2013 Goal Planning

It is that time of the year, time to start thinking about our savings plan for 2013.

Always first on our list of goals is to max out our 401k contributions.  This year the 401k contribution limits a are going up to $17,500.  So, goal number one will be to save $35,000 in our 401k.

Second on our list of goals is to contribute the maximum to any other tax advantaged savings.  For us that means we will want to max out our non-deductible IRA.  We will later convert our non-deductible IRA to a Roth IRA, see this article for more information on how to do so.  IRA contribution limits are also going up from $5000 to $5,500.  So, goal number two will be to save $11,000 in our IRA.  Because of the respective contribution increases our retirement savings will be going up by $2000.

Other goals that are up for discussion:  (1) continuing to add to our emergency fund; (2)  working to pay down the mortgage on our primary home; (3) increasing our non tax advantaged savings (also known as adding to the trading account); and (4) adding to the house project account.

For me, paying off the mortgage is a primary goal as I've explained here, here and here.  Although, with our new lower interest rate of 2.75% from our recent Refi I recognize that paying extra on the mortgage really doesn't make good financial sense when you crunch the numbers.

We also have some house projects that I've been dreaming about for two years now.

How about you, have you started planning your 2013 savings goals?  What is on your list?