2008 Financial Goals
Well 2007 is nearing an end. In the last post I reported on my personal goals for 2008. Financially, it has not been great for us, but this was a decision we made. For the past 2 years, we have made our little girl a priority. All our efforts have been in providing her the best support and therapy we can give her and to be as dedicated as possible to finding out what her diagnosis is. The problem is that we have neared a point where the credit card debt has become overwhelming. We have to start chopping away at it.
Credit Card Debt:
For 2008, the number one goal will be to show a declining number in that debt. We are wholly committed to doing this. The credit card debt is nearing $50,000 and I would like to see that number drop to $45,000 by the end of ‘08. We are still looking into whether a home equity loan wold be a good candidate for consolidation as this would lighten the monthly payment for now allow our budget to break even.
Retirement Accounts:
Heading into 2008 this total will be hovering around $69,000 ,barring any collapse in the market. We hope to put in around $500 per month into this bucket. With a conservative return, I think that $80,000 is a safe goal.
Income:
Currently, our combined take home pay is a bit under $4000 per month. My wife has just been promoted and will be working nearly twice as many hours. An early estimate has her earning an additional $500 per month. For myself, I can’t answer until sometime in April, my hope is for an additional $150. Starting January, our health premium goes up about $80 monthly. This puts us at $4550 at the end of 2008. These numbers do not include any additional income that I would like to produce from blogging, although it will be reported. I figure at this point, I would like to concentrate on my content and letting readership grow, letting any revenue be incidental.
Savings:
This includes our savings account and a money market fund. Currently, the former is at $575 and the latter at $100. I would like the fund to be our emergency account. We are putting $100 per month there, so by the end of ‘08 it should be a little north of $1300.00. The savings account is just a backup for our checking account, so I hope to keep it around it’s current level.
Investments:
Here we have a stock mutual fund and a brokerage account. The fund has around $850 currently and we funnel a lowly $50 per month there. By the end of next year I hope to have the account at $1500. The brokerage account may or may not be around next year. I am undecided on whether I want to funnel the $900 in that account to our emergency account or just let it sit there in a good dividend paying stock. If I leave it there then $1000 would be the goal there.
Thanks for reading and let me know what you think.
Filed under: Finance and Investing
