Save money for college if you have children. If you're this far along in the priority list, you're doing a great job: no credit card debt, an emergency fund and aggressively saving for retirement. Your next goal could be to save for a child's higher education using the 529 plan or the Coverdell Education Savings Accounts. Both are tax-advantaged, which makes your investment potentially go further, and if you start when the kids are young, you may be able to put quite a dent in the high cost of college education (an investment in their futures).

Save for a home. A home of one's own has long been part of the American Dream, though the events of the last 16 months may have tarnished that a bit. But if you want to own a home, saving for the down payment could be the next goal. Notice how far down the list it is, though; in the personal finance scheme of things, it's generally not considered as high a priority as retirement (or quite possibly college).

Pay down your mortgage. If you're making progress on all these other fronts and you still have money for savings, consider paying down your mortgage debt or home equity line of credit. Yes, these generally have lower rates than credit card debts, and yes, the interest may typically be tax-deductible. But it's still debt, and that means it costs you something. Paying it down will cost you less.

Finally, keep investing. Got more money? Then keep on investing in a good old-fashioned taxable account in a diversified, properly allocated portfolio that reflects your tolerance for risk and your long-term goals. You may feel it's "safer" to keep your money in the bank, but you need the potential growth of the financial markets to overcome the ravaging effects of inflation. Investing is how you "save" for the long term.

What I like best about this hierarchical approach is how it helps you make decisions. Most people know that saving for the future is good, but with so much to save for and so many opportunities, it can be a real challenge to decide what to do next. This framework can help you with those tough decisions, helping you to maximize every dollar.