Review of 2007 financial goals

I would say we were less than satisfied with our progress made in 2007. Though we met the majority of our goals, we weren't as disciplined (especially with our spending) in the second half of the year and I know we can do a much better job. Because of this we are now slightly behind schedule according to our long-term plan - we were only able to reach around $234,000 in net worth toward the end of December which falls just short of our outlined ideal savings plan.

Below are our 2007 financial goals with comments following each:

Goal: Continue to make the maximum-allowable contributions to our retirement accounts as we've done in the past - wife’s 401k ($15,500), husband’s Simple IRA ($10,500), and both Roth IRAs ($8,000). Much like last year, we want to be more aggressive with our contributions at the beginning of the year to maximize our long-term returns.
status: completed

Comments: Each year our first order of business is to fully utilize whatever tax-advantaged savings we have access to. Just like in previous years, we were able to make the maximum-allowable contributions and were able to do so at an accelerated pace. In addition, we were able to make the maximum allowable contribution to the husband's HSA which was unplanned for going into the year.

Goal: Though we failed last year, we want to make it a top priority to find a new job for the husband who has achieved all that is possible with his current employer and is looking to make a move that will further his professional growth and better help in accomplishing our goals towards achieving financial independence. The primary requirements for the new position will be greater challenges and responsibilities, higher income and a full 401k package with an employer match which would allow us to contribute more in tax-deferred savings.
status: completed

Comments: This was a major goal I had set for myself going into the year and I'm glad we were able to make this happen. For far too long I had talked the talk about making a job change and in 2007 I finally made it a reality by making the difficult decision to quit my job so that I could focus all my energy on completing this goal.

Goal: Make the necessary contributions (around $300 per month) to our cash reserve to bring us back up to $13,000 after paying our property taxes at the end of 2006. In addition, we want to also begin saving for a car to replace one of our existing vehicles. We'll assume for now we will need roughly $6,000 by the end of the year (around $500 per month). So, total monthly contributions to our cash reserve should be around $800 per month this year.
status: completed

Comments: As I had mentioned in the Catching up post, we were not very proactive last year and pretty much did the bare minimum for much of 2007. As such, we accumulated quite a bit of cash in our savings account with EmigrantDirect (at one point we neared $40,000), so this goal was rather easily accomplished.

Goal: Transfer the second mortgage balance to a credit card offering a no-fee, 0% balance transfer and completely pay off the balance by the end of November. In order to do so we are looking at monthly payments of roughly $900.
status: failed

Comments: As I had mentioned in the Catching up post, we got so far as to request the balance transfer, but we never made the next step of actually paying off the account. Instead, the funds sat in our savings account with EmigrantDirect accruing interest while we made the necessary minimum payments on the credit card debt. Chalk this up to laziness on my part because I was never willing to dedicate the time to take the next step and send off the payoff amount to the lender. In December we paid the outstanding amount on the credit card since the 0% offer was to expire in January. We will reintroduce this as part of our goal set for 2008.

Goal: Reach $238,000 in net worth by year end.
status: failed

Comments: Below average investment returns, a full month without the husband producing income and undisciplined spending in the second half of the year were all factors that contributed to us not being able to reach our net worth goal for 2007. The first two factors were pretty much beyond our control, but the third is what disappoints me the most when looking back at the year.