Fabulous Financials

Last week, I finally committed to opening a Vanguard account by the end of December.  I was going to consider it a little Christmas present to myself, but due to recent events, it looks like I’m going to get my wish early.  Since adding the goal meter, the following has occurred:

• I mentally reallocated ~$2k from my RE fund to my Vanguard fund.  If needed, I have $20k in a real emergency fund, so I can always re-build the RE fund later.
• Interest earned and credited to my account.
• On payday, I decided to tighten the bootstraps for the month.  When I’m focused on a goal, I don’t have time to be messing around.  No salon visits, no spa visits, no wine, no shopping, no hanging out, nothing.  I transferred $600, leaving only a few hundred to go.  At this point, I knew I’d reach my goal faster.  I was betting on November.
• A few days later, I verified that all bills due in October were scheduled via online billpay, all important expenses could be paid with cash on hand, and there would be another payday between now and the first when bills are due again.  I transferred another $600.

Bingo!  This last move gave me exactly what I needed: $3,448.81 to be exact.  To buy the fund I want, I need a minimum $3,000 to start.  Now all I have to do is wait for the transfers to clear, then I will open my official non-retirement investment account by the end of this week.  Fabulous!

I didn’t want to look, but I did it anyway…

My 401k is $8,000 less than it was one week ago when I calculated my September net worth.  Do you know how long it took me to save $8,000?  FOURTEEN MONTHS! Then to lose it in ONE WEEK.  Ouch.  I literally felt a pain in my stomach.  I think I’m going to be sick.

Update: Due to a few emails I’ve received about this post, I feel it is necessary to let you all know that I am not pulling out of the market and I am not moving any money around.  I will continue to invest.  Although the dollars are decreasing, the number of shares I own are increasing.  So that means I’m buying more of what I want - on clearance!

However, if I decide to change anything (which I haven’t yet), it may be a temporary adjustment to the asset allocation of future contributions. Until then, the reality is, my retirement account balance is $8k less than it was one week ago.  And who knows what it will be at the end of the day, but I’m not looking anymore…this month. LOL

Back in February, I wrote a Dear John letter to HSBC when their savings rate was reduced to 3.55%.  Prior to that letter, I was enjoying a 5%+ rate for quite some time.  However, the rapid and frequent rate reductions led me to explore other options.  And that is when I found and opened a 7% CD at a local credit union.

Well, well, well…that CD is scheduled to expire this month.  So again, I’m exploring my options and have considered the following:

1. Leave it in a CD, which will reset at the current CD rate of 4.06% (latest promotion).
2. Transfer it to a savings account at the credit union and let it sit until I make a final decision.
3. Transfer it back to HSBC at the current rate of 3.5%.
4. Withdraw the money and open a Vanguard account - leaving my eFund balance at $13.5k.

I’m seriously considering #4 because…umm.  Because…oh, I don’t know.  I was going to say something like $13.5k is enough for an emergency fund and I need to start a non-retirement investment account because…blah, blah, blah.  But that’s not the real reason, it just sounds good.  Trust me, I could have come up with something and you would have been impressed. LOL  So I’ll be honest.  I just want a Vanguard account already…just because! LOL

Help me out.  What would YOU do?

9/8/08 UPDATE: Per your fellow readers, we need NEW links.

I’ve received quite a few emails about ING referrals, both to give and to receive. I seem to get an influx around the 1st of the month and I was wondering why. I won’t tell you what I was really thinking (he he he), but it finally dawned on me - I haven’t updated my ING Referral post in over TWO months. Geez, I’m such a slacker!

So here’s the deal. I only have ONE left, so whoever wants it can use this ING Referral link to open a new savings account and earn $25. As many of you know, here are the rules:

If you open this account with an initial deposit of at least $250, you will receive a $25 bonus to get you started and I will get a $10 thank you bonus. To qualify for this bonus, you must use the link.

Special offer available only through this link and can be used only once.

Bonuses are only paid for accounts that are opened with an initial deposit of at least $250. Initial deposit does not include bonus. The $25 bonus is available only for new accounts with a new Customer as primary owner. Only one bonus will be provided per household. Bonus starts earning interest upon account opening, but is unavailable for withdrawal for 30 days.

Now here’s what I’m going to do for my fabulous readers - those who want to be savers and those who are already savers. If any of you have an ING account, please feel free to post your referral links in the comment section of this post - this post ONLY. Yes, I’m allowing a free for all! But PLEASE, do NOT ask other readers to email you for a referral. Post the links only. I will delete any comments that do not follow instructions.

If someone uses your ING referral link, you will earn $10.  Every so often, I’ll update this post and call for new links. Hopefully, we can keep them fresh for anyone who wants to be financially fabulous with a new savings account - and earn a quick $25 to boot.

Oh, and if you open a new savings account using one of the links in the post/comments, come back and share your referral links to earn an additional $10/referral. Spread the love baby!

Alright y’all, post those ING referral links!!

Use mine first though. LOL!

I received a small pay raise of ~3% that will increase my bi-wkly net income by ~$80. I refer to it as “small” because I’m used to double digit raises, but this salary adjustment wasn’t tied to performance, so I can’t complain. However, I am looking forward to my first semi-annual and annual performance review like a kid on his way to the toy store.

Now that I have a little extra change, what am I going to do with it?

1. Tax Adjustment: This small raise forced me to do something that I’ve been putting off since July - oh just call me the Procrastinating Queen Bee. I’ve been meaning to adjust my tax exemptions because I’ve had zero rental income since June and more business expenses than anticipated. So the first thing I did was increase my federal exemptions to 7 [I'm not a tax professional so please don't ask me how many exemptions you should claim].

2. Savings: I also reinstated a payroll allotment that was previously canceled when I achieved my eFund goal. I was supposed to redirect all extra income to my non-retirement investment goal. Remember that $5,000? Unfortunately, this summer alone, I’ve spent almost the same amount on rental property expenses. Needless to say, I probably won’t reach that goal this year. *shrug* It’s ok though. I’ll keep my eye on the prize, but I can’t worry about it right now. I’m just thankful I had the money to cover ALL rental property expenses without incurring debt. Therefore, the reinstated allotment will deposit $100 bi-wkly to a savings account that is earmarked for future rental property expenses.

Based on the above, I expect my bi-wkly net income to remain the same as pre-raise. “Every little bit helps” has proven true in this situation. The small raise made a big difference because it will help me prepare for the financial unknown(s) associated with this rental property.

Wish it could help me deal with these psychos submitting rental applications. Pure comedy! LOL