Annual Goal Progress Report
It’s that time of the year again. No, not the holidays but time to check in on annual goal progress! My goals for this year were very basic and boring for the most part. Nevertheless, it’s time to check in and see how I did.
Max out Health Savings Account and Employee Portion of Solo 401(k)
Pass
A couple of years ago, we converted our health savings account to Health Savings Administrators in order to invest that money in Vanguard funds. If you have access to a HSA and aren’t using the tax advantages available with these accounts, you really should try take advantage. In my opinion, this is the first account you should fund.
Health savings accounts might be the the only investment option that never requires paying taxes on your income! I plan on maxing out the HSA out forever or until Anthem cancels our plan and I have to seek out alternative coverage.
For the other part of retirement savings, I chose to set up a solo 401(k) because of the large contribution amounts for self employed people. Anything that minimizes taxes and helps me reach retirement goals sooner is a win. I just maxed out the employee portion of $18,000 and will have a bit more to put in as an employer contribution before the end of the year.
Start Saving Early!
Maxing out a retirement plan and/or HSA can seem daunting when you look at the final amounts, but it’s really not that bad when you divide it by 12 months. Obviously, you need to have enough income to cover basic needs first, but after that our tax advantaged contributions are prioritized above any other spending.
It took years to get to that point. If we’d prioritized earlier in life, I wouldn’t feel so rushed to try and catch up now. Moral of the story for you young pups: make retirement savings a priority. You’ll be over 40 before you know it!
Renovate New Four Plex Unit and Find Tenants
Pass
It took until June of this year, but we managed to turn a unit with studs and cement walls into a functional rental. Although we used a contractor for all the heavy work, it was insane to keep everyone on task and on time.
Our four plex has been fully rented since the summer and when nothing goes wrong, it’s pretty sweet mailbox money. A pipe burst on Thanksgiving day, which made me more than happy about our decision to use property management!
This was one of the most stressful projects I’ve ever had to negotiate, but it feels really great to turn nothing into a place that someone calls home. Yes, I am cheesy.
Avoid Buying Clothes
Fail
This was more of a challenge than a goal, but I still completely failed. All of my clothing purchases this year revolved around travel. I’m not sure why my clothes seem perfectly fine at home but when someone new is going to see me, I feel the need to revamp.
I bought some cheap summer dresses for our European trip. Then, I accidentally left all my clean underwear in a drawer in an Amsterdam hotel, which sounds way more scandalous than it actually was. It was more a case of hurried Mom trying too hard to make sure everyone else’s stuff was packed that I forgot my own. This led to some new undies purchased in a airport mall.
My next spree came after I was contracted to work in Alaska. To be fair, my current work wardrobe was pretty shabby with frayed hemlines and broken zippers, but I know more frugal people would have just used safety pins and sucked it up.
My last purchase was a $10 swimsuit for our Mexico trip last month. As I was pulling out summer clothes, I realized my suit had a hole in the butt. Thankfully, you can buy just about anything on Amazon year round.
So I guess if I stayed home more, I’d never need clothes, but I might also look like a bag lady. I’m OK with what I bought. I don’t think I will restrict myself with clothing purchase rules going forward. I’ve learned to buy what I need when I need it instead of spending mindlessly.
Volunteer/Join a Charity Board
Fail
Complete failure. Other than being a Girls on the Run buddy and some other school related stuff, I didn’t even try. Maybe next year.
Take a Trip to Europe and Visit Some New States
Pass
We passed this goal with flying colors by visiting to New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Netherlands, and Mexico. This goal was the most fun by far.
Maintain Healthy Triglyceride Levels
Pass
After finally getting my cholesterol and triglycerides to good levels, I wanted to maintain this year. I have been tested twice, once at a health fair and again for a new life insurance policy. Both times, my levels were great. Here’s to hoping exercise and healthy eating can win out over genetics.
How did you do with goal progress this year? Any big changes for next year?
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This year is really a great year. I have managed to travel to different countries and to reach my financial goals. Definitely, I will try my best to have a better 2016. I am so excited!
Congrats on hitting our goals!
Kim, I save as much as I can and look for means in how I can earn money from freelance writing to taking photography jobs. Next year, I am sure I would get additional skills such as web designing and doing Photoshop.
Best of luck on increasing your side hustles!
I have not left my clean undies in a hotel but I have left stuff behind or forgotten to pack because I’m too busy making sure everyone else has everything they need. 🙂 The sacrifices we Moms make! We ended up doing so major remodeling to our new home, so I hear your pain with trying to keep contractors on target. It is truly time-consuming, but worth it when it is finally finished!
I will be so happy for you when the remodel is done. I can’t imagine living through it.
Great job Kim! I would have totally freaked if I left my undies somewhere. I’m super particular about what kind I get and I always pack more than I’ll ever need. We all have our things I guess. 🙂
It was not my finest moment. I hate wearing new clothing that hasn’t been washed, especially underwear, but my choices were few. You can bet I’ll never do that again.
Looks like you had a good year, overall, Kim. Nice work on maxing out the Solo & the rental! We maxed out our Solo’s, HSA & Roth accounts and may put some into the employer side of our Solo in the next few weeks. We’re pretty much doing the same thing next year as well – saving as much as we can and working towards buying a new house within the next year.
House hunting is so stressful, but you will be well prepared. I hope it goes smoothly.
No clothes at all is hard. No clothes that aren’t actual replacements (meaning anything in means something out, and anything I’m replacing is something no longer usable) is a little easier, and more what I’m hoping to accomplish in the coming year, now that I’ve pared down my closet to reasonable levels.
I live that train of thought. As I’m trying to get rid of clothing I don’t use often, I do find that having fewer items means they wear out quicker.