Want to secure your financial future? Make a plan. It's easy if you try.

Financial advice is easy to come by, but often hard to follow. Save for retirement! Make sure you have an emergency fund! Start a college fund while your kids are still in diapers! It all sounds great, but in reality, it's often very hard to juggle paying the bills today and planning for the future. For many people, Jill Schlesinger notes at Money, the task "is so daunting that they simply blow it off" and wing it. That's why it's wise to step back, tune out the noise, and put...