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

[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.

[~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.

[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.

[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

[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!

[~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)

[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

[disneysteve]

We're recently retired

7. Get a better handle on our true annual spending and expenses

Congrats on retirement!

I'm curious about #7 as that seems like something that really would have needed to happen before you made the decision to retire. I'm assuming you must have had a pretty solid estimate of annual expenses to know that you could afford to retire when you did and you just want to nail it down in more detail.

The whole mindset change from saving and preparing for retirement to working out how best to generate your income and preserve your principal has to be quite a challenge.

[Fishindude77]

Congrats on retirement!

I'm curious about #7 as that seems like something that really would have needed to happen before you made the decision to retire. I'm assuming you must have had a pretty solid estimate of annual expenses to know that you could afford to retire when you did and you just want to nail it down in more detail.

The whole mindset change from saving and preparing for retirement to working out how best to generate your income and preserve your principal has to be quite a challenge.

I did a budget I think is pretty close, but we had a goofy tax situation due to receiving a windfall of $$ from business sale. Also, many items I never tracked closely in the past so just estimated them.
2019 Will be first full year living solely out of pocket. I know exactly how much $$ is coming in and I will be able to see how much $$ I raid from investments, so will get a true picture of annual spending needs this year. Not concerned about being short, we've accumulated plenty and have some pretty smart investments that generate a nice annual income.

[veronak]

2019 Goals
1. Pay off last two of 10 credit cards, about $13,000
2. After paying off CCs, by the third quarter, tackle my student loan debt of about $70K ♀️

[corn18]

1. Save as much as possible: $62k to 401k, $13k to Roth, $600k to taxable (lots of RSU's and bonuses next year)
2. Evaluate my future

Taking a look at how we will end up this year and it looks like we will meet our goals. Although a little different mix than what we started out with.

1. $62k to 401k maxed out
2. $13k to Roth IRA;s
3. $180k to house savings for future purchase
4. $320k added to taxable
5. $154k net downpayment on TX house

So it looks like we saved right around $729k.

Right now, it looks like our savings will grow from $758k at the end of 2018 to $1.466M at the end of this year. Life is ok.

[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.

Thanks for bumping this up, corn.

I maxed my 401K.
We paid off the mortgage in August.
I now put at least $1,500/mo in Ally and did buy a 5K CD just last week. And most months I've put in more than $1,500.
I also put at least $1,500/mo in Vanguard.
I'm also putting 13% of my weekly gross into Vanguard to make up for what isn't going into the Roth until the first of the year.
Our portfolio is up to almost $1.3 million. Life is good here, too.

[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.

Recently bumped contribution to 15% for 401K, so between that and Roth, and HSA up to 31% for gross income. Continuing the same rate for EF/short term savings.

I need to knock out that estate planning option.

[rennigade]

Im still working so my financial goals have not been met. : )

[disneysteve]

Im still working so my financial goals have not been met. : )

Was it your goal to retire in 2019? If so, what changed to delay that?

Or were you just joking?