Author Topic: 2014 Financial Goals  (Read 49897 times)

toodleoo

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #50 on: December 12, 2013, 11:59:32 AM »
I'm confused about all of these goals to increase net worth. You can plan on contributing a certain amount of money to your accounts, but you have no control over what the markets will do next year.

CommonCents

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #51 on: December 12, 2013, 12:04:06 PM »
I'm confused about all of these goals to increase net worth. You can plan on contributing a certain amount of money to your accounts, but you have no control over what the markets will do next year.

That's why a lot of us put it in terms of how much we'll save, I suspect.

anastrophe

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #52 on: December 12, 2013, 12:37:51 PM »
I'm confused about all of these goals to increase net worth. You can plan on contributing a certain amount of money to your accounts, but you have no control over what the markets will do next year.

In my case it is related to debt repayment. The principle doesn't change in value, so I can predict accurately what my net worth increase will be;)

m_ask

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #53 on: December 12, 2013, 01:31:35 PM »
1. Pay off the rest of my student loan ($29,000 left).
2. Max out ROTH IRA
3. Start a 529 for baby due in Feb.
4. Get a better paying job!

The Taminator

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #54 on: December 12, 2013, 02:11:39 PM »
1. Max out my RRSP
2. Renovate the bathroom (I'm budgeting $5k for this)
3. Take a vacation (again, $5k budget for the two of us)
4. Pay an extra $5k on my mortgage

Maxing out the RRSP is definitely number one on the list. The others will have to be decided with my SO as to what order they are accomplished in. Personally I would like number four to be the second priority but it's not up to just me. She's not as gung-ho about FIRE as I am yet and feels like not taking a "real vacation" is a big sacrifice. We've made great progress though.

jesstach

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #55 on: December 12, 2013, 02:41:37 PM »
1. Max out 401k for the first time (just changed my contribution yesterday!)
2. Pay off remaining car loan $6k - projected for February
3. Open taxable Vanguard account and contribute $9k
4. Stick to budget!
5. Build YNAB buffer of $3k
6. Find a cheaper apartment (aim to save at least $300/mo)

This should put me at a 42% savings rate, which is up from 23% in 2013!

Peony

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #56 on: December 12, 2013, 04:11:57 PM »
My big goal for 2014 is to treat my rentals as a proper business.

That means raising rents, addressing deferred maintenance, converting one space from residential to commercial (a big involved deal), making sure all insurance is adequate, formulating my plan for the future. I would like to involve my older kid, age 19, in this process, at least as an observer. I want him to see what things cost and how one deals with professionals (architects, real estate brokers, etc.) and tenants.

Next, I want to use YNAB faithfully and optimize my personal and business spending.

Finally, once I feel the rental situation is set up optimally, I actually want to go back to work part-time. I miss working with other people and have been finding myself reading the Help Wanted ads wistfully.

medinaj2160

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #57 on: December 12, 2013, 05:37:45 PM »
1. Max out mine and my wife's 401K for the first time.
2. Lower my mortage from 64,385 to around 25,000.
3. 200K NW

Having a baby?? haha

EK

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #58 on: December 12, 2013, 06:24:46 PM »
1. Pay off student loans
2. Open Roth IRAs
3. Stick with budget tracking in YNAB

bexrayx91

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #59 on: December 12, 2013, 09:05:05 PM »
1) pay off all debt
2) get to at least 5k net worth

Small goals to get the ball rolling.

cats

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #60 on: December 13, 2013, 09:04:15 PM »
My big goal is to have my savings rate over 75% for the year.  I'm expecting a raise early in the year, so if that comes through I should be a good chunk of the way there.  The rest will come from tightening up and plugging some of the remaining small budget holes: cut mindless eating out to zero (i.e., coffee by myself rather than nice dinners with friends), be a bit more mindful about grocery shopping (would like to average $200/mo or less, current average is $240), no big clothing/gear purchases (don't anticipate any).

I would also like to get my side gig business off life support and growing again, need to work on a plan for that!

annaraven

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #61 on: December 14, 2013, 02:41:44 AM »
Just started YNAB so my goals are:
a) get a better grasp of where our money is going
b) start increasing our savings (NOT spending everything that comes in)

Our net worth and income is pretty decent but we're spending too much every month. A big chunk of that spending will be ending by July when alimony payments stop. (Finally!) In the meantime, I'm working on getting better control over the rest of our spending so we can be putting aside at least 10% of every paycheck, by July, and 20% by the end of the year.

shamelessHedon

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #62 on: December 14, 2013, 03:34:08 AM »
Fully fund my roth and his tsp.
Find out if he is eligible for 457. If so, fund.
Monetize my travel blog. 
Streamline all our junk.
Get house into saleable condition.
Increase my understanding.

arebelspy

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #63 on: December 14, 2013, 06:48:06 AM »
Oh, and please add me to the master page. Thanks.

Not sure what this means.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

johnsmithindustries

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #64 on: December 14, 2013, 01:43:15 PM »
My 2014 goals so far:

1) Max out my TSP to the full $17,500
2) Max out my Roth IRA to the full $5500, and transfer my current IRA to Vanguard
3) Save aggressively for a house - shooting for $30,000 by the year's end

ichangedmyname

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #65 on: December 14, 2013, 01:58:30 PM »
I want to start TIRA with Vanguard but it requires 1000 to start. I thought this was supposed to be paid thru my paycheck at work and pre-tax. So now I'm confused.
I also have upped my 401k to 5% with a 4.5% match and 5% to ESPP.

daverobev

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #66 on: December 14, 2013, 02:53:41 PM »
Tricky, tricky.

1. See more of the continent. I've been here 3 years and haven't got too far, too many times.
2. This is a vague one as it involves restructuring debt and making a deal with my wife - but anyway, combined goal is something like pay off the LoC (used to buy an investment property).
3. Chill out about money a bit. I'm a bit too uptight about it all. Relax...
4. Maybe use the freed-up LoC to buy another property.

*Edit* financial goals, hmm 1. doesn't really count.. except it does, it means (like 3) relax a bit and spend some of the money I've been hoarding the last 3/10 years, enjoy life while I can!
« Last Edit: December 14, 2013, 02:55:16 PM by daverobev »

annaraven

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #67 on: December 15, 2013, 02:04:45 AM »
Oh, and please add me to the master page. Thanks.

Not sure what this means.

Sorry - wrong thread.

aj_yooper

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #68 on: December 15, 2013, 03:57:26 AM »
I want to start TIRA with Vanguard but it requires 1000 to start. I thought this was supposed to be paid thru my paycheck at work and pre-tax. So now I'm confused.
I also have upped my 401k to 5% with a 4.5% match and 5% to ESPP.

Good start on the 401k and ESPP>  A traditional IRA (TIRA) is separate from your employer based retirement accounts, but then, if you start one at Vanguard, you will have great, efficient investment options.

kpd905

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #69 on: December 15, 2013, 06:42:04 AM »
I want to start TIRA with Vanguard but it requires 1000 to start. I thought this was supposed to be paid thru my paycheck at work and pre-tax. So now I'm confused.
I also have upped my 401k to 5% with a 4.5% match and 5% to ESPP.

If you put money into a tIRA you'll get money back when you file your taxes, as though it came out of your check pre-tax.

JHC89

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #70 on: December 15, 2013, 07:05:19 AM »
My  biggest financial goal for the year is get my net worth to $100k. I'm not too far off now, so unless the markets plummet, I should make it. Like daverobev I plan on loosening up a bit and traveling more (frugally of course). It's always tough for me to balance spending money selectively on experiences vs plugging every last penny I have into investments.

ch12

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #71 on: December 15, 2013, 09:55:24 AM »
Mustachians; I am in the 30% overall tax bracket, would you calculate savings rate based on pretax or after??

We calculate savings rate based on after tax income; it keeps things consistent across countries where Mustachians live, such as Australia, Canada, and of course the US. In the US, the formula is normally:

savings rate = (after tax savings + 401k contributions)/(after tax take home+401k contributions)

ichangedmyname

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #72 on: December 15, 2013, 10:21:34 AM »
I want to start TIRA with Vanguard but it requires 1000 to start. I thought this was supposed to be paid thru my paycheck at work and pre-tax. So now I'm confused.
I also have upped my 401k to 5% with a 4.5% match and 5% to ESPP.

If you put money into a tIRA you'll get money back when you file your taxes, as though it came out of your check pre-tax.
I can do it thru Fidelity too where my 401k is at. I think ym Christmas gift to myself is to start a tIRA with Vanguard :D

StetsTerhune

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #73 on: December 15, 2013, 03:13:59 PM »
My goals for 2014:

1. Continue tracking every expenditure
2. Hit my savings target
3. accomplish 2 out of 3 specific goals at work I want to hit before I semi-retire  (intentionally vague about small-world profession)
4. Not get fed up with my job/life and quit

and changedname, since I apparently respond to every post you make now, make sure you consider a roth IRA too. If you're in a low tax bracket now that may make more sense for you.

anotherAlias

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #74 on: December 20, 2013, 04:06:58 AM »
It's been a few years since I've set any financial goals but what the hell...here goes.

1. Max 401k (slight cheat since I set that up already this week;)

2. Save 14k in taxable account earmarked for home purchase

3. Limit eating out to once a month.  That budget category has been getting larger than I'd like.

4. Cancel/close unused accounts (Morningstar, usbank, etc)

5.  Stop stressing about the bullshit I can't change.  This isn't a financial goal but will make staying at my current employer much more enjoyable.  Since my current employer has outstanding retirement benefits this has a big impact on how early I can retire.

JanMN

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #75 on: December 22, 2013, 10:01:40 AM »
Add 60k to the coffers.

meadow lark

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #76 on: December 22, 2013, 12:09:58 PM »
Increase net worth by $75k - $100k.  This will be a stretch goal, because my other, lifestyle goal is to start enjoying my life more, right now, instead of waiting for the future.  Going down to working 2 days a week in mid January.  Aiming to take more weekend trips. 

ichangedmyname

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #77 on: December 22, 2013, 01:54:15 PM »
Have a decent food budget to reduce ordering out or fast food stops.
Lessen food waste by not making too much of one thing, forget about it then find it 2 weeks later growing stuff on it.

Mlkmn

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #78 on: December 23, 2013, 01:29:15 AM »
2014 is going to be great!!!

Our Goals

1. Save at least $40,000 (over 60%!) of our income to do the following:
  • a. Pay for/put the money aside for a domestic infant adoption.
  • b. Pay cash for my RN-to-BSN degree.
  • c. Pay down half of our student loans from our previous schooling.
2. Ride my bike to work every day. Wife will walk to work every day.
3. Start and complete BSN degree in less than 6 months.
4. Get a higher pay day/evening shift or much higher paying night shift position.
5. Wife gets another raise (hopefully 5-7%)

I am super excited about this year. We are going to be so close to being debt free. And then every year we work will be 3 years or more that we DO NOT HAVE TO WORK!!
« Last Edit: December 23, 2013, 04:53:33 AM by Mlkmn »

mbk

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #79 on: December 23, 2013, 11:51:52 AM »
Financial goals for me:
Debt elimination: ~$11k.
Retirement contribution: ~$20,000
Property Investment: ~$11k
Bring down expenses to $2k/month.

bateloomer

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #80 on: December 23, 2013, 12:35:00 PM »
Pay off debt
start emergency fund 
increase my 401K contribution
save for vacation and pet expenses

Meggslynn

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #81 on: December 23, 2013, 03:11:44 PM »
Increase my savings rate by 10%.

Get food budget $150 lower per month.

Switch investment strategy.


sleepyguy

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #82 on: December 30, 2013, 10:48:59 AM »
Stay on just my income (still put away 20% to RRSP/TSFA), once SO get's back to work (June 2014) 100% of her pay goes to investments (RRSP/TSFA/Non-REG).

Also have a 15k goal of poker but that will be generally driven by how much spare time I have.

Also small goal of $5k coaching/teaching tennis in the summers, again driven by my spare time.

That's about it.

mariarose

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #83 on: December 30, 2013, 11:47:12 AM »
2014 Financial Goals

1. Pay off $9,000 debt
2. Have $10,000 in various savings vehicles
3. Sort out a tax issue.

oldtoyota

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #84 on: December 30, 2013, 12:42:30 PM »
I have revised mine:

2014 Financial/House Goals:
1) Put $XXK into taxable acct
2) New bathroom
3) Paint outside of house
4) Rebalance to get the right stock-bond ratio for me
7) Buy no clothes in 2014
8) Officially shut down my business (started already)
« Last Edit: January 02, 2014, 10:48:20 AM by oldtoyota »

tracipam

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #85 on: January 01, 2014, 11:11:52 AM »
K, here is  mine:

Save at least 40K by:

-maxing out my 401K
-maxing out my Roth
-opening a taxable account and figuring out what best to keep in it.

My stretch goals are to:

-get as close as possible to 50K saved rather than 40K (not counting employer matching!)
-get as close as possible to 100K net worth, not counting house values
-start figuring out and working towards do-it-yourself home improvements to my house (tiling the bathroom floor, replacing the deck, etc.) that will increase the value
-figure out a way to increase my income, either through raises, changing jobs, or doing a side hustle.


Zamboni

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #86 on: January 01, 2014, 02:17:16 PM »
My goals are spending relating since there's no debt and I've had savings zipping along on auto-pilot for awhile (maxing 403b, contributions to 529's).

1.  Spend $11,500 less in 2014 than I did in 2013.  I've got this all mapped out by category.  I guess that's sort of an indirect savings goal, and I'll put it all in the Vanguard investment account or into #2.
2.  Buy a rental property (probably a small house).  Yes, this creates debt, so need to be careful that the numbers work out well.
3.  Paint my house.

Not as ambitious of a landlord as arebelspy, although I do appreciate his advice on the Landlord page, so that will have to be enough for now.

Anatidae V

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #87 on: January 01, 2014, 05:13:30 PM »
Our goal is to live on one income (<$55k). All money above that will go into house deposit or investing.

dandarc

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #88 on: January 02, 2014, 10:37:30 AM »
Two big financial goals this year:

1.  Get spending under 40K per year

2.  Max out all retirement accounts - two Roth IRAs, one 457 and one Solo 401K - Together, this should total a shade under 70K, more if I get an increase in my rate at my "big job" in July.  Solo K's are pretty awesome.

If we do #1, and nothing majorly bad like a job loss happens, then #2 should be pretty easy - just a function of the math really, and on to opening a taxable account at Vanguard!

fallstoclimb

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #89 on: January 02, 2014, 10:46:08 AM »
1) Pay off student loans.  29K remaining.  It will be a stretch to hit this by the end of Dec but I want to SO badly. 
2) Continue biking to work 80% of the time. 
3) Introduce a regular telecommute day

Not really a goal, but I predict that our net worth will hit 75K this year if all is well.
I'm also hoping to get our average monthly spending under 4K. 
Stretch hope is for a grade promotion, but my understanding is that depends on people above me retiring, so I can't really do anything to help that along. 

smalllife

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #90 on: January 02, 2014, 11:06:46 AM »
My 2014 goals are very similar to my 2013 goals, just further along the road:

1) Finish off a few house related projects
2) Continue putting an average of $1,100/mo to family loan. 
3) Complete the no new clothing in 2014 challenge
4) Continue biking to work over 80% of the time
5) 20k net worth improvement (slightly under 16k accounted for with debt/mortgage or savings contributions, so 4-5k of market gains or extra saving). 

These feel a little unambitious, even for me, but I am in a bit of a life limbo and want to remain flexible :-) 

FIreDrill

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #91 on: January 02, 2014, 12:18:44 PM »
We will see how 2014 turns out but the initial goals are these.

Keep spending under 35k for the year.
Max out Roth IRA's = 11k
10% to 401k + match = approx. 11k
Add extra to taxable accounts = 20k
Sell Mustang and invest = 10-12k

Should be a good year :)

Happy Little Chipmunk

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #92 on: January 03, 2014, 12:06:17 AM »
1) Fully fund the Roth IRAs
2) Increase the amounts going to the kids' 529 funds. (They know they will get a basic level of funding from us, but will need to pitch in too.)
3) Get our wills updated (we had the first meeting with the lawyer and now have to do our homework.)
4) Be serious about tracking our budget on Mint (especially food!)
4) Have the hubby test-drive semi-retirement by cutting back at work


garrettld

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #93 on: January 03, 2014, 03:25:23 AM »
Mustachians; I am in the 30% overall tax bracket, would you calculate savings rate based on pretax or after??

I think both values are useful, especially if you're utilizing both pre-tax and after-tax retirement accounts or using any of the available tricks to reduce your tax liability.

With that being said, the calculations MMM and others use to determine the number of working years from your savings rate uses the after-tax value (that's the only way to make them work for people across various tax brackets).

Miss Stachio

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #94 on: January 03, 2014, 12:22:27 PM »
There was a thread last year for 2013 Goals.  So to review my 2013 Goals were:

Financial
Save 50% of income - saved about 65%
Max out 401K
Eat out max once per month - blah: averaged about 4 times a month
Find a new job
Start a small side business - hmm need to renew
Change to a cheaper phone plan

2014 Goals are mostly to maintain status quo:
Save 65% of take-home income
Max out 401K
Start a small side business

paleogirl

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #95 on: January 03, 2014, 12:35:37 PM »
1. Fully fund my Roth IRA
2. Open a VTSAX
3. Be more frugal in general
4. Convince my significant other to do the same
5. Convince said SO to NOT buy an obnoxious, gas-guzzling, environment-destroying truck ...

Daughter_of_Hybrid

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #96 on: January 03, 2014, 06:41:40 PM »
Listed these in another post.  These are just my MMM goals in general.  The first two I am confident will happen in 2014 but the third will take a few years!  Others have suggested I look into refinancing my car loan.

1.  Pay off student loan with 4.5% interest rate - $1830
2.  Pay off company stock loan debt with 0% interest rate - $600 (this one will end on it's own while I'm still on #1)
3.  Pay off car loan with 5.59% interest rate - $11,000
« Last Edit: January 03, 2014, 06:43:14 PM by Daughter_of_Hybrid »

Thegoblinchief

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #97 on: January 03, 2014, 07:15:20 PM »
Kill off $15K of debt early. I'd love to get back to a zero networth but I think that will have to wait for 2015.

So far our Mustachian budget has held up through all of Q4 2012, including the holidays.

Charlotte

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #98 on: January 04, 2014, 04:01:10 AM »
I would like to be 100% debt free by December of 2014.

I would also like to have a small amount of cash stashed away to cover any emergencies.

We're on track for both of these!

MakingSenseofCents

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Re: 2014 Financial Goals
« Reply #99 on: January 08, 2014, 04:19:22 PM »
We have many financial goals.
- Save for a LARGE down payment for our next home.
- Save 60% of our net income.
- Invest more.
- Start looking at passive income.