2022 Personal Finance - What Action Steps Have You Taken?

[disneysteve]

Bought another T bill today. One year for 4.222%.

[james.hendrickson]

Bought another T bill today. One year for 4.222%.

Disneysteve, if the fed has to ramp rates up to 10 or 12 percent - which is possible - that will be the time to back up the truck and get as many 30 year bonds as possible.

The long term trend for interest rates globally, is down. And anything north of 10% on a risk free Federal treasury product is golden.

[disneysteve]

Disneysteve, if the fed has to ramp rates up to 10 or 12 percent - which is possible - that will be the time to back up the truck and get as many 30 year bonds as possible.

The long term trend for interest rates globally, is down. And anything north of 10% on a risk free Federal treasury product is golden.

I'm no economist but I doubt we'll see rates that high. I think anything over 5% will be a strong buy signal. Right now, I'm just nibbling at the 4% range bonds. I currently have 1 or 2 bonds maturing every month for the next year that I'm rolling over into new 1-year issues with the 4% range rates we're seeing now. I'm not out more than 13 months right now but may start extending that ladder if rates climb more or appear to be peaking.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I'm doing very short term because I'm hoping to dump it back into the market. Even if I miss the total bottom I think if we turn a corner I'd like to dump in the money i have in t bills right now

[disneysteve]

I just took my 2022 RMD from my inherited IRA of just over $20,000. I took the inherited Roth RMD a month or so ago which was a much smaller amount (under $800). I had 20% federal tax withheld after consulting with our CPA so I'll get about 16K. Glad to have that taken care of and crossed off my to-do list.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I just took my 2022 RMD from my inherited IRA of just over $20,000. I took the inherited Roth RMD a month or so ago which was a much smaller amount (under $800). I had 20% federal tax withheld after consulting with our CPA so I'll get about 16K. Glad to have that taken care of and crossed off my to-do list.

good plan.

[scfr]

Now that the weather has turned warmer, yesterday I reversed the directions on our 5 ceiling fans so the blades spin counterclockwise. This will help us keep our cooling costs down.

[james.hendrickson]

I just bought another $500 worth of small business bonds, a bit more coca cola and more of the S&P.

[disneysteve]

I just bought another $500 worth of small business bonds, a bit more coca cola and more of the S&P.

What sort of bonds? Duration? Interest rate? Are they paying more than CDs? How well are they rated?

[Jessica21]

What have been your first action steps of the new year to attend to your personal finances?

Monitoring: We completed our year-end net worth statement to get a measurement of our overall financial situation and compare to a year ago. DH finalized the 2021 income statement for his business.

Insuring: I followed up to make sure we had the extended warranty for our new home in place and got a copy of the certificate of coverage.

Earned Income: I have 2 part-time for-pay jobs. For the one I consider my primary job (20 hours a week fixed), I have a schedule, I get in my car & drive to my place of employment, and have pro-rated benefits. My secondary job is work-from-home with flexible hours. I am committed to working at least 20 hours a week at the secondary job when work is available - sometimes there is very little work & sometimes there is a lot. For the past month-plus, there has been way more work than I can handle. I'm striving to find a balance between helping out my secondary employer without throwing my work-life balance out of whack. I'm on track to work 25 hours this week (45 hrs total). So one of my first action steps of the new year is earning a bit of extra income from my secondary job.

Unearned Income:
I signed up for a new credit card and earned a $75 "bonus" (gift card that was used immediately).
I moved some cash that is on standby to pay estimated taxes, fund DH's solo 401k, and purchase furniture from checking to online savings for the higher interest rate. We had been keeping a substantial buffer in checking during our house build. I was a bit slow making the move to online savings after the completion of our house. Ugh. But now I've done it.
(Most of our unearned income requires no action. We have auto-reinvest with our mutual fund earnings, etc.)

Spending / Reducing Expenses:
There are many things we do automatically that are just second nature. But one area where we took some new-to-us action in the last week was running our ceiling fans clockwise on low speed to hopefully help us keep energy costs down during a cold snap.

Investing: No action steps taken so far this year. My first investment of the year won't require any action on my part; it will happen when my tax-deferred retirement contribution is deducted from my pay on Friday.

It's great that you're taking steps to attend to your personal finances this new year! It sounds like you're off to a good start. Monitoring your net worth and income statement is a great way to get a measurement of your overall financial situation. It's also smart to ensure you have insurance coverage for your home and follow up on any warranties.

It's good that you have both a part-time fixed job and a work-from-home flexible job to earn income. It can be challenging to balance both jobs, but it's great that you're committed to working at least 20 hours a week on your secondary job to earn extra income.

Moving your cash to online savings for a higher interest rate is a smart financial move. It's also good to run your ceiling fans clockwise on low speed to reduce energy costs during a cold snap.

It's great that you have auto-reinvest with your mutual fund earnings and are planning to make a tax-deferred retirement contribution. Overall, it seems like you're on track to manage your personal finances effectively this new year. Keep up the good work!