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

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leftist heap: Feb 28, 2013; Fun Shoe

I really only have one financial goal this year and that's to save a total of $15k (at least).

# ? Jan 15, 2016 20:11

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# ? Apr 20, 2024 17:10

alnilam: Nov 10, 2009

alnilam posted:

First time financial goals poster A major change happened this past year, and another major change is coming up in the next year or two, so my main strategy is save save save so that I'm ready for anything.

Current/background:
28, Pittsburgh, scientist
I finished my PhD in August 2015.
I am very very lucky to have zero debt. I also live very cheaply. No car, cheap 5-person shared house in a cheap city, cook most of my own food. As a result, I managed to save about half of my stipend consistently. So as a result I have 4 years of full contributions to my Roth IRA plus plenty of cash savings
Now I have a job as a postdoc and I'm making a lot more now, and I haven't changed my living costs, so all the extra is going into savings
I make between 50 and 70k at this new job (I don't feel comfortable giving an exact amount). My current savings from my PhD and the first few months of this job are in the neighborhood of 30k, + 20k in the roth IRA.

Upcoming Life Change In exactly 3 days I find out where my girlfriend matches for residency. She's definitely taking me with her (we talk about it). So that's a big life change coming up. However, because of the program she's in, she has 1 extra year that will probably be here in Pittsburgh, so we won't be going to wherever until summer 2017.

Goals 2016:
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

Goal 2: Buy an engagement ring It's going to cost a little less than my current monthly salary. Luckily I have the cash for it without dipping into my long-term savings, but it's worth listing as a financial goal because it's a significant, unusual expense. Lucky for us, she and I both prefer a city hall wedding, so there's no wedding savings to worry about

Goal 3: Put aside $20k in low-risk assets for a housing/moving fund. If my gf matches here in Pittsburgh, we might buy a house and it'll go towards a down payment. If she matches in a different place, a little bit will go towards moving, and if I don't have a job lined up when we move there, it'll go towards our housing/living expenses wherever we move to, for the possibly several months it takes to find a job. Especially because if we get sent somewhere pricey like San Francisco (which is a strong possibility), her resident salary might not be enough for both of our housing
I guess think of this as an emergency fund, but where the emergency is kind of anticipated as happening in summer 2017.

Goal 4: Save 40% of my salary and put it in whatever asset allocation I figure out in goal 1, including maxing my 2016 Roth contribution.
Stretch goal: save 60% of my salary. Given what my living costs were during my PhD, and considering what taxes will cost me, I think this is the max I could save.
The ring is going to eat into this a little though. The housing/moving fund can come out of my existing cash savings.

I think my goals seems a little un-focused. But I have no debt and I'm saving a lot so maybe a lack of focus is okay while I figure out post-PhD life for the first time?

She matched in Pixburgh :toot:

Going to buy a haus!

# ? Jan 16, 2016 20:10

Jon Von Anchovi: Sep 5, 2014

alnilam posted:

She matched in Pixburgh

Going to buy a haus!

goongrats

# ? Jan 17, 2016 02:39

Aerofallosov: Oct 3, 2007; Friend to Fishes. Just keep swimming.

Congratulations!

Thanks to a kind goon, I have a copy of YNAB. I also now have a source of income! So I am starting to plan my snowball debt scheme and saving to relocate to somewhere my allergies/job prospects/toxic family won't kill me.

It's hard - kind of embarrassing - to list debts, but I think overcoming painful things is important.

So:
1) Track and work out debts
2) Learn to effectively use YNAB.
3) Save for a modest car (one I can drive and one that won't burst into flames - this happened once).
4) Build emergency savings/future apartment deposit
5) Mend credit by dealing with medical debts, working out deletes and charge offs.
6) Complete SSN change and petition. Seriously, gently caress you, mom. Also may use free bonus name change for giggles.

# ? Jan 22, 2016 21:14

Devian666: Aug 20, 2008; Take some advice Chris.; Fun Shoe

Aerofallosov posted:

Congratulations!

Thanks to a kind goon, I have a copy of YNAB. I also now have a source of income! So I am starting to plan my snowball debt scheme and saving to relocate to somewhere my allergies/job prospects/toxic family won't kill me.

It's hard - kind of embarrassing - to list debts, but I think overcoming painful things is important.

So:
1) Track and work out debts
2) Learn to effectively use YNAB.
3) Save for a modest car (one I can drive and one that won't burst into flames - this happened once).
4) Build emergency savings/future apartment deposit
5) Mend credit by dealing with medical debts, working out deletes and charge offs.
6) Complete SSN change and petition. Seriously, gently caress you, mom. Also may use free bonus name change for giggles.

Don't feel bad about listing debts it's a positive thing to list and understand your financial position. In fact all of the things you've listed are great and I'm sure the SSN change will save you a lot of stress and bullshit in the future.

# ? Jan 22, 2016 21:58

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

spwrozek posted:

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)

Did this today! One goal down!

# ? Jan 22, 2016 22:35

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)

spwrozek posted:

Did this today! One goal down!

Congrats! Future-you will be so happy you did :toot:

# ? Jan 22, 2016 23:32

alnilam: Nov 10, 2009

IllegallySober posted:

Congrats! Future-you will be so happy you did

Future me never sends thank you cards :argh:

# ? Jan 22, 2016 23:36

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

First time financial goals poster here, although I almost did last year. Starting a bit late, but I've already completed a major one!

Major goals
~~1) Increase income 20%~~ Accepted a job starting 2/15 for a 33% increase (thanks negotiation thread!)
2) No wedding debt - on track to have all money saved by the wedding (May). Paying cash, mostly by ourselves.
3) Pay off $29k of student loans (all but the ~3% interest loans). Stretch: pay off all $41k for 0 debt.

"Keep good habits" goals
4) Keep constant on YNAB (started 1/1/2015)
5) "never have a baby, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever... ever..."
6) Don't buy a house this year
7) Don't buy a car unless the new job requires it, and if it does, buy something sensible and inexpensive.
8) Keep 401(k) contributions to at least 10% each.
9) Lose 20 pounds and keep it off. Stretch: 30 pounds (goal weight)

We'd been paying down our student loans for the last year or so (started with $71k between us, down to $41k now) until summer when I proposed. Budget for the wedding is ~$25k (we both have huge families) paid cash, 90% by us. We've dropped all extra payments of the student loans to pay for that, but we're on track to have the money in time without touching our emergency fund. After that, we're going back to the student loans. Paying the remaining $29k of >3% interest loans should be doable. If we end up with some extra money from the wedding fund or cash wedding gifts, we might be able to pay off all $41k this year and get debt free.

Threats to meeting the goals:
I'm just starting a new job. It's a big pay increase, but the benefits aren't as good as my current job. It seems like a good culture fit, but there's always a risk when switching that it doesn't work out. I also might have to buy a car after not having one for 5 years or so. If I do, I will be tempted to buy a hot hatch or something, even though a basic transportation box will be more than adequate for the tiny amount of driving I do. We almost bought a house last year. We've agreed to wait 2 years or so to pay off the loans and get a better down payment, but that's a risk. No kids please.

Grumpwagon fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Aug 2, 2016

# ? Jan 23, 2016 04:32

CaptainRat: Apr 18, 2003; It seems the secret to your success is a combination of boundless energy and enthusiastic insolence...

My main goal for the year is to get to a positive net worth. I don't have a ton of debt, compared to some - no mortgage, no car payment, no outstanding credit card balance (I make most of my purchases on my two cards but I always pay the balance in full) - but I don't have a lot invested and I have a $20K+ student loan debt.

1) Grow my emergency fund to $3,000
- My job is secure at least through another year so I don't feel a lot of pressure to have this cover 6 months of out-of-work looking-for-a-job time, but I would like to have it sizable enough that I can draw on it for a medical emergency that hits me or my cats. This should happen automatically due to automatic transfers I have set up.

2) Pay off $10K student loan debt
- The loan is actually 4 separate loans, two of which are sub-5% interest and two which are over. Currently I'm signed up for auto-debit for a modest interest rate reduction, so $185 is split four ways, and then I do a larger targeted payment to the one with the highest interest rate.
Stretch Goal) Pay off both of the highest interest rate loans. This is doable if I get the usual 3% cost-of-living raise and throw all of that at loan debt, or tighten my belt/raid savings near the end of the year. This puts me in a position where raising my IRA contribution becomes slightly more advantageous (assuming average yield) than paying off the remaining loans.

3) Be prepared for trips and holidays.
- I already have budget categories for all of this, so it's just a matter of sticking to it and letting those accumulate (and not dipping into them for other stuff, which I had no problem doing last year)

4) Eat out less and stick to my current restaurant / food budget
- I was good with this last year until I got sick, hurt my back, stopped going to the gym and let my diet get out of control. I usually cover overages to groceries and restaurants out of other categories (rather than spending to the limit there as well) so this is more a matter of bringing my diet, exercise, and budgetary goals back into alignment and re-establishing old habits.

5) (Optional/stretch goal) Get 1 month ahead in my checking account
- I'm a little under a paycheck ahead now, which is still a sufficient cushion, and it's hard to conceive of a situation that requires me to be more liquid than I am now, but I would still like to get here eventually. Everything else takes priority, so this is more a matter of cutting what corners I can cut in my variable budgets over the course of the year to gradually get as far ahead as I can.

Come 2017 I should be in a good position to start maxing my IRA and work on my longer-term goals.

# ? Jan 23, 2016 16:41

Dead Pressed: Nov 11, 2009

Dead Pressed posted:

Goals:
0-Start a goddamned budget. We've done well with stuff in my head, but we're moving to a Ramsey-esque hybrid system. Cash only envelope system, credit cards left open and used only for Netflix. Track EVERYTHING via Everydollar. This will trim the excessive bleeding we've noticed on dining out (our big-time vice, contributes to our being out of shape). Setting this up while watching SNF tonight. Will be discussing freezing our credit per Clark Howard's recommendations.

Budget made, using Dave Ramsey's everydollar and cash envelope system. Have gone off track a bit here and there, but have accounted for most of it. Seem to be doing alright. Entering the last quarter of the month, we still have a proportional amount of spending left in each category. The most noticeable change been eating out. I've trimmed my average lunch price from probably $8/day to $3.50 or so.

quote:

1-Pay off remainder of $12,000 in student loans. Business is really tough at work, so bonus may not be coming through this year. Was roughly $5k last year. If it does, entirety will be placed towards student loans. Otherwise, should be about August. Monthly savings on student loans will immediately placed towards HSA investment savings.

Sold my motorcycle for $2,500. Kept $500 to pay for some school incidentals, spent $2000 immediate on my student loans. My scheduled payment for this month will hit Monday, taking out my 2nd to last student loan. I'll be at roughly $9,000 left on this for the year.

quote:

2-Get PMI knocked off this year. Payments as usual will get pretty close to getting my LTV down to 78% by year's end, so this isn't really an effort goal.

Just paying an extra $30/month by rounding my payment up for now.

quote:

3-Cash flow my MBA. Starting in Jan, first $2200 for tuition and books paid in full. Company will reimburse but require 3 year commitment, so I'll be saving each reimbursement in a safety account to pay them back if I decide to go somewhere else. Should be about $22,000 and 3 years to finish the program part time, so we'll say I'll need $7000 this year.

Got approval for company to pay for all of the school per the agreement. First semester is fully paid by me, waiting reimbursement upon semester's end. Had to spend a bit more on books that expected, but I'll make it work!

quote:

4-I'll be continuing to contribute 6% to my 401k and 3% to my wife's SIMPLE IRA to account for all matching funds.

Already in progress, nothing new.

quote:

5-We'll contribute fully to IRAs one way or as long as we stay employed. I'm considering changing from ROTH to Traditional to save on taxes (D.I.N.K.s with side incomes e.g. Airbnb that we usually owe tax on).

Contributed $1000 right before the market turned down for the year. Oh well. Money went into my ROTH IRA, so I have another $10k to set aside. Will contribute as I can.

quote:

6-Increase charitable contributions to more than 5% of take home, opening up to another organization or two. Stretch goal is 10%, but I just don't see that happening (yet).

No progress

quote:

7-Stretch goal-Cash flow a trip to an all-inclusive resort. I'm okay pushing this to 2017, but wife's been asking for a while now... (taken her to Europe twice in last three years).

Goal adjusted. My wife's friend is moving from Denver to our hometown this year, so we're going to visit before she moves. We've scheduled the trip during a weekend when my wife's favorite band is playing out there, so that works out well. Most importantly, we're using airline credits we wracked up from a trip to EU last year (her flight delayed 24hr+), will be staying with the friend, so travel and accommodations are <$200 round trip (really). We've got about $800 in an Ally account to pay for incidentals.

quote:

8-Stretch goal-Start another side hustle. We've ubered, airbnbed, consulted on side, but I'm looking for something more permanent.

I'm going to work as a tax preparer for our long term airbnb guest (lives out of town, but owns several stores locally and stays with us during tax season). Pay isn't great ($10/hr), but it'll expedite the debt payments and has potential to turn a long-term sidegig that may pay better with performance and provides a bonus.

I've also started a blog to track our progress towards financial independence. Not necessarily to get anyone to read it, certainly not to make money. Goal is to write our thoughts down before/after we do something to remain cognizant of how our money is dispersed. A few friends have read a page or two and said they're thinking about things differently, so that's nice. My goal is to write at least 2 pages a week. We'll see how it goes.
http://www.firemetn.com if anyone is interested!

Dead Pressed fucked around with this message at 17:46 on Jan 23, 2016

# ? Jan 23, 2016 17:43

TheManInAFunnyHat: Aug 13, 2007; Hat hat HAT.

I am psyched about financial goals. :shepspends:

1) Start looking for a new job before the end of the year. Salary's sitting at $62k, hope to get a year and a half of management under my belt and then bounce.

2) Get my ITIL and P(i)MP. It's pay-to-play as usual, so I gotta pony up that cert money.

3) Max out my IRA.

4) Get as close as possible with my 457b - while also figuring out how to optimize allocations for the year (TIAA-Cref up in this).

5) Cut my eating out budget by 25% and start prepping meals ahead of time.

6) Help my parents move into a smaller house - gotta budget costs to clean, re-paint, buy and install new appliances for them, sell half their stuff, clear inspection, new agent, new sell period, find a place, :aaa:

7) Try and commit 3% of paycheck toward a vacation ...r-right?

8) Start playing around with budget programs to keep track, e.g. YNAB or Mint or something (yes, I'm stalking the BFC threads now).

I figured at 30 I'd start fresh and reasonable.

# ? Jan 24, 2016 02:26

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

Potrzebie posted:

Monetary Goals:

~~Increase salary by 10%~~ Success! 14% higher pay. Also better benefits.
Reduce car commutes by 20%, replace with public transit or bike. Currently no change, should be a huge change once I've changed workplaces.
Grow portfolio by 10% -15% YTD
Increase monthly savings from 20% of salary to 30%. Reduced savings temporarily to 10% because of god damed car costs.

Stretch goals:
Increase salary by 20%. Very unlikely. AFAIK no bonus or overtime at new job
~~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. Now we wait.
Become a boss at open water swimming on the company dime. Starting advanced classes in february
Have a net surplus on the happiness account. With baby and jobchange in the works I am net happy by quite a lot right now
~~Delete Facebook account.~~ Success? Deactivated. Not sure delete is an option.

# ? Jan 26, 2016 11:58

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)

That's a lot of change for one month! Nice job!

# ? Jan 26, 2016 19:13

Jon Von Anchovi: Sep 5, 2014

Awesome start - keep it up!

# ? Jan 27, 2016 05:07

C-Euro: Mar 20, 2010; Soiled Meat

One-month check-in. Original post below, with updates highlighted where relevant-

Standings approximated off the top of my head (1/1/16):
-- $7250 in student loan debt (graduated 2010, two combined loans at 5.6 and 6.8% interest, 25:75 distribution between the two)
-- $16700 in an auto loan (purchased 2014, 3.1% interest)
-- $5000 owed to parents from wedding payments (married this past summer)
-- $1800 in miscellaneous debts (credit cards but also an old dental bill?)
-- $56k pre-tax salary; also earning essentially an extra paycheck each month from freelance work

Goals for the end of 2016, in no particular order:
1. Completely pay off that miscellaneous category. - One card down, two to go (one of which is almost done). Dental bill being sent off when next month's freelance money comes through to cushion me (see #7)
2. Finally move my 401k from my previous employer over to my new one.
3. Pay 25% of my current student loan debt back into it. Stretch goal of 30%. - Made my first "on-target" payment ($150) and didn't lose our apartment, so far so good. Should get easier as I close out #1.
4. Cut the money owed to my parents in half. - Parents told me not to feel rushed to pay them back, so I'm starting next month as I put a few hundred into a couch for our apartment (the final thing we really needed to pick up for this place).
5. Save up $2000 by next fall for planned overseas trip Christmas 2016.
6. Start contributing to our joint savings account. - We had a pretty sizeable joint tax return, and elected to put the vast majority of that into said joint savings account including $1200 from me, so I'm going to go ahead and mark this as COMPLETE as my stated goal was $100/mo for the year.
7. Hit at least $650/mo in my current side job. - On the one hand my boss left the company a couple weeks ago so my workload has gone way up and thus my freelance time should theoretically go down. On the other hand this month was by far my most profitable since starting. I'm not counting on keeping that streak up so the target stays at $650/mo, but the money that was going to #6 will now go to #9.

Things that would be nice to do:
8. Merge back accounts with my wife.
9. Save up for a new computer. - Wife needs a new one too so we made a pact to take a little money out of our tax return to jump-start our respective laptop funds. Aiming to have the money in hand by May/June and buy it without using any credit.
10. Set up actual budgets for both myself and my wife. - Signed up for Everydollar, played around and got confused. Probably need to read up on how to make an actual budget before having a service (Everydollar, YNAB, whatever) to keep track of it.
11. Take a trip somewhere. - Wife is going home to Thailand for a few weeks in June/July for family stuff and on-the-scene wedding planning (see #5), so she probably won't have time for an actual trip since she's already working 6 days/week to make up for the time she'll be missing. Gonna pencil this one in as NO CONTEST, likely re-visiting in 2017.
12. Get my wife a job. Getting her out of her postdoc and into a job in her field would nearly double her income, and would free up a lot of breathing room for me to knock down my debts.

# ? Jan 31, 2016 18:38

qmark: Nov 21, 2005; College Slice

qmark posted:

Goals:
1. Max out Roth IRA contributions for 2016 (so, $5,500). On track
2. Increase emergency fund by $4,000. On track
3. Decrease debt by $6,050. On track
4. Complete 4 more computer science classes (paid for by my company). On track, but came awfully close to quitting the current class
5. Do not change jobs or quit taking classes. I've been daydreaming, but didn't do anything...
6. Save for travel to two weddings in April and October ahead of time. The wedding in October is very much on track. I've saved 80% of the estimated cost of the April wedding. I'm a little behind where I thought I would be, but there is flexibility in how much it will ultimately cost, and I am anticipating some overtime hours in the coming months to make up the shortage.
7. Save for a deposit on a new apartment and (if we're both ready), move in with girlfriend. I have saved nothing toward a deposit on the new apartment, so it looks like if this happens, I'm going to have to first move into my girlfriend's current apartment and save up the deposit on a new place while living there. It's not clear if either of us will be ready (emotionally) to move in, but we have been talking little about it.

Overall it was a good month. Not pictured here was staying within my budget in every category. Now I just have to sustain it...

# ? Feb 1, 2016 17:17

Not a Children: Oct 9, 2012; Don't need a holster if you never stop shooting.

First month update!

Not a Children posted:

DESIRED ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
- Increase gross income to $[redacted]k ($[redacted+10]k with reimbursements). On track.
- Put $10,000 in 401k (edited down from $15,000 12/30, I'm looking for new, more expensive, but more tenable living arrangements) On track. Will probably raise my contribution later in the year.
- Max ROTH IRA. Put in $3000 at the beginning of the year, and I'll be happy to roll over an old 401k into a ROTH IRA to finish it off now that there's been a huge dip.
- Take and pass the EIT exam. Studying! Gonna see if my work won't pay for me to take a course before I actually take the exam.
- Move to a place closer to work while keeping my total housing expenses under $1.3k/mo. Failed so far. Due to roommate drama, I broke lease and moved back in with my parents, so I'm saving an absolute shitload of money... while having a 35-50 minute commute. And living with my parents, while dating. Ugh.
- Take a dang vacation without feeling guilty. Might be going to Orlando this July?!
- Stay the hell outta debt. Donezo.
- Finish 4 more classes with Bs or better for that sweet sweet free education On track.

ONGOING GOALS:
- Date without breaking the bank (subjective). Been a little more spendy than I'd like, but well within a reasonable budget.
- Limit alcohol spending to $30/month. Broken last month, bought $40 worth of booze to brave the blizzard with snobby beer.
- Limit video game spending to $25/month. On track.
- Limit Fast Food to 1 Purchase per month. On track
- Keep constant on YNAB -- 18 months and counting! On track.

STRETCH GOALS:
- Max out 401k This could happen! Depends on how my yearly raise goes.
- Put another $10,000 towards general savings (house in 2017? We shall see) This should be accomplished extremely easily.
- Reach $[redacted]k net worth On track!
- Keep my 4.0 GPA On track.

Not a Children fucked around with this message at 14:38 on Jun 2, 2016

# ? Feb 1, 2016 18:22

cheese eats mouse: Jul 6, 2007; A real Portlander now

cheese eats mouse posted:

2016 goals on $45K net

Get emergency moving fund: $5,000 On track and 2 weeks ahead. $420 a month
Look into 401(k)
Roth IRA: $3,500 (stretch is $5,500) Rolled over to Vanguard. waiting to sell my Franklin Templeton Shares. Made first $300 payment
Pay off the small loan I took out to buy my couch: $790 left
~~Save for a trip to London: $3K estimated cost with the poo poo currency rate. A friend is letting me stay in his house.~~ This is probably not happening this year. I have to use my tax return to take care of my dog. i don't want to use my meager savings
Continue to pay down consumer debt of $6,000 (most of it is on 0% APR cards)Paying minimum

Limit eating out to 1x per month - Fail. Puppy threw me off

Not buying any new clothes or shoes or jewelry - Bought one sweater and I really love it. That's about it. I'm saving so much i don't even think of clothes.

Personal goals
Lose 10lbs -Cut sugar, Have noticed decrease in body fat
Stay sober for 80% of the year. I quit smoking weed last year and time to work on limiting to practically quitting alcohol. Craft beer is my weakness. Doing really good!

# ? Feb 1, 2016 19:33

alnilam: Nov 10, 2009

alnilam posted:

Goals 2016:
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
Done! Mostly. Asset allocation is slightly on hold while i take care of goals 2 and 3

Goal 2: Buy an engagement ring It's going to cost a little less than my current monthly salary. Luckily I have the cash for it without dipping into my long-term savings, but it's worth listing as a financial goal because it's a significant, unusual expense. Lucky for us, she and I both prefer a city hall wedding, so there's no wedding savings to worry about
Custom ring is being constructed as we speak, and it came in slightly under budget

Goal 3: Put aside $20k in low-risk assets for a housing/moving fund. If my gf matches here in Pittsburgh, we might buy a house and it'll go towards a down payment. If she matches in a different place, a little bit will go towards moving, and if I don't have a job lined up when we move there, it'll go towards our housing/living expenses wherever we move to, for the possibly several months it takes to find a job. Especially because if we get sent somewhere pricey like San Francisco (which is a strong possibility), her resident salary might not be enough for both of our housing
I guess think of this as an emergency fund, but where the emergency is kind of anticipated as happening in summer 2017.
Just had an offer accepted on an amazing house!!! Here's hoping the rest of the process goes smoothly

Goal 4: Save 40% of my salary and put it in whatever asset allocation I figure out in goal 1, including maxing my 2016 Roth contribution.
Stretch goal: save 60% of my salary. Given what my living costs were during my PhD, and considering what taxes will cost me, I think this is the max I could save.
The ring is going to eat into this a little though. The housing/moving fund can come out of my existing cash savings.
in progress but kinda on hold for a few months until i finish buying a house... I'm pretty sure i can make 33% if not 40% this year, but probably not 60%, we'll see. Anyway even 33% is more than people say I "need" to be saving, so I'm not worried that I'm saving too little

# ? Feb 1, 2016 21:28

slap me silly: Nov 1, 2009; Grimey Drawer

I went to Pittsburgh last summer. It was a way cooler city than I had expected. Congrats!

# ? Feb 1, 2016 21:43

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

Good-Natured Filth posted:

2016 Goals

- ~~Adjust my W4 now that I have a kid~~ Done.
- 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 Started setting up Mint and will explore that further.
- 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 (20k just sitting there)
- 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~~ Setup auto-pay. Done.
- ~~Put 2k into our HSA~~ Setup auto-pay. Done.
- Make one extra mortgage payment
- Fix up our living room and get actual furniture (a decade on junky "college kid" furniture is enough) Put aside money for this. Just need to go shopping.
- Take a vacation Looking into renting a cabin in Gatlinburg (or somewhere nearby in the mountains) for an extra long weekend. Have $5k socked away for this, so I think we'll be okay.
- Create a financial plan to allow my wife to quit her miserable, dead-end, low-wage job. Allowing her to focus on her creative passions and to give her the freedom to finally open that Etsy shop she's been wanting to Done, but not in a way I'd like. We talked about it, and my wife decided she'd keep her job for the time being, and we'll sock away the extra income.
- Release two iPhone apps One app is currently in beta testing in the app store.

Stretches

- Max out both IRAs
- Up my 401k contribution to 10% from 6% Upped to 7%. I may re-evaluate this goal because my company's expense ratios aren't great. I get full match up to 6%.
- Make 3 extra mortgage payments
- Pay off my student loans (~5000 @ 3%) The loan is closer to $2k, and I'm itching to pay it off. We'll see what my tax refund is.
- Pay off my car (~12000 @ 2%)
- Prep to sell my wife's car in 2017 and plan to purchase a mini-van or other appropriate "family" vehicle
- Position myself at work for a promotion to manager (only a stretch because this would likely require more working hours, and I don't know if I want to do that yet)

# ? Feb 1, 2016 22:07

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)

End of January update (updates in bold):

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%)

Target Completion Date: January 31, 2016 or sooner.COMPLETED 1/14/16 AND CLOSED!

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

Target Completion Date: May 30, 2016 or sooner.IN PROGRESS- CURRENT BALANCE $3995

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

Target Completion Date: October 31, 2016 or sooner.IN PROGRESS- CURRENT BALANCE $6977

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

Target Completion Date: December 31, 2016 or sooner.IN PROGRESS- CURRENT BALANCE $14357 (Interest charges and my last auto-pay bill that I forgot to move over- balance will be dropping beginning next week)

Other 2016 Goals

- Update YNAB on a every-other-day basis or more ON TARGET
- Run 12 5K events in 2016 ON TARGET
- Learn to be a better cook and drastically reduce eating at restaurants ON TARGET- Been using the crock-pot a lot lately and other than my vacation at the end of January haven't spent hardly anything on restaurants
- Move in with girlfriendON TARGET- This is a late-2016 thing
- Do not have a child or any other expensive habits/experiences ON TARGET

# ? Feb 4, 2016 02:22

C-Euro: Mar 20, 2010; Soiled Meat

IllegallySober posted:

End of January update (updates in bold):

Crock pot is def the way to go for saving money on food, and also time. I picked up this cookbook a while ago and its recipes are a good balance of cheap and healthy. Also they emulate stuff you can buy at restaurants, so if you like eating out then it's a good one to pull yourself away from that.

# ? Feb 4, 2016 02:47

moana: Jun 18, 2005; one of the more intellectual satire communities on the web

End of January update:

moana posted:

Before EOY
- close out my business account and switch back to sole proprietorship
- switch health insurances
- add dental insurances

2016: The Year of Simplifying poo poo
~~- roll over old 401k into my Vanguard 401k~~
- close out Chase accounts and move to Union Bank
- after taxes, move what's left into taxable investing account at Vanguard
- close out money market fund account
~~- get mortgage autopay set up~~
- do weekly reconciliations in Mint to classify business expenses
- keep profit/loss spreadsheet updated monthly

Stretch Goal
- hit $1M net worth

Non-Monetary Goal
~~- get knocked up~~

I'm gonna try to check in monthly since that just forced me to get up to date with my Mint reconciliations and my profit/loss spreadsheet.

# ? Feb 4, 2016 03:18

Sundae: Dec 1, 2005

January Update...

Sundae posted:

2016 Financial Goals:

#1 - Under no circumstances have children. Stretch goal: Don't have a house either. So far so good.
#2 - Make $100,000 from primary side business (revenue, not profit). Stretch goal: $200,000. $9,300 earned in January from primary side biz. So far so good.
#3 - Make secondary side business fully self-sustaining and turn no less than $1,000 in profit. I'm questioning this business entirely now. I may close the whole thing down in April if I decide it's too much of a money pit.
#4 - Do one stress-reduction activity each month (massage, art therapy, whatever). Couldn't afford much in January, so I opted to sleep in late (seriously late) on the weekend as a substitute.
#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. Too early to say. January had a bunch of planned medical expenses, plus tax season.

January is always a boring month and there isn't much progress to report. Feb update should be a little meatier.

# ? Feb 4, 2016 19:11

legsarerequired: Dec 31, 2007; College Slice

I wasn't sure if I would stick to it, but I'm doing pretty great at restricting my eating out! I only ate out five times in January, which is a huge improvement for me--I used to eat out every day. You can see where my spending on food decreased in December when I decided to stop eating out so often, and decreases more in January.

My savings goal are:
- Continuing to save regularly for car down payment and emergency savings, haven't touched 401k. I've ended up transferring $600/paycheck to Ally for my emergency savings/car savings and $150/paycheck to my roth.
- I've talked to my boss about my development and am setting up time to shadow other employees.

# ? Feb 5, 2016 04:25

Jon Von Anchovi: Sep 5, 2014

legsarerequired posted:

I wasn't sure if I would stick to it, but I'm doing pretty great at restricting my eating out! I only ate out five times in January, which is a huge improvement for me--I used to eat out every day. You can see where my spending on food decreased in December when I decided to stop eating out so often, and decreases more in January.

My savings goal are:
- Continuing to save regularly for car down payment and emergency savings, haven't touched 401k. I've ended up transferring $600/paycheck to Ally for my emergency savings/car savings and $150/paycheck to my roth.
- I've talked to my boss about my development and am setting up time to shadow other employees.

What's the split of that 600 for car and emergency fund? It's a trap I got into in the past; they aren't the same thing and writing down here what is what will help split them mentally

# ? Feb 5, 2016 05:14

Zuph: Jul 24, 2003; Zupht0r 6000 Turbo Type-R

One Month Update:

Zuph posted:

~~0. Pay off Credit Card~~ Done! Totally debt free: Don't own nothing to nobody.
1. Max out Roth IRA On Track
2. Increase Emergency Fund to $10,000 On Track
3. Get one month ahead on all expenses (YNAB Rule 4, currently 1 paycheck ahead) On Track
4. Save enough additionally to take a vacation/visit friends in Denver
5. Start some relatively self-sustaining side venture that earns some mostly passive income

#4 shouldn't be a problem, except for figuring out timing and priority among other goals. Still working on #5.

# ? Feb 5, 2016 14:30

district 12: Oct 19, 2004; muscles griffon~~

district 12 posted:

My goals are somewhat small because it's my last semester of school and I'm living at home so I am aiming to just make a big leap back into the world (I'm an adult student who is very lucky to have such a generous support system that I can live at home for free).

1) Save up a nest egg for moving wherever my post-grad life takes me, aiming for $6k but will likely have plenty more
deadline: I don't know yet. Aiming to be out of here by October, but could be moved up/pushed back as I see fit.

2) Whittle away all credit card debt (some consumer, lots of school-related expenses), currently stands at about $5k including the Apple financing for my recent laptop purchase
deadline: EOY probably, hopefuly much, much sooner.

3) Save up an extra $2.5k or so for fun/transport/etc. during month abroad
deadline: June 15 or thereabouts, as I leave on the 17th and need things all set by then

4) No clothes shopping except at the thrift store (this is an indefinite goal, probably until mid-June when I go abroad to be picked up again when I return stateside?)

1 and 3) Working on it, current balance is smaller than I wanted it to be at this point but it's because of number 2

2) Also working on it! I just put my whole tax return on my highest-interest card, knocking out a bunch of the balance. I'll have thrown that out by the end of March according to my budget and can put more towards other debts and savings. Nice.

4) Failed miserably!!! I bought my graduation outfit for a really excellent price during the end of season sales, and I love it so no regrets. Alas~ restarting this goal. :angel:

I'm having a graduation party so I think I'll be getting some cash money that I can put directly into my savings. I've also slightly adjusted my post-grad plans to include finding a job before I actually move, so yay financial stability.

# ? Feb 5, 2016 18:01

legsarerequired: Dec 31, 2007; College Slice

Jon Von Anchovi posted:

What's the split of that 600 for car and emergency fund? It's a trap I got into in the past; they aren't the same thing and writing down here what is what will help split them mentally

What I do is I move $600 of every $1200 paycheck to Ally Bank (an online savings account so I'm less likely to spend money).

I was more thinking that instead of splitting it as I originally planned, that I would try to get six months' of emergency savings in a place where it is accessible, but not so easily accessible that I can make impulsive decisions. After I save a six-month emergency fund, I was thinking I would start using the Ally account to save for a down payment on a new car so I will have options when my 5-year old Toyota starts aging or if it gets totaled in a nightmare auto accident*. I only have $3704.92 in Ally right now, so the emergency savings need to increase a bit before I think too much about car savings, I think...

Another option is that I could lower what I'm transferring to my roth ($150/paycheck right now, in addition to matching my 401k) and use that to save more emergency savings more quickly.

* I might worry about this possibility a lot more than I need to. I have a friend who has gotten into four car accidents in the past ten years, and her cars were totaled in the last two accidents, even though the accidents were relatively low speed and minor with no injuries. Part of why her vehicles get totaled in these relatively minor, low-speed accidents is because she never has enough emergency savings to get a down payment on anything besides a beater car, and the beater cars get totaled out very easily in these accidents.

(Also I apologize for the legsarerequired!chat if it is annoying for others in this thread! Normally I try to respond to inquiries by PM so I don't flood threads)

# ? Feb 5, 2016 18:29

cheese eats mouse: Jul 6, 2007; A real Portlander now

Your friend is right to buy beaters. Also you should buy beaters. My car is 11 years old with less than 100k.

# ? Feb 6, 2016 07:10

tumblr hype man: Jul 29, 2008; nice meltdown; Slippery Tilde

tumblr hype man posted:

Gone back and forth on these, but here goes.

1. Finish paying off student loans this year, about $11k left at the moment.

2. Increase net worth to $30k, about $4k right now.

3. Don't buy a new loving car.

Not a strict goal, but one I will really need to hit in order to accomplish the above goals is grossing about $1k in sales from flipping stuff on eBay in addition to my day job. Gonna be tough but if I can do it I should fly past these goals by the end of the year.

1. Down $2k so far, about $200 ahead of schedule and I get my tax refund this week, so I'll be further ahead.

2. Up to about $7,300 last i checked.

3. Killing it.

Beat the eBay target too so far.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 05:23

froglet: Nov 12, 2009; You see, the best way to Stop the Boats is a massive swarm of autonomous armed dogs. Strafing a few boats will stop the rest and save many lives in the long term.

You can't make an Omelet without breaking a few eggs. Vote Greens.

froglet posted:

Last year my goal was to have a years gross salary in non-retirement investments.. I made it. Barely. So let's get ambitious again!

2016 Goals:
- increase non-retirement investments from 60k to 80k
- stretch goal: increase non-retirement savings to 1.5x my gross salary.
- continue salary sacrificing $150 a month into superannuation
- stretch goal: increase net worth to $130k (including super)
- do one online course relevant to my industry
- read three finance books relevant to Australia (already working on this)

2016 Goals:
- increase non-retirement investments from 60k to 80k
- stretch goal: increase non-retirement savings to 1.5x my gross salary.
I have no idea if I can achieve this one any more because the markets are tanking, I booked a holiday to San Francisco and my partner got me to go engagement ring shopping this weekend. It's almost like he wants a commitment from me... Or something. :confuoot:

Anyway, will see how this goes. I've been able to save up a fair bit this month, though I think all my saving this year is going to be eaten up by an engagement / wedding because he didn't want to go to the registry office. :negative:

- continue salary sacrificing $150 a month into superannuation
Yup, still doing this.
- stretch goal: increase net worth to $130k (including super)
Unlikely at this stage.
- do one online course relevant to my industry
Got part of the way through a software testing one. I should really finish that off.
- read three finance books relevant to Australia (already working on this)
Read one so far. It was ok, was kinda more for baby boomers who've bought too much house, though.

# ? Feb 7, 2016 13:13

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)

End-Of-January-ish monthly-ish update:

Emergency fund +2500
TSP n/c
Loan payoff -450
Wedding savings +500

Thanks, tax refund!

# ? Feb 10, 2016 04:27

root of all eval: Dec 28, 2002

1. Pay off all consumer debt and be debt free except for the mortgage by EOY
Debt Free as of this second

2. Move old retirement accounts to single Vanguard umbrella account
No Progress :/

3. Contribute the monthly equivalent of a Roth contribution toward the emergency fund.
Now that the debt is gone this should be very doable. I am also still doing the 4% match on my 401k.

4. Save $25k cash for emergency fund
Currently at about $1k (+$2k checking). Hope to have it to $3k by end of month depending on tax liabilities.

# ? Feb 10, 2016 04:40

Jon Von Anchovi: Sep 5, 2014

First 6 weeks of the year progress:

Jon Von Anchovi posted:

2016 Goals
Goal 1: Emergency Fund to $5,000
Goal 2: Pay off Unsecured Loan
Goal 3: Pay off credit card
Goal 4: Pay off Student Loan - Pay is automatically docked each fortnight by the tax department on a sliding scale for this; they are taking $500 or so a fortnight automatically but a small lump sum payment will be needed to finish it off. At such a low interest rate it is low priority.
Goal 5: Emergency Fund to $10,000
Goal 6: Don't sell shares until December when I get to pay half tax.
Big Hairy Stretch Goal: $30,000 towards a deposit on a second property.

Total Debt to pay off: $29,637 + interest (~$2,000)
Total Emergency Fund to build: $10,000

1) Emergency Fund $0 -> $989. (This is on auto transfer to be at $10,000 by end of year)
2) Unsecured Loan $11,858 -> $7,974
3) Credit Card $4,351 -> $3,508
4) Paid $1,170 off student loans

Total debt paid in 6 weeks: $5,897
Total emergency fund built: $989

e:

BossRighteous posted:

1. Pay off all consumer debt and be debt free except for the mortgage by EOY
Debt Free as of this second

Congrats mate! awesome stuff

Give me a couple of months and i'll right there with you. And never taking consumer debt again!

Jon Von Anchovi fucked around with this message at 00:50 on Feb 11, 2016

# ? Feb 11, 2016 00:43

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)

February has been a frustrating month. Cash flow problems for my boss (not unheard of in real estate, but not ideal) combined with my unemployment running out and removing my safety net has not led to much progress. Throw in my father being diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and being in the hospital all month, making it difficult for me to get work done, and yeah :11tea:

Hopefully March will be a much better month. I haven't made much progress at all in February but on the positive side I haven't put a dime on a credit card and have adjusted my expenses to deal with the situation as much as possible.

/E/N rant

# ? Feb 25, 2016 23:08

Dessert Rose: May 17, 2004; awoken in control of a lucid deep dream...

Feb is the month I discovered what happens if I don't walk/bike to the bus in the morning. Spent $100 on bridge tolls this month. Fuuuuuck that noise.

Next month I'm only driving to work five times max.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 02:33

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# ? Apr 20, 2024 17:10

alnilam: Nov 10, 2009

IllegallySober posted:

Hopefully March will be a much better month. I haven't made much progress at all in February but on the positive side I haven't put a dime on a credit card and have adjusted my expenses to deal with the situation as much as possible.

That's the best you can do in such times, and better than most might manage in a similar situation. Good job and I hope it gets better.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 03:04

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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