Financial Goal planning refers to setting financial goals and developing plans to achieve them. Your financial goals can be short-term, medium-term, or long-term. Short-term goals can be achieved within a span of one to three years. Examples are building an emergency fund or investing for a vacation. The medium-term financial goals could be buying a car or an SUV.
The long-term financial goals usually take a longer span of 10-15 years or even more. Examples are planning for retirement, buying a home, or saving for your child’s education and marriage. You must always invest for your financial goals based on the time horizon and risk profile.
Financial goals such as children’s marriage, buying a house, or a car are high-value goals. You must plan and invest your money to achieve these goals over a longer period of time. Financial goal planning helps you decide where to put your money. You can select the best investments based on your risk appetite and stay on track to achieve your financial goals.
Financial goal planning helps you to get more organised with your money. For example, you would have to cut down on excessive spending to achieve a financial goal such as saving for your children’s higher education.
The financial goal calculator is a simulation, that shows you the value of a future financial goal. It works on the future value concept. The calculator consists of a formula box, where you enter the current value of the goal, and after how much time you require the amount and the expected rate of inflation. The financial goal calculator will show you the future value of your goal.
The financial goal calculator goes a step further and also shows you the amount you must set aside to achieve your financial goal. You must enter the expected return on investment and any amount kept aside for the financial goal.
The financial goal calculator uses the concept of future value to calculate the accumulated corpus at the time of the financial goal.
You will have to use the formula:
FV = PV (1+R)^N
FV = Future Value
PV = Present Value
R = Rate of return on the investment
N = Duration or time-frame of the investment.
For example, the current cost of a financial goal is Rs 10 lakh. You want to calculate the value of the financial goal after 8 years. Assume an inflation rate of 7%. The financial goal calculator will calculate the future cost of the goal as:
PV = 10,00,000
R = inflation rate at 7%
N = Duration to the financial goal which is 8 years away
FV = 10,00,000 (1+0.07)^8 = Rs 17,18,186.
Let’s calculate the savings you must set aside each month to accumulate the requisite corpus. You have currently not saved any money for the financial goal. Let’s consider the expected rate of return on the investment at 8% per year.
You can use the PMT Function in the Excel Calculator where you enter the rate = 8/100/12 (convert to a monthly rate).
You must calculate the period of the investment in months = 12 * 8 = 96 months.
Put PV = 0 and FV as per the earlier calculation = Rs 17,18,186.
The financial goal calculator shows you the investment required per month to attain the financial goal as Rs 12,835.
The ClearTax Financial Goal Calculator is an easy-to-use tool for calculating the future value of your financial goal.