Semi-Annual Financial Checkup
I need to do a semi-annual checkup to monitor how well I am tracking towards the seven financial goals that I established back in January. After being reminded of this: “He Who Fails to Plan, Plans to Fail” I created these:
1. MAXIMIZE INVESTMENT CONTRIBUTIONS
January’s Goal: Contribute the maximum ($23,500) to all of my investment accounts by December 2009: 401k – $16,500, IRA – $5,000, BabyGirl’s 529 – $2,000.
Semi-Annual Update: All contributions are on autopilot and tracking well for the end of this year.
Corrective Action: None.
2. MEET ALL PERSONAL SAVINGS GOALS
January’s Goal: Save an additional $11,750 by December 2009: E-fund – $5,200, Non-Retirement – $4,550, Other (#3 below) – $2,000.
Semi-Annual Update: I’ve already met my “efund” and “other” goal. However, I’ve been slacking on the non-retirement. Part of the problem is this statement I made in January, “the second will be funded by manual savings contributions when there is a surplus at the end of the month.”
Do you realize how non-committal that line of thinking is? In other words, I said to myself: IF there is any money left at the end of the month, I MIGHT save a little something towards my non-retirement. There is no incentive to keep me on track and no real plan to make sure I attain it. No wonder I haven’t contributed anything yet!
Corrective Action: For the rest of this year, ALL of my savings will be on auto-pilot and 100% will go towards non-retirement investing until I reach the pre-established amount.
3. SAVE $2,000 FOR BABYGIRL’S SENIOR YEAR EXPENSES
January’s Goal: By the end of December 2009, I will save (and probably spend part of) $2k for planned senior year expenses. As mentioned in #2, this will be funded by one of the two extra paychecks in the year.
Semi-Annual Update: This goal has been met.
Corrective Action: None.
4. EARN $500/MONTH FROM ONLINE OPPORTUNITIES
January’s Goal: I think it’s a stretch goal because I’m slowly losing my spark for blogging.
Semi-Annual Update: Some months, I meet (or exceed) this goal. Some months, I do not. Despite any online earning potential, my thoughts in January were right on target. Blogging doesn’t interest me anymore, so at some point, I’m going to quit. If anyone wants to keep up with me when I’m not blogging, follow me on twitter.
Corrective Action: None. All good things must come to an end.
5. ENJOY ONE “MAJOR” VACATION
January’s Goal: This year, I will not restrict myself to a specific location or time of year. I’m wide open to possibilities – even last minute excursions. The only limitations to this goal are minimum of 7-14 days and cost less than $5,000.
Semi-Annual Update: Instead of taking one MAJOR vacation for 1 to 2 weeks, I’ve taken (or have reservations for) several mini-trips: NYC, Myrtle Beach, Nagshead, Ocean City, and three college tours turned weekend excursions. With BabyGirl working this summer, I doubt if we’ll get to take any major trips before Labor Day. Then once school begins, opportunity for travel is limited. But there’s always Christmas. I shall keep hope alive!
Corrective Action: Enjoy all vacations – long or short – and cherish the memories.
6. REMAIN NON-MORTGAGE DEBT FREE
January’s Goal: No debt. No debt. No debt. Got it? Good!
Semi-Annual Update: No debt. No debt. No debt. I got it!
Corrective Action: None.
7. NET WORTH
January’s Goal: Although I failed miserably last year, I will go on a limb and try to hit that $200,000 target again by the end of 2009.
Semi-Annual Update: I track my net worth quarterly: Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct. At the end of April, my net worth was $169,657, which is more than $30k short of my goal. Is a $30k gain from April’s numbers within reach by December? Depends on which way the wind blows. The next update is due at the end of July.
Corrective Action: As stated in #2, I plan to contribute 100% of planned savings to my non-retirement account until I’ve invested $4,550. When added to #1, and with proper asset allocation, anything is possible.
Semi-Annual Summary
Of the 7 goals, I’ve already met 3 with very little effort, 1 will take some discipline, 2 aren’t that important to me anymore, and 1 is hit or miss. These are very typical results of goal setting. Some are easy, some are not, and some change. That’s life. The important thing is to keep challenging yourself to be in a better place next year than you are today and allow enough flexibility to enjoy the journey of life.
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I have a comment on your twitter post(I don’t have twitter). Your 2 year contracy for internet you might want to be careful. If you move and where you move to doesn’t have that provider available you get hit with fees. i was going to sign up with ATT for 2 years to get good deals but not sure where i will be in a year so i pay $2 more not to get hit with $100’s in fees. Just something to think about !!
Single Ma – you’re doing great. I didn’t set goals at the beginning of this year and now I’m paying for it. My excuse then was that I didn’t have a home, didn’t know what my expenses would be, etc. Now that I’m in my home and have some idea of how my expenses will be, I need to get on the ball.
“……because I’m slowly losing my spark for blogging
I feel ya on that. Too much can be an overkill
if you decide to quit blogging, I hope you keep the site up for archives. maybe do monthly updates or something. so much good info here and reminders even when we already know what we should be doing.
my only 2009 was to get rid of cc debt. now that I have done that I have to set new goals for the last half of the year. thanks.
thank you so much for posting this….i also made some goals for this year and i needed this reminder to access my progress since the year is halfway over…i love that you are so specific with your goals. I want to go on vacation but i hadn’t assigned a specific dollar amount. thanks as always for sharing some good stuff…sorry to hear that you won’t be blogging much longer…this has been a wonderful ministry for those on the road to financial freedom…i have enjoyed following you and have grown so much financially.
Don’t stop blogging! We want more than 140 characters of your wonderful wit and wisdom.
Blogging waxes and wanes, though, and sometimes it might lead to more enjoyment than others. This can vary according to stressors in life, time to blog, or even just whether you feel like there is anything to say! I think that the fact that you have done it offers some insurance that people want to hear what you have to say. I hope that you will keep the site up and post twitters to it, if nothing else!
Jerry
I think I made my goals for 2009 too easy–I have already met them. I tend to either severely over-estimate my ability to save, or severely underestimate them…need to fix that so that my goals are comfortable but still a stretch.
Sorry to hear that blogging is becoming a bore (that will be a huge loss to the PF community!), but I’m glad I’ll still see you on twitter!