What are your personal finance resolutions for the year ahead? Have you looked long and hard seriously at your current state of finances? What are the goals you want to achieve and what are you willing to give to make it a reality?

Have you set your financial plans in motion for 2019? Do you have goals to achieve, wisdom from the year past, and actionable items for the year ahead? Have you gone through your 2019 review with your financial advisor?

A resolution is much more than a wish list one makes every year or derisively write-off as wishful thinking. A resolution is setting a meaningful purposeful goal on where you want to be.

“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”

Below is a short list of 9 areas to build your financial resolutions for the year ahead.

1. Pay yourself first

You are the captain of your own ship. And you determine your future. You work hard for a living. Are you paying yourself first?

2. Prepare for rainy days

Even in California, it will rain some days. And no matter where you are in the world, you don’t know what tomorrow holds. The old cliche of preparing an umbrella before the rain still holds true in preparation for emergencies. Avoid risking an emergency drowning you in worry, debt, and destroying your future. Build up sufficient cash (or other liquid) savings that you can quickly access in case of emergency.

3. Live debt free

Learn to tell the difference between good debt and bad debt. As much as possible live debt-free. And especially if you’re nearing your retirement years, work to clear off your debts before retirement. Live a life unburdened and unshackled by debt. If you’re young, avoid the follies of youth and living as a slave to debt. If you’re currently in debt, work out the best method to clear it off whether using a snowball (smallest amount first) or avalanche (highest interest first) method.

4. Get adequately protected

Different stages in life require different levels of risk management. Get as much coverage as you need to adequately protect yourself. Know how much you need for medical coverage, income replacement, and other coverage needs. Don’t overpay for insurance. Yet don’t undercover yourself. Keep your insurance separate from your investments.

5. Know your worth

What is your current net worth? How will your net worth grow over time? Are you over or under accumulating wealth with all the opportunities that life has given you?

6. Write your will

It’s simple and affordable. Avoid the pain of a lengthy and expensive drawn out process of dying without a will. Don’t make your loved ones suffer another loss beyond your passing. Basically, if you have assets besides EPF, unit trusts, and insurance policies – you need a will. Even though you may be single.

7. Define the “why” in your finances

What are the goals you’re striving for? Is retirement something too far away that you can’t even picture or fathom it? Know your retirement number. And more importantly, know why your financial goals are important for you and your loved ones.

8. Invest in your future

Time and compounding returns are your friend here. Invest for your financial future. Work towards setting aside 40% of your income towards investing into your financial freedom. If you’re employed, EPF already takes care of above 20% of that. You just need to save the remaining 20%. Learn what are the various types of investment asset classes. How do they perform in times of different economic situations? Is your investment asset allocation in place? Are you sufficiently diversified come what may?

9. Simplify with an advisor

Working with an advisor is invaluable if you need help knowing and planning your finances. If you typically plan your own finances, working with an advisor is still again invaluable to give counsel and help you discuss and keep you disciplined.