Have you started outlining financial goals for 2019? What are yours?

[Fishindude77]

We're recently retired, so a little different perspective than many here. Not really in the saving mode, more so preserving what we have and effective utilization of our cash and assets.

1. Take idle cash and add to my CD ladder
2. Take idle cash and add to our mutual funds
3. Purchase some more shares of one key stock for the dividends and growth
4. Purchase another piece of investment real estate if the right deal comes along
5. Start looking into trusts for protection of real estate, etc.
6. Make some decisions regarding when to start utilizing 401k funds and when to take social security
7. Get a better handle on our true annual spending and expenses

[~bs]

Since the thread got bumped up....

Yeah, I figured 2 months in was a good time to look back and see if you're on track to doing what you say you'll be doing (like anything else, easier said than done)

[amastewa93]

Our main goals in 2019 for finances are...

1. Re-establish emergency savings
2. Start seriously snowballing our debt (about $65K between the two of us) - we will have one car paid off completely by March
3. Cut costs by moving somewhere cheaper (we currently pay $1,400 in rent)
4. Once our debt is paid off and savings is stable, we will be saving for a down payment on a home (not likely until later in 2020)

We will also be getting married next year - but we have no plans for a reception or anything very costly where a celebration is concerned.

What are your plans for 2019?

Update on this... We have an emergency savings fund that is about to take a little hit for relocation. We are also getting married before making the move from Charlotte to ATL. But that will only cost us $60. Mom is covering a small dinner with immediate family afterward. We will be living somewhere rent-free in ATL before the end of April. With the savings from that, we are planning to stack up some savings and pay off debt!

[alliecat79]

1) Pay off $24000 of unsecured debt.
2) Save $700 per month
3) Continue to contribute to 403b account
4) Save snowflakes for Christmas challenge fund
5) 52 week savings challenge

[disneysteve]

Max my 401K at $25,000
Pay off our mortgage
Figure out what to do with the $1,600/month that will be freed up once the mortgage is gone
Continue putting $1,000/month into our Ally account, buying a CD or two with that money along the way
Continue putting $1,000/month into our taxable Vanguard account earmarked for retirement

That's the big stuff that I know the numbers for already.

Since the thread got bumped up....

We are on track to pay off the mortgage by the end of the summer most likely.
We are still putting 1K/month in our Vanguard account.
We are putting a minimum of 1K/month in our Ally account. We actually put $6,000 in for January thanks to it being a 3 paycheck month.
I'm still not quite sure what we will do with the $1,700 that will be freed up when the mortgage is gone though I have been spending more time on Zillow looking at houses in Florida. I suspect we will bank the money for a while and eventually use it as a down payment.

[~bs]

welp 2 months into the year, business activity is flat (still making money). I did pick up a part time job so working a lot more as i mentioned. Pretty happy with the situation, work on my own time with relatively low stress, and the extra $4k-ish per month is pretty nice.

[cypher1]

Long term savings:
Continue contributing 10% to 401K (employer match 6%). Max out Roth IRA and then max out HSA.

So between those three I'm saving about 20% of my gross pay.

Shorter term would be to continue stashing more cash in the EF. I can see some house repairs/upgrades this summer. Off the top of my head, goal would be to save another 12-15% between EF and taxable investments. But most realistically it will probably be 8-12%.

However, this thread is further motivation to review all those numbers and goals.

I forgot to add setting up a will or estate planning option.

[amarowsky]

You are doing AWESOME! My fiancee and I are getting married later this year and I'm hoping we will be at about this point in four years (when I am 30). Congrats on your success so far and looking forward to seeing what more you accomplish!

That's very sweet of you, and thank you for saying that.

It has been a lot of deferred gratification. But the fruits are ripening, and if our plan continues (assuming at least 2 ~medium setbacks within the next 8 yeras). We the wife and I should be cleared to go to part-time work (that includes insurance). So we will be able to focus on raising our future kids (planning on trying/adopting within the next 3 years) and enjoying our social life, projects, and entertainment.

The most gratifying thing is we did this on completely "normal" incomes. Between the wife and I, we're only actively earning about $115k. We have some other "passive" income from equities, our 1 rental, and some small side hustle businesses. The only thing unique about our plan was living below our means for the typical stuff. (I.E = we avoided luxury cars, buying a bigger home than we needed/wanted, savings on food cost from our 700 sq/ft garden, doing most of our own housework/updates, and overall shopping for good values instead of based on brand/status reputation.

I'm not afraid of the future, despite it's daunting uncertainty. It's a feeling of solace, when you feel like you may be lost, but knowing your lost wandering deeply in the right direction.

[amastewa93]

Good timing as we just entered our thirties (31 me, 30 her).

You are doing AWESOME! My fiancee and I are getting married later this year and I'm hoping we will be at about this point in four years (when I am 30). Congrats on your success so far and looking forward to seeing what more you accomplish!

[amarowsky]

Financially, 2018 was exciting. A few months ago I sold about 50k Worth of taxable sp500 index funds (luckily when SP500 was at a plump 2850-2900) and we paid off or home! That opened a door of cash flow to allow to me max my 401k for 2018, the first Time ever!

Part of the reason to pay off the mortgage, was to enable retirement savings over drive mode! Good timing as we just entered our thirties (31 me, 30 her).

2019 Goal:
1) contribute at least $27,000 to wife and i's 401k's.
2) Max both Roth IRA's. ($12k)
3)5k into HSA
4) aquire and finance another rental property (80k Target price)

Extra credit:
1)max 401k contributions at $36,000
2)max HSA contribution, $6,900? (I think)
3) use any extra income to pay off debt on my current rental principle (4.6%) or remaining car debt @1.9%

*Extra credit pending any promotions, opportunities, bonuses, or raises.

[srblanco7]

2019 Goals
401k for me at $25k and for Mrs srblanco7 at $10.5k
Backdoor Roth IRAs for each of us at $7k
529 contributions at $6k
Vanguard fund contribution of $2k
That's the minimum I've budgeted for next year. Still more work to do to ramp up savings for next year.
Only debt we have is a mortgage, but the interest rate is 2.5% and I can not bring myself to put extra money towards payoff (vs investing those funds).

[Scallywag]

2019 goals:

1. Build up our emergency savings (6 months)

2. Save up 10% of projected downpayment so that we can buy a home in the Summer of 2020.

3. Pay off car note.

4. Get a second job to boost income.

[frugal saver]

As interest rates have been coming up, and I expect stocks to fall a bit more, my tentative plans for 2019 are:

1. Add additional CDs. A local bank has a current 3-year CD of 1st year at 3%, 2nd year at 3.5% and 3rd year at 4%--too good to pass up.
2. Continue to add to my balanced/dividend mutual funds every month. I don't expect them to drop too much more though.
3. Review all the companies that I hold stock in. If the company is solid, use the drop as a buying opportunity.
4. I just paid off half my Visa balance--I'd like to pay off the rest this year, or at least a good chunk of it.

[Like2Plan]

1. Continue contributing to 401K for DH and IRA for me.

2. Continue our multi-year tIRA to RothIRA conversion plan--we did our first conversion this year (2018). Most of our savings are in pretax retirement accounts, so conversions will help smooth out the taxable income when RMD's kick in.

3. Make a plan for kitchen and bath renovations.

4. Figure out when DH will claim social security.

The goals look pretty similar to last year's goals.

[msomnipotent]

My husband and I are trying to come up with exact numbers for things like vacation fund, savings and such. I tend to slag off if I just think, "I'm going to save more this year". I need an actual goal. Our goals this year tend more towards personal improvement more than financial, but things like not letting the family take advantage of us and taking care of my wrist and shoulder so I can cook more often will help our finances in the long run. Now that our dog is in her final stages, we will be able to meet our goals more easily. I don't mean to sound callous, but she blew our savings to bits in the end. We are definitely starting a pet fund this year separate from savings because our cats are getting up there in age.