It was a few months ago that I established short term financial goals. I created these goals in order to be intentional with my finances. Too often it seems that we float by in life in general, but especially with our finances. We become comfortable with our financial progress that we are making and forget to push ourselves. If you weren’t following 20’s Finances when I set my financial goals, here is a recap of the goals that I set for myself that I want to accomplish in the next 2-3 years:
- Open and maximize yearly contributions to ROTH IRA for both of us
- Start contributing to 403(b) for both of us (I’m eligible to participate starting in the Spring)
- Get Life Insurance
- Increase Networth by 50% (this is easy to do when your networth is low )
- Finish Graduate School Debt Free (next December!!)
- Pay for Mrs. 20′s Graduate Degree in cash (She applied to start in January, more details to come)
- Build enough passive income to retire – Yes, I want to “retire” in 2-3 years. This is part of my early retirement plan.
Financial Goals Completed
I am glad to report that I have made great progress in just a few months. I have already completed some of these completely (even though they are on-going goals). Here are the ones that I have completed:
1. Open a 2nd Roth IRA for myself. I have already written on why a Roth IRA is a great investment option for young adults in their 20s. If you are in your 20’s and looking for a great place to invest money for your retirement, this could be a great option for you. I thought about switching this to a traditional ira for a tax savings, but after reviewing traditional ira rules, it proved not to be worth it.
2. Start Contributing to 403(b). Success! I opened my account through my employer after the two years of employment requirement and funds are starting to move into my 403b account.
3. Get Life Insurance – I accomplished this financial goal before the new year. I got a whole life insurance plan, which I will write about soon. Most people in the financial realm despise whole life insurance plans and prefer term life insurance plans, so I am excited to write up why I think this is a valuable aspect of any smart investor’s portfolio. Stay tuned for more info!
Financial Goals in Progress
I have been making progress on the other goals as well. So far, my wife and I have been able to pay for her graduate school with cash. This is important to us because we know the negative consequences of getting into unnecessary debt. Our networth is increasing, but no where near increasing it by 50% (yet). Lastly, I am still working on building up my passive income as well as earning my graduate degree.
I am quite proud of the progress that I have made already and am entirely convinced that I have been so successful because I took the time to write down my goals. Making financial goals may be what you need to get your finances in order. If you have been coasting through life with extra money just sitting around, take the time to set goals. I think you will find that by being intentional, you will achieve more than you thought was possible.
worthy goals, Corey….
but life insurance? do you have kids? Whole Life?? Yikes!
glad to hear you’ll be elaborating on your thinking here. I look forward to reading it. Meanwhile, I’ll be sharpening my crusty old geezer scalpels…..
😉
Your progress is great. I wish I could graduate with my MBA debt free!
Great post…congrats on your progress. With you age being so young, you will be in fantastic shape by your mid-40’s. Time is your friend.
Great goals, and you’re doing a great job working through them.
We finally just got life insurance for my husband. Now it’s time to do it for me. Thanks for the reminder!
Great progress on your goals! I would love to hear more about how you’re paying for grad school(s).
Looking forward to reading your thoughts on whole life… My husband is one of the rare cases that most people would agree that a whole life policy would be best. He has a (non life-threatening) disease that makes it very hard to get life insurance. If we can get his health to an optimal place sometime over the next few years (working on it) we will immediately apply for a whole life policy. In the meantime, while his health isn’t at its best, we are just trying to get someone to cover him with term insurance..
This whole life insurance choice of yours is definitely raising a lot of eyebrows huh?
I can’t wait for that post.
A 50% net worth ramp will be awesome!
I, too, share the goal of 50% increase in net worth. For me the target is 12 months. We’ll see. I have a lot of positive momentum going into this year.
Can’t wait to hear about your life insurance, too.
Great goals Corey! It seems to me that you are accomplishing a lot already. And it’s only February.
Great work with the retirement savings. I agree that it is important to have life insurance in place, but I would have recommended a term policy. I’ll be curious to read your arguments for whole life.
Great – Yes, I can’t wait to put it together. I haven’t had much time to write lately, but I hope to get it published in the next couple of weeks.
Great job on the progress! With your wife going to graduate school does that push back your retirement plans?
Considering the state of the economy. Many average folks are much more concerned about paying the everyday living expenses. Let along worrying about saving for retirment. I think its to bad that the old fashion defined benefit plans are now pretty much a thing of the past. I was fortunate enough to have worked for a company a long time that had a pension profit sharing plan that was like a defined benefit plan.
Great job on the progress!
Good luck with +50% net worth. I don’t think we can do that anytime soon unless we win the lotto.