Financial Goals 2016: Saving for babby's first SA account

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pig slut lisa: Mar 5, 2012; irl is good

alnilam posted:

^^^ sorry about your troubles bud

Spooky Halloween / Belated Q3 update

Goal 1: Migrate my etrade roth IRA and taxable brokerage to Vanguard (already underway), and figure out a good allocation for me to stick with for retirement investment + low-risk assets for the money needed for goal 3

Now fully complete! Allocation looks like dis:
pre:
      | % in rIRA |   % in taxable
Bonds |        	  |     9.7%
US    |   63.0%   |    
Intl  |        	  |    22.6%
REIT  |    4.7%	  |
-----------------------------------
Total |   67.7%   |    32.3%
(thank you forums poster monster on a stick for advice on tax efficiency)
and will look more or less similar moving forward except for some US being added to the taxable account as necessary, since my tax-sheltered space maxes out very quickly.

Goal 2: ~~Buy an engagement ring~~

I officially got scarried and it's great! Did you know that in PA you don't need an officiant, you can marry ya own drat self? Thanks Quakers! We performed our dark ritual in the middle of the woods in Sept, standing in a stream, with almost nobody else around... we are forest-loving hippies and she doesn't like drawing a ton of attention to herself either so it was absolutely perfect for us. Then we went and visited some family to celebrate. Suffice to say no wedding debt was incurred

Goal 3: ~~Buy a house~~

Achieved since Q1 and we still love the h*ck out of our house

Goal 4: Save 40% of my salary invested as long-term savings.
Stretch goal: save 60% of my salary.

Fully on track for 40% and see no reason I won't hit it, probably not going to hit 60% but w/e

Congrats my pal :byob1:

Nail Rat posted:

Changes in goals due to surprise divorce after only 14 months. GWM (that it didn't come later), BWL (that I now have to work through all this emotional baggage)? I dunno.

-$15k to 401k.
-$4000 to IRA.
-Max HSA.
-Pay off personal loan.
-Finish year with over $10,000 in savings.

Next year will be better, I hope. Just trying to keep some cash aside for paying her off so she doesn't go after my 401k or HSA.

Sorry my dude :smith:

# ? Oct 26, 2016 22:55

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# ? May 3, 2024 08:28

spwrozek: Sep 4, 2006; Sail when it's windy

Nail Rat posted:

Changes in goals due to surprise divorce after only 14 months. GWM (that it didn't come later), BWL (that I now have to work through all this emotional baggage)? I dunno.

-$15k to 401k.
-$4000 to IRA.
-Max HSA.
-Pay off personal loan.
-Finish year with over $10,000 in savings.

Next year will be better, I hope. Just trying to keep some cash aside for paying her off so she doesn't go after my 401k or HSA.

Sucks man but it will be alright. Been there and now live with my sweet girlfriend.

Do your best to get out of it with your money.

# ? Oct 29, 2016 04:15

spinst: Jul 14, 2012

Goals:

1. Raise my net worth from $55k to $70k. $69.7k

2. Pay off $5.4k of my car loan, which has $6.6k remaining. $6280/$5400. Next payment will pay off the car.

~~3. Do something vacation-y this summer without taking on debt. I haven't been on a vacation in 4 years and I need one desperately!~~ DONE! Took a very short but relaxing vacay on San Juan Island.

~~4. Pay for my last semester of grad school in cash. $3k.~~ DONE

5. No credit card debt. On track.

6. Stretch Goal: Start saving for a house. A nominal amount, say $1500, just to get my morale going while I finish paying off the car. Edit: $1000/$1500. Just ordered the new laptop I've been sorely needing, which I am paying for using funds from this goal and cash back rewards I've been saving up. Still will hit this goal in the next two months, though!

spinst fucked around with this message at 17:17 on Oct 30, 2016

# ? Oct 29, 2016 15:54

overdesigned: Apr 10, 2003; We are compassion...; Lipstick Apathy

overdesigned posted:

1) Get emergency fund up to 10k (adding 6500)
2) Resume (and max out) 401k/TSP contributions
3) Pay off approx $8700 of unsecured loan (at 3%)
4) Get at least $5k saved up for wedding (stretch goal: $10k)

Spooooooky end of October update time.

1) Pulled $1200 out of this, balance sitting at $8750, because of #3
2) Still going strong here, probably gonna hit $50k unstretch goal.
3) From #1--paid this off! :toot:

4) Added $250, up to $2350 saved.

Looking at next month's budget, I'm feeling pretty good that I'll meet my goals for the year (the TSP max-out was too aggressive and since I parentheses-ed it I'm gonna say it was a stretch goal I didn't hit). Maybe not as extravagant in Christmas gifting as in the past, but that's not a terrible thing.

I think now that I've got my e-fund built up and that loan paid off, my big 2017 goal can be to actually hit the $18k contribution limit on the TSP (and maybe open an IRA?). My total contributions this year are going to be about $7500. Also mid-late next year I should get promoted which is going to help a ton. I'm gonna look back on my annual spending in December and see what, if anything, seems unreasonable, but right now it looks like my net worth increase this year is going to be about 40% of my gross income, which I think is pretty solid.

# ? Oct 31, 2016 14:49

Grumpwagon: May 6, 2007; I am a giant assfuck who needs to harden the fuck up.

October update inline. Great progress on the loans, pretty much no progress on my non-monetary goals.

Grumpwagon posted:

Major goals
1) Increase income 20% - Accepted a job starting 2/15 for a 33% increase (thanks negotiation thread!)
2) No wedding debt - Wedding 5/15, paid in all cash, goal successful!
3) Pay off $29k of student loans (all but the ~3% interest loans). Stretch: pay off all $41k for 0 debt. - Done! I have paid off the original $29k, plus all $2.5k of the mini-stretch. That leaves 8.5k for the full $41k debt free stretch goal with 2 pay periods to go. I think I'm going to get close enough to just pay it off with the e-fund on Jan 1st. I had written the stretch goal off, but some good (monetary) discipline, a raise, and marriage tax withholding adjustments have brought it back into the realm of possible.

"Keep good habits" goals
4) Keep constant on YNAB (started 1/1/2015) - On track.
5) "never have a baby, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever... ever..." - On track *knocks on wood*.
6) Don't buy a house this year - On track.
7) Don't buy a car unless the new job requires it, and if it does, buy something sensible and inexpensive. - No movement on selling the car.
8) Keep 401(k) contributions to at least 10% each. - On track.
9) Lose 20 pounds and keep it off. Stretch: 30 pounds (goal weight) - ugh. No movement. backwards if anything.

Grumpwagon fucked around with this message at 15:25 on Nov 3, 2016

# ? Nov 1, 2016 21:29

Good-Natured Filth: Jun 8, 2008; Do you think I've got the goods Bubblegum? Cuz I am INTO this stuff!

Nothing big.

2016 Goals (Oct. update)

- ~~Adjust my W4 now that I have a kid~~
- ~~Create a will~~
- ~~Migrate to a budgeting tool (YNAB or Every Dollar) and away from my half-assed Excel sheet that tracks spending but doesn't budget~~
- ~~Open a Roth IRA for myself (have one for the wife, but only using my 401k at work for me)~~
- Move most of the funds in our checking account to appropriate interest-accruing vehicles
- ~~Re-evaluate emergency fund (30k might be a bit much and a small part of that could be used better elsewhere)~~
- ~~Put 50/month into my daughter's 529~~
- ~~Put 2k into our HSA~~
- ~~Fix up our living room and get actual furniture (a decade on junky "college kid" furniture is enough)~~
- ~~Take a vacation~~
- Release two iPhone apps

Stretches

- ~~Max out both IRAs~~
- ~~Pay off my student loans (~5000 @ 3%)~~
- Pay off my car (~12000 @ 2%) I'll be paying this off next week.
- ~~Prep to sell my wife's car in 2017 and plan to purchase a mini-van or other appropriate "family" vehicle~~

# ? Nov 2, 2016 01:05

EAT FASTER!!!!!!: Sep 21, 2002; Legendary.

EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:

2016 isn't a sunk ship by any means, but my timeline for goals is more appropriately 2017, so I'm going to get them down in writing.

2016:
~~1) Pay off 1 credit card in full.~~ Completed. Remainder of the debt is on zero APR accounts. Zero credit card spending since I started reading BFC.

2017:
2) Pay off all credit cards in full.
3) Pay off private student loan.
4) Max both 403b.
5) Get to full contributions on 529.
6) Safety fund to $10,000.
7) Pass boards - get raise.
8) Don't buy new car until MBA paid in full.
9) Increase (our) net worth by $100,000.

# ? Nov 2, 2016 07:24

overdesigned: Apr 10, 2003; We are compassion...; Lipstick Apathy

yooooooo that 50k 401k balance goal is loving shot so

fuckin

whatever

overdesigned fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Nov 9, 2016

# ? Nov 9, 2016 07:15

Potrzebie: Apr 6, 2010; I may not know what I'm talking about, but I sure love cops! ^^ Boy, but that boot is just yummy!; Lipstick Apathy

LOL@Idiocrazy being a documentary. Goodbye every goal ever. Good luck world.

:trumppop:

# ? Nov 9, 2016 08:21

KYOON GRIFFEY JR: Apr 12, 2010; Runner-up, TRP Sack Race 2021/22

EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:

Good start, man - any way you can pull ahead one or two of your '17 goals in to this year?

# ? Nov 9, 2016 14:43

EAT FASTER!!!!!!: Sep 21, 2002; Legendary.

KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:

Good start, man - any way you can pull ahead one or two of your '17 goals in to this year?

I could definitely pay off a second card if I cashed out the emergency fund but the EF is only at $2500 right now and the remainder cards are at 0% interest so it looks like I'm going to have to wait until the February quarterly bonus to hit another one for progress. I have managed to max MY 403b though, my wife just couldn't do it making 12 months of payments in 4 months.

My plan is 2) in May '17
3) in August '17
4) December '17
5) beginning January '17
6) June '17
7) July '17
8) June '18
9) On track for December '17

# ? Nov 9, 2016 16:52

Nail Rat: Dec 29, 2000; You maniacs! You blew it up! God damn you! God damn you all to hell!!

Thanks for the words of encouragement earlier guys. Good news is looks like my wife will accept a settlement of only $6k cash (being a very short marriage, it's not really worth her time and money to try to fight to ~~get~~steal a part of my 401k...so I think I can hit the revised goals.

Its not the end of the year I wanted, but after I sell my car I should be sitting at about 98k net worth at the end of the year, when I had a personal net of 51 at the start. Wouldn't be a bad outcome for a year with a divorce as part of it :unsmith:

Nail Rat fucked around with this message at 21:19 on Nov 12, 2016

# ? Nov 12, 2016 21:17

Moneyball: Jul 11, 2005; It's a problem you think we need to explain ourselves.

Glad it's over and relatively painless. Financially speaking, at least.

# ? Nov 13, 2016 03:18

Referee: Aug 25, 2004; "Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday."
(Wilma Rudolph)

Update inline below. These last 45 days or so of 2016 are the biggest for me. With careful budgeting and a few breaks, I can come darn close to killing off my student loans with football officiating checks (approx. $4K) and income from year-end company bonus. I'm not going to force it though at the expense of the rest of my budget. If it takes until February, then that's how long it takes.

IllegallySober posted:

IllegallySober's 2016 Financial Goals (AKA Operation: Freedom)

Target: Eliminate a total of $28,768.12 in debt and reduce total debt to $0 by December 31, 2016.

1. Pay off Credit Card #1 (already closed), eliminating $3,266.28 of debt. (Interest Rate: 8.90%)

- I work a side job as a football official during the fall and we are paid in a lump-sum at the end of the year. I have received one of my two checks for 2015 already and expect to receive the other before the end of the year. Between these two checks, I should be able to pay off most, if not all, of this credit card. The card is already closed so the only additional debt that could be added to this is interest charges. Target Completion Date: January 31, 2016 or sooner. COMPLETED 1/14/16

2. Pay off Car Loan, eliminating $4,304.46 of debt. (Interest Rate: 8.25%)

- After paying off Credit Card #1, this will be my priority because should something happen to the car (accident, major repairs, etc.) I don't want the loan hanging over my head. Blue Book value on the car is roughly $3200 so while it is underwater, it isn't by a lot. I do not intend to buy another vehicle in the next five years as the current vehicle only has 115,000 miles on it and it's a Honda. Target Completion Date: May 30, 2016 or sooner. COMPLETED 8/9/16

3. Pay off Student Loans, eliminating $7,040.64 of debt. (Interest Rate: approximately 5.05% average between the two loans)

- After paying off the Car Loan, this will be my priority because student loan debt is generally not able to be forgiven in case of bankruptcy, so if the worst were to happen, I would rather have this paid off sooner rather than later. Target Completion Date: October 31, 2016 or sooner. IN PROGRESS- CURRENT BALANCE $6,587.98

4. Stretch Goal: Pay off Credit Card #2, eliminating $14,156.74 of debt. (Interest Rate: 8.90%)

- Realistically, this will only happen by the end of 2016 if my company commission bonuses fall within the high-end of the expected range AND I am able to hit budget goals for every month in 2016 while shooting to decrease expenses as compared to 2015. I do believe it is possible, though, if I stay accountable to myself and others (hello, BFC) and leverage the tools available to me such as YNAB which I have been getting used to over the past few months. Time will tell if this proves to be the case. Target Completion Date: December 31, 2016 or sooner. IN PROGRESS- CURRENT BALANCE $13,433.19

2015 Net Income: approximately $55,000 (changed careers in July)
Expected 2016 Net Income: between $65,000 (no commission) and $100,000 (with highest-expected commission payouts)

Other 2016 Goals

- Update YNAB on a every-other-day basis or more ON PACE
- Run 12 5K events in 2016 STILL ONLY HAVE DONE 2- THIS ISN'T GONNA HAPPEN
- Learn to be a better cook and drastically reduce eating at restaurants GETTING BETTER- LAST TWO MONTHS WILL TELL
~~- Move in with girlfriend~~ NOT HAPPENING UNTIL 2017
- Do not have a child or any other expensive habits/experiences ON PACE

# ? Nov 16, 2016 16:47

EAT FASTER!!!!!!: Sep 21, 2002; Legendary.

IllegallySober posted:

Update inline below. These last 45 days or so of 2016 are the biggest for me. With careful budgeting and a few breaks, I can come darn close to killing off my student loans with football officiating checks (approx. $4K) and income from year-end company bonus. I'm not going to force it though at the expense of the rest of my budget. If it takes until February, then that's how long it takes.

Keep up the good work dude, that's already a huge blow struck in favor of your net worth. Hopefully the macro-environment of your firm keeps your compensation robust.

# ? Nov 17, 2016 00:05

Referee: Aug 25, 2004; "Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday."
(Wilma Rudolph)

EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:

Keep up the good work dude, that's already a huge blow struck in favor of your net worth. Hopefully the macro-environment of your firm keeps your compensation robust.

I appreciate that. It's been a challenging year but still productive. The big thing has been changing my mindset so no matter how much money I'm bringing in, I can still pay down debt. Hopefully by summer, it will all be gone. I'll be in the 2017 goals thread too when that one shows up

# ? Nov 17, 2016 03:04

overdesigned: Apr 10, 2003; We are compassion...; Lipstick Apathy

overdesigned posted:

1) Get emergency fund up to 10k (adding 6500)
2) Resume (and max out) 401k/TSP contributions
3) Pay off approx $8700 of unsecured loan (at 3%)
4) Get at least $5k saved up for wedding (stretch goal: $10k)

IMPENDING HOLIDAYS update of HOLIDAYNESS aka november

1) This is at $9250 after paying off my loan early. Budgeted back up to $10k next month.
2) Still contributing! Hit $50k account balance! Calling this one done.
3) Paid this off last month!
4) Added $850 this month, budgeted to add $800 next month to hit the goal.

Since I'm a month ahead in YNAB/budgeting, I guess...I'm done! Goals technically reached! As long as I stay in-budget for December, anyway. Happy 2016 y'all. Throwing down my goals in this thread has been really good at helping me stick to 'em and stay financially responsible. Last year I was budgeting and doing okay but this year I did better. Not buying a new car probably helped too...

Spitballing goals for next year, in no particular priority order:
-) Pay wedding costs in full (will need probably 12-15k)
-) Increase TSP contributions to hit the $18k max (I contributed a little over $7500 this year but also only really started contributing in May)
-) Cut student loan balance by half (so about $6500 payoff)
-) I dunno, start saving for a house or something. Depends on where the Marines send me next.
-) Save up like $1000 for a ridiculous splurge purchase.

# ? Nov 30, 2016 15:05

sweet_jones: Jan 1, 2007

sweet_jones posted:

2016 Goals:

1. Increase Net Worth to 160k

2. Save 10k towards new car

3. Raise emergency fund to 24k

4. Pay cash for new suit and summer vacation. So, plan.

This was a good year; I mostly stuck with my goals while also buying a 101 year old house!

1. I'm seeing the futility in using NW as a goal and also the ambiguity of it as well. For me, I intended to get to 160 in investments and this happened.

2. I dropped this one. I moved really close to most everything important and while still lovely, my current car is only being used around once every two weeks. This should extend it's life for a while longer and put this goal on the back burner. Riding a bike, it turns out, is much cooler than driving.

3. Done.

4. Done.

My goals for next year are going to be really simple: max 403b and 457 contributions. Never maxed either and I feel like everything else is in a good place.

# ? Nov 30, 2016 23:41

nikosoft: Dec 17, 2011; ghost in the shell, but somehow much worse; College Slice

2016 Goals

~~1) Max both IRAs~~ - Done

~~2) Max 401k contribution~~ - Done

~~3) Get mortgage under 130k (Currently 160k)~~ - Done - currently at 97k

4) Remodel ~~back yard~~ & front yard - Back yard done at $700 materials and my free labor. Currently working on front yard, costs have been 1.1k for materials/landscape removal so far and my free labor. Hope to finish by end of year, weather permitting (but waiting until the spring for plants). I'm building a retaining wall!

5) Research local charities/causes and make a meaningful donation - Nothing so far - get on this!

~~6) Take a vacation that is a week or longer~~ - Done

Stretch Goals

~~1) Get mortgage under 100k~~ - Done!! Five digit mortgage!

2) Generate side income - Nothing so far

I've been off work since August! So I'm doing all the manual labor in my ample free time. I should be working again come Jan, and if I'm working from home like I think I'll be doing, then I'll start looking into the kitchen as an early 2017 project so I'm still sitting on 30k in savings for that. Also mulling over putting in solar panels in 2017...

# ? Dec 1, 2016 18:36

Grumpwagon: May 6, 2007; I am a giant assfuck who needs to harden the fuck up.

November update inline. 1 month away from paying off nearly $75k student loans between me and my wife (including about half of that this year), as well as a debt free wedding. I'm super excited about becoming debt free (only to buy a house and start it all over again soon...).

Grumpwagon posted:

Major goals
1) Increase income 20% - Accepted a job starting 2/15 for a 33% increase (thanks negotiation thread!)
2) No wedding debt - Wedding 5/15, paid in all cash, goal successful!
3) Pay off $29k of student loans (all but the ~3% interest loans). - Done! All of the original $29k, plus all of the $2.5k mini-stretch!
Stretch) Pay off the remaining $8.5k student loan for 0 debt. - $4.25k/$8.5k paid. On track to make the last payment January 1st! Debt free in sight!

"Keep good habits" goals
4) Keep constant on YNAB (started 1/1/2015) - On track.
5) "never have a baby, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever... ever..." - On track *knocks on wood*.
6) Don't buy a house this year - On track.
7) Don't buy a car unless the new job requires it, and if it does, buy something sensible and inexpensive. - I think I'm going to fail the modified version of this (sell the wife's old car). It's winter, and the repairs that would make the car worth something are easy, but not when it's freezing. Probably going to put this off until Spring.
8) Keep 401(k) contributions to at least 10% each. - On track.
9) Lose 20 pounds and keep it off. Stretch: 30 pounds (goal weight) - I'm at -12-15. I'm not pleased with that, but given I gained about 10 pounds before the wedding, I'll live with it. Still, this is goal #1 for next year.

# ? Dec 2, 2016 00:06

EAT FASTER!!!!!!: Sep 21, 2002; Legendary.

Grumpwagon posted:

November update inline. 1 month away from paying off nearly $75k student loans between me and my wife (including about half of that this year), as well as a debt free wedding. I'm super excited about becoming debt free (only to buy a house and start it all over again soon...).

Congratulations on the hard work getting your student loans paid down!!!

# ? Dec 2, 2016 14:11

Good-Natured Filth: Jun 8, 2008; Do you think I've got the goods Bubblegum? Cuz I am INTO this stuff!

2016 Goals (Nov. update)

- ~~Adjust my W4 now that I have a kid~~
- ~~Create a will~~
- ~~Migrate to a budgeting tool (YNAB or Every Dollar) and away from my half-assed Excel sheet that tracks spending but doesn't budget~~
- ~~Open a Roth IRA for myself (have one for the wife, but only using my 401k at work for me)~~
- Move most of the funds in our checking account to appropriate interest-accruing vehicles (Probably won't happen until January. And a good chunk of it will just max our IRA's for the year.)
- ~~Re-evaluate emergency fund (30k might be a bit much and a small part of that could be used better elsewhere)~~
- ~~Put 50/month into my daughter's 529~~
- ~~Put 2k into our HSA~~
- ~~Fix up our living room and get actual furniture (a decade on junky "college kid" furniture is enough)~~
- ~~Take a vacation~~
- Release two iPhone apps (Not gonna happen. One was all I had the motivation for this year.)

Stretches

- ~~Max out both IRAs~~
- ~~Pay off my student loans (~5000 @ 3%)~~
- ~~Pay off my car (~12000 @ 2%)~~ I now own my car.
- ~~Prep to sell my wife's car in 2017 and plan to purchase a mini-van or other appropriate "family" vehicle~~

# ? Dec 3, 2016 05:22

balancedbias: May 2, 2009; $$$$$$$$$

balancedbias posted:

2016! YES! A Year for optimism.

Forced optimism, mind you. There's plenty of emo bullshit that nobody wants to hear, so let's get to the checkpoints (not necessarily in any particular order):

1- Max out 401k and 457

2-Max out both IRAs

3-Pay down car loan...

WAIT WHAT? Yeah, my wife got a new car. She was tired of leasing (which I had said for a decade was a bad idea) but she kind of went at it in a wonky way and welp, brand new Rav4.
$20k I'm looking to get rid of the whole shebang as quick as possible, but the rate is 2.69% so I'm not trying to liquidate the taxable fund.

4-Continue funding 529

5-Pay down the mortgage by an extra $15,000

Stretch of a stretch (because the endgoals for #3 and #5 are stretches themselves) - somehow manage to do all of this AND minimize the tax refund to under $1000

Then in June:

balancedbias posted:

1, 2, and 4 on schedule

3 - She has shaved off an extra 2.6k so far, yay!

5 - So, I helped out my sister with this money because she was in a pinch after the Verizon strike. I'm still accumulating, but nowhere near making the goal.

And now...

1 = DONE

2 = DONE

3 = She paid an extra 400 for a total of 3k early this year. Her mom ~~being horrible with money but in a boring way so no BWM post~~ having unexpected issues diverted some of this.

4 = still on schedule

5 = as I said before, diverted temporarily, but back at it. For the year, maybe 6-7k.

The stretch of a stretch is not happening; at least it's for the relative positive (meaning the refund will be a bit big).

I'm already looking forward to next year:

1 - Max the 401k and 457

2 - Max the IRAs

3 - MAX THE HSA! I have access to an HSA! Finally! (Nobody at work really knows why this made me so excited during open enrollment)

4 - Continue funding 529 at 250/month

5 - STRETCH - pay off that car loan. I'm taking this one back on myself; based on family dynamics, getting rid of this by the end of next year will recreate the type of cash flow that will allow a bit more breathing room and use as an unofficial family emergency fund. I don't think Trump got my letter to get an exemption from economic policy and outsource my parents/siblings/in-laws.

# ? Dec 3, 2016 13:29

alnilam: Nov 10, 2009

alnilam posted:

^^^ sorry about your troubles bud

Spooky Halloween / Belated Q3 update

Goal 1: Migrate my etrade roth IRA and taxable brokerage to Vanguard (already underway), and figure out a good allocation for me to stick with for retirement investment + low-risk assets for the money needed for goal 3

Now fully complete! Allocation looks like dis:
pre:
      | % in rIRA |   % in taxable
Bonds |        	  |     9.7%
US    |   63.0%   |    
Intl  |        	  |    22.6%
REIT  |    4.7%	  |
-----------------------------------
Total |   67.7%   |    32.3%
(thank you forums poster monster on a stick for advice on tax efficiency)
and will look more or less similar moving forward except for some US being added to the taxable account as necessary, since my tax-sheltered space maxes out very quickly.

Goal 2: ~~Buy an engagement ring~~

I officially got scarried and it's great! Did you know that in PA you don't need an officiant, you can marry ya own drat self? Thanks Quakers! We performed our dark ritual in the middle of the woods in Sept, standing in a stream, with almost nobody else around... we are forest-loving hippies and she doesn't like drawing a ton of attention to herself either so it was absolutely perfect for us. Then we went and visited some family to celebrate. Suffice to say no wedding debt was incurred

Goal 3: ~~Buy a house~~

Achieved since Q1 and we still love the h*ck out of our house

Goal 4: Save 40% of my salary invested as long-term savings.
Stretch goal: save 60% of my salary.

Fully on track for 40% and see no reason I won't hit it, probably not going to hit 60% but w/e

Final update I guess: as of payday 11/30, Goal 4 is complete which means all goals are complete! Total amount that I put away in Vanguard (maxed roth IRA and the rest in a taxable acct) ended up being about 44% of my post-tax pay for the year.
:peanut:

alnilam fucked around with this message at 16:12 on Dec 3, 2016

# ? Dec 3, 2016 16:09

spinst: Jul 14, 2012

Goals:

1. Raise my net worth from $55k to $70k. $72.3k. DONE!

2. Pay off my car loan, which has $6.6k remaining. $6712 paid. Car is paid off. I am debt free! DONE!

3. Do something vacation-y this summer without taking on debt. I haven't been on a vacation in 4 years and I need one desperately! DONE! Took a very short but relaxing vacay on San Juan Island.

4. Pay for my last semester of grad school in cash. $3k. DONE!

5. No credit card debt. On track.

6. Stretch Goal: Start saving for a house. A nominal amount, say $1500, just to get my morale going while I finish paying off the car. $1850/$1500. DONE!

I did good! All my goals are met with a month to go. Of course, I made these goals before I got a new position at work that pays $500 more a month. Time to start thinking about 2017's goals...

# ? Dec 3, 2016 17:07

TouchyMcFeely: Aug 21, 2006; High five! Hell yeah!

It's nearly the end of the year so before I forget, let's see how we did!

Goals for 2016
Figure out how finances work with a new baby (Just found out wife is pregnant)
- Nailed it! We managed to pay cash for the delivery so no new debt from having baby (thank god).

Get good renters into new rental home
- Nailed it! We landed a great young couple that have paid on time, every month for the last 9 months. They've only called on two occasions. Once when the lovely wooden fence fell down and again when the basement flooded.

Pay off credit card balance
- Miss! Money that would have been used to pay off credit card went to paying for baby. We did manage to knock out a decent chunk even with medical expenses but we still have a balance.

Save $10k for emergency fund (more than half way there already)
- No progress made here. Still where we were.

Pay off wife's car
- Miss! We decided to trade in the wife's sedan for a more expensive SUV. Got an OK price on it but we still owe more on it than we would have if we had kept the sedan. Reality is that the sedan would not have worked with our growing family and since the wife is now a stay at home mom, the decrease in fuel efficiency is actually offset by the fact that she doesn't commute anymore.

Purchase a second rental house
- Nailed it! Second rental purchased in Aug and new tenant placed in Sept. Cash flows ~$300 a month after expenses. This along with 1st rental adds just under $700 a month in additional income.

Figure out how finances work with a new baby!
- Still figuring this out. There's a weird push and pull of what kind of baby stuff is actually useful/needed vs. overpriced crap. Unfortunately figuring out the difference usually doesn't happen until after the money is spent. That said, baby is awesome.

Final Summary: It was a year of ups and downs. While we made progress in our long term investing by purchasing additional rental property, we took on additional consumer debt through the purchase of a more expensive vehicle. However, we were able to avoid taking on further debt by hording cash in anticipation of baby medical expenses.

All in all, it was a good year.

# ? Dec 3, 2016 22:42

Sundae: Dec 1, 2005

Sundae posted:

2016 Financial Goals:

#1 - Under no circumstances have children. Stretch goal: Don't have a house either.
#2 - Make $100,000 from primary side business (revenue, not profit). Stretch goal: $200,000.
#3 - Make secondary side business fully self-sustaining and turn no less than $1,000 in profit. Stretch Goal: N/A
#4 - Do one stress-reduction activity each month (massage, art therapy, whatever). Stretch Goal: N/A
#5 - Have $50,000 in my primary savings account by end of the year. Stretch Goal: Have $100,000 in my primary savings account by end of the year.
#6 - Surprise mid-year Career Transition goal. (Interview, plan, prepare, take a shot at a job opportunity in San Francisco.)

#1 - Still a success.
#2 - Complete and utter miserable failure. I'm going to have to do better next year. I'm barely going to turn $40K this year. I don't care all that much since I doubled my day job income this year, but it's still a failed goal.
#3 - Failure? - Due to changes in the general marketplace for the side business, it went from an okay idea to not feasible. I killed the project to save the costs/time of running it. (Review service for self-publishing authors that links them up with ARC readers, and the authors pay to have their books featured. The main retailer for books has started culling ARC reviews and changed visibility for reviews that are advance and aren't from purchased copies on their site, so there goes all the benefit and most of the demand for said service.)
#4 - Complete.
#5 - Going to miss this. Cross-country moving costs ate more than I expected this year, and my wife's NGO trip to India was more expensive than she expected (I told her it would be, but noooooo). Combining that with the miserable failure of #2, and we're going to hit about $30K at the end of December. $50K will be reached by the end of February once bonus season kicks in, but that's not 2016 so FAILURE.
#6 - Complete. I moved across the country and roughly doubled my day-job income.

A 50% success rate (give or take depending on how you interpret #3) doesn't cut it. I'll not gently caress up so hard next year.

# ? Dec 5, 2016 02:46

Potrzebie: Apr 6, 2010; I may not know what I'm talking about, but I sure love cops! ^^ Boy, but that boot is just yummy!; Lipstick Apathy

OK, I don't think a whole lot will happen in december to change any of my goals, so here goes.

Potrzebie posted:

Monetary Goals:

~~Increase salary by 10%~~ Success! 14% higher pay. Also better benefits. Now a permanent position . Got a bottle of wine for x-mas. Company did not meet budget, so no celebratory trip (this is apparently a thing?). Not sure if we get end-of-year bonus, but think not.
~~Reduce car commutes by 20%, replace with public transit or bike.~~ Reduced by 80%! Started biking to work. It is awesome! Car gets used once a week when I have open water training in the city at 06:30. having a kid hosed it up. Car has been in use 5 days a week more or less for the last two months.
Grow portfolio by 10% -19% YTD, but that is OK, my microstock will go to the moon before end of year and this downslump is just the market being irrational So much fail. Stockvalue has shrunk. All my savings in funds grew over target though, so a tiny win?
Increase monthly savings from 20% of salary to 30%. First month where this is possible, due to higher income. This will probably happen until september, then BABY will poo poo on this goal both litterarily and figuratively. Baby ment a huge dump was taken on income side as wife is on maternal leave, but also ment that we save a ton on evening activities (Oh boy let me tell you about saturday night adventures with an infant!), so while savings did not increase permanently I am still at 20% post-baby.

Stretch goals:
Increase salary by 20%. We'll see. If I am still employed come November my position will roll over to a permanent one, giving me an opportunity to negotiate for a raise. Still employed, no increase yet
~~New, better job closer to home so I never need to take the god damned car.~~ Success! New job at 35 min commute by bike/buss, or 10 minutes by car.

Other goals:

~~Make baby~~ Baby made. ETA 18: September Baby was late to the party but joined us on the 28:th.
Become a boss at open water swimming on the company dime. :itshappening: Then baby happened. I did swim a whole lot though, and even joined a few 3k+ competitions for fun.
Have a net surplus on the happiness account. I am net happy by quite a lot right now BABY
~~Delete Facebook account.~~ Success? Deactivated. Not sure delete is an option.

All in all I think I did alright, for a first timer. A major point for me was to write down things I wanted (new job, better location etc) and then work to achieve the things.

Next time will be less things I can not control and more easy defined goals.

# ? Dec 5, 2016 09:28

spwrozek: Sep 4, 2006; Sail when it's windy

spwrozek posted:

Well after an interesting 2015 I am ready to get back into some really good financial goals.

Goals
1) Pay off ex's student loans (part of my divorce stuff). This is about $23,000.
2) Pay off my student loans. This is about $3,650.
3) Increase 401k contribution by 1% after raise in March, 11% of gross plus 4% match. (I might just do this even if I don't get a raise)
4) Purchase trip to Bald Face Lodge in 2017 for my 30th birthday, it will cost about $4,000 but completely worth it. Hopefully I can get some peeps to go with.
5) Sell or be bought out of my house and move closer to work, should net between $30-40K for my share baring a huge crash.

Stretch Goals - Based on the house sell or buy out
1) Max out 401k.
2) Pay off my car. Approximately $11,500.

Non-Financial Goal
1) Move in with my awesome girlfriend.

I did all these things (#4 changed to a sweet rear end road trip coming in Feb), maxed my 401K, maxed my Roth IRA, started putting money away for my mom's retirement, and I walk to work now.

Looking forward to next year.

# ? Dec 6, 2016 01:41

KYOON GRIFFEY JR: Apr 12, 2010; Runner-up, TRP Sack Race 2021/22

KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:

KGJr Goals 2016 Edition

Additional 2016 goals:
Put $1000/mo in to the house fund - on track since September
Put $500/mo in to taxable brokerage. not on track, but will make up at end of year before bonus. Waiting on a big expenses reimbursement

Stretch goal: net worth of $175k (including retirement, excluding checking) at end of year. May: $140.5k. End of June: $142.7k End of September: $150.8k End of November: $153.5k It just might be possible before my year end bonus. I'm waiting for a substantial reimbursement in next pay check, and should also get my match paid in to 401k at $9,000, plus my 401k contribution for December, which means I'll only have to squirrel away about 10k to make it work. Still, if I hit 170+ before bonus I'll be fairly satisfied with performance.

Post bonus goals - bonus should be at least 25k after taxes
Set aside $5,000 for vacations
Max IRA
Set aside $5,000 for moving next year
Put remainder in house fund
Buy a case of Yamazaki 12

# ? Dec 6, 2016 13:15

root of all eval: Dec 28, 2002

u wan gently caress posted:

Goals for 2016

1. Pay off all consumer debt and be debt free except for the mortgage by EOY

2. Move old retirement accounts to single Vanguard umbrella account

~~3. Set up Roth IRAs and monthly auto-deductions from checking (Amount adding up to yearly max, assuming April 16th start date with debt repayment)~~
3. Contribute the monthly equivalent of a Roth contribution toward the emergency fund.

~~4. Dial up employer retirement withholding to combine with Roth for 15% gross income~~

~~5. Save $12k cash for emergency fund~~
5. Save $25k cash for emergency fund

EDIT:

I got surprise divorced instead of doing any of that so I guess I am just happy to be debt free with $3k in savings and non-suicidal. :unsmith:

# ? Dec 12, 2016 21:30

Nail Rat: Dec 29, 2000; You maniacs! You blew it up! God damn you! God damn you all to hell!!

u wan gently caress posted:

I got surprise divorced instead of doing any of that so I guess I am just happy to be debt free with $3k in savings and non-suicidal.

Sup surprise divorce buddy. Hope you were able to hold onto your own retirement funds

# ? Dec 12, 2016 21:37

root of all eval: Dec 28, 2002

For the most part, yeah. Basically traded her $7k in cash for $7k in IRA transfers, which at this juncture is a fair enough trade for me. Walking away net zero all told. Could be a lot worse.

# ? Dec 13, 2016 00:31

pig slut lisa: Mar 5, 2012; irl is good

I know you both are probably still feeling down, but this seems like a great opportunity to find love in each other's arms and show everyone how to plan a real BFC wedding

# ? Dec 13, 2016 02:38

root of all eval: Dec 28, 2002

I'll DJ using spotify and invite a lobster taco truck to 'cater'

# ? Dec 13, 2016 08:58

Nail Rat: Dec 29, 2000; You maniacs! You blew it up! God damn you! God damn you all to hell!!

Maybe turning gay would be GWM.

Final goal update...the divorce went smoothly (retirement accounts intact except for a 4 figure 401k loan to pay the settlement and legal fees), but I got the smallest bonus I've ever gotten at this company. You win some and you lose some.

-$15k to 401k. Done - will be about 15,300 before matching.
-$4000 to IRA. Done
-Max HSA. Done
-Pay off personal loan. Done. Considering this started the year at over $26k, happy about this.
-Finish year with over $10,000 in savings. Well it'll be more like $9k, so close.

All in all personal net worth went from $51k to $95k by years' end. Year didn't shake out as well as I wanted it to, but I guess it's hard to complain about that end result given the circumstances. 2017 should be even better, because while the divorce gave me a short-term hammering, it's actually very good for my cash flow.

Also I *would* have hit the 10k savings goal but I just booked a flight to Ireland in the summer with one of my best friends, who's from there. We'll be crashing at his childhood home, so GWM comes from BWM.

Nail Rat fucked around with this message at 15:27 on Dec 16, 2016

# ? Dec 16, 2016 15:05

Moneyball: Jul 11, 2005; It's a problem you think we need to explain ourselves.

So who wants to start the 2017 thread? It was December 13th last year.

I need some guidance on 2017 goals. Today is my last day at my full-time job, and I will be working part time while focusing on the CPA. By the end of December, I should have:

$12,500 savings
$3,000 credit card debt at 0% APR until June
$6,800 student loan debt at %3.5, paid ahead until 2022

Technically I could be debt free, with around $1,200 a month coming in from the part time job, but the interest rate is so low, I might leave that until I'm forced to make a payment. I plan to get back to work full time by summer, and go to grad school around that time, so I should be able to pay my first semester in full if I hoard my savings, saving me loan fees and higher interest. Once I start earning full time wages again, I can contribute that to retirement.

Should I just pay it all off and be debt free? Hang on to it to pay tuition with cash?

# ? Dec 16, 2016 17:01

Nail Rat: Dec 29, 2000; You maniacs! You blew it up! God damn you! God damn you all to hell!!

May be getting a bit outside the scope of this thread, but...what are your monthly expenses if you (reasonably) cut to the basics to do what you need to do while studying? I'd say keep at least that times three in cash savings. Especially as you have such a low interest rate on the student loan, you really only need to worry about paying off the credit card by June.

# ? Dec 16, 2016 17:10

EAT FASTER!!!!!!: Sep 21, 2002; Legendary.

I am loving JAZZED to put up some 2017 goals, because I think some exciting stuff is coming. Who is going to make the thread? It's that time!

# ? Dec 16, 2016 17:46

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# ? May 3, 2024 08:28

Referee: Aug 25, 2004; "Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday."
(Wilma Rudolph)

I'm ready for the 2017 thread as well.

# ? Dec 16, 2016 17:50

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Financial Goals 2016: Saving for babby's first SA account

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