 TITLE: What Is Financial Planning and How Can it Help Me? CONTENT: How to Form a Financial Plan\n----------------------------\nIf you're at a stage of your life where you've accumulated debt, savings and investments, it may be worth the cost to work with a financial advisor when establishing your financial plan. These advisors are not only well-equipped with knowledge about various financial topics, but they can also provide an objective perspective and opinion about your situation.\nBut if you'd prefer to build your financial plan on your own, follow these tips to get started:\n*   **Acknowledge your goals and priorities.** Everyone is different, so it's important to understand what's most important to you and what you want to accomplish with your money. If you have a partner, it's important to recognize that your goals and priorities may differ. Take some time to communicate, so you're both on the same page.\n*   **Get a grasp of your current financial status.** Start by writing out your income and expenses to get an idea of where your money is going. Also, take stock of your assets, such as savings and investments, and your debts, so you can calculate your net worth.\n*   **Build a budget and cut expenses.** Making a budget is one of the most fundamental things you can do to achieve your financial goals because it helps you take control of how you use your money. Your financial plan may also include a plan to cut expenses so you can gain more cash flow to use for financial goals. Focus first on emergency savings, then on other top priorities after that.\n*   **Make a plan to get out of debt.** Debt payments can make it difficult to accumulate savings, investments and other assets. So take some time to work out a plan to pay down your debt, starting with balances that carry higher interest like credit cards, personal loans and student loans.\n*   **Start saving and planning for retirement.** While retirement is still decades away for some people, the sooner you start planning for retirement, the easier it will be to achieve your goal. Work with a professional or use an online retirement calculator to get an idea of how much you need to be saving, then do your best to do so with what you have.\nAfter you take these initial steps, you'll be in a better position to work on other aspects of your financial plan, such as education savings, a home down payment and more. END