Marco, 23, earns $78,000 a year working as an electrician for a company in midtown Ontario. On the weekends, Marco likes to spend time with his friends watching live sports (too bad the Leafs lost in the playoffs). Marco is also very generous with his friends. While opening up his credit card statement, Marco noticed that his outstanding credit card balance was $6,400 (how did that happen?). Although this puzzled him, he was not concerned. Marco knows that he can make the minimum monthly payments and over time and this will decrease his credit card balance.

While meeting with his banker, to obtain a car loan for a used car, Marco states that he would like to save for his retirement.When his banker asked him to provide details about his retirement plan, Marco said he would like to save $5,000 a year, so he could retire at age 60. Marco further stated that he plans to begin saving in a few years, after he pays off the car loan.

Questions:

a. What are Marco's goals? List two.

b. Does any of Marco's goals meet the SMART goal criteria? Explain why or why not.

c. What can Marco do, if anything, to make his goals SMART?

d. Write down a goal you have set for yourself and explain why it is a goal.