Intel, like I suspect most MegaCorps, engaged in annual[-] torture[/-] exercise called strategic long range planning. I think somewhat unusually, Intel involved all levels of the company, and included recent college grads as well middle and senior management.
Although, the forecasts of which products an individual group would put out were generally surprisingly accurate (due
to Moore's Law). The forecasts of the market conditions were often way off. For instance very few plans made in the early to mid 1990s predicted that the internet and the world wide web would make much of an impact in the next 5 to 10 years.
After doing this for a couple of years, and seeing plans changed dramatically, (This was the tech business in the 80s after all) I ask my boss what was the point of generating all of these slides that we all knew were going to be mostly wrong. He explained that importance of the exercise was not the presentations but the process, and looking at the big picture and imagining what could change and how we should react.
I think financial planning is worthwhile for the same reasons. Ten years into my retirement, I've seen a technology stock collapse, and yet astounding increases in the importance of the internet a massive real estate bubble and it bursting, a truly dismal decade for stocks, and a great recession. I'll take credit for mostly foreseeing the first two, but everything else has been a big surprise. My optimistic and even average forecast on my financial condition turned out to be too optimistic, but my contingency plan actually proved useful. Although, the one thing I planned on "I'll go back to work if my money falls below X", didn't include the possibility that if I lost a lot money it would be hard to find work.
The best laid plans of mice and men.....
