mattress - you need to make the funds work, producing even more money. Everyone knows the fantastic effect of compounded interest, which shows a multiple increase in cash. The bottom line is that if from a salary of 40,000 rubles. to save 4,000 rubles a month, even at 10%, then in 40 years an amount of about 22.3 million rubles will be accumulated, which is quite enough to fulfill the above desires.

But if we talk about long time investment intervals, then you need to have a lot of investment strategies and combine them correctly. Investments can be divided into conservative, moderate and aggressive. It is also necessary to be able to take into account the general economic situation in the world. And this requires constant improvement of overall financial literacy.

Conservative investments

Money is invested in deposits of reliable banks, various pension and insurance products. It is very good to dilute these assets with exchange-traded bonds, as they reduce risk. The fact is that when investing in a bank deposit, you accept the risks of the banking sector, which can sometimes be very high (for example, during the period of selection of banking licenses). In fact, bonds are the same deposits, only from various sectors of the economy, issued by various companies at a fixed income (often a little higher than the average deposit). It is very convenient to invest money in bonds every month. It is important that in the process of such an investment, you unwittingly plunge into the world of finance and learn to better understand the general economic trends.

Rice. 1. Chart of the corporate bond index

Moderate investment

Approximately half of the portfolio of moderate investments consists of deposits, bonds, pension and insurance products. The other half are:

Investments in units of investment funds - when you receive a share of the fund's portfolio, which professionally manages the money of investors;
. trust management– when a part of your funds is managed by professionals according to a pre-selected strategy that generates income over a long period of time;
. investments in the shares of the most reliable companies paying dividends, on the recommendation of professional consultants. Thus, you maximize the potential profitability and at the same time learn to understand the way of thinking of financial market professionals.

The acquisition of real estate can also be attributed to moderate investments. But this is not a conservative way: as practice shows, real estate can also become cheaper, and buying it at the “excavation” stage is even more risky.

Rice. 2. Chart of the MICEX index

Aggressive investments

Having gained experience and knowledge in the field of finance, you will be able to independently invest in stocks of fast-growing companies, periodically short sell (make money on a decrease in the market value of assets) and invest in instruments that contain high profit potential.

In the future, you will be able to vary these investment styles depending on economic conditions and increasing experience.

Rice. 3. Sberbank stock chart

Stage of formation of earning assets

The last thing you need to do for those who decide to create a personal financial plan is to try to make sure that desires are realized at the expense of existing assets. For example, you can not buy a ready-made car, but create an investment portfolio that can generate income that can provide payments on a car loan over a period of time. After a while, the loan will be repaid, and the earning portfolio will remain. And continue to generate income.

Conclusion

It must be remembered that all goals are achievable with a properly formed strategy. A ship can be powerful and large, but if it is not sailing on the map, it risks staying in the same place. The most important thing in the process of achieving any goal is to start, continue and not stop.

Your personal assistant in achieving the maximum return on investment is Otkritie Broker. We will help not only develop a financial plan correctly, but also “pump” on many other topics. Register on our portal to start learning right now!

Personal financial plan: instructions for drawing up

Making a personal financial plan

Many successful investors, when asked about the reasons for their success, often mention such a seemingly trivial thing as a financial plan - a personal enrichment project. Today you will learn about what a financial plan is for me, how to make it right and how to follow it, despite possible unforeseen force majeure.

Why make a financial plan?

I have been blogging for over 6 years now. During this time, I regularly publish reports on the results of my investments. Now the public investment portfolio is more than 1,000,000 rubles.

Especially for readers, I developed the Lazy Investor Course, in which I showed you step by step how to put your personal finances in order and effectively invest your savings in dozens of assets. I recommend that every reader go through at least the first week of training (it's free).

This is the first question you should ask yourself before making a family financial plan. Finding the answer to this question is very important, because without it you simply will not be motivated enough to implement a personal project on the path to financial independence.

A financial plan is necessary first of all so that you look at yourself as a functioning business and assess how this business is profitable or unprofitable. In other words, such a plan will become a kind of audit of personal financial condition. You will be surprised how much you can learn about yourself and your finances. Where does your hard earned money go? What additional sources of income do you have? What can you save on, and where to send additional financial resources? All these questions will be answered by a detailed plan.

In addition, creating a project to achieve financial independence will allow you to soberly assess your goals, their reality and achievability. Making a plan will help you focus on the most important, which will mark the secondary goals that you have to achieve. this moment no real resources. This is also very important from a psychological point of view, since sky-high goals are perceived by the subconscious as really unrealizable at this stage. For example, in your current position, you can hardly expect to buy a Porsche in the next couple of years. But the acquisition of land in a promising suburb may be a very realistic goal. In this way, your subconscious will eliminate the option of buying an expensive sports car and thereby free up energy to achieve a more tangible goal.

So, we figured out that a financial plan is the most important stage on the path to wealth. Let's proceed directly to its compilation.

Financial plan principles

Any financial plan begins with the definition of initial data. To do this, you need to make 2 plates. First you need to write down - everything that brings you money. Then you should mark all your liabilities - what you consistently spend your money on.

Here is an example of such a plan drawn up in an Excel spreadsheet.

It is very important to consider all assets and liabilities in your plan. It depends on how accurate and meaningful your financial plan will be. Note that things like a car can be both a liability and an asset. For example, if you use a car to earn money, this income must be indicated in the asset column. But if the car is just a means of transportation that you spend money on consistently, then you should write these expenses in the liability column.

Many who do not have tangible assets on their "balance sheet" may think that they do not have them at all. But it's not. Everyone has assets. Your main asset is yourself, your skills and abilities that you can use to generate income. First of all, this is your profession and the work for which you are paid money. Also, in an asset, you can include absolutely everything that brings you income, even if it is insignificant and not obvious at first glance. When the table is compiled, you can proceed to the next part of the work on the financial plan - the analysis of assets and liabilities.

Analysis of assets and liabilities

Based on the results of compiling the table of income and expenses, you should have two numbers - total income and expenses. It often happens that these numbers do not correspond to your real financial situation. For example, annual income can significantly exceed expenses, but in fact there is practically no free money. In this case, you need to work more carefully on the list of liabilities and think about what exactly you did not include in the right column of your table. The real result, as a rule, is commensurate figures of income and expenses.

If you couldn't find what you did wrong, then do the following. During the month, write down all your expenses in detail, and at the end of the month, summarize. Most likely, you will find a lost item in your balance sheet.

When the numbers turned out to be more or less real, answer yourself the question of what exactly does not suit you in the current financial position. Think about what expenses you can reduce or eliminate them completely. For example, you noticed that you spend the lion's share of your income on food in restaurants. In this case, consider how you can save money. Perhaps it makes sense to dine at home more often or take food with you to work so as not to spend money on catering.

The second step is to analyze your income. Do not immediately look for ways to increase them. Better use the rule known among investors as “pay yourself”.

Pay yourself rule

The essence of the rule is that you need to set aside part of the money every time you receive income. Experts recommend saving 10%. This percentage is optimal for novice investors, since such a small deduction will be invisible to you. But at the same time, you will slowly and confidently form your “airbag”. Personally, I try to save at least 30%.

If it seems to you that you have nothing to save and that you live "penny for a penny", then you can be sure that this is not so. If you seriously decide to live not on 40,000 a month, but on 36,000, your brain will quickly adjust to this figure, and you can easily feel comfortable saving 4,000 a month at the same time.

What to do with this money? If you have no savings at all, then start by building a financial airbag. You can start by opening a regular deposit with the right to replenish. For this I use contributions in . When your account has an amount equal to 6 monthly expenses, you can start investing in more profitable instruments. But even with a banal accumulation of funds in a bank account with an accrual of 8-9% per annum, you can count on the fact that in a few years your account will have a serious amount for you.

Results

The first step on the road to financial independence is important. The financial plan you just saw is a simple thing at first glance. But it will help you:

• Conduct an audit of your financial situation;
• Find weaknesses in your balance and eliminate them;
• Start investing not in liabilities that make you poorer, but in assets.

If you are a family person, then you need to draw up a family financial plan according to the example given above. In order to effectively implement the plan, it will not be superfluous to share it with all members of your family so that they will support you and follow the plan with you.

As you can see, there is nothing difficult in drawing up a financial plan. However, take it very seriously, because it depends on whether money will work for you or whether you will be doomed to work for money all your life. I suggest sharing your experience in the comments, who uses what programs and systems for accounting personal finance.

All profit!

Today I will tell you how to make a financial plan for the year For example. Another year is coming to an end, a new one will soon begin, which means that it's time to sum up the financial results of the outgoing year and start financial planning for the next one. In this article I will describe how to draw up a personal financial plan for the year, as I see it, you can use my recommendations, make your own adjustments to them, etc.

The main thing is that you have a financial plan, and you try to stick to it - it will be much easier to achieve your goals.

Before you draw up a financial plan for the year, it is highly desirable to have detailed financial results for the past year. In the previous article, I said - read and start with this, we will need this data for further financial planning.

Drawing up a personal financial plan includes two global areas: an income plan and an expense plan. The second direction (cost planning) is a much more complex and voluminous work, and the first (income planning) is more important, on which the success of the financial plan implementation largely depends. Let's look at both of these areas.

Step 1 . Income planning.

When thinking about how to make a personal financial plan, you should always start with income planning. It is the income that will be yours Starting point, from which you will begin a more complex and painstaking process - cost planning.

Income should be planned as realistically as possible, without overestimating or underestimating. For example, if you receive a salary, and you know for sure that next year you will be raised by some amount - plan for it, if you are not sure what they will increase - it’s better not to plan (if anything, it will be a “pleasant surprise”, which will allow you to better fulfill your financial plan).

If you have passive income, for example, from an existing one, they can be planned with a high degree of accuracy. If these are some difficult-to-predict incomes (from business, investment, etc.), plan for the most realistic, average value. Also, when planning income, it is necessary to take into account income from the sale of personal assets, if any is planned.

Step 2. Cost planning.

Once you have planned your income, you can move on to planning your expenses. To do this, it is very good to already have the current cost structure at hand in advance in order to know how much money is being spent on which cost items now.

Cost planning should be carried out in order of priority: from the most important and urgent to the most unimportant and non-urgent. In my understanding, the priority should be as follows (in descending order of importance):

1. Repayment of debts (if any);
2. Creation of financial assets ();
3. Purchase of large tangible assets (real estate, cars, furniture, appliances, repairs, etc.);
4. Mandatory fixed costs (utilities, etc.);
5. Mandatory variable expenses (food, etc.);
6. Unforeseen expenses (this item of expenses must be taken into account - at least 5% of all expenses);
7. Recreation and entertainment.

That is, in your personal financial plan, you first need to arrange the most important and necessary expenses, then the less necessary, etc., distributing what remains to the least important cost items (and if there is nothing left, then nothing is needed for highlight them).

It is necessary to plan expenses in such a way that at the end of each month you have a positive financial results(income minus expenses). Moreover, on an accrual basis, that is, if at the end of the month there is a positive balance, it is taken into account further at the end of the next month. Thus, thanks to the transfer of the balance, you can save up money for some large expenses that cannot be carried out at the expense of one month's income.

Personal financial plan example.

And now let's look at how to make a financial plan for the year using an example. Everything that I wrote about above, I turned into real numbers in thousand units and compiled a table in Excel with calculation formulas, which I bring to your attention (click on the image to enlarge):

Note that in the financial plan for each month and for the year as a whole, I made 2 columns: plan and fact. We will fill out the plan immediately, and the fact will be introduced as the plan is implemented. So we will always, at every stage, see how we “fit in” with the planned budget, with our financial plan.

In the example, we consider an ordinary family in which the main income of the husband and wife is wage. According to available forecasts, a slight gradual increase is planned, and in December, the husband traditionally receives a large bonus (almost double his salary). All this is included in the personal financial plan. The family also has a deposit in the bank, from which it receives a small passive income and which it plans to replenish with accumulating savings, small part-time jobs in the summer, and plans to sell the old car in June. We also include all these areas of income in the financial plan for the year, and sum up the income.

After that, we start planning expenses. As I already wrote, we do it in order of priority, and comparing with the data of the past year. In this case, we first of all plan the remaining repayment of the loan (for this, the first three months will be enough for us), then the monthly creation of savings. It is also important for us to make a small repair at the end of the year (we will break down the cost of it by 4 months), and in August the family plans to spend a large amount on vacation - we also enter it right away (if it doesn’t “fit in” - then you can adjust it).

Then we begin to plan all current expenses: utilities, food, miscellaneous. At the beginning of the year, we plan for these cost items approximately as much as we spent in the last months of last year, then we gradually increase the amounts adjusted for inflation. We plan more utility bills during the heating season, less in the summer, we take into account the upcoming increase in tariffs.

We add mandatory contingencies (if there are none, great, our financial plan will be overfulfilled, but if they arise, funds for them will always be available), we leave small monthly expenses for recreation and entertainment. It remains for us to plan the purchase of clothes and shoes: we plan it for those months that allow us to do this, in which expenses on other items are minimal and a large funded balance is formed.

Everything, our personal financial plan for the year is ready! To compose it, I needed no more than half an hour. Then it remains to follow the planned plan, enter the actual data for the results of each month, taken from home accounting, and implement the set financial goals.

Having implemented their personal financial plan in the example, our hypothetical family in the next year:

• Completely pay off the loan (45 thousand den. units);
• Will increase his savings (by 90 thousand den. units);
• Make repairs (for 100 thousand den. units);
• Goes to rest on vacation (for 200 thousand den. units);
• Replenish stocks of clothes and shoes (for 80 thousand den. Units).

At the same time, she will always have the necessary funds for food, utilities and other current expenses. At the end of the year, a positive balance of 20 thousand den is formed. units And in the absence of unforeseen expenses, the financial plan will even be overfulfilled (in addition, up to 42 thousand more den. units will be released).

Now you know how to make a financial plan for the year. You can do this, like me, in Excel or another spreadsheet editor (this is convenient, because you can fill in all the necessary formulas to automate calculations), in your own, even just on paper, if all of the above is hard for you. Just in this case, you will have to spend more time on the calculations, but the financial plan will still be created.

I wish you successful financial planning, and most importantly, successful implementation of the financial plan drawn up. Remember that planning finances is always better than not planning: this way you can achieve more by spending less, achieve your financial goals, pay off your debts faster, create the necessary savings faster, systematize and streamline, eliminate situations of lack of money for something important and necessary.

Join the number of regular readers and get even more useful information which will teach you how to properly handle personal finances. Until we meet again on the pages of the site!

Research holding "Romir" on the basis of a survey of one and a half thousand people living in cities and countryside, found out how much money a Russian family needs for a normal life. According to the results of the study, in cities with a population of over a million, respondents called an income of 91.6 thousand rubles a month as “normal” for a family of three, and residents of rural areas - 61.5 thousand rubles a month.

Thus, the average Russian family needs 75.9 thousand rubles a month for a normal standard of living. However, in practice, it often turns out that even the most optimal amount of money ends before the next salary arrives. The reason for this lies in in large numbers small unplanned expenses that are not controlled in any way.

Only 54% of Russian families keep a written account of income and expenses of the family budget. At the same time, almost every tenth person does not know how much money he has and how much will be spent within a month.

Central Bank experts are confident that the financial plan will save and increase the family budget. And we will tell you what a family financial plan is, how to draw it up correctly, and how to control spending with it.

What is a family financial plan?

This is a long-term forecast of all cash spending for any period of time. It indicates how much money family members will earn during the specified period, and how they spend it, what they save for, and what risks they take into account.

According to popular belief, a financial plan is needed to spend less. But in fact, it is needed in order to get more for the same money. In fact, this life hack will save you from surprises.

A financial plan will help you understand how to distribute income and expenses so that you can save and accumulate the required amount for a set period, or predict a change in expenses if you have to pay monthly.

What should be considered before making a plan?

Interests of all family members

The whole family should be aware of each other's personal goals (clothing for children, vacation for parents, and so on) and common goals. This will help to avoid financial conflicts.

insurance protection

Many families neglect life insurance, limiting themselves to the CHI policy. But still, it is worth considering all possible risks: if suddenly one of the breadwinners cannot provide for the family, the family budget may not be ready for such a force majeure. Therefore, it is recommended to make insurance for each working family member in order to minimize the consequences of disability.

Save for retirement on your own

It is worth recognizing that the employer's pension contributions do not at all mean good security in old age. Therefore, think about the “pension” column in your financial plan.

Saving

A financial "airbag" can help in case of sudden expenses or loss of a job. At the same time, you can save money not only from your salary, but also use other opportunities such as tax deductions, or an investment account.

Inflation

An increase in the general level of prices for goods and services is usually not taken into account by anyone when planning savings. In order for your plan to reflect the real picture, plan for possible losses from inflation.

How to start?

Start keeping a spreadsheet of income and expenses.

Two or three months will be enough to understand how much money the family earns and how you spend it.

Accounting must be kept daily and record even the smallest expenses, which make up a significant part of the expenses. For convenient accounting, we recommend distributing expenses by category: rent, food, entertainment, medicine, purchases.

Analyze income and expenses

Find out what expenses you recur each month and how much you have to spend on them. Usually, most of the expenses are spent on medicine, clothing, food, transport and communications.

After calculating the mandatory items of expenditure, determine how much you can save or spend on other needs.

Build assets and get rid of liabilities

All purchases and property can be roughly divided into two categories: assets and liabilities. Assets are something that somehow increases income, and liabilities are something that does not bring income or reduces it. For example, a car can be an asset if it helps you work better and make more money, or a liability if you buy it to maintain status, for example.

Formulate goals

Determine the time frame for which you plan to achieve these goals. Planning can be long-term (5, 10 or even 20 years) or short-term (several months).

There are different ways to save money for different purposes. For example, you can have several envelopes, sign their purpose (“for vacation”, “for taxes”, “for unforeseen expenses” and others) and add cash there. Or you can make a separate contribution or deposit and transfer part of the money to this account.

Make a plan

List your monthly expenses. Consider different options for achieving your goals: saving, borrowing money, getting a loan. For each goal, choose the ones you want to stick to in your plan and in your life. Don't forget to factor in the amount you'll be putting away in savings.

A plan helps you track progress towards your goal, notice problems early, adjust expenses when situations change, and stay motivated if you're dealing with long-term and challenging goals.

How to simplify accounting?

On the Internet, you can find many convenient scheduler programs for computers and smartphones that help you keep a budget and correctly distribute finances. For example, the Azlex Finance program can be used by several people both on a computer and on a phone. She deducts mandatory expenses for rent, education, or loans from total income, and distributes the remaining amount proportionally over days or weeks. There are also programs like Easyfinance, to which you can link bank card, and when paying for services or goods, the transaction will be automatically entered into the program. Or "Home Economics", which takes into account inflation.

But if you are more accustomed to controlling everything on your own, then the Central Bank offers an example of the simplest family financial plan - based on a table with formulas.

It can be used as the basis for your family plan.

Budget Rules

• Form a "reserve fund" by saving part of your salary. The amount can be from 10% to 20% of the total income, and then gradually increase.
• Make a monthly spending plan. Count everything - from groceries to mobile bank payments. This way you will understand how much money is usually spent on each family member and what you can save on.
• Make a plan for your annual spending so that you are no longer surprised. Do not forget about insurance, pension and wardrobe.
• Consider entertainment, which is also an important part of the family budget.
• Set yourself a specific goal. It is much easier to strive for something if you can imagine the result.

It is important to remember that saving does not mean permanent restrictions. A significant part of purchases is made spontaneously. And unplanned spending often causes holes in the budget. Therefore, we believe that saving is not a shame, making a shopping list is prudent, and buying the right thing cheaper than expected is nice.

Hello, friends!

What is enterprise planning? This is the optimal allocation of resources to achieve its goals. And what is the life of a single person or family? Isn't it the same?

Then why does any enterprise consider it vital to engage in planning, but a person (family) does not? The enterprise has a development plan, every citizen (family) should have a personal financial plan. How to compose it? This is what we will talk about today.

What is LFP and why is it needed? All of us have goals. These can be simple household goals, such as living to paycheck without debt, making repairs next year, or upgrading your computer.

Or maybe global ones - saving up for a car, an apartment, educating children, etc. You can figure out in your mind how much money you will need to achieve your goal, calculate income for this period, subtract expenses. To understand that with such a salary nothing can be achieved at all and go to the bank for a loan.

But even if you write down on a regular sheet of paper what you tried to keep in your head, the picture may change. A clear demonstration of the discrepancy between your expenses and income is more sobering than any medicine. Where exactly is the money flowing, how to stop this uncontrolled process and what to do so that your money river is replenished every year, and does not eventually turn into a swamp? These questions will be answered by a personal financial plan.

LFP is a financial instrument that helps to analyze and optimize cash flows in which we are throughout our lives. And this allows, in turn, to develop a mechanism for achieving the goals set, to see the entire financial picture in its entirety for several years ahead.

Some people have been planning since childhood, then this habit brings excellent dividends in adulthood.

I will tell about myself. I was born in the Soviet Union and went to pioneer camps in the summer with gingerbread, dryers and cookies in my bag. Everything is as it should be. Only for all the homemade gifts ended after 3-4 days, and only I had enough before the arrival of my parents with a new portion of treats. The fact is that I divided my reserves by the number of days remaining until the day of the visit and ate exactly as much as I measured out. And no more gingerbread.

In adult life, the ability to save and control ourselves allows our family to always live on income and get more out of life than you can expect from our salary. And since I became interested in the issue of personal finance, things have gotten even better. Therefore, on own experience I responsibly declare that LFP works. You just need to correctly compose it and proceed with its implementation. The result of the process should be financial independence.

How to make a personal financial plan?

Stages of LFP construction

Stage 1. Goal setting

In order to justify ourselves in our own eyes, we often convince ourselves that we are unable to achieve the goal. In fact, we are not powerless, but weak-willed.

François La Rochefoucauld

Where to begin? Set aside an hour of free time. Get paper and pen ready. Write down what you want to achieve in the near, medium and long term. In other words, set goals. It just needs to be done right.

Wrongly formulated goal	Well formulated goal
Make repairs in the apartment	Make repairs in the apartment in 6 months. It will take about 100,000 rubles.
Go to the sea in summer	Go to the sea with the whole family in the summer of 2019 in Sochi. Estimated costs will be 100,000 rubles.
Buy a new car	In May 2020, buy a new Hyundai Creta car. Taking into account the sale of the old car, the surcharge will be 500,000 rubles.
Save up for your child's education	For 6 years, save up for the education of a child at Moscow State University. 4 years for 300,000 rubles. Total will need 1,200,000 rubles.

The meaning, I think, is clear. Goals must have:

• time limit,
• monetary value,
• specifics (place of rest, number of people, brand of car, name of the university, etc.)

And they also need to be realistic. For example, I never set a goal for our family to buy a villa on an island in the ocean. Because I can distinguish a fantasy from a real dream, which must always come true.

Stage 2. Financial analysis

After setting goals, you should conduct a thorough analysis of your income, expenses, assets and liabilities. If you are leading, then no difficulties will arise. If not, then it is better to postpone the preparation of the plan for 2 - 3 months. And for this period, daily record all your income and expenses to the penny.

You can do this in a notepad with a regular pen, in Excel or Google Doc spreadsheets, in special programs on a computer or applications on a smartphone. Choose the method convenient for you. The main thing is to do this daily and to accustom the family to report their money receipts and expenditures to you if you make up the family PFP.

Without waiting for the data on monthly income and expenses, make another table on the analysis of assets and liabilities.

Assets are what brings you income. Liabilities are things that require expenses.

Assets	Liabilities
An apartment that is used for renting out. The rental price minus utility costs is 20,000 rubles. per month.	The apartment, which is used for housing, has an area of ​​150 sq. m.
Deposit in a bank for 3 years at 7% per annum with interest capitalization. The initial contribution is 100,000 rubles.	Car Hyundai i30 2016 release.
A metal account in gold in the amount of 200,000 rubles.	Dacha 40 km from the city, which is used for family summer holidays.
Currency deposit in US$ for 1 year at 1.5% per annum in the amount of 3,000$.	Land plot for individual housing construction with an area of ​​10 acres, 3 km from the city with communications.
	Bank loan for 3 years at 20% per annum.

Please note that some articles from liabilities can be easily converted to assets. For example, rent out an unused garage or sell land plot if you do not plan to build a house on it. Likewise, a car, if it is used to generate income (taxi, freight), can go to the “Assets” section.

After you have a visual layout of your assets and liabilities, monthly income and expenses, you can proceed to the next step, “Review goals and prioritize”.

Stage 3. Adjustment of goals and optimization

This is one of the most difficult and painful stages. We have a lot of goals, we want to achieve them as soon as possible. But analysis of income and expenses shows that this is impossible. What to do?

Possible ways to solve the problem:

1. Review goals to highlight the most important and priority.

If you are “leaked by neighbors”, then, of course, repairs in the apartment can be considered as a priority. And if not? Maybe we should postpone the repair for a year or two? Reread all the goals you wrote. What do you really want for real? Not that it was like a neighbor, friend, colleague. And not something that raises the status.

2. Adjustment of goals to change the timing of achievement and their cost.

It's great to want the latest iPhone, but with summer and another family vacation coming up, would you trade it for a piece of iron?

Although there are many such examples. My friends saved up for a year to travel to Thailand. But they bought a large plasma TV with this money, which ideally suited the empty wall of their new apartment. To each his own.

3. Cost optimization.

If you already have before your eyes your expenses for 3 months, then you can easily find holes in the budget, and sometimes real “black holes” where money is poured. Buying expensive gifts, celebrating another birthday on a grand scale, going to cafes and restaurants, etc. The list is endless.

Just look at what is happening in supermarkets before the New Year. At this moment, it seems to me that people have not eaten anything for a whole year, so that later they will get drunk ... Sorry, eat and drink for the whole next year. They smash the shelves with products, gifts, which the store employees kindly formed for you. It doesn't matter what you buy and at what price. The holiday is...

About bad habits - a separate conversation. I tried to convince people who smoked a pack a day to calculate their spending on cigarettes per year. Yes, they were horrified, but they did not quit. The same, by the way, applies to a cup of cappuccino in your favorite cafe every morning.

There are many . And it is not at all necessary to deny yourself or your family some weaknesses. In my article on the topic of saving, I showed far from all the tricks that help, for example, my family to live at a decent level and regularly save money to achieve goals.

4. Increase in income.

A great motivating and developing way. It was he who helped me get out of the budgetary swamp, into which university employees were driven by miserable wages and humiliating attitude from the state. I started to learn a new profession, I started to respect myself again and I am confidently on my way to financial independence. And working at the university is now more of a hobby for me than a source of income.

What helped me and can help anyone:

• patience and perseverance - I had to study tons of information on the Internet to find something that could interest me in the issue of additional income;
• self-education - it is not necessary to take expensive courses to learn, start with free lessons, webinars, trainings, articles, books;
• discipline - every day I devoted to education for several hours;
• focus on results - I had a clear goal ahead, so nothing and no one could stop me.

And do not whine about beggarly wages and the indifference of the state. Nobody owes you anything. Do your own life and it will turn to face you.

All 4 considered methods can and should be applied simultaneously. Then it will be whole system rather than single attempts to change the situation for the better. And as they say, you can't argue against the system. Its main goal is to free up money from your budget for investment.

Stage 4. Creation of a reserve fund

What is a reserve fund and why is it needed, I have already considered in my article on financial independence. Therefore, I will only mention here that it is an obligatory part of a personal financial plan. Without an airbag, it will be painful to fall if something goes wrong in life. You were left without a job or your salary was drastically reduced, a serious illness requiring expensive treatment, and many other factors that are difficult to foresee. But you can protect yourself.

Have a bank deposit equal to 3 or 6 months of expenses, and your psychological well-being will be much better. And this will give confidence that you will solve all the problems during this time.

If it happens that the fund is completely or partially spent, the first thing you should do after the normalization of the situation is to replenish it to the optimal size.

Stage 5. Formation of an investment portfolio

This is the last and crucial stage, the result of which will be the achievement of your goals and the pride of your children for such “cool” parents. Where to start investing? From a plan, of course. But here one cannot do without the experience of competent financiers and consultants. Not everyone can afford them, although the costs pay off several times over.

There are our domestic experts. They are a real guide to action for me. You can gain experience in investing on your own, no one argues. Trial and error will give the result. The main thing is that it be exactly the one you are counting on.

My friend invested all the money he had in one of the mutual funds. For 1 - 2 years, he lost a lot of value. An acquaintance in a panic rushed to save the remaining savings. At the same time, he immediately violated 2 conditions for successful investment:

• Did not diversify the portfolio, i.e. invested all the money in one asset.
• I started to panic and do stupid things. Investing in mutual funds is a long-term project for several years. The fund both loses in value and rises. You can't rush. 1 year is not an indicator.

As a result, he does not trust any investment instrument and prefers to keep money in a bank account.

Determine your investment strategy. What risk are you willing to take?

Distinguish:

• conservative investment,
• moderate,
• high-risk or aggressive.

For different purposes - their investment instruments. But I repeat once again - without special knowledge, you can make a lot of mistakes.

The investment portfolio should include instruments with different levels risk. The older you are, the higher the proportion of conservative investments. Make a simple table for yourself. Under each type, put your share. For example:

conservative investment	Moderate investment	Aggressive investments
45 %	35 %	20 %

Now in each group you need to write the selected investment instruments.

When the portfolio is formed, the main and most difficult part of the LFP remains - this is its implementation. Basic principles that you must strictly follow:

1. Development of LFP for yourself, for your goals, income and expenses, and not blindly copying examples from books.
2. Rigid discipline, which manifests itself in the regularity of investing over a long period of time.
3. Annual review of the plan and its adjustment taking into account external and internal changes situations.
4. Diversification of the investment portfolio, i.e. investing money in various assets.

Conclusion

A personal financial plan is the most important document in your life. And the sooner you realize this, the easier it will be for you to fulfill it. Indeed, in planning, it is important to take into account all types of resources, including time.

If you wish, you can even draw up not one, but several plans. It all depends on the chosen type of planning. Short term plan will help save up for the most necessary purchases in the coming months. Medium-term - will allow you to achieve the goals that you planned to achieve in a few years. And long-term - it is worth compiling if the priority goal is to ensure a decent old age in a couple of decades.

But any of them can remain on paper if you don’t pick up a pen and notebook right now and write down your goals. And from tomorrow, you will not start recording your income and expenses every day. I did this six months ago. Catch up.