It’s time to review your goals, personal, financial, and professional. Those personal and professional goals are important, but they are outside the scope of this BLOG, so I will keep to some financial ones. I would share with you my new weight loss goals, experiences in launching a business, or how I can’t get a dog, but I don’t have a personal blog so you will just have to guess.

All your financial goals need periodic review. Is the asset allocation still in line with your time frame? Has the goal changed, or what adjustments do you need to get back on track?

Retirement is the big one, the goal most everyone has on the top of their list. As this very long term goal tends to be the most aggressive allocation it is the hardest hit by market craziness. Just because the target is many years away does not mean you can’t take steps now to build it up. If you find you are behind you may be tempted to try and “catch-up” by taking on more risk. Consider instead making some adjustments in your expectations. Often pushing the target date out a year or increasing savings slightly will get your plan looking healthy again.

With college savings and other goals you typically do not have the extended time frame. If the big bear market of ’08 put you way behind you will need to look at your allocation to begin with, you may have been too aggressive to start. Also, look for ways to reduce these costs. On the education front start situating your student for scholarships and consider completing some GE at a junior college. Saving for a house? Maybe it is time to consider a smaller one, or waiting another year before you buy.

Remember that financial goals are based on assumptions that are, more likely than not, incorrect. The best plans are flexible, dynamic, and can be tweaked to respond to the ever shifting circumstances of the world, and our lives.

Want some help with this? Find a fee-only Certified Financial Planner near you and ask them if this is something they can help you with.

Jim Heitman, CPF Jim Heitman, CFP®, is a writer, speaker, and Certified Financial Planning practitioner in Southern California.