 TITLE: How to Make a Financial Plan CONTENT: What Is Financial Planning?\n---------------------------\nFinancial planning involves building a strategy to accomplish your financial goals. A financial plan gives you a roadmap for navigating all the monetary decisions that go into realizing your hopes and dreams.\nIn the short term, this plan can help ensure you're able to meet your current financial obligations, such as credit card bills and mortgage payments. In the long term, the plan can help you set aside money for things like retirement or a home purchase.\nFour benefits of putting together a financial plan are:\n1.  Getting a handle on your financial situation: A financial plan helps you track how much money you're earning, saving and spending. By establishing a budget, you know where you stand financially and can more easily prepare for the future.\n2.  Preparing for the unexpected: As part of a solid financial plan, it's smart to set up an emergency fund. This pool of money can help you weather tough times, such as the loss of your job or a long hospital stay. A financial plan also can help you figure out your needs for health, life or disability insurance.\n3.  Paying off debt: If you're coping with debt from sources like credit cards and student loans, a financial plan can help erase it. The plan should include steps you can take to eventually become debt-free, such as zeroing in on high interest debt before addressing lower interest debt.\n4.  Realizing other savings goals: Maybe you're itching to spend a week on the beach in Hawaii or you're putting away money for a down payment on a home. A financial plan can lay out ways to attain these types of short-term savings goals. END