Know What You Want - Then Build a Financial Plan Around It

Last Updated on April 3, 2026

Know What You Need and Want in Your Life—and Plan for It

Most people go through life without clearly defining what they truly want to own, to achieve, to experience, or to become. In essence, they operate without a “bucket list.” The idea isn’t new; popular culture has explored it memorably through The Bucket List, where two elderly men, played by Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, discover what matters most only after a harsh wake-up call. The more relevant question is why wait that long? Why does clarity about life’s priorities often arrive so late, and only after disruption?

The reasons are familiar. It takes effort to introspect. There is no instant gratification in figuring out what truly matters. And then come the rationalisations “I don’t have time,” “It may not be achievable,” or “My priorities keep changing.” Sometimes, the reasoning is dressed up as philosophy, dismissing desires altogether as distractions. Yet, beneath all of this, the reality is simple: most people haven’t done the work to understand what would genuinely make them feel fulfilled. Avoiding that question doesn’t eliminate it, it only postpones it.

Understanding What You Really Want

Answering the question “What do I want in my life?” is not a one-time exercise, it is an evolving process. It marks the beginning of a deeper engagement with oneself. Rather than being a rigid checklist, it is an exploration. Some answers will change over time, and that is not a flaw, it is a feature of growth. What matters is starting with what you know today and refining it as you go.

The first practical step is to articulate your goals what you need and what you want and roughly by when. Precision is less important than honesty at this stage. The goal is not to build a perfect plan, but to identify aspirations that genuinely matter to you.

Life Goals Financial Planning: The Two Buckets – Security and Growth

When you begin listing your goals, they typically fall into two broad categories.

The first is the Security Bucket these are the things that, if left unfulfilled, would lead to discomfort, regret, or a sense of failure. They are tied to responsibilities and roles we play in life. This includes ensuring financial independence in retirement, supporting parents, funding children’s education, or maintaining a basic standard of living with dignity. These are foundational goals. Once addressed, they create psychological and financial stability.

The second is the Growth Bucket these are aspirations driven by desire rather than obligation. They include experiences and ambitions that enrich life: travel, entrepreneurship, creative pursuits, or lifestyle upgrades. These goals are more fluid and often evolve with time. What matters here is not permanence but direction. Even if priorities shift later, having a plan ensures that resources are being allocated toward something meaningful rather than drifting aimlessly.

Now get down to planning-we have made this easier for you!

This is the next biggest stumbling block for most people. We didn’t find a simple tool that really gets the planning done so we built one that we are happy to use. You can use the MoneyWorks4me Financial Planning Tool to get useful and quick answers. All you will need to do is enter a few bits of information to know what you need to do to achieve these goals individually and collectively. You will know how much to invest in Debt and Equity for both your current Lumpsum savings & investments as well as for your monthly saving through SIP.

We have pre-programmed some of the Security Bucket goals viz children higher education, marriage and your retirement goals to help you get do these with ease. You can alter the expense estimates here and bring them more in line with your plans. You can add goals with ease. Once you have done this it will tell you the monthly SIP you need to do to meet all your goals.

Now you will probably have some savings and investments currently. Some like PPF, EPF will be towards your retirement planning and this will help reduce the SIP required to fund your retirement. You may also have other savings and investments currently – Lumpsum Savings/Investments that you need to include in your plans. All this can be done with ease. You can also chose different ways of allocating your current lumpsum savings and recalculate the SIP required to figure out what will minimize the total SIP you need to do.

The key is integration. A fragmented view where investments exist independently of goals often leads to inefficiency. A unified plan ensures that every rupee is working toward a defined purpose.

The MoneyWorks4me FPT helps you make a realistic plan

In all financial planning there are some assumptions of expenses and returns. How do you handle these? You can get a good estimate of what something costs today by just googling it. Using this, the future costs will also be fairly accurate. When it comes to returns, the Planning Tool allocates investment to Debt and Equity depending on how long you have to invest before you need to withdraw the money and then computes the probable returns. It uses the following good practice:

Less than 5 years away: Invest only in safe FD/Liquid/Debt Funds
5 to 10 years away: Invest 50-50 in Equity and Debt
10+ years away: Invest 80-20 in Equity and Debt

This allocation to Debt and Equity is crucial to a good plan. It ensures the asset class mix is matched to the time line when the goals need to be funded. It also provides you with flexibility to actually fund a goal through an appropriate mix of Debt and Equity investments depending on the level of the markets. If the stock market is seriously down in the year that you need the money you can lean on your investments in Debt and not sell your equity cheap. Alternately, if the markets are up and irrationally high, you can fund the goal by selling more equity.

The Bigger Picture

At its core, this exercise is not just about money, it is about intentional living. Knowing what you want provides direction. Planning for it provides structure. Acting on it creates progress.

The cost of this exercise is minimal. The upside, however, is substantial. It replaces uncertainty with clarity, randomness with purpose, and hesitation with action. In that sense, it is one of the most valuable investments you can make not just for your finances, but for your life as a whole.

In the final summary, the MoneyWorks4me FPT tells you the how much you need to put in debt and equity for both your monthly saving through SIP and your current Lumpsum savings to meet all your goals – bringing your entire life goals financial planning journey together in one place.

Read the next article to understand: ‘Using the Magic of Compounding to meet your goals’.

If you liked what you read and would like to put it in to practice Register at MoneyWorks4me.com. You will get amazing FREE features that will enable you to invest in Stocks and Mutual Funds the right way.