So, even though we need to focus on savings and adding money to our 2016 IRA (in 2015 we saved nothing in our IRAs), I find myself doubling up my monthly payments for my nused car (purchased in December of 2015).
Why am I doing so? Well, we paid off Mr. Sam's 2013 truck in full as of last month. That means that I have an extra $500 a month. So, rather than using that $500 for savings I sent it off to Chase for my auto loan. I'd frankly be better off putting that $500 towards our linger credit card debt (now down to $1195).
So why do I make these choices? I much prefer killing debt than saving money. Now don't get me wrong I love saving money and watching the balances grow in our retirement accounts. But, I seem to get more satisfaction paying off debt. I also am not a fan of car loans. I'd prefer to pay cash for cars, but over the course of 2013-2015 we found ourselves buying a new truck for Mr. Sam and a nused car for me. I seem to dislike car debt more than credit car debt, etc.
Showing posts with label IRAs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IRAs. Show all posts
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Tax Day Update
Well its the day after taxes are due, so its a good time to think about our 2016 progress.
First, we haven't filed our taxes since we normally seek an extension which is what we did this year.
Second, we skipped 2015 IRA funding. Just didn't happen for a variety of reasons. Lack of discipline, baby and child care expenses, life, etc. So, that means we have a bit of extra savings to put towards 2016 IRA funding.
Third, I'm still waiting on Mr. Sam to make my 2016 Excel savings chart. He's as busy as I am, so it hasn't happened. Hard to track progress without the chart. But see below.
Definite goals:
(1) Max out 401k, $18,000 for each of us, for a total of $36,000. On track.
(2) Finish funding our 2015 IRAs - $8900, Skipped
(3) Fund 2016 IRAs, $11,000 for the both of us, for a total of $22,000. $1100
(4) Baby Sam'college fund, add another $5000 this year. On track
Updated tentative goal, so this is a definite goal now:
(5) Add to emergency fund, $10,000, increased this from $5,000 to $10,000, since we utilized a chunk to buy my nused car. On track
Debt killing goals:
(1) Pay off lingering credit card debt in the amount of $4261. Down to $2403
(2) Pay off Mr. Sam's new car, remaining debt $2000. Down to $1000
Overall debt below $450,000 goal: Total debt $474,731.
First, we haven't filed our taxes since we normally seek an extension which is what we did this year.
Second, we skipped 2015 IRA funding. Just didn't happen for a variety of reasons. Lack of discipline, baby and child care expenses, life, etc. So, that means we have a bit of extra savings to put towards 2016 IRA funding.
Third, I'm still waiting on Mr. Sam to make my 2016 Excel savings chart. He's as busy as I am, so it hasn't happened. Hard to track progress without the chart. But see below.
Definite goals:
(1) Max out 401k, $18,000 for each of us, for a total of $36,000. On track.
(2) Finish funding our 2015 IRAs - $8900, Skipped
(3) Fund 2016 IRAs, $11,000 for the both of us, for a total of $22,000. $1100
(4) Baby Sam'college fund, add another $5000 this year. On track
Updated tentative goal, so this is a definite goal now:
(5) Add to emergency fund, $10,000, increased this from $5,000 to $10,000, since we utilized a chunk to buy my nused car. On track
Debt killing goals:
(1) Pay off lingering credit card debt in the amount of $4261. Down to $2403
(2) Pay off Mr. Sam's new car, remaining debt $2000. Down to $1000
Overall debt below $450,000 goal: Total debt $474,731.
Friday, January 22, 2016
Focusing on Debt
This was my December update on debt:
Of course, we've added to our debt by buying me a nused car. But, I'm ignoring that for right now.
I've been chipping away at our credit card debt. We killed the 0% credit card debt that we took out for tile in one of our rental homes. Mr. Sam also cancelled that card/account. As for our revolving credit card (Chase) that has been hanging around since Baby Sam arrived, it is now down to $3809. I'm utilizing Dave Ramsey tricks by throwing a $100 at it here and there, and sending payments from various checking accounts on the same day. I expect that Chase will be killed off by mid-March (hoping for end of February).
Mr. Sam's truck is down to $2000 and we have 4 payments left. I don't plan to pay ahead as we have a 0% situation. So, by May the truck will be paid in full.
Once the Chase is killed, we really need to ramp up 2015 IRAs savings since the deadline to fund is 4/15/16. At present we have $2500 in our 2015 IRA savings. That means we need to find $9000 before 4/15/16. Our available savings is down because of my nused car purchase. We do have $4200 in our vacation/travel fund, which means I could likely raid it for a couple of thousand. And I could probably take $1,000 from savings. That would mean we need to find $5,500 from other sources in about a month or month and a half.
Debt killing goals:
(1) Pay off lingering credit card debt in the amount of $6500.
(2) Pay off Mr. Sam's new car, remaining debt $2500.
Of course, we've added to our debt by buying me a nused car. But, I'm ignoring that for right now.
I've been chipping away at our credit card debt. We killed the 0% credit card debt that we took out for tile in one of our rental homes. Mr. Sam also cancelled that card/account. As for our revolving credit card (Chase) that has been hanging around since Baby Sam arrived, it is now down to $3809. I'm utilizing Dave Ramsey tricks by throwing a $100 at it here and there, and sending payments from various checking accounts on the same day. I expect that Chase will be killed off by mid-March (hoping for end of February).
Mr. Sam's truck is down to $2000 and we have 4 payments left. I don't plan to pay ahead as we have a 0% situation. So, by May the truck will be paid in full.
Once the Chase is killed, we really need to ramp up 2015 IRAs savings since the deadline to fund is 4/15/16. At present we have $2500 in our 2015 IRA savings. That means we need to find $9000 before 4/15/16. Our available savings is down because of my nused car purchase. We do have $4200 in our vacation/travel fund, which means I could likely raid it for a couple of thousand. And I could probably take $1,000 from savings. That would mean we need to find $5,500 from other sources in about a month or month and a half.
Thursday, December 3, 2015
2016 Savings/Financial Planning
Starting to think about 2016 savings and financial goals.
Definite goals:
(1) Max out 401k for each of us, the limits have not changes for 2016 so that is $18,000 for each of us for a total of $36,000. Automatic payroll debits are in place, I will just need to check them in January
(2) Finish funding our 2015 IRAs - $8900, The 2015 IRAs must be funded by 4/15/16. As such, we will have some heavy upfront savings of about $1110 per pay period between 1/1/16 and 4/15/16.
(3) Fund 2016 IRAs $11,000 for the both of us, this number also is unchanged from 2015.
(4) Baby Sam'college fund, add another $5000 this year.
Tentative goals:
(5) Add to emergency fund, reducing this annual goal to $5000 (this year we saved $10,000)
(6) Save for a nused car for me $10,000. My car will be 10 years old next year and its got some expensive repairs that I've been holding off on. I replaced my last car after 9 years of life so I'm thinking this car will need replacing soon.
The above savings goals total $75,900. The highest savings number we have ever hit with our savings efforts is @$64,000 (back in 2013). So, this would be a big stretch for us, especially with our child care expenses for Baby Sam.
Debt killing goals:
(1) Pay off lingering credit card debt in the amount of $6500.
(2) Pay off Mr. Sam's new car, remaining debt $2500.
Above debt totals at $9000.
Also, I'd like to reduce our total debt to under $450,000 total. At present our debt total is at $484,848 which would require killing the above credit and car debt and also killing another almost $26,000 in debt. I think that is this is a reachable goal since we paid off @$34,000 in debt this year.
Definite goals:
(1) Max out 401k for each of us, the limits have not changes for 2016 so that is $18,000 for each of us for a total of $36,000. Automatic payroll debits are in place, I will just need to check them in January
(2) Finish funding our 2015 IRAs - $8900, The 2015 IRAs must be funded by 4/15/16. As such, we will have some heavy upfront savings of about $1110 per pay period between 1/1/16 and 4/15/16.
(3) Fund 2016 IRAs $11,000 for the both of us, this number also is unchanged from 2015.
(4) Baby Sam'college fund, add another $5000 this year.
Tentative goals:
(5) Add to emergency fund, reducing this annual goal to $5000 (this year we saved $10,000)
(6) Save for a nused car for me $10,000. My car will be 10 years old next year and its got some expensive repairs that I've been holding off on. I replaced my last car after 9 years of life so I'm thinking this car will need replacing soon.
The above savings goals total $75,900. The highest savings number we have ever hit with our savings efforts is @$64,000 (back in 2013). So, this would be a big stretch for us, especially with our child care expenses for Baby Sam.
Debt killing goals:
(1) Pay off lingering credit card debt in the amount of $6500.
(2) Pay off Mr. Sam's new car, remaining debt $2500.
Above debt totals at $9000.
Also, I'd like to reduce our total debt to under $450,000 total. At present our debt total is at $484,848 which would require killing the above credit and car debt and also killing another almost $26,000 in debt. I think that is this is a reachable goal since we paid off @$34,000 in debt this year.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
End of the Year Updates
Well it is December 1, 2015 and I still never got my 2015 savings/debt killing Excel spreadsheet chart from Mr. Sam. It has been that kind of year, new baby, maternity leave, new baby expenses, balancing work with new baby, child care expenses, etc. We also converted a rental property to a family property which brought along a ton of expenses as well.
These were my goals from May of this year, posted on one of the other personal finance sites:
(1) Max out 401ks: Goal $36,000
(2) Max out IRAs: Goal $11,000
(3) College fund for Baby Sam: Goal $5,000
(4) Add to emergency fund: Goal $10,000
(4) Pay off baby debt: Goal $0, started with $7000
(5) Pay off Mr. Sam's truck loan: Goal $0. started with $7500
(6) Save for nused car for me: Goal is $20,000. This is two year goal, so this year's goal is $10,000)
(7) Get total debt under $500,000: $519,000 was thestart of the year number, goal is $499,000, difference of $20,000
Savings goal of $72,000 and
Debt killing goal of $34,500.
So let's start with the bad news. We only put away $2100 for our 2015 IRAs, we can continue to invest for 2015 until April 15, 2016 so we have some time next year to finish this goal.
Baby debt, well it really morphed into debt, we have rental property conversion debt, some baby debt and just other cr_p debt that popped up this year since our finances were pretty crazy this year. At present, the misc. credit card debt is $6275. Can we kill it by year end? Maybe, but doubtful. But, I am working on it with renewed focus.
Nused car for me, didn't really happen at all this year, I put away $400 and that is it. I did spend some money on the car this year, about $1500 in repairs and the mechanic says I have about $4000 in repairs that could be done but were not necessary at the time. Need to work on this goal in 2016 as the time is coming, car will be 10 years old as of next year.
The good news, we are on track to max out our 401ks by the end of the year. At present we are at $33,009 and we will complete the $36,000 goal.
College fund for Baby Sam, we hit this goal as well and we have $5,781 in the 529 plan. About half of that was from us and the other half from family as we have asked for 529 contributions in lieu of gifts for birthdays, Christmas, etc.
Emergency fund, we are also on track for hitting this goal. We will have an additional $10,000 into the e/r fund by end of year. At present we have $19,215 in our e/r fund which sounds like a lot, but it really isn't when you take into account our investment properties. We have been working on rebuilding our fund after buying Mr. Sam's truck (we paid half in cash) and our IVF, pregnancy and birth expenses. I've never really figured out how much I want in the e/r fund, but I'd be more comfortable closer to $30,000. We do have $20,000 in other short term, liquid savings, for things like insurance, taxes, vacations, etc. So that money is also available if we really got in a jam.
Mr. Sam's truck, we are paying $500 a month, 0% loan and at present we have a $2500 balance. No current plan to pay ahead, but will be paid off early next year.
And as for getting our debt under $500,000, we easily hit that goal with $34,152 in debt paid off (even including the debts we added during the year). Our present debt number is $484,848.
So grand, estimated, total for 2015 savings will be: $53,881 (falling short by $18,119 of our 2015 goals).
And, grand, estimated, debt killing total for 2015 will be: $34,152 (which does not include additional debt payments that I plan to make) so we basically hit that goal.
Thoughts, how did your 2015 financial year go? What are you planning for 2016?
These were my goals from May of this year, posted on one of the other personal finance sites:
(1) Max out 401ks: Goal $36,000
(2) Max out IRAs: Goal $11,000
(3) College fund for Baby Sam: Goal $5,000
(4) Add to emergency fund: Goal $10,000
(4) Pay off baby debt: Goal $0, started with $7000
(5) Pay off Mr. Sam's truck loan: Goal $0. started with $7500
(6) Save for nused car for me: Goal is $20,000. This is two year goal, so this year's goal is $10,000)
(7) Get total debt under $500,000: $519,000 was thestart of the year number, goal is $499,000, difference of $20,000
Savings goal of $72,000 and
Debt killing goal of $34,500.
So let's start with the bad news. We only put away $2100 for our 2015 IRAs, we can continue to invest for 2015 until April 15, 2016 so we have some time next year to finish this goal.
Baby debt, well it really morphed into debt, we have rental property conversion debt, some baby debt and just other cr_p debt that popped up this year since our finances were pretty crazy this year. At present, the misc. credit card debt is $6275. Can we kill it by year end? Maybe, but doubtful. But, I am working on it with renewed focus.
Nused car for me, didn't really happen at all this year, I put away $400 and that is it. I did spend some money on the car this year, about $1500 in repairs and the mechanic says I have about $4000 in repairs that could be done but were not necessary at the time. Need to work on this goal in 2016 as the time is coming, car will be 10 years old as of next year.
The good news, we are on track to max out our 401ks by the end of the year. At present we are at $33,009 and we will complete the $36,000 goal.
College fund for Baby Sam, we hit this goal as well and we have $5,781 in the 529 plan. About half of that was from us and the other half from family as we have asked for 529 contributions in lieu of gifts for birthdays, Christmas, etc.
Emergency fund, we are also on track for hitting this goal. We will have an additional $10,000 into the e/r fund by end of year. At present we have $19,215 in our e/r fund which sounds like a lot, but it really isn't when you take into account our investment properties. We have been working on rebuilding our fund after buying Mr. Sam's truck (we paid half in cash) and our IVF, pregnancy and birth expenses. I've never really figured out how much I want in the e/r fund, but I'd be more comfortable closer to $30,000. We do have $20,000 in other short term, liquid savings, for things like insurance, taxes, vacations, etc. So that money is also available if we really got in a jam.
Mr. Sam's truck, we are paying $500 a month, 0% loan and at present we have a $2500 balance. No current plan to pay ahead, but will be paid off early next year.
And as for getting our debt under $500,000, we easily hit that goal with $34,152 in debt paid off (even including the debts we added during the year). Our present debt number is $484,848.
So grand, estimated, total for 2015 savings will be: $53,881 (falling short by $18,119 of our 2015 goals).
And, grand, estimated, debt killing total for 2015 will be: $34,152 (which does not include additional debt payments that I plan to make) so we basically hit that goal.
Thoughts, how did your 2015 financial year go? What are you planning for 2016?
Thursday, August 20, 2015
NetWorth Update
I have updated out networth numbers over on NetworthIQ.com. That site remains wonky and spotty, but I know how to use it and I can do a quick update when it works.
Angie (a reader here) had told me about NetworthShare.com, and I did create an account and had them port over data, but not all of my data came over. So I need to spend some time, which I'm perpetually short on these days, bringing the rest of my data over and getting used to the site, etc.
Our expenses have gone way up with Baby Sam which is mostly due to child care costs. We have also had some cash flow issues since we are converting a rental property. As a result, we've been relying on our credit card to fill some holes in our monthly budget which I hate to do.
We do have plenty of cash in our savings so its not necessary to do this, but I don't want to take cash from savings. Its been somewhat circular this summer. I really, really need to kill the credit card debt once and for all and then cut the card to get us out of this habit.
The positive is that we should be under the $500,000 debt number by end of year (one of our goals). If I killed the credit card debt we would be below the $500,000 number in a month. Another positive is that we have stayed above the $2 Million mark (in assets) for a year now.
Otherwise, we continue to struggle with putting money into our IRA 2015 fund, and we will need to work hard on that goal this fall.
Angie (a reader here) had told me about NetworthShare.com, and I did create an account and had them port over data, but not all of my data came over. So I need to spend some time, which I'm perpetually short on these days, bringing the rest of my data over and getting used to the site, etc.
Our expenses have gone way up with Baby Sam which is mostly due to child care costs. We have also had some cash flow issues since we are converting a rental property. As a result, we've been relying on our credit card to fill some holes in our monthly budget which I hate to do.
We do have plenty of cash in our savings so its not necessary to do this, but I don't want to take cash from savings. Its been somewhat circular this summer. I really, really need to kill the credit card debt once and for all and then cut the card to get us out of this habit.
The positive is that we should be under the $500,000 debt number by end of year (one of our goals). If I killed the credit card debt we would be below the $500,000 number in a month. Another positive is that we have stayed above the $2 Million mark (in assets) for a year now.
Otherwise, we continue to struggle with putting money into our IRA 2015 fund, and we will need to work hard on that goal this fall.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Uphill Battle
I'm sorry I've not posted here more. But, now I understand how busy one gets with a full time job and a new baby.
Financially, we are all over the place. We can't seem to get back on track post baby. While our incoming salaries remain the same or better, our outgoing expenses are much. much higher than normal.
Child care is running $1900 a month ($22,800 a year) which appears to be way higher than normal for Florida, but I don't know anyone in my circle paying the Florida annual average of $8300. Add in diapers, formula, wipes, etc. at $300 a month or so and we are up to $2200 in expenses. And, we actually don't spend much on Baby Sam, we hit the thrift stores for books and toys and I stick to super sales for baby clothes. At present, we are also adding $200 a month to Baby Sam's college fund. So in total, about $2400 a month in baby expenses.
Another challenge, we are converting a rental property from rental to family. We have, in the past, utilized one of rental properties for our snow bird relatives which was a financial hit. Now, that we are turning the rental property to a family property, we have had a couple of months where our old tenants have not paid us. So that also, obviously, impacts our cash flow.
Anyways, we continue to contribute to our 401ks, at max level, and continue to put money into savings, but we need to catch up on our IRAs.
Hope your summer is going well.
Financially, we are all over the place. We can't seem to get back on track post baby. While our incoming salaries remain the same or better, our outgoing expenses are much. much higher than normal.
Child care is running $1900 a month ($22,800 a year) which appears to be way higher than normal for Florida, but I don't know anyone in my circle paying the Florida annual average of $8300. Add in diapers, formula, wipes, etc. at $300 a month or so and we are up to $2200 in expenses. And, we actually don't spend much on Baby Sam, we hit the thrift stores for books and toys and I stick to super sales for baby clothes. At present, we are also adding $200 a month to Baby Sam's college fund. So in total, about $2400 a month in baby expenses.
Another challenge, we are converting a rental property from rental to family. We have, in the past, utilized one of rental properties for our snow bird relatives which was a financial hit. Now, that we are turning the rental property to a family property, we have had a couple of months where our old tenants have not paid us. So that also, obviously, impacts our cash flow.
Anyways, we continue to contribute to our 401ks, at max level, and continue to put money into savings, but we need to catch up on our IRAs.
Hope your summer is going well.
Friday, May 8, 2015
A Windfall is Coming
As you can tell from the title of this post, clearly I'm a Game of Thrones fan.
So, I received news that I'm getting a bonus this year. This bonus was unexpected for a couple of reasons. First, I was on maternity leave for more than three months. Second, I did not believe I was eligible for this type of bonus.
So money is coming our way and it is a decent size chunk of cash. Of course, after Uncle Sam takes his bite and after the deduction for my 401k, the number shrinks. But, I won't complain one bit.
My tentative plan for the money is as follows (final plan depends a bit on the amount). First, 50% will go to our baby debt (which presently is $5421 at 0%). Second, 25% will go towards our upcoming summer vacation (so, into our travel savings fund). Third, 15% will go towards our 2015 IRA savings account. And, finally, 10% is for me to do what I want with (spa, clothes, dinner out, or some other kind of treat).
How do you spend bonus money?
So, I received news that I'm getting a bonus this year. This bonus was unexpected for a couple of reasons. First, I was on maternity leave for more than three months. Second, I did not believe I was eligible for this type of bonus.
So money is coming our way and it is a decent size chunk of cash. Of course, after Uncle Sam takes his bite and after the deduction for my 401k, the number shrinks. But, I won't complain one bit.
My tentative plan for the money is as follows (final plan depends a bit on the amount). First, 50% will go to our baby debt (which presently is $5421 at 0%). Second, 25% will go towards our upcoming summer vacation (so, into our travel savings fund). Third, 15% will go towards our 2015 IRA savings account. And, finally, 10% is for me to do what I want with (spa, clothes, dinner out, or some other kind of treat).
How do you spend bonus money?
Monday, March 30, 2015
College Savings Plan for Baby Sam
As I work on figuring out our 2015 savings goals, we know that college savings for Baby Sam is on the list.
We have settled on a 529 Plan rather than a prepaid tuition plan.
The next question is how much to contribute. $28,000 is the current annual limit if you file taxes jointly, $14,000 if filing singly status before having to do gift tax analysis.
Mr. Sam is in favor of skimping to front load Baby Sam's college fund now and then once Baby is in school dialing back because there is a good chance we will be paying for private school.
I'm not sure where I stand on the issue, but because I manage the finances I prefer more regular and even contributions because its easier to manage. But, if we contributed $28,000 a year for year one to year five we would end up with $140,000 and that is a huge chunk of money that would then grow over the next 13 years.
Start researching estimated college costs in 2033 and its enough to make your head spin. $57,000 a year for public, in-state university up to $130,000 a year for private university. Multiply that by four - five years and you get total costs from $285,000 to $650,000. Yikes!
However, many experts say that the tuition increases that have occurred in recent years, 5% - 7% increases each year, are simply unsustainable. So, its quite difficult to know what the real costs will be. I guess its better to plan high and then be pleasantly surprised, but I don't want to sacrifice retirement savings or other savings to hit an inflated college savings number.
At present, the 529 plan paperwork is filled out, I've sent off the check for the initial contribution and I have set up bi-monthly electronic contributions at $50. Not much, but a start while we figure out how much we will be contributing going forward.
We have settled on a 529 Plan rather than a prepaid tuition plan.
The next question is how much to contribute. $28,000 is the current annual limit if you file taxes jointly, $14,000 if filing singly status before having to do gift tax analysis.
Mr. Sam is in favor of skimping to front load Baby Sam's college fund now and then once Baby is in school dialing back because there is a good chance we will be paying for private school.
I'm not sure where I stand on the issue, but because I manage the finances I prefer more regular and even contributions because its easier to manage. But, if we contributed $28,000 a year for year one to year five we would end up with $140,000 and that is a huge chunk of money that would then grow over the next 13 years.
Start researching estimated college costs in 2033 and its enough to make your head spin. $57,000 a year for public, in-state university up to $130,000 a year for private university. Multiply that by four - five years and you get total costs from $285,000 to $650,000. Yikes!
However, many experts say that the tuition increases that have occurred in recent years, 5% - 7% increases each year, are simply unsustainable. So, its quite difficult to know what the real costs will be. I guess its better to plan high and then be pleasantly surprised, but I don't want to sacrifice retirement savings or other savings to hit an inflated college savings number.
At present, the 529 plan paperwork is filled out, I've sent off the check for the initial contribution and I have set up bi-monthly electronic contributions at $50. Not much, but a start while we figure out how much we will be contributing going forward.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Fleeting Figment
On Saturday I logged into my Fidelity Roth IRA account with the plan to check on and, likely, cancel some open limit orders. Imagine my surprise (and short lived excitement) when the total value for my Roth IRA had jumped upwards by more than a $100,000. I quickly realized that my Apple stock was showing the post 7-1 stock split with the pre-split price.
It seemed odd, to me, that Fidelity would combine the two pieces of data, over the weekend. Better to just leave it as is until Monday and today my short lived wealth has disappeared.
It seemed odd, to me, that Fidelity would combine the two pieces of data, over the weekend. Better to just leave it as is until Monday and today my short lived wealth has disappeared.
Friday, May 30, 2014
2014 Savings Goal - May Update
(1) Max out 401k(s) - $10,139 29% (goal is $35,000)
(2) Max out IRA(s) - $8,835 80% (goal is $11,000)
(3) Add to e/r fund - $4,400 44% (goal is $10,000)
(4) Roof project - $5,000 100% (goal is $5,000)
(5) Vehicle replacement - $5 0% (goal is $5,000)
(6) House projects - $1,100 37% (goal is $3,000)
Total: $29,479 43% (Goal is $69,000)
(2) Max out IRA(s) - $8,835 80% (goal is $11,000)
(3) Add to e/r fund - $4,400 44% (goal is $10,000)
(4) Roof project - $5,000 100% (goal is $5,000)
(5) Vehicle replacement - $5 0% (goal is $5,000)
(6) House projects - $1,100 37% (goal is $3,000)
Total: $29,479 43% (Goal is $69,000)
Can you tell things have been cray-cray for us, no posts in quite some time. But, surprisingly, when I updated our savings chart today we are generally on track for 2014.
The roof project is done, cost more than $5,000 so counting that goal as completed. We are making progress on our house project fund, but even with the roof done, we have several house projects that we need to attend to this year that likely will exceed our savings. Now that the roof project is done, I will switch my auto savings to Mr. Sam's car replacement fund. My car also has been acting up and I'm going to need to invest a couple of thousand into it in the next couple of weeks.
As for 401k, I'm maxing mine out. Mr. Sam will not be eligible for his 401k until September, in the mean time we are putting savings away so he can up his contributions come September. But, we are behind on that goal. We are making good progress on our 2014 IRA savings.
Monday, December 30, 2013
2014 Planning - Third Time is the Charm
So, for the third time we are going to plan/try to save $69,000, maybe 2014 will be the year we hit this number. Now that we have our 2014 total goal number, we have been working on planning.
Some goals are pretty easy to establish.
First, tax advantaged retirement savings. I will max out my 401k savings, $17,500, in 2014. We both will max our our non-deductible IRAs for 2014, so that is $5,500 each or $11,000. We will save $17,500 for Mr. Sam in 2014, that money will be after tax until he is eligible for his 401k in September. Then we will max out what he can contribute from 9/1/2014 until 12/31/2014 which Mr. Sam thinks will be about $12,000. So, the monthly savings we do for Mr. Sam's 401k between 1/1/2014 and 9/1/2014 will be used to supplement income for the last quarter when he is putting the bulk of his paycheck into his 401k. Then, the amount that is left over will be put into our trading account. While Mr. Sam will not be able to save as much in 401k savings, we will make sure to save at least the same amount in our non-tax advantaged trading account.
(1) Max out 401ks (goal is $35,000)
(2) Max out IRAs (goal is $11,000)
As for our IRAs, we have already saved $1800 towards our 2014 goal.
Second, other savings goals. I probably will maintain the monthly savings already set up which means we would put another $10,000 into our emergency savings in 2014. I like having money go towards e/r savings. With our various real estate properties, a health emergency fund makes me happy. For similar reasons, I probably will keep the $200 a month that goes towards our house account. With an old house, there are always repairs or projects (last year I imagined plantation shutters, but that project got put off). This year, we are also likely looking at a roof repair or roof improvement on our carriage house. Accordingly, I am putting $5,000 into roof project savings. If the roof project costs less, then we will put that money towards mortgage principal prepayment.
(3) Emergency account (goal is $10,000)
(4) Roof fund (goal is $5,000)
(5) House fund (goal is $3,000)
Third, Mr. Sam is going to need a replacement vehicle within the next couple of years. So, the last goal for 2014 is car replacement fund (goal is $5,000)
(6) Car replacement fund (goal is $5,000).
How about you, what are your financial plans and goals for 2014?
Some goals are pretty easy to establish.
First, tax advantaged retirement savings. I will max out my 401k savings, $17,500, in 2014. We both will max our our non-deductible IRAs for 2014, so that is $5,500 each or $11,000. We will save $17,500 for Mr. Sam in 2014, that money will be after tax until he is eligible for his 401k in September. Then we will max out what he can contribute from 9/1/2014 until 12/31/2014 which Mr. Sam thinks will be about $12,000. So, the monthly savings we do for Mr. Sam's 401k between 1/1/2014 and 9/1/2014 will be used to supplement income for the last quarter when he is putting the bulk of his paycheck into his 401k. Then, the amount that is left over will be put into our trading account. While Mr. Sam will not be able to save as much in 401k savings, we will make sure to save at least the same amount in our non-tax advantaged trading account.
(1) Max out 401ks (goal is $35,000)
(2) Max out IRAs (goal is $11,000)
As for our IRAs, we have already saved $1800 towards our 2014 goal.
Second, other savings goals. I probably will maintain the monthly savings already set up which means we would put another $10,000 into our emergency savings in 2014. I like having money go towards e/r savings. With our various real estate properties, a health emergency fund makes me happy. For similar reasons, I probably will keep the $200 a month that goes towards our house account. With an old house, there are always repairs or projects (last year I imagined plantation shutters, but that project got put off). This year, we are also likely looking at a roof repair or roof improvement on our carriage house. Accordingly, I am putting $5,000 into roof project savings. If the roof project costs less, then we will put that money towards mortgage principal prepayment.
(3) Emergency account (goal is $10,000)
(4) Roof fund (goal is $5,000)
(5) House fund (goal is $3,000)
Third, Mr. Sam is going to need a replacement vehicle within the next couple of years. So, the last goal for 2014 is car replacement fund (goal is $5,000)
(6) Car replacement fund (goal is $5,000).
How about you, what are your financial plans and goals for 2014?
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Stock Sale - Update
Back in October I posted about my hot stock dilemma and trying to figure out when and how to plan my stock sales (since I'm more of a buy and hold gal). In particular I had a stock that was up 500% since I purchased it and I was trying to figure out if I should sell it or not.
I ended up selling the stock and making $4300 in profit (tax free since I hold my stock in my Roth IRA) but I did have regrets, what if the stock kept going up and up? So I decided to calendar a two month follow up (which is today) to check and see the status of the stock I sold. I sold the stock at $32, it has hit $34, but today it is at $28.
So, how do I feel. I feel pleased, right now it looks like I made a good decision. I sold close to the peak based on expert research telling me to sell and that research seems to have been correct. We shall see, I will check again next year.
I ended up selling the stock and making $4300 in profit (tax free since I hold my stock in my Roth IRA) but I did have regrets, what if the stock kept going up and up? So I decided to calendar a two month follow up (which is today) to check and see the status of the stock I sold. I sold the stock at $32, it has hit $34, but today it is at $28.
So, how do I feel. I feel pleased, right now it looks like I made a good decision. I sold close to the peak based on expert research telling me to sell and that research seems to have been correct. We shall see, I will check again next year.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
2013 IRA
Today, I funded my 2013 IRA, $5,500 into my traditional, non-deductible IRA. Once the transfer from my Wells Fargo account to my Fidelity traditional IRA clears, I will immediately convert the traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. Since 2010, the income limits for Roth IRAs were removed by the Federal government, but one still has to contribute to a traditional and then convert to a Roth. On Fidelity, it is easy to do. I convert the funds immediately, while it is still in cash, as I don't want to incur any gains that I have to pay taxes on prior to conversion.
Thereafter, my plan is to watch the markets this week which have been down and up due to the government shut down and the debt ceiling debate. I don't normally try to time the market, but if the Dow dips below 15,000 again this week I will make some investments. For our IRAs, we invest in individual stocks, i.e. Apple or Ford, etc. I like to use the expert preset strategies to find well rated stocks that are on sale.
Additionally, I have set up our 2014 IRA savings account over at CapitalOne 360 (formerly known as ING)
Thereafter, my plan is to watch the markets this week which have been down and up due to the government shut down and the debt ceiling debate. I don't normally try to time the market, but if the Dow dips below 15,000 again this week I will make some investments. For our IRAs, we invest in individual stocks, i.e. Apple or Ford, etc. I like to use the expert preset strategies to find well rated stocks that are on sale.
Additionally, I have set up our 2014 IRA savings account over at CapitalOne 360 (formerly known as ING)
Thursday, October 3, 2013
2013 Savings Goals - One Down
Today, I finished goal number two of our 2013 Savings Plan. Goal # 2 was to fully fund our 2013 IRAs, and as of today I have $11,000 sitting in our CapitalOne360 (f/n/a ING) targeted savings account. Since, Mr. Sam is employed we probably are safe in putting that money into our actual IRA accounts but I have not done so just yet.
Otherwise, we are about $100 from breaking the $50,000 mark on our 2013 Savings Plan progress. And, we are $13,100 away from exceeding our 2012 savings total (which, due to Mr. Sam's layoff is kind of my current target).
Otherwise, we are about $100 from breaking the $50,000 mark on our 2013 Savings Plan progress. And, we are $13,100 away from exceeding our 2012 savings total (which, due to Mr. Sam's layoff is kind of my current target).
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