Let’s Plan the Rest of the Decade: A Family Road Map to 2030

Written by Tyson Ray, FORM Wealth Advisors | CFP®, CExP®, CIMA®

At FORM Wealth Advisors, we believe in planning for the future. My best friend and co-founder, Luke Kuchenberg, embodies this passion with his license plate that reads “PLAN4IT.”

Planning isn’t just our job; it’s our way of life. By giving people a simple template or homework assignment, we unlock their creativity and set them on a path toward building a plan for the future. Without a plan, the future just happens by default.

Now, of course, I am passionate about guiding our clients in planning for their financial future; but I also believe it’s important to plan for non-financial milestones in our lives. After all, the reason we believe in personal financial planning is because that is what enables us to live life to the fullest — to enjoy those personal and family milestones.

Why it’s important to plan for future milestones in life

When life gets hectic, it’s easy to get caught up in the frenetic pace of everything happening around us. Often, we find that we’re reacting to our many responsibilities and the expectations other people have of us instead of planning for the future. This is why I believe it’s important to take time to plan for future milestones in life.

Here are just a few of many benefits of identifying specific milestones:

1. It gives us something to look forward to. A well-known mantra states that to be happy in life, we need three things: something to love, something to do and something to look forward to. If any one of those three elements are missing from our lives, it can cause us to feel despondent, like we lack purpose. When we identify major milestones that are coming up, it gives us something to look forward to, to anticipate.
2. It helps us plan resources. Planning ahead gives us time to gather the resources we’ll need for a major life event. For example, if you decide to take an exotic trip in two years, that gives you and your family two years to save money for the trip and, if you work for an employer, to save up vacation time.
3. It causes us to be intentional about what we do with our lives. We are more likely to achieve important milestones when we plan for them intentionally than when we just “wing it.” Writing out the goals you want to achieve in life gives you a road map to follow as you strive to achieve those goals.
4. It helps us discover what our priorities are — and therefore, who we are. Another saying you might have heard goes like this: “Show me your calendar, and I will tell you what your priorities are.” Where we spend our time is a good indication of what’s important to us. Setting and planning for milestones helps us get our priorities straight. Resources like time and money are finite, we can’t do everything. That means we have to choose what’s really important, and that, in turn, shows us who we really are.

It’s also important to celebrate when we’ve achieved a milestone

Just as there are great rewards in planning for milestones, there is also great satisfaction once you have reached, and achieved a milestone. Here are just a few of the benefits of “getting there”:

1. It gives us a sense of accomplishment when we reach and pass a milestone. This is important for our emotional and mental well-being. This is especially important for kids because it shows them that they are capable of achieving whatever they set out to accomplish.
2. It gives us a chance to reflect on the experience. Once we have achieved a milestone, we can pause and savor the satisfaction that comes with staying the course and seeing that milestone through to the end. It also gives us a chance to assess what we have learned from the experience. Maybe we could have done something differently. Life lessons like these are what give us wisdom so our future endeavors might be easier.
3. The milestones create shared experiences and memories. These are more valuable than money. They deepen our relationships and give our lives meaning.
4. It reminds us to practice gratitude. When we celebrate a milestone we’ve achieved, it gives us an opportunity, and a reminder, to express gratitude for the experience and everything it has meant to us.

Our “Family Road Map” to 2030

To help you plan the milestones for the rest of this decade, I’d like to share a tool I use in my own life: our family road map to 2030. It starts with something as simple as a blank piece of paper, a Word document or an Excel spreadsheet.

Here’s how you can create your own:

1. Start with the current year: Write down 2024.
2. Record ages: Note your own age and the ages of your loved ones. For example, in 2024, I’ll be 49, Jenny will be 46, Nelson will be 21, Austin will be 19 and Carson will be 16.
3. Identify milestones: Write down significant events. For instance:
   • 2024: Carson turned 16 and got his driver’s license. Nelson and Austin headed off to college in August, and Nelson and I went to Japan in October.
   • 2025: I turn 50, Jenny 47, Nelson 22, Austin 20, and Carson 17. There’s a theme with our family — while the kids are still in school, we tend to plan vacations around spring-break holidays.
   • 2026–27: In 2027, I’ll be 52, Jenny 49, Nelson 24, Austin 22, and Carson 19. Carson will graduate high school in June and will start college in August.
   • 2028–29: This is a big year. I will turn 53 in 2028, Jenny 50, Nelson 25, Austin 23, and Carson 20. Nelson and Austin will graduate from college in June 2028 (if they finish in four years).
   • 2030: I’ll be 55, Jenny 52, Nelson 27, Austin 25, and Carson 22. We’re thinking Hawaii for Christmas. Are we planning weddings this year? Consider other possible life milestones.

This road map is more than a plan; it’s a reflection of the sacredness of time. It helps us be mindful of milestones in our lives and the lives of our loved ones. By looking ahead and blocking off time to celebrate these moments, we ensure we don’t miss the opportunities that bring happiness.

We encourage you to create your own family road map with those you love and then share it with your FORM advisor. What do you want to do before the decade ends? Look ahead at the opportunities you have to create the best life you can, and enjoy this one life we have to live. We look forward to seeing what milestones are on your family road map!