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JLP’s Question of the Day – Financial Goals
By JLP | February 20, 2007
I haven’t asked a Question of the Day in awhile. Here’s one:
I would have to say that ours is retirement planning followed closely by fixing up our house. There’s no doubt that some of things in our lives have gone unfullfilled due to lack of resources to meet every need. The good thing is that we didn’t pile on debt to do stuff even though we didn’t have the funds to do them. I think that’s where the rubber meets the road when it comes to building wealth. We aren’t perfect yet, but we have learned a lot along the way.
Topics: Question of the Day | 24 Comments »
February 20th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Maxing out my retirement
February 20th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
I’ve been saving for retirement since I was 25 so I feel I’m on track. At least as “on track” as anyone can be without having a crystal ball. My goal right now is to save for home expansion and kitchen renovation. I have a lot of equity in my house but I don’t want to spend it on the renovation; I’d prefer to pay cash.
February 20th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
Saving for retirement while paying down my debts and putting my daughters through college.
February 20th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Fully fund retirement savings within next 5 years. I’ll keep working well after that, but want the freedom of knowing that my plan is done. It’s an aggressive goal – not sure I have the will-power for the required delayed gratification but I’m gonna try.
February 20th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
I need to get a regular income stream so I can save up and buy a house. I thought after renting my house and moving back in with the parents, everything would be peachy clean. Apparently not… Now that I have a new job that will be bring in more money, I’m thinking I will have my goal for next December in the bag.
February 20th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
For us, it’s getting to the point where our investments generate enough income to cover our monthly “burnrate”. I’ve always figured that this was the zeroth level of “financial independence”, since at that point one is independent from the strict financial need to work.
February 20th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Saving for both retirement and our children’s education (which we will be paying for long after we have retired).
February 20th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Definitely to pay off the high-interest portion of my student debt load. Until I do that, I feel (whether or not it’s really the case) stuck in my soul-sucking but high-paying job.
February 20th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
My number one (LONG-TERM) goal is to save aggressively for retirement. But my shorter term goal is to save for a down payment for a condo… which in my area 20% = $60,000 – $70,000.
February 20th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
1M by 40
5M by 50
20M by 60
40M by 70
And if I miss my goals, I guess I’ll be working at Starbucks until I drop.\
February 20th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Right now I’m 25 so my goal is to buy some property.
February 20th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Long term goal is to get the spouse onboard with the “let’s max our Roths while we’re young!” mentality that I espouse. Shorter term is to kill the student loan.
February 20th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
hmm….there are so many goals…
I’d say my overarching #1 goal is to reach the point where I can start paying a double payment on my student loan each month. To get there, I need have my credit cards all but cleaned up and need to have at my emergency/layoff fund in place. I really want to kill my student loan!!! I don’t even want to own a house first — I want to reach a moment in my life before I’m 50 where I owe nobody a single penny.
Right on the heels of this is saving more for retirement and just saving as much money as possible.
February 20th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Buy an apartment/unit.
Turn it into a rental in a few years and buy/rent somewhere else..
Oh – and a $6k holiday/honeymoon.
February 20th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
I’m 32. Recently married. Live in Los Angeles, CA. My goal is to someway, somehow be able to afford a house. Not a condo, or a townhouse, but a little house in a nice neighborhood.
February 21st, 2007 at 7:34 am
To complete on my house and then decorate it nicely.
To travel on the trans-siberian express.
February 21st, 2007 at 8:57 am
Put a whopping down payment on our first house.
February 21st, 2007 at 10:02 am
Retirement savings is always in the front of my mind. But the longer-term goal is to not have to work. I’m an independent contractor, which allows a lot of freedom, but also a lot of insecurity. I’d like for that insecurity to be eliminated by a feeling of financial freedom. I hate not taking a vacation because I fear lack of continuity will cost me a contract renewal. Want to be able to consciously take a few months off if I want to. Oh, of course, without compromising my Retirement goals.
February 21st, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Getting out of debt. This mediates risk from potential job losses or other emergencies, and frees us up to be more flexible and mobile in our careers and lives.
February 21st, 2007 at 12:41 pm
Our most immediate goal is to pay off the car and boiler – which will happen in May!! Then the student loans. Long term – be debt free (including the house) within 15 years (while funding our retirement of course ~15% of salary). After that – have enough in investments, retirement, and savings to not need to work full time ~ hopefully by the time I’m 45.
February 21st, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Planning and paying for my wedding.
February 21st, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Right now it’s to build up a little bit more in our emergency fund since we just got out of cc and HELOC debt.
February 22nd, 2007 at 10:28 am
My big goal is to get myself into a house. My student loan debt is cheap (nothing above 6% interest, and the vast majority of it is under 3%), so I’m only interested in paying any of that off early if it helps me qualify for a better mortgage. I’m building up my emergency fund, but that’s also to help me prepare for being a homeowner.
(As for other common goals: My retirement savings percentage is solid, my car was purchased outright, and I have no outstanding credit card debt. So I don’t spend time on those.)
February 22nd, 2007 at 5:47 pm
my short term goal (