What I learned this week that will.help me achieve my long term goals through finance is, always expect the unexpected for one.  What this means is, let's say I have a vacation planned as demonstrated in the video.  For all I know, something bad can happen that wasn't expected  (I.E. car accident,  medical emergency,  etc.) And that can mess up everything I HAD PLANNED. It is always best to set aside some.amount of.money in case  something bad like that were to happen, because I have had stuff like that happen before, and now I am prepared for it. Secondly , I also can consult with a financial advisor should it ever come to that.  They can help me with my financial goals and make sure I have enough for everything I need.  I am going to save up for a retirement fund, and I may need financial help in doing so, so consulting an advisor  would help me out tremendously. 

Based on the information that was provided to me with the calculator, given my retirement plan, in 20 years from now if I were to save up $50 monthly, with an investment starting out with $50. Interest rate being 5% , I would have $19,972 within 20 years from now.  That sounds great, but things could change in the future, and I will more than likely have to save more than just $50 at some point.  I look forward for this class to teach me more about savings and how to use finances more thoughtfully for the future.