Net Worth Challenge

Last year we were able to finish on a nice high note, ending the year with a net worth of $137,960.77. We accomplished all but one of our 2006 goals, which I still consider to be a great success. I’ll talk about the goal that we didn’t make a little later (it regards an emergency cash fund) in a future post. Looking ahead in 2007, these are the goals that my wife and I are going to strive to achieve:

We want to continue the momentum of savings and accumulation from 2006 leading into this New Year. In 2007, our goal will remain to continue improving our financial foundation using the plan we put in place in June 2005. Specifically, this year we are hoping to:

• Make the maximum allowed contributions to our Roth IRAs held at Vanguard as we’ve done in the past. This means putting in $4,000 for my Roth IRA and $3,000 for my wife’s Roth IRA. My wife’s goal is less because her grandparents made a generous gift of $1,000 during Christmas-time (directed toward 2007 tax year) into her Roth IRA account held at Ameriprise.
  06/15/2007 - Goal completed early.

• Contribute into both of our company 401K plans in order to get, at the very least, the matching amount. The goal is to contribute at least $6,170 for my 401K and at least $7,650 for my wife’s 401K.
  Contribute as much as allowed (by law and by our companies) into both of our company 401k plans. The goal is to contribute the maximum allowable amount of $15,500 for my 401k and at least $9,000 for my wife’s 401k (her contributions are limited by company policy).
  07/09/2007 - Increased goal because of raise at work and tax implications related to raise.

• Contribute $1,000 per month into our general investment account at Ameritrade and Sharebuilder. The majority of the money will be invested in small-cap companies each month, in an attempt to balance out the large- and mid-cap focus in our Vanguard accounts. The goal is to save $12,000 for the year in our general investment account, bringing the total amount in this account up to $42,000.

• Continue saving $1,000 per month into our “Future House Fund” currently held at Vanguard. The goal is to save $12,000 for this year for this purpose, bringing the total amount in this account up to $48,000 $28,000.
  04/01/2007 - The amount per month won’t change, but had to lower total amount goal because of rental property purchase in March.

• Reach a net worth of $225,000 $210,000 by year end.
  07/09/2007 - Increased goal because of raise at work.