Whether you’re setting out to implement a new diet, take up a new hobby or start a new career, there are some goals that you can only reach once you develop a detailed and regimented plan. Think about it. You didn’t get to where you are today by simply making on-a-whim decisions all of the time. Rather, you likely had a long-term goal in mind, then put into action specific steps that allowed you to ultimately reach it.

The same method should hold true in how you approach your personal financial planning. While you can make off-the-cuff decisions when you’re young, chances are these will come back to affect you later in life, and you might not like the aftermath. To set yourself down a successful road and ensure that your golden retirement years really are golden, it’s important to strategize now. Unsure how to get started? Here are five steps to take to polish your personal finance plan and stick with it.

1. Write down your major goals.

For a moment, close your eyes and envision your perfect life when you’re retired. Are you on a boat, docked just outside of your vacation home? Are you in the backyard playing with your grandchildren? Are you still working a part-time hobby job that allows you to be creative?

Regardless of the scenario your imagination paints, the reality is that to achieve those goals, you need to understand them first. Put simply, why do you want to be smart with your money? Is it so you have plenty left over when you stop working? Do you want to acquire assets you can eventually pass down to your heirs? Do you want to travel the world? Send your children to college?

Any answer is correct, so long as it’s coming from the heart. Start your personal finance plan by writing down a comprehensive statement that covers your major investing goals.

2. Determine your risk level.

You’ve heard it said that while you’re young, it’s smart to take on a higher level of risk with your investments. The logic behind this reasoning is that you’ll have enough time to recover any short-term losses you incur if the market temporarily downswings. However, if you’re closer to retirement age, it’s in your best interest to take a risk-averse approach to investing, as you might not have enough time to bounce back in the event of an upset.

While those sentiments are true, it’s still important to assess your personal comfort level with risk. Even if you’re in your 20s, if you’re totally terrified of taking on a risky portfolio, you might end up worrying yourself sick over the performance of your stocks. To figure out where on the spectrum you lie, ask yourself what you would do if your portfolio value suddenly dipped 15%. Would you be forced to sell some major assets? Would you be willing to hang on and ride it out?

If you’re relatively comfortable experiencing the said setback, you may be more accepting of risk than you initially thought. Take some time to get introspective and determine if taking on the ebbs and flows now might be worth it to come out on top later on. Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t.

3. Strategize your diversification.

Next, your personal finance plan should include how you’d like to set up your investment portfolio. Traditionally, it will be divvied up between stocks, bonds and cash. This is where it can be helpful to partner with a local financial advisor.

He or she is an expert is asset allocation and can help steer you toward combinations that have a proven track record of high performance for someone in your age bracket, risk category and more.

4. Understand your management plan.

Especially if you are working with a financial advisor to create your investment portfolio, it is important to clearly understand how your assets will be managed. If you’re going the DIY route, you may want to consider index investing to take the guesswork and legwork out of handling the balance yourself. In short, index investing is a passive financial approach that allows you to put your money into a mutual fund or Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) that follows predetermined rules and growth patterns, such as those set forth by the Standard & Poor (S&P) 500.

Yet, if you’d like to take a more hands-on approach or simply aren’t comfortable handling the funds yourself, partnering with a professional can provide you both peace of mind and confidence moving forward. Be sure that your plan includes a communication strategy in this regard. Do you expect to hear from your financial advisor once a month? Every time a decision is made, no matter how minute? Or, are you content with letting him or her take the reigns for the most part? If you’re expecting an immediate response to every inquiry and want to be briefed every time a change is made, you’ll need to let your advisor know that at the onset of the partnership.

5. Create a plan to fall back on.

If you start investing when you’re young, partner with the right professional and choose a successful portfolio mix, you should be able to achieve your long-term financial goals. However, in the event that you experience either a minor or major setback, it’s helpful to have a backup plan in place.

Maybe this means you have more staycations in your golden years, rather than seeing the world. Or, maybe you and your partner could downsize and save money on real estate that way. Regardless, even if your vision is fully obtainable and success is in sight, it’s important to be realistic and understand that even the best-laid plans could change. Being prepared as soon as possible can help you avoid being shocked and majorly set back by the downturn of events.

As you move forward with your investing strategy, getting all of your financial plans down on paper can be a great first step. Before you can start generating a supplemental income, you’ll need to know what you want from it, how you intend to use it, who can help you realize your goals, and how you should allocate your funds to obtain the profit you have in mind. Once know the answers to those questions, you can take that next step forward in confidence.