Financial Goals for 2017

[conniebird]

OK, we had a nice time stating what we accomplished for 2016 - how about we write some 2017 financial goals? Then we can look back on this thread a year from now. I'll start:

1. Knock out 50K of student loans (this is in addition to the min. payments)

2. Max out all available tax advantaged accounts ($47K, not including employer contributions)

3. Start a taxable account

 

[Zaphod]

1. Increase income/earnings by 10%.

2. Max out all tax deferred accounts

3. Increase taxable savings

4. Get to or near, zero net worth (from deeply negative).

5. Spend even more consciously.

[DarrVao777]

1. Maintain (or increase) income

2. Contribute 5 digits to 529

3. Eliminate mortgage on rental property

4. Become a retirement millionaire

5. Save 40 - 50% of gross income

[hightower]

1. Finish paying my last high interest rate student loan (need about 19K more).

2. Start new job in June or July

3. Budget to max out 401K and Backdoor Roth contributions

4. Save 1500/month for personal and home savings (we have a few projects needed on the house and have a couple of trips planned)

5. Anything left over save for a taxable brokerage account

6. Put together a formal IPS and choose a long term asset allocation plan

[wideopenspaces]

Great idea conniebird! Love to see what everyone is planning.

I'm cutting back to 0.25FTE for part of the year, and then 0.5FTE the rest of the year so I can spend a lot of time cuddling my baby :-) So we're going to see a drop in income. The goal is to still put 20% of our gross income into retirement and to overall have a 25% savings rate for the year.

[paramount]

1.  Kill 40k off loan principal.

[Shamwow]

1. Get above zero net worth!

2. Eliminate car debt  (and never go into car debt again!)

3. Pay off $70,000 of debt principle

4. Max out 403(B)

5. Have a nice family vacation

Good luck to all!

[SValleyMD]

2nd year out of fellowship-

1. Finish off 80k in student loan debt.

2. Fund 401k and DBP (about 145k)

3. Convince the wife that we dont need landscaping on new home for a year.

4. Sell my pre-WCI BMW X5 that I bought my first month as attending!

5. start a taxable account

6. Save >30 percent gross

[Lithium]

1.  Lower my effective tax rate as much as possible.

2.  Work as little as I can get away with (I'll still be full time, making >250k, and working more than I prefer).

3.  Max out retirement accounts (a given).

4.  Pay off remaining mortgage as much as possible (~$130k left, so probably can't get there).

5.  Continue racking up credit card, banking, and brokerage/IRA bonuses.

6.  Start tracking total return through XIRR (better late than never?).

7.  Compile and scan all the HSA receipts into my computer.

8.  Transfer my HSA account to Saturna or another lower-fee custodian.

9.  Get off my lazy rear and bike to work more, even in the cold and snow.  Try to make my 2008 Civic with 100k miles last at least another decade.

10.  Cancel SiriusXM and find better podcasts

[DoubleMDs]

1. Continue to max out 403, 457, backdoor roths, HSA and 529

2. Start taxable account

3. Continue to increase income, continue to still save >40% of income

4. Spend more consciously.

5. Celebrate paying off all student loans 18 months into practice by going on a nice vacation (4 and 5 are not necessarily mutually exclusive).

[DMFA]

Lofty goals, here.  Best laid plans of mice and men...

1. Refi to private student loan from PAYE/PSLF, hopefully with rate < 4%


2. Non-stupid SUV purchase for wife (this will be difficult) while I continue to drive a 2006 Kia Spectra


3. Convince academic FM wife to do a leisurely 1099 side-job (also difficult)


4. Switch investments to either Fidelity or Vanguard from my current institution (they seem very similar imo)


5. Max TSP, 403b, 2 IRAs, and start taxable.  IDK what I want to do with the taxable though, other than another retirement account


6. If we have our second child, have a lump sum to kick-start the 529


7. 6-figure net worth (from negative earlier this year...we'll see)

 

[Anesthesia84]

I finished residency in August 2014, my husband finishes his fellowship in June 2017....

 

1. Pay off another 80k of our student loans

2. Become positive in our net worth

3. Max our 403b/ 401k/ backdoor Roths/ HSA

4. Open our taxable account

5. Buy a house with 20% down payment (mortgage total will be about 0.5x our combined income)

6. 4th baby with 3 month maternity leave for me and then maybe cut back to 3 days per week once my husband starts his first real job

7. I'm not sure we will get to this one, but we still need to open 529s for each kid (ages 7, 4 1/2, 1 1/2, and planning a 2017 baby). With my maternity leave, I think that might end up a 2018 goal though.

[Hatton]

Decide if retiring on my birthday (age 60) is psychologically something I want to do!  It is coming soon.

[lucas]

Have some financial and non-financial goals i'll list

1 - finish paying off remaining student loans (just under 100k loans at 2.75%; started out at $560k combined about 6 yrs ago).  This will leave us with only our mortgage to pay off

2 - double contributions to taxable account after student loans gone

3 - maybe buy my first bond or bond fund    in my taxable account.  I having been choosing to count paying off loans as the "bond" portion of my portfolio.  Not sure how smart this is, but I can't stomach buying a bond/bond fund when I can get guaranteed similar (or close enough) rate "return" by just paying off debt.

4 - hit double comma net worth

5 - get wife a new larger SUV for the growing fam (cash)

6 - buy a used boat (cash)

7 - continue meditating and exercising daily (free iphone app, work out weights in basement, and run the free hills....)

8 - contemplate finishing the basement

9 - come back to this list in 1 year and celebrate?

[VagabondMD]

I am the old guy here (51), but here goes:

1. Reduce my W-2 salary by 25% (as I cut back my work schedule, hopefully in summer/fall)

2. Earn less than my wife (for the second year in a row--woo hoo!)

3. Start to empty my son's 529 plans (but still max out contribution $8000, for the state tax benefit) as he starts college in the fall

4. Double my 1099 income (from consulting and side gigs)

5. Spend at least $10k on a trip to Europe with my wife in the fall (I am having trouble talking her into leaving the teen daughter home for the trip, not the spend part)

6. Purchase no new shirts/pants/shorts - I have too many clothes, much unused or barely/rarely used

7. Buy no bottle of wine for more than $30 (retail)

8. Figure out how to use my Chase Sapphire Rewards points