My father is originally from Taiwan and smoked cigarettes like his brothers, his father, and nearly every adult male he knew.
Back in those days, no one knew that smoking could cause lung cancer… so kept smoking.
Then he had kids. Those kids grew up and we grew up in an era where we knew smoking caused cancer. So when I was a kid, I asked my dad to stop smoking. I vividly remember my sister and I making signs and putting them around the house. I don't know if it helped but my dad stop smoking when we were little and never went back.
Anyone who has ever tried to reach a goal, whether it's to stop smoking or pay down debt, knows that it's hard. There are a bunch of different strategies you can use to improve your chances but the biggest one is accountability.
Accountability is fundamental.
How do you force accountability? Make it public. Tell your friends.
That's why I have a public page on my blog with my One Money Goal. wallethacks.com/omg
(in addition to the goal itself, I share my why)
That's the financial goal the rest of my money decisions revolve around. It's an audacious goal but it's the big OMG. It's meant to be big and presumably out of reach today, but not in five years. But it's where I aim to devote my work time.
Someone comes to me with a new financial opportunity… does it get me closer to my OMG? If the answer is no, I pass.
If my OMG were to pay down credit card debt, then all financial decisions are up against that mission. Do I buy that new gadget or do I put it towards my OMG? Active decisions are the cornerstone of mindful spending, put your goal out there for all to see. Friends invite you out? I will pass this time, I'm close to hitting my goal. It's as simple as that.
What's your OMG?
Share your One Money Goal in the comments. If you have an OMG page on your blog, put the full URL in the comments so others can see it.
[email protected] says
November 9, 2015 at 8:20 amOur biggest money goal is to become financially independent. I know that’s pretty cliche these days, but we do have a plan to get there! We’re 35/36 now and we are around 10 years from having our two rental properties and our primary home paid off. We also save a ton of money for retirement and have watched it grow over the years. I have to be partially financially independent at age 46 and possibly scale back my work by then.
Jim says
November 9, 2015 at 9:17 pmIt might be cliche but it doesn’t make it less good!
Kate @ Cashville Skyline says
November 9, 2015 at 9:39 amMy one money goal is to reach financial freedom. And for me that means being able to work when I want, from where I want without being influenced by how much I’m being compensated. So, I working on generating multiple streams of revenue. I don’t have an exact number in mind. But I’ll know when I’m there.
Jim says
November 9, 2015 at 10:55 amI’m a firm believer in what Douglas Adams, creator of Dilbert, calls systems rather than goals. A lot of folks believe in setting a target – like FI = some amount in the bank. Adams believes in systems, which is like you saying your goal is to build multiple streams of income and not so muchc a target $ for them. Your system will guide you to the end result you want.
John @ Frugal Rules says
November 9, 2015 at 10:49 amWe’re similar in that we’re working towards FI as well. A key part to that, from a business perspective, is scaling our business so we’re doing largely the management aspect and giving us more freedom from the day-to-day work. Financially, that means us being entirely debt free (we only have our mortgage currently) within the next 8 years.
Jim says
November 9, 2015 at 9:17 pmYes, when you free yourself from the day to day it feels less like “work” even though you’re still responsible. It’s the grind that is less appealing, at least to me. 🙂
Dominic @ Gen Y Finance Guy says
November 9, 2015 at 12:36 pmOur Big Money Goal is to build a Net Worth of $10M that generates $50,000/month in passive income.
Jim says
November 9, 2015 at 9:15 pmThat’s a big money goal, if you get to $50k/mo in passive income I suspect your net worth will be well north of $10mm.
Brian @DebtDiscipline says
November 9, 2015 at 4:58 pmOur money goal is to build wealth. We completed our debt repayment last year and moved on to wealth building, which includes retirement and college funds.
Jim says
November 9, 2015 at 9:15 pmAny quantifiable targets for you?
Brian @DebtDiscipline says
November 12, 2015 at 7:02 amNot at the moment. A job loss has put a little hold on things.
Jim says
November 12, 2015 at 9:04 amYou can have a target number without a target date, which would understandably slide outward after a job loss.
Chris Peach says
November 9, 2015 at 8:44 pmWe want to walk out into our front yard, stand in the (fake) grass, and rip up our mortgage into a thousand pieces. We have about 3-5 years left to pay it off, and the dream is starting to become a reality. I think about that moment will feel like almost every day. That’s the goal and the dream.
Jim says
November 9, 2015 at 9:16 pmIt feels good to not owe anything to anyone – I personally will keep the mortgage around just because the rates are so low but I see the appeal for sure.
Hannah says
November 10, 2015 at 10:05 amI’ve always wanted to build wealth to a point where we can literally give away every penny that we earn in a year. We’re definitely working on growing both our giving and our investments, but I think giving everything away would be so cool!
Jim says
November 10, 2015 at 10:11 amI’ve had the same thought but my feeling was that it’s probably better to build wealth (with some smaller donations along the way), have it compound, and then give a larger sum at the end.
I’ve also then had the thought, it’d actually be even more powerful to build up a trusted tribe and then inspire them to donate as a community so you leverage your tribe for good – like what Ramit Sethi and Pat Flynn did for Pencils of Promise.
[email protected] says
November 10, 2015 at 12:40 pmLove this, especially since it’s OMG – lol. 🙂 Thanks for sharing Jim. I think we can all benefit from accountability.
Jim says
November 10, 2015 at 2:44 pmSo… what’s yours? 🙂
Penny @ She Picks Up Pennies says
November 11, 2015 at 9:45 amI probably have too many OMGs. The overall goal is to be financially independent, but that seems so lofty that I try to break it down into chunks. Our primary focus right now is paying off our mortgage. We have a LONG way to go, but knowing that it is focus helps a lot.
Jim says
November 11, 2015 at 10:12 amThere’s that saying, “When eating an elephant, take one bite at a time.”
In your case, when eating a herd of elephants, take one bite at a time.” 🙂
Aaron says
November 11, 2015 at 11:38 amGreat advice here. I think accountability is really the key to any lasting change that I’ve had in my life, be it weight loss (was doing that alongside my wife) or the first time that I got out of debt (with another good friend).
Our main goal right now is to pay off the wife’s school loan + start working on more ways to generate passive/active income. Think that is key to long-term financial independence these days, esp as healthcare keeps rising and unknowns about SS/retirement accts.
Jim says
November 11, 2015 at 12:31 pmAccountability is a huge piece because it also plays a role in feedback loops. If you put it out there, people will ask you about it and so you’ll be more aware of the goal and more likely to keep after it.
Jacob says
November 11, 2015 at 2:37 pmMy OMG is to quit my job and work for myself in the next 24 months. I want to create my own schedule and build a business that allows me to work within my passion, specifically helping people kick financial butt!
Jim says
November 11, 2015 at 3:23 pmA solid OMG and good you put a time limit on it, one of those SMART things. 🙂
Joan says
November 12, 2015 at 11:11 amHasn’t changed in almost eight years – to be debt-free except my mortgage. Thank goodness there’s no date on it, thanks to a divorce, a rocky financial period leading to the divorce, a “rebuilding year” and all that good stuff! But I like the idea of weighing all others things against this, which I generally do without being as conscious of it as I am now. Thanks for adding some clarity to the process!
Jim says
November 12, 2015 at 12:54 pmDo you have intermediate milestones? Some people find those helpful and motivating while others don’t like the pressure of a figurative Sword of Damocles hanging over them.
Lena says
November 12, 2015 at 1:20 pmMy goal keeps changing. I don’t like getting bored so when I achieve one goal I set a new one. When it comes to income goals, I usually aim for ten times what I currently make. I set out last year to make $1k in passive monthly income from my blog. One year later and I had an $8k October (about 75%) of it passive! I think my new stretch goal five years from now is $50k per month passive with a pie in the sky goal of $1M per year just to be able to say I did it. Holy moly I can’t believe I just said that! It’s really crazy to think about but I thrive on possibilities! I’m very fortunate to be in a position where we don’t depend on any of my income for our living expenses. I think if we did I’d be more conservative. Is that odd? I guess at this point I have nothing to lose! The only reason I don’t go full force right now is the desire to remain a SAHM and spend time with my kiddos.
Jim says
November 12, 2015 at 3:38 pmWell if you hit your goal, you can’t keep it anymore… you already hit it. 🙂
$1,000,000 per year! Do it! It’s out there! I’m going to ask you about it! 🙂
Gale says
November 12, 2015 at 1:52 pmMy OMG is to be debt free, saving the home equity line for last. And the second part of my OMG is to have enough saved for retirement to be able to take a trip whenever we’d like and not worry about the money running out before we expire. I’ll be 57 later this month and I’m not as far along with these goals as I should be. I’ve only been working on them for about the last 13 months and I have learned a lot and made progress.
Jim says
November 12, 2015 at 2:57 pmThe best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The next best time is today… at least you planted it right?
John Wedding says
November 12, 2015 at 11:30 pmMy one money goal is to build enough income streams outside of my day job so that I have the (reasonable) option to quit. (It’s not a reasonable option now because other people besides myself would be out on the street if I failed.) This would mean at least $150k additional income per year.
By the way, hat tip on the Scott Adams post; the system idea makes a lot of sense!
Jim says
November 13, 2015 at 8:42 am$150,000 is doable, not easy, but certainly doable.
That post is great, his book (How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life)is an entertaining read too so far (I’m about a third of the way through). A lot of what he says resonates with me because it is similar to my approach, so it’s a little bit of preaching to the choir and confirmation bias. 🙂
Vic @ Dad Is Cheap says
November 13, 2015 at 12:16 amMy OMG is to have my own business one day in which I can have the flexibility to set my own hours and spend quality time with my family. It doesn’t have to be fancy – I don’t aspire to be super rich (although that wouldn’t hurt 🙂 ). A regular 9-5 gets in the way of things like soccer practices and spending quality time with my daughter during the week. I don’t want to work for the weekends!
Jim says
November 13, 2015 at 8:43 amFreedom and flexibility seems to be the goal of many folks these days, now that there are enough examples around that people feel it’s doable. Back in the factory days, it wasn’t really possible. Now, with so much information work, it’s a reality for many and a possibility for all. Great goal.
Fred says
November 13, 2015 at 12:52 pmTo have enough assets (based on lots of specific assumptions) to live to the age of 130, assuming gradual depletion of assets at retirement, with nothing left at 130 years old. I monitor my investments and income towards this goal on a weekly basis.
Jim says
November 13, 2015 at 4:31 pmWhy 130?
Paul says
October 9, 2016 at 4:47 amProbably to have enough money to cover for unexpected inflation in his/her real lifetime. When was the last time you heard someone reach 130 years? It is just a strategy so that there is always enough money to survive a long lifespan. Which is becoming more common due to medical advances on the treatments of preventable diseases.
Mr. Groovy says
November 13, 2015 at 11:28 pmHey Jim –
You’re OMG if fantastic! We’ve actually reached our OMG, which is to have enough money saved and working for us so that we can quit our bread and butter jobs. We’re trying not to fall prey to the OMY (One More Year) syndrome discussed at Mr. Money Mustache. But, next year I turn 55 and can start collecting my (small) pension. Psychologically we’ll feel more secure knowing we have a check coming in. Combined with other investments and a paid off house, we’ll be ready for adventure.
Jim says
November 16, 2015 at 7:16 amThank you, yours is pretty fantastic if I do say so myself! 🙂
Mr. & Mrs. Dibidend says
November 17, 2015 at 2:54 pmOur goal is to become financially independent – to have multiple streams of income. My husband has been serving in the military for 10+ years and is looking to retire sometime soon. Luckily, we started saving in our early 20s and gradually started learning about investing and passive income.
Jim says
November 17, 2015 at 4:11 pmI love it!
ol1970 says
December 4, 2015 at 10:36 amWhen I was 35 my goal was a portfolio that produced $300k/yr in passive income. At 40 my goal was $250k/yr, on the cusp of my 45th birthday its $15k/month or $180k/yr. I actually got out the old analysis and projections done by my myself and different planners over the years and it was very interesting. I honestly believe that men and women go through a phase in our late 20’s through our late 30’s where we are at our pinnacle of productiveness and we have an nearly uncontrollable desire to consume and show the world we’ve arrived. Absolutely nothing wrong with this…it drives our entrepreneurial spirit to work harder to achieve, every year I rewarded myself with a luxury expenditure the following year was my best year ever. The rub is though eventually in my case you realize that I don’t need anywhere near any of these numbers to be happy. Everybody’s happiness level financially is different, but as a person who long ago crossed the threshold of FI, the most surprising thing to me was once you are retired how little a life well lived actually costs. Set your goals high when you are younger though because even if you only get 80% of the way there, you’ll still have way more than you need…just don’t spend your whole life chasing the mythical goal.
Jim says
December 4, 2015 at 11:14 amHmmm this is food for thought, there might be a lot of motivations behind spending a lot early (confirmation, rewarding yourself, etc.) but I can see how that would recede as you age.
So having your needs lower over the years… that ends up being a good thing. You aim for $300k/yr in passive income but you start when you’re 35… by the time you hit 45, you’re much closer to 180k than you’d have been if you originally aimed for it. 🙂
Paul says
December 19, 2015 at 3:02 amA money goal? Hell, I’m just trying to stay alive? Seriously.
I used to work and got made redundant from my job (gee thanks Prime Minister – obviously I’m not from the States).
I was subsequently diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. And no, being made redundant did NOT cause that, having coronary bypass surgery caused that and that’s one of the medical professions dirty little secrets. It’s all, wow you’ll be able to run a marathon in 6 months ra ra ra… yeah, bollocks. Read just a few months ago that in excess of 78% of bypass survivors (yes, some patients actually die!!!) suffer severe fatigue for considerable periods after recovery phase of the operation. Oh, and I was the lucky one. I had 7 (yes SEVEN) bypass grafts. That was a record at the time and as far as I know still stands, in my country.
But, back to the topic, truly, my goal is to try and get through a day without serious fatigue, exhaustion, pain, anger, oh yes, ANGER. Because it really does mess up your thought processes.
I’m struggling to be able to pay our bills. My wife works, and every $ she earns abates our benefit by $0.8. So, we are on excrement street and slowly going under the (metaphorical) brown stuff. Get ahead? Fat chance of that. Work from home? Everything that I have seen has been a scam, or if it is legit I don’t have the qualifications, or if it doesn’t need those ever so special quals, I can’t do it because of not only chronic fatige, but I have a serious hearing loss (since birth) so I have difficulty understanding people talking and with it, of course, my speech is not clear. Comes with the disability. Nothing I can do to fix either of these problems. As we say here, FIID, FIID… I’ll leave it to you to work out what the letters mean.
Jim says
December 19, 2015 at 7:48 amI can’t relate but I can imagine the frustration that must accompany chronic fatigue syndrome, the energy you had before just not being there… but was the coronary bypass surgery optional? I’ve always believed the alternative would be worse.
I obviously don’t know what the answer is, we live in different areas and it’s a life experience I’m not familiar with, the only thing I can say is that having a strong support system around is crucial.
Paul says
October 9, 2016 at 4:58 amWas the bypass optional? Of course it was… I didn’t HAVE to have it. Of course, with 7 serious blockages my outlook was extremely bleak. The alternative… well it comes to us all eventually doesn’t it?
My advice to you, and anybody else reading this is… at the end of the day all the money doesn’t mean diddly squat if you haven’t got your health. Abandon the SAD (Standard American Diet – or Anglo Saxon Diet or…) and start to eat healthy. And I mean REAL healthy. Lots of green veges, or orange or yellow ones too. If you can, and I know some can’t, ditch eating meat. Especially red meat… which ironically includes pork. Can fried food. Can oils for frying… such as Canola/Soy (all GMO btw). Ironically Coconut oil, despite being a saturated fat is orders of magnitude healthier than liquid oils like Soy and Canola.
Get out and exercise. At least 3 times a week. Become healthy and EnJoY your money.
Jim Wang says
October 10, 2016 at 8:19 amYou make excellent points Paul – you are right, health is everything and when it ends, it ends. I’ve been trying to eat healthier, healthier portions, and maintaining an active lifestyle so I can do the things I want to do.
Cary Revilla says
January 10, 2016 at 9:27 amMy financial goals for 2016 is to build up my ER fund and increase my retirement savings. I just rolled out a new online biz and I tapped into my ER fund. Need to replenish and see my biz grow!
Thanks!
Cary
diane @smartmoneysimplelife says
January 28, 2016 at 3:03 pmI have an OMG for this year. Does that count? My OMG is to reach $10k per month income from my online endeavours.
I’m a big fan of the book, The Power of Less, and I’m finding that just focusing on a single target is removing the ‘busy work’ from my life. If it doesn’t get me closer to my goal, it goes to the bottom of the list. Unfortunately, my garden’s now a mess… 🙂
Jim says
January 28, 2016 at 4:50 pmOf course it counts! I try to remove busy work whenever possible… just have to do it!
Al says
February 24, 2016 at 1:14 pmMy OMG would have to be to continue to max out our retirement accounts. We don’t have any debts except for our mortgage (about three years remaining) so contributing the max each year has been possible. Even though I will most likely get a full pension, I am reducing my risk because it is not fully guaranteed yet.
Jim says
February 24, 2016 at 1:23 pmFantastic goal!