Emergency planning

Another part of financial planning is anticipating the things that might go wrong and being prepared for them.

You'll want to build an emergency fund with enough money in easily accessible accounts to cover three to six months of living expenses if your income stream is interrupted. Having that money available can help prevent going deeply into debt if you're ill, disabled or out of work. In fact, having this fund in place may take precedence over working to meet your other goals.

Power of attorney

As unpleasant as the thought may be, you have to anticipate the possibility of a serious illness or accident that would leave you unable to manage your own financial affairs. You may consider giving a family member or close friend a power of attorney to manage your money and make other decisions if you can't. You'll also want to get legal advice about the advantages and potential drawbacks of this decision.

Healthcare

If you have strong feelings about the medical treatment you'd like if you were terminally ill or unable to communicate due to physical incapacity, you may want to get information about signing a living will that spells out your wishes and a healthcare proxy that authorizes someone to act on your behalf should such a situation arise. These documents, like wills, revocable trusts and powers of attorney can always be amended or revoked.