Financial Goals for 2008

Its nearing the end of the year and its time for me to finalize my goals for the coming year.

So far I've narrowed down the list of goals to the following:
1. Have a Net Worth of $105,000*
2. Fully Fund my 401k and Roth IRA
3. Diversify Roth IRA
4. Get Next Promotion
5. Get Ready to Buy a House ???

My Action plans are:
1. Have Net Worth of $105,000 - My net worth is currently slightly above $85k, to reach the $105k I plan to fully fund my 401k ($15,500), fully fund my Roth IRA ($4,000), and save $1000 "cash". To save the $1000 I plan to set aside $100 every month with the exception of November and December. Those months I'll use the $100 to go towards my gift shopping budget.

2. Fully Fund my 401k and Roth IRA - To continue to fully fund my 401k I will leave my automatic payroll deduction contribution at 27%. Since I just opened my Roth IRA this year with money saved outside of the account I will need to establish an electronic transfer on a regular basis. I plan to contribute $330 per month towards my Roth IRA but will need to investigate Vanguard to find the best way to contribute to minimize fees (ie. contribute $990 quarterly, $165 bi-weekly, etc.). I plan to have this investigation completed by January 31st.

3. Diversify Roth IRA - This one will require some more investigation on my part. I know the minimum transaction required to start a different fund in vanguard is $3,000. So I will need what the best method to procure the other fund (ie. sell some of my S&P 500 fund and invest in the other or lump sum contribution). I plan to have this work complete by February 29th.

4. Get Promotion - This one takes a little more finesse. At this point I feel like I was hired in at a lower level than my experience and work load would normally bring and most of the reason for this is that I only recently graduated college; however I been working for my company for a little over 5 years. I went along with this because I was assured I would advance quickly. To ensure I get a promotion before the end of the year I need to: 1. Continue to do an "amazing" job on every task 2. List my responsibilities and compare to established tables for positions 3. Talk to my boss about the discrepancy I find in responsibilities and position and request to know the steps I need to take to make it to the next level (additional tasks to take on, people to talk to etc). 4. Continue to Ace my Performance Review and take the opportunities that are offered to me

5. Get Ready to Buy a House - This one I'm a little unsure of. A couple of years I ago I couldn't wait to buy my first house, I saw it as the key to success, but now I'm not so sure. While I feel I have more than a sufficient down payment to put down on a house I'm not sure if I'm ready for the additional upkeep on a house, plus there's the added monthly costs I would incur. So for this goal I'm going to leave it open and allow myself to investigate more by researching my options to make a sound financial decision.

*I calculate my net worth by the value of my assets in banks/brokerages. I do not include the value of my car or personal possessions. I also do not figure in debt because I have none other than a credit card I pay the full balance monthly, if at some point I develop debt/liabilities I will include that in my net worth calculations.