Financial goal is the target of an investor defined generally but has to be achieved in monetary terms.
For Example: Buying a house is goal but buying a house worth Rs. 50 lakhs after five years is a financial goal. There are three types of goals. The distinction between the categories is usually related to the amount of time it takes to accomplish the goal and the financial commitment to achieve them.

• Short Term Goals are achievable in the more immediate future and intermediate
• Medium Term Goals take slightly longer and more of a financial commitment
• Long Term Goals usually take more than five years to accomplish and require a disciplined saving and investing strategy over a long time period.

Financial Goals	Time Horizon	Solutions provided by MFs
Buying a car	2 years	Short term Debt Funds
Child Education	15-20 years	SIP, Diversified Equity Funds, Sectoral Funds, Balanced Funds
Child Marriage	15-20 years	SIP, Diversified Equity Funds, Sectoral Funds, Balanced Funds
Creating Retirement Corpus	20-25 years	SIP, Diversified Equity Funds, Sectoral Funds, Balanced Funds
Regular Income (Post Retirement)		MIPs. Balanced Funds, SWPs
Saving for contingencies in near term	1-2 years	Debt Funds and Gilt funds