The start of a new year is a natural point in time to embark on new goals and to review the achievements of the past year. Last week, Brian and I talked a bit about our net worth. We’re pretty happy with the numbers on paper, but how did we do in terms of achieving the goals we set back in early 2012?
CF’s Goals
- Emergency Fund: $2000 – Failed. Some family emergencies forced me to divert extra money away from this goal.
- Net Worth: $0 – Success! From our net worth post last week, I am at a net worth of almost $7000. This is the first time in my adult life that it’s been positive!
- Add $1000 to TFSA. – Success! I added several hundred dollars a month plus tax refund money.
- Increase RRSP contribution to at least $100 per month. – Success! I am contributing a total of $600 a month to my RRSP, plus employer matching
Brian’s Goals
- Personal savings rate of 35-40% – Failed. I admit, I didn’t have much of ‘plan’ to achieve this, but I still ended up with a 30% savings rate. My budget changed a few times throughout the year, but never exceeded this rate.
- RRSP balance of $11000 – Success! I ended the year with an RRSP balance of $11,500.
- TFSA balance of $5000 – Success! I ended the year with a TFSA balance of $5600.
- Emergency fund: $5200 – Failed. Extra money was diverted to our new condo downpayment and an unwise couch deposit prohibited me from reaching this goal. I ended the year at $4100.
Joint Goals
- Make one lump sum payment to the mortgage of $1500 – Failed. We decided to divert our extra money towards our new condo downpayment and made a smaller lump sum payment instead.
- Contribute a minimum of $5000 to the Condo savings fund. – Success! We ended up saving almost $15,000 towards our downpayment.
All in all, not a bad haul. I do wish our personal savings rate was a bit higher, so that’s something we are focusing on this year.
So what’s on the radar for 2013? Well, we bought our 2nd condo already, so in 2013, we’re going to be focusing on reducing my student loan and increasing our savings.
CF’s 2013 Goals
- Emergency Fund: $2500 – This should be doable. I am regularly contributing $100 a month to my emergency fund.
- RRSP balance of $20,000 – This may require more contributions on my part. We’ll see.
- Student loan debt: Less than $20,000 – I currently owe about $27,000. My monthly payments will not achieve this goal, so I’ll have to put extra money towards it.
Brian’s 2013 Goals
- Net worth greater than $70,000 – I increased by $20,000 last year, so I hope to increase by at least $22,000.
- RRSP balance of $18,000 – This will be achieved by regular contributions of $500 per month.
- TFSA balance of $8,000 – This may require some extra contributions.
Joint Goals
- Make a $1000 lump sum payment to each condo mortgage – As budgeted, so should be doable.
- Increase our average dividend income to $100 per month – We are currently averaging $25-$30 per month.
What are your financial goals for 2013?
Posted in: Money
Tagged with: Emergency fund, financial goals, goal setting, investments, lump sum mortgage payment, net worth, personal finance, personal savings rate, reduce your mortgage, RRSP, saving money, TFSA contribution
