Sunday, December 10, 2006

Financial Goals for 2007

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Net worth

  • Increase net worth by $80,000.00.
  • Strech goal, increase net worth by $100,000

Savings

  • Save to meet net worth increase requirements (in addition to investment returns)
  • Restore operating cash reserve to $33,000.00 by end of March 2007
  • Increase operating cash reserve to $50,000.00 by end of December 2007
  • Contribute at least $20,000 to 529 plans
  • Make retirement contributions for Mom, Dad and Children
  • Fully fund Mom & Dad's 401k
  • Fully fund traditional IRAs with post-tax contributions

Spending

  • Move into and furnish new house (basic furnishings) ($5,000 - $15,000)
  • Repay unleveraged debt ($8,124)
  • Big family vacation ($3,000 - $9,000)

Health

  • Lose 15-20 pounds
  • Exercise regularly

Investments

  • Move investments from Schwab to Vanguard and Fidelity (only individual 401k)
  • Shift out of life cycle investments into low-cost index funds and index ETFs
  • Restart investment planning process once settled in new home
  • Complete financial planning process with financial advisor (budgets, insurance, etc...)
  • Finish the liquidation of variable and cash value insurance products
  • Reduce the number of investing accounts (if possible)
  • Make sure investments rebalanced regularly

Strategic & Other

  • See more family
  • Increase monthly blog visits to 3,000 per month
  • Play golf at least 12 times
  • Dance lessons with wife
  • Track goal progress on a quarterly basis
  • Excel in new job or quit
  • Family vacation to Europe
  • Plan and have a Daddy day with each child at least once a month
  • Obtain third car (for grandparents)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your goals are awesome. Outside of the financial ones, I am most impressed with the Daddy Day's and Dance Lessons.

It is a truly rich man whom can balance these things in his life that matter most.

makingourway said...

D,

Thanks for the wonderful comments. Daddy days are something I aspire to and manage to accomplish - at least with the older ones. The youngest are a bit too young to be aware - within a year that will change. The youngest get Daddy moments.

The dance lessons are something my wife and I have done on and off for years. After practicing together for a while, it's thoroughly enjoyable, but rough when we first start.

Of course, I'm uncertain as to how the new job will affect work-life balance. My boss seems to be challenged with this matter - though he holds it in very high esteem - perhaps, for him, it is more of an aspiration and goal.

regards,
makingourway

Anonymous said...

You might find this interesting:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/12/education/12tuition.html

makingourway said...

I've jsut reviewed my goals for this year. At the end of Q3, my bed's fairly well made.
With exceptional effort I can improve some of these items, but not everything. It will really be a question of priority.

Next month I'll try to make a formal assessment.

The big points here are:

1. Cash reserve $11.5k - quite a bit lower than expected, however, I did convert about $25k of prior balance into investments.
2. Blog traffic has not been as succesful as planned (to date) - about 66% of year end goal.
3. quite a few of my family and personal actions never came through - especially due to the overwhelming impact of the new job.

On one note, my networth goals so far have exceeded plans, however, in light of my personal / family goals not being met, I'm uncertain to say it's a superior accomplishment.

Regards, makingourway