I seem to be noticing a pattern where I finally get around to putting my goals together towards the end of January each year. But alas, that’s where I am at!
It’s taken me some time to sit down and really reflect on the goals I had set out in 2021 and determine what my goals for this new year were going to be.
My reasoning for writing these goals down and sharing them is twofold: (1) it helps me stay more accountable and (2) I hope it will help someone else!
So here are the goals I am working on for 2022!
Money Goals
Save and invest $60,000.
In 2021, we ended up saving and investing about $56,000. So this year, I am upping that number slightly to $60,000.
This breaks down to $5,000 per month.
If that number sounds completely unrealistic, I get that. There was a period in my life not too long ago where saving even $200 a month felt impossible.
It’s taken time to incrementally increase our incomes over the years. We’ve also been able to payoff student loan debt and pay off our car, so that has helped to free up more money.
You can certainly work on decreasing expenses. But focusing on finding ways to increase our income has catapulted us forward in a much more significant way than cutting out a latte ever could.
Here is where that money will be directed to:
Max out 401(k).
I have money automatically taken out of each paycheck. Plus my employer contributes 7.5% of my salary in one payment each year so this equates to contributing 19.5% of my salary to this account until I max it out.
Automatic paycheck deductions: $567 each paycheck (bi-weekly) + employer contribution until maxed out
Goal: $20,500
Max out two Roth IRAs.
The maximum amount a person can contribute to their Roth account is $6,000 per year. For more info about Roth accounts, see my post, A Powerful Tool to Reach Financial Independence: The Roth IRA. We try to max out these accounts early on in the year so once we fill these buckets, we can just sit and watch it grow.
Goal: $12,000
Grow investment account for our son.
Right now I am just investing a small amount of money into our regular taxable brokerage account for him. I am considering also opening up a 529 savings plan because the state we live in (Illinois) has some great options. I most likely will take money from my bonus and do this in one lump sum investment for the year.
Goal: invest $1,500
Max out HSA.
I’ve said this before, but I will say it again! An HSA is the holy grail of investment accounts for FIRE. It You can only open up this type of savings account if you have a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). If you are unsure about whether you have that, check with your benefits team at your place of work.
The reason I love it is because it offers you a triple-tax benefit. This means you can (1) contribute to them on a pretax or tax-deductible basis, (2) your savings grow free of taxes over time and (3) you can also make tax-free withdrawals to cover qualified medical expenses.
The IRS has increased the contribution limit to a total of $7,300 for family coverage. For individual coverage, you can contribute up to $3,650 in 2022.
I am contributing $300 per month, plus my employer contributes $125 per month. Then I will take money from my bonus to max this out at the end of the year.
Goal: $7,300 to HSA
Grow taxable brokerage accounts.
In addition to contributing to our retirement accounts, we are working on growing our taxable brokerage accounts. My husbands manages one account and is an active day trader. I manage a second account which I just invest in index funds and leave it to grow over the long term.
Goal: Invest $10,00-$12,000
Have $300k invested.
I remember writing this goal down in the notepad of my phone several years ago. At the time, we had nowhere near this amount invested. I also had no idea how to make this happen. But I do think something incredible happens when you just write something down. It took us about 7 years to get to $100k. It took us 1 year to get to $200k and I expect it to happen quicker than that thanks to the power of compound interest.
Give more.
I’d like to focus on being more generous this year and giving more to people in need. Whether that is giving through charities, giving money to the homeless, sponsoring families during Christmas or treating friends and family to acts of kindness throughout the year. I feel best when I am being of service, so I want to focus more on that this year.
So there you have it. Those are the money goals we have set out for our family this year.
I’d love to hear from you! What are your goals for 2022?
