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 draw it up correctly and how to follow it, despite possible unforeseen force majeure.

Why make a financial plan?

I've been running this blog for over 6 years. All 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 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 complete 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 for you to look at yourself as a functioning business and assess how profitable or unprofitable this business is. In other words, such a plan will become a kind of audit of your personal financial condition. You will be surprised how much you can learn about yourself and your finances. Where do your honestly earned money go? What additional sources of income do you have? Where can you save money, and where should you direct additional financial resources? A detailed plan will answer all these questions.

In addition, creating a project to achieve financial independence will allow you to soberly assess your goals, their reality and achievability. Drawing up a plan will help you concentrate on the most important thing, which will mark out secondary goals for which you currently do not have real resources. This is very important from a psychological point of view, since sky-high goals are perceived by the subconscious as really unrealistic at this stage. For example, in your current situation, you can hardly expect to buy a Porsche in the next couple of years. But acquiring a plot of land in a promising suburb may be a very realistic goal. Thus, 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.

Principles of drawing up a financial plan

Any financial plan begins with determining the initial data. To do this you need to make 2 tablets. First you need to write down everything that brings you money. Next, you should note all your liabilities—the things you consistently spend your money on.

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

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

Many who do not have tangible assets on their “balance sheet” may think that they do not have any at all. But that's not true. 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. You can also include absolutely everything that brings you income into your asset, even if it’s insignificant and not obvious at first glance. When the table is compiled, you can move on to the next part of the work on the financial plan - analysis of assets and liabilities.

Analysis of assets and liabilities

Based on the results of compiling a 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 comparable figures of income and expenses.

If you couldn’t find where you went wrong, then do the following. During the month, write down all your expenses in detail, and at the end of the month, summarize the results. Most likely, you will find a missing item on your balance sheet.

When the numbers turn out to be more or less realistic, answer yourself the question of what exactly doesn’t suit you about your current financial situation. Think about what expense items you can reduce or eliminate entirely. For example, you noticed that you spend the lion's share of your income on food in restaurants. In this case, think about 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. You should not immediately look for methods to increase them. Instead, use the rule known among investors as “pay yourself.”

"Pay yourself" rule

The essence of the rule is that you need to save part of the money each 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 surely form your own “safety cushion”. Personally, I try to save at least 30%.

If it seems to you that you have nothing to save and that you live “penny to 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 adapt to this figure, and you can easily feel comfortable while saving 4,000 monthly.

What to do with this money? If you have no savings at all, then start by creating a financial safety net. You can start by opening a regular deposit with the right to replenish. For this I use contributions to . When your account has an amount equal to 6 months of expenses, you can start investing in more profitable instruments. But even with the 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 significant amount for you.

Results

The first step on the path to financial independence is important. The financial plan, an example of which you just saw, is, at first glance, a simple thing. But it will help you:

• Conduct an audit of your financial situation;
• Find the weak points of your balance and eliminate them;
• Start investing money 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. To effectively implement the plan, it is a good idea to introduce it to all members of your family so that they can support you and follow the plan with you.

As you can see, there is nothing complicated in drawing up a financial plan. Nevertheless, take the matter very seriously, because it depends on whether the money will work for you or you will be doomed to work for money all your life. I invite you to share your experience in the comments about who uses what programs and systems to account for personal finances.

Profit to everyone!

A personal financial plan is the first step towards achieving your goal and achieving financial independence. The vast majority of rich people have their own financial plan, thanks to which they competently manage their cash flows and, as trite as it may sound, this allows them to become even richer and feel more confident in terms of financial security. A well-drafted plan provides a certain algorithm of sequential actions, the implementation of which will allow you to achieve your intended goal at the lowest cost. Even a simple plan will allow you to feel more stable, get rid of debt, live mediocrely, and ideally significantly improve your financial situation.

Most people don't have a clear financial plan. But nevertheless, they still have some desires. And to the question of what would you like in this life, the answers will be approximately the following:

• a lot of money A LOT OF MONEY;
• apartment;
• cottage or house by the sea;
• do not work and live on interest from capital;
• car;
• to travel a lot;
• pay off debts.

Go ahead. We ask them: “How are you going to achieve this?” And then there comes a long pause. A person begins to scroll through something in his head, think, and comes up with something like this: “Will I earn more in the future?” (we do not take into account winning the lottery and receiving a rich inheritance).

How much more? And when will this happen? And what are you doing for this? And if income increases, what next? How do you want to not work in the future and live entirely on your own funds, which will generate your monthly income? And in general, how much money do you need for this?

And in response there was silence or something completely incomprehensible.

• why do you need a financial plan and what does it provide;
• how to correctly formulate your goals;
• complete compilation algorithm in 4 steps with examples;
• how to avoid mistakes and increase the efficiency of achieving your goal.

The article turned out to be quite lengthy. But I tried to take everything into account in it. After reading it you will receive complete information on the correct preparation of your plan.

Why do you need a financial plan?

What is a personal financial plan (LPP)? This is a kind of map, a kind of guide that helps you move towards your goals along the right path, with the least obstacles and difficulties, taking into account all the nuances. If we compare it with other areas in life, we can draw an analogy. Let's say you travel to Altai on your own by car. In order to get to a place safely, you need to know: the road map, the distance and, accordingly, how much money is needed for fuel, travel time, associated expenses (food, overnight stays, etc.), things that are needed for the trip. Having such knowledge, you can easily reach the intended point, with maximum comfort. The absence of one of these points in the plan can cause serious obstacles, up to the inability to get to the place (it’s commonplace to run out of money on the road).

Drawing up a plan will take you no more than an hour, well, maybe 2-3 hours if it is serious enough. But the time spent will allow you to clearly formulate your goal and, most importantly, understand how you can achieve it.

People who have a clearly defined financial plan achieve their goals many times faster than those who do not.

Stages of drawing up a financial plan

Where to start compiling LFP? Formation of the plan consists of several successive stages.

Stage 1. Setting goals

Drawing up a financial plan should always start with defining your goals. That is, what you want to achieve. Goals can be long-term or short-term. Not important, important and very important or global. In addition, goals should be specific and better expressed in monetary terms. For example, I want a new car, an apartment, or save up for a vacation - on the one hand, these are goals, but on the other hand, they carry absolutely no information. It would be more correct to formulate this way - I want:

• a new BMW car for $30,000;
• 3-room apartment in the center of your city for 5 million rubles;
• save 100,000 rubles for vacation.

So we have specific goals. And now it becomes more clear how much money is needed to achieve them.

Stage 2. Timeframe for achievement

The goals have been set. Now you need to determine the time during which you plan to achieve them. When there are no exact deadlines, the goal becomes something illusory and distant. Specifically, using the above examples, you can do this:

• buy BMW in 3 years;
• apartment in 10 years;
• vacation - accumulate by May next year.

Deadlines and goals need to be set realistically, based on your financial capabilities. The dream of having a million dollar house and several million dollars in your account is certainly good. But if you receive the average salary in the country, then your plan is doomed to failure from the very beginning. As well as the goal of saving up for an apartment worth 100 thousand dollars in 2 years with a salary of 1 thousand dollars. Be realistic.

Stage 3. Assets and liabilities

This is the most important point. Moreover, compiling it will take the lion’s share of time. And success in achieving your goals depends 90% on him.

You need to determine for yourself how much money you can save monthly. First you need to determine the size of assets and liabilities in your budget. That is, how much you receive and spend. The difference will be the amount that can be allocated.

Assets are what bring you money or your income.

Liabilities - they take money, that is, your expenses.

We draw up a table of assets and liabilities.

It is not necessary to know every expense item down to the last penny. You can initially generate data approximately “by eye”. The most important thing here is to see the overall picture of your income and expenses and in what proportion this or that expense item accounts for the total amount.

The table shows that the net balance each month is 9,000 rubles. Based on this, you need to adjust your goals and deadlines for achieving them.

It was more logical, of course, to start from this stage, and then move on to setting deadlines. But I advise you to do it in this order. Why? If you immediately determined how much money you have left and the period until you achieve the plan based on these plans, then you would end there. The discrepancy between the desired and actual deadlines gives you an incentive to look for ways to fix it.

Stage 4. Invest money

After determining the goals, deadlines and the amount that you can save monthly according to your personal financial plan, you need to make sure that the money does not lie as a dead weight, but brings additional income. Depending on your goals and time frame, you can use different financial instruments to make a profit. The following rule applies here: the longer the period of achieving your goals, the more risky and profitable instruments you need to invest money in.

A few examples.

1. Money for vacation in 1 year. At the appointed time, you must have a certain amount that will be enough for the trip and related expenses. And here the most important thing for you is stability and security. Therefore, the best option is bank deposits with their almost 100% reliability. If you are planning a trip abroad, it is advisable to additionally open a foreign currency deposit. This way you will protect yourself from sudden sharp jumps in the dollar (euro), when money accumulated in rubles can sharply depreciate.
2. You are saving for your child's education. The money will be needed in about 8 years. The term is quite long, so bank deposits, with their low interest rates, are not the best option. Investments in bonds and stocks, whose potential income is 1.5-2 times higher, are most suitable for you. 1-2 years before the target date, gradually transfer money to more conservative instruments to avoid unpleasant situations in the form of drawdowns in shares. Here again we turn our attention to bank deposits and government bonds with their highest degree of reliability (OFZ).

When drawing up personal financial plans, many people make the same mistakes and do not take into account many factors. This together makes it difficult to achieve the intended goals, and in some cases makes them impossible. It is better to know all the pitfalls right away on the shore and swim with the flow, and not against it. Additionally, our advice can significantly speed up your process, in some cases even significantly.

Unrealistic deadlines and amount of goals

As already described above, there is no need to wish for yourself what you are unlikely to achieve. It's better to focus on more real things. Of course, the goal may be slightly too high. This will give you an incentive to look for additional opportunities to make your dream come true.

Too much amount

This refers to the amount set aside monthly. Of course, the more you can save the better. But you don’t need to tighten your belts to the limit and live on 5 kopecks a week. The goal is of course good, but you need to live now. Moreover, constantly living in spartan conditions, you risk one day giving up on everything, all your goals and plans. Therefore, leave yourself some financial reserve to breathe more freely.

Lack of discipline

Setting goals and making a plan is only half the battle. You could even say this is the simplest and easiest thing. What awaits you ahead will be a real test for you. You can create a plan in just an hour, but you need to stick to it for several months (years, decades). The success of your venture will depend on your actions in the future.

Too long

It is very difficult to stay motivated and stick to a month-to-month plan that spans several years. Therefore, further break it down into several stages. It will be much easier to reach everyone. And the motivation will be at the level. If you are saving for an apartment (country house) for 10 years, then the 1st stage will accumulate 10% of the cost within a year. You can take into account the footage of your future home - save for the kitchen, hallway, bathroom, toilet. Then, for example, the accumulated money would be enough for you to buy out 1 room, then another. Think of something similar for yourself.

Inflation

For some reason, almost everyone forgets when money depreciates. This is especially true over long periods of time. Agree that 10,000 rubles now and 10-15 years ago are two big differences. Previously, you could buy a lot more with them. The same goes for your plans. If you plan to save a certain amount, it may turn out that by the original date it will not be enough due to the fact that during this time the prices for everything have increased. But here they will come to your aid...

Compound interest

They work in conjunction with inflation. Typically, the higher the inflation rate in a country, the higher the return on investment will be. But here it is the difference between income and current inflation that needs to be taken into account. It is this difference that will show your real income.

By investing money at 15% per annum with annual inflation in the country at 10%, your real income will be 5% per annum.

How to find out this profitability? It is very difficult to determine the exact figure. But there is a certain average interval:

• Bank deposits - real yield 0 - 3% per annum
• Bonds - 2-5% per annum
• Shares - 3-8% per annum.

Pay yourself

After receiving income (salary, bonuses), we immediately set aside a predetermined portion for your goals. This will relieve you of the constant headache of where to get money at the end of the month, when almost everything has already been spent, but nothing has been put aside yet. Additionally, you will not be tempted to spend this money on other “necessities.”

Exact adherence to plan

On the one hand, this is good, but there is no need to blindly carry out everything planned in advance and fully automatically. You can make small adjustments based on your current capabilities. We raised your salary, gave you a good bonus, found a part-time job - we adjust the plan. Such periodic review can give you a significant acceleration in moving towards your goal. There are many options: save everything you receive above the average salary: either it’s all, or half, and spend the other half on yourself for your loved one, or save a certain percentage of what came from above, or a fixed percentage of your entire income. We received a lot - we put a lot aside, our salary was cut - we reduce the contribution to the dream in the same proportion.

Optimization of expenses and income

The easiest way to achieve your financial plan faster is to save as much as possible. How to do it? There are only two ways - we reduce expenses and increase income. The easiest way to start is by optimizing your costs. Once again, carefully analyze what can be reduced and what can be completely abandoned in the name of a good goal. Perhaps you spend too much on entertainment, alcohol, smoking, lunches in cafes and restaurants. Everyone can find something of their own that they can limit themselves to (a little or completely).

After such optimizations, you can save significantly more money, which will ultimately give you the opportunity to achieve your goal much faster. Or get a more significant financial result within a predetermined period. What to focus on? Almost any family can save an additional 10 to 30% through small optimizations.

By investing 3,000 rubles in the stock market every month with an average annual return of 15%, after 15 years you will have 2 million rubles in your account. But if you increase the contribution amount to 5 thousand, you will receive an additional 800 thousand!

If you save 10% of your income, but then were able to optimize your expenses by 20%, then the amount of free funds you have will triple and things will go 3 times faster.

Where to keep records?

Is accounting necessary at all? Or can you just save money and not think about anything? In principle, this option is also possible. If you have an iron will, determination, excellent memory and your goals are not too long-term. But why all this? It’s easier to keep records, recording your achievements and the stage at which you are now and how much time you still have left until the end of the journey (time and money).

There are several accounting options. You can keep a notebook, a kind of income and expense book, and make notes there. The second option is to record everything on your computer in an office program, such as Excel. Once you have set up and entered the necessary items of expenses and income, as well as your goals, all you have to do is enter the numbers in the appropriate columns. You can even download a sample financial plan in a ready-made Excel spreadsheet and modify it a little to suit yourself.

But I think this is a long-outdated option. We live in the era of computer technology and a fairly large number of programs have already been created that significantly simplify the maintenance of such accounting and, in particular, the achievement of a personal financial plan. The only negative is the likelihood that such a service will be closed by the developer. Your Excel tables will not go away, but data on a third-party service may be lost forever.

Therefore, here you need to choose the right service that has been working for several years. Personally, I have been using the free EasyFinance.ru program for several years.

There are a lot of advantages. Simpler accounting, the ability to easily access your data in the past, with the preparation of various reports: how much you received previously, how much you spent, saved, what share of a particular item of expenses-income from the total, what stage of the financial plan you are at and how much you left. You can maintain several plans at once. All this can be done with just one click of the mouse. And what I especially like is the ability to build all kinds of graphs, charts and interesting reports. This would be difficult to achieve in Excel.

How is there no such specific deadline? For minor goals, such as buying a new computer, phone, saving for repairs, it is recommended to draw up a plan for six months to a year. If your goals are more global, buying an apartment, saving for old age, then make a plan for several years in advance. This could be 10, 15 or 20 years. Further, it is advisable to break this period into several smaller ones. Nobody knows what will happen to you and your income in a few years. Therefore, we will definitely formulate a first plan for the next 2-3 years, and then based on your capabilities.

Is it possible to have several LFNs?

Of course you can. In this case, you need to choose priority ones among them, determine in what proportion you will contribute funds to achieve each goal. Of course, you need to save more for more important goals. But it is advisable to have no more than 2-3 goals. Otherwise, you risk wasting all your money on them and ultimately not achieving a single goal.

I have an existing loan, does it make sense to make a plan or is it better to pay off my debts first?

Repaying a loan ahead of schedule is also a kind of financial plan. But if you have other goals in your plans besides repayment, then 2 options are possible. If you have a very expensive loan (20-30% per annum), then of course it is better to first throw all your energy and resources into repaying it. And only then begin to formulate your plans for the future. Otherwise, you will always be at a disadvantage. We invested the deferred money at 15% per annum, and the loan costs were 2 times higher.

If you have free debts (borrowed from friends, acquaintances), give some of them to pay off, and use the other part for your plans.

A mortgage loan taken for many years stands apart. Here, too, you need to approach it based on logic and your capabilities. Either pay it off as soon as possible, thereby saving a significant part of the funds from the loan, or accept everything as is and, in addition to monthly loan payments, simultaneously implement your other financial plans.

Drawing up a financial plan using an example

Based on all of the above, all the recommendations and advice, let’s look at an example of how to correctly draw up a financial plan, optimize it and implement it.

Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich wants to accumulate capital, which will allow him to leave his job and live in the future on interest. His demands are not too great and 30 thousand rubles a month is enough for him.

Forming a goal. 30 thousand per month is 360 thousand per year. We need to determine the amount of capital to own and ensure a given return.

There is a simple rule of two hundred. This means that the monthly profit must be multiplied by 200. Why 200? This corresponds to a conservative yield of 6% per annum, but with almost 100% safety of funds.

In our case we get:

30,000 rubles / month x 200 = 6,000,000 rubles

There is a goal: 6 million rubles

Now we evaluate the current financial position, that is, assets and liabilities. Let's make a table.

Income exceeds expenses by 5 thousand rubles. This is exactly the amount that can be saved monthly. But with such deductions, you will need to save for 100 years. And Ivanov would like to keep it within 10 years, maximum 15.

This means you need to increase the size of your monthly deposits. We will cut costs. Let's see what we can sacrifice. You need to start with the largest articles so that optimization gives greater results.

As a result, it was decided:

1. Quitting smoking saves 3,000 rubles.
2. Reduce expenses on alcohol - 500 rubles.
3. Reduce trips to the cafe at work - 2,000 rubles.
4. Buy food and clothes more thoughtfully and in advantageous places - an additional minus 3 thousand.
5. Recreation and entertainment have also been slightly reduced - the winnings are 500 rubles.

As a result, every month an additional 9,000 rubles will remain. Total: you can safely save 14,000 rubles a month. This is about 30% of total income.

In addition, sometimes Ivanov is given additional bonuses at work. Plus it happens to earn money on the side. According to a rough estimate, this brings in about 100 thousand a year. On average 8 thousand per month. Ivanov decides to spend some of this money on himself, and 5 thousand will go into the piggy bank.

Total: you can save 19 thousand a month with virtually no damage to your budget.

Now we determine where we will invest our money. Since the goal is quite serious and the implementation of such a financial plan will take more than one year, the most optimal would be to invest money in the stock market, namely in.

Investing in stocks is considered a risky investment, but has the potential for high returns. You can reduce risks without loss of profitability by increasing the investment period.

Taking into account inflation and projected long-term profits, we have a real return of 6%. Using a calculator, we calculate how much time we need to earn 6 million. (It would be more correct to say - an amount equivalent to today’s 6 million, for which it would be possible to buy the same amount of goods and services as now with this money).

The period is about 15 years. This is exactly the time you need to fulfill your financial plan.

On the one hand, the period is quite long. But Ivanov has 4 options for the outcome of events:

1. He will achieve his goal exactly on time.
2. Will arrive ahead of time.
3. By the appointed time, he will not have time to complete everything planned. But he will already have some capital.
4. He will spit on everything and spend all the money.

As you can see, 3 out of 4 outcome options are positive. That is, the chance of achieving certain success is quite high.

If you do something, then you have two possible outcomes: it will work out or it won’t work out. If you do nothing, then you only have one left.

But during the working period of life, decent sums pass through the budget of each person. Let's say, with a monthly income of 40,000 rubles, over 40 years of work a person will receive 19,200,000 rubles. The amount is more than impressive, but in fact this money is only enough for living expenses. And for a normal life you need an apartment, a car (preferably for each family member), funds for the education of children, and so on. Therefore, this amount must be maximized. How to do this correctly? How to make money work to achieve your goals, and not someone else’s? The answer is simple: you need to create a personal financial plan. We’ll tell you what you need for this in our article.

How to make a financial plan correctly: stages

All dreams are possible. The main thing is to act correctly: to move directionally towards the fulfillment of desires, clearly following previously drawn up plans. But how do you develop a financial plan? We'll tell you 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, children's education, passive income, travel, caring for loved ones, and so on. Desires can be very different, but each of them has its own cost equivalent.

Next, in order to correctly draw up a financial plan, you should highlight priorities depending on the significance of the desire. For example, if you are renting a rental home, then purchasing real estate will be your priority. Priorities should be divided into A, B and C:

A - what must be achieved in any case;
. B - necessary;
. C - desired.

At this stage, you need to identify the total value of your desires, and also look inside yourself again and think about whether they really have value for you.

Table 1. Priority tasks and their financial equivalents

Determining the starting point

The second step for those who have decided 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 incorrectly. You need to make a table on a piece of paper (or in Excel), divided into two groups: assets and liabilities. Assets are what make you money. Liabilities are what consumes your funds. You need to clearly understand what is an asset in your case and what is a liability.

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

Liabilities are cost items. These are loans, debts, expenses for household needs (clothing, food, entertainment, etc.).

Table 2. Assets and liabilities

Optimization of assets and liabilities

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

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

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

Table 3. Optimization of assets and liabilities

Microplane

At this stage it is worth systematizing your spending. For example, if, trying to save money, you deny yourself new clothes for a month or two, and then go and buy it all during the 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 at a wholesale base and so on.

It may seem that this 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, have fun once every two weeks for a certain amount). You cannot cross out important expense items, because they can come back a hundredfold - in the form of unplanned expenses.

Get into the habit of keeping a financial diary, recording your daily expenses. This can be done either on paper or in a special home accounting program, which can be downloaded on the Internet. There is no need to write down every bun you buy in your diary. Record your expenses according to the following principle: date, income (salary, part-time work), expenses on food, fuel, shopping.

After some time, a picture of your financial flows will begin to emerge in your head, and you will be able to see how a financial surplus will form. The purpose of this stage is to streamline your expenses, since most of them are unplanned.

Table 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.” You need to put 10% of your financial income into a financial box. 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 funds. The point is that if from a salary of 40,000 rubles. If you put aside 4,000 rubles every month, even at 10% interest, then in 40 years you will accumulate an amount of about 22.3 million rubles, which is quite enough to realize the desires set above.

But if we talk about long-term investment periods, then you need to have many investment strategies and combine them wisely. 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 general 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 essence, bonds are the same deposits, only from different sectors of the economy, issued by different companies with a fixed return (often slightly 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 investing you involuntarily immerse yourself in the world of finance and learn to better understand general economic trends.

Rice. 1. Corporate bond index chart

Moderate investment

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

Investments in mutual funds - when you receive a share of the portfolio of a fund that professionally manages investors' money;
. trust management - when 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 shares of the most reliable dividend-paying companies, on the recommendation of professional advisers. By doing so, you maximize potential profitability and at the same time learn to understand the thinking of financial market professionals.

Moderate investments also include the purchase of real estate. But this is not a conservative method: as practice shows, real estate can also become cheaper, and buying it at the “pit” stage is even more risky.

Rice. 2. MICEX index chart

Aggressive Investments

Having gained experience and knowledge in the field of finance, you will be able to make independent investments in shares of fast-growing companies, periodically carry out short sales (earnings from a decrease in the market value of assets) and invest in instruments containing high profit potential.

In the future, you can 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 that those who decide to create a personal financial plan need to do is try to make their desires come true using the assets they already have. For example, you can not buy a finished car, but create a portfolio of investments 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, but the earning portfolio will remain. And will 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 does not sail according to the map, it risks remaining 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 maximum investment returns is the Otkritie Broker company. We will help you not only develop a financial plan correctly, but also “pump up” on many other topics. Register on our portal to start learning right now!

The Romir research holding, based on a survey of one and a half thousand people living in cities and rural areas, 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 the income “normal” for a family of three people at 91.6 thousand rubles per month, and for residents of rural areas - 61.5 thousand rubles per month.

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

Only 54% of Russian families keep written records 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 during the month.

Central Bank experts are confident that the financial plan will allow you to save money 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 its help.

What is a family financial plan?

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

The popular belief is that you need a financial plan to spend less. But in fact, it is needed 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 within a given period, or predict changes in expenses if you have to pay monthly.

What should you consider before making a plan?

Interests of all family members

The whole family should be aware of each other's personal goals (clothing for children, vacations for parents, etc.) and general goals. This will help avoid financial conflicts.

Insurance protection

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

Save for retirement on your own

It is worth recognizing that employer 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 cushion can help in case of sudden expenses or job loss. At the same time, you can save money not only from your salary, but also take advantage of 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. To ensure that your plan reflects the real picture, include possible losses from inflation in your plan.

How to start?

Start keeping a spreadsheet of your income and expenses.

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

Accounting must be kept daily and even the smallest expenses, which make up a significant part of expenses, must be recorded. For convenient accounting, we recommend dividing expenses into categories: rent, food, entertainment, medicine, shopping.

Analyze your income and expenses

Find out what recurring expenses you have every month and how much you have to spend on them. Typically, most of the expenses are spent on medicine, clothing, food, transportation and communications.

After calculating your required expenses, decide how much you can save or spend on other needs.

Build assets and get rid of liabilities

All purchases and property can be divided into two categories: assets and liabilities. Assets are what increases income in one way or another, and liabilities are what does not generate income or reduces it. For example, a car can be an asset if it helps you work better and earn more, or a liability if you buy it, for example, to maintain status.

Formulate your goals

Determine the time frame within 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 get several envelopes, sign their purpose (“for vacation”, “for taxes”, “for unexpected expenses” and others) and put cash there. Or you can open a separate deposit or deposit and transfer part of the money to this account.

Make a plan

Indicate your monthly expenses. Think about different options for achieving your goals: save up, borrow money, get a loan. For each goal, choose those that you are going to stick to in your plan and in your life. Don't forget to include in your plan the amount you will set aside for savings.

A plan helps you track progress toward your goals, spot problems early, adjust spending as situations change, and stay motivated when you're dealing with long-term, challenging goals.

How to simplify accounting?

On the Internet you can find many convenient planner programs for computers and smartphones that help you manage your budget and properly distribute your finances. For example, the Azlex Finance program can be used by several people both on a computer and on a phone. She subtracts mandatory expenses for rent, education or loans from total income, and distributes the remaining amount proportionally by day or week. There are also programs like Easyfinance, in which you can link a bank card to your account, and when paying for services or goods, the transaction will be automatically entered into the program. Or “Home Economics”, taking into account inflation.

But if you are more accustomed to controlling everything yourself, 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.

Budgeting Rules

• Create an “emergency fund” by saving part of your salary. The amount can be from 10% to 20% of 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 where you can save.
• Make a plan for your annual spending so there are no more surprises for you. Don't 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 not to forget that saving does not mean permanent restrictions. A significant portion of purchases are made spontaneously. And unplanned expenses often cause 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 pleasant.

A couple of months ago we discussed in detail how to compose . Look at 6 simple steps, after which you can write down your goals in detail, allocate money for them, and even know exactly when your desires will come true.

If you have completed these steps or are just about to start your personal financial plan (personal financial plan), you are faced with the question of how to draw it up quickly and functionally.

You will no longer be bothered by the question: where to get money? You'll be wondering: Where do I add more goals? How to make the budget accessible to everyone in the family? Where should I enter investment interest? And in general, how to put it all together so that it is convenient and understandable? 🙂

You can make an LFP template yourself, use formulas that are convenient for you. Or you can download my template. Use it in its original form or add it to suit your own needs. Create, because it's your money!

Since the template is stored on my Google Drive, you cannot change it. To use the LFP table, copy it for yourself. To do this, go to link and select “File” - “Make a copy” (or “File” - “Make a copy”) from the menu.

Now let's look at all the tabs in detail and I will describe how to use the table.

Page one - GOALS

Of course, at the very beginning we have GOALS. This is done so that first of all we see the desires for which we work!

Write down your goals and calculate how long it will take you to achieve them. How to correctly enter goals, as well as how to correctly calculate the time to achieve it, is described in detail in the article: “ " Look at the article, in it you will find useful life hacks on what to do if a desire is postponed or, on the contrary, fulfilled faster.

In the “Income” cell, enter your monthly income in the currency in which you receive it. I use rubles by default everywhere.

Let's move on to the second page of the Template and see a sheet that often makes people despondent -

Page two - COST PLANNING

Only at first glance it seems that everything is complicated. But no, everything is simple and the table will calculate everything itself 😉

Numbering: the first column, where the percentages are indicated at the bottom. I don't use numbering in the categories so I can rearrange them as I see fit. But I put percentages on desires and goals. This makes it more convenient to navigate if the percentage ratios for goals are different.

Monthly expenses: categories of expenses you spend or save. Now the categories are by definition from the article , but you can change them.

Plan: planning your expenses. How to plan so that you have enough for everything is described in the article.

Fact: Here the formula calculates the average value for all months.

Dates: Now the table starts from November 2017.

How to use:

Enter your monthly income in the cell below the date. In the first month the formula is not needed, but then be careful. You must enter the amount of income not in the cell itself, but in the line with the formula. Look at the example.

Now I set my income at 34,000 rubles. And you, instead of the blue number, enter your income for the last month.

Fill in the lines with expenses. And in the last line you will seeremainder, which you have left for the month

It is automatically transferred to the next month and added to income.

Third page - ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

Let's go to the third and last tab of our table - Assets and Liabilities.

Assets- the money that brings us more money. Bank deposits, profitable investments, securities, apartment for rent, etc. I filled in a line with one bank deposit so you can see an example.

Enter the deposit amount, if any. Then enter the percentage and the table will automatically calculate your annual income.

Liabilities- the opposite part of your money to the asset. Here enter currency (in rubles) in cash, real estate, car, savings kept at home, etc.

Total— the sum of assets and liabilities. This is the amount you own.

Life hacks for using a table

Get creative! Decorate in your favorite colors, use Google emoticons to designate your categories. Bring your own personality to the table and you will notice how you will begin to use it with pleasure.

If you want to update the template usefunctions and formulas Google Sheets. Simplify your life and don't calculate everything manually!

If you did everything correctly, then you will not have a question: How to plan a budget? In just an evening, you will understand what, how much and where to save in order to achieve your financial goals.

I also have a recorded webinar on creating a Personal Financial Plan. In it I tell personal life hacks, the experiences of students and of course I give an updated LFP table. You can join the webinar at any time. Sign up using the link.

The main thing is don’t put it off until later!

And that is not all! Do you want to participate in free trainings on finance and earnings marathons? Then subscribe to my Instagram. There, among other things, I tell and show how I achieve my goals with the help of a Personal Financial Plan and crazy motivation. IN Join our Success Club and know that you will succeed!