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HomePersonal SituationDid I fail or Succeed in my 2010 Goals

Did I fail or Succeed in my 2010 Goals

Goal

As I sit here on Christmas Eve Morning puttering around the internet I figured what better time than now to see if I met my Goals and Objectives for 2010? I will write my goals and objectives for 2011 next week.  Re-Reading that post it seems like I had 4 main goals/objectives:

  • Debt
  • Liquid Savings/Investing
  • Blog
  • Personal Life /Multiple Streams of Income

My Goals Concerning Debt in 2010

In January 2010, I highlighted my 4 main debts:

    • $12,000ish Auto Loan 8% – 7 year amortization schedule
    • $7,000 Law School Loan #1 – 5% 10 year amortization schedule
    • $57,800 Law School Loan #2 – 4.5%, but payments are increasingly tiered costs over 30 year amortization schedule
    • Mortgage of $228,000ish – 5.875% – 40 year amortization schedule

I even stated,

Any and all income I receive from this Blog will also be applied to that debt.

Wow did I completely fail this goal! If I did apply all the income from this blog PLUS bonuses and tax refunds I bet the auto note would be largely gone at this point.  Not that I am trying to make excuses but the reason I didn’t attack this goal with more veraciousness, like I did the Credit Card debt, is because I was trying to pump up our family’s liquid funds.

Notwithstanding my utter failure for MOST of 2010 in the past 2 months I have paid off one-third of just principal.  I also refinanced the auto loan bringing down the interest rate to a much more palatable 5.75%.   So while I failed on the overall goal I have made some legitimate strides in the past 60 days.

The auto loan will be gone by next Christmas!

Grade: C-

Liquid Savings / Investing Goals in 2010

In January 2010, I highlighted where I was and where I wanted to go (although my detail left a lot to be desired):

My liquid funds are not where I want them to be right now.  Currently, I am sporadically adding to them, with no real plan.  I am going to continue to do so without any plan.  For my ING accounts I use a zero based budget, and so every once in a while I move money from my ING checking into my my ING saving sub-accounts.

As far as investments go:

  • I just have a non-qualified trading account worth less than $2,000 that I use for short term, small time playing around – not adding funds to it
  • I will continue to fund my 401(k) to the max of my match
  • Continue to fund my Wife’s Roth IRA.
  • Continue to add $25/month to my Prosper Account

My Liquid Funds are STILL not where I want them to be, but I have been making some ridiculous strides (at the expense of the debt highlighted above).  I don’t like to give out an exact number because it feels weird that people would know how much cash I have sitting in a bank, but it is in the mid-five figures.  Why do I want so much cash, earning next to nothing in interest? I equate liquid cash to choice and freedom.  If I have $100,000 sitting in a bank somewhere, maybe I can use it to fund a business idea one day, maybe I don’t have a heart attack if the day job doesn’t work out, maybe it means that I can put 20% down on a $500K house without having to worry about selling my current place…etc.

The trading account is still at that $2K mark, but more importantly  I have started my dream passive income dividend portfolio!

I have received raises since I wrote my 2010 goals and objectives, yet I didn’t increase my 401(k) contributions!  So I am no longer funding my 401(k) to the max of my match. I will fix this next week! I haven’t even looked at The Wife’s Roth IRA since I put it in place, I am happy with that since it is basically just invested in a dividend fund and an S&P fund, so we’ll leave that alone.

Lastly, I have failed to continue to add to my Prosper Account, but this one isn’t my fault.  The day job said I had to jump through hoops if I wanted to fund Prosper, so instead of rocking the boat I just have been withdrawing the money and putting it towards other items.

Grade: B

Blog World

My 2010 goals and objectives for Blogging included fixing:

  • I never submit to carnivals;
  • I rarely guest post;
  • Despite being VERY tech savvy, I can’t figure out the fascination or how to properly work Twitter;
  • My posting schedule is inconsistent; and
  • I am not involved in the PF Blogging Community as much as I should be

Well I still don’t submit to carnivals or guest post anywhere. FAIL.  That being said I think I have figured out Twitter…kind of.  It is blocked at work, so I just get on it at home at night.  More important than submitting to carnivals or guest posting, I have gotten involved in the Personal Finance Blogging Community through a group called the Yakezie.  Yakezie is a group of the best personal finance blogs out there!   I also have gotten to a more consistent posting schedule (M-W-F).

Grade: Without Yakezie C but with Yakezie A-

Personal & Professional Life

The personal life is easy an easy one! I met my goal of having a child by year’s end with the birth of my baby boy!

Professional Life

My 2010 Goals for my professional life were:

While I have my 9 to 5 day job that I absolutely love, but I truly believe that having Multiple Streams of Income is the way to go.

There is absolutely no reason that I don’t practice law outside normal working hours.  My Goal is to enter into one new attorney-client relationship a month.  Additionally, I have a few ideas for websites that I would like to finally get off the ground.

I created one stream of income (although it is more like a drip right now) with the dividend portfolio, so I am excited about that! I also created my first non-blog website, however, the revenue from that site is questionable at best.  I really believe in the site, so part of my goals for 2011 is to make it truly profitable, but I will highlight my goals and objectives in more details in a couple days.

I entered into a few attorney-client relationships, and have learned a lot about running my own practice.  Did I enter into a new one every month? No, and that is unacceptable.

Personal Life Grade: A+++++ He is so freaking cute

Professional Life Grade: C+

Overall: I feel like 2010 was amazing, but it is really skewed by the Pregnant Wife and the birth of a healthy baby boy! I have a lot more money in my 401(k), liquid savings, a dividend producing portfolio and have even started my first non-blog website.  However, I have failed to really build that non-blog website into a really profitable machine, and more importantly, I failed to cultivate my small law practice.

How did you do on your goals and objectives?

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19 COMMENTS

  1. Great wrap up! Everything else doesn’t matter because you have a new baby! Seriously, that’s got to be the best.

    And now that you have someone depending on you, your finances are going to go in OVERDRIVE to make sure you succeed. So that will take care of itself!

    Cheers, Sam

    • As long as I have the right foundation I should be going into overdrive! Thanks for the vote of confidence

  2. Totally agree with SAM. Baby is of course #1 and you rocked that one. Plus, you are providing a solid future for him by making your liquid assets and thinking of additional streams of income. You’re doing better than you think. Isn’t it nice to be able to look back and see how we did and where we can go?

    • “Totally agree with SAM. Baby is of course #1 and you rocked that one.”
      – Practice makes perfect LOL

  3. I agree with Sandy and Sam, children are the most important part of your life. I like the way you review your progress toward your goals. So how will that effect your 2011 goals? I might as well keep you accountable! Best wishes for the new baby, they grow up before you know it.

  4. Awee!! You’ve already accomplished a huge milestone in life-having a cute baby!

    Everything else doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things..unless you want to learn twitter so you can communicate in 140 characters to your son when he’s a preteen 😉

  5. Sounds like a solid year – even though you didn’t hit all objectives. I know yakezie has helped me out quite a bit! Carnivals are a pain to submit to, but I get a couple links a week, so it’s helpful. On that car loan, are you able to get a lower rate with say, a home equity loan? Or perhaps pay that over 401k max once past matching funds? 8% seems high. Aside from that, looks like you’re kickin butt!

    • The auto loan is actually at 5.75% (I refinanced) so to borrow from the 401(k) seems like an extreme move.

      • Oh, I missed the text below where you mentioned refi to lower rate. I hadn’t recommended 401k loan, but home equity since it’s tax deductible and rates are pretty low. But since you’re low now anyway, no real benefit. If still at 8%, would have been a priority. Well, congrats! So, waiting for your 2011 post now – I have to get around to doing mine too!

  6. Well, good news is there have been progress! So congrats on that! Do you think you didn’t meet your objectives because your goals were unrealistic? An yes, as mentioned other comments, a baby does change many things and brings some kind of distraction because there are so much things that need to be done!

    • Nah I think all the goals were attainable but I wasn’t focused enough! Past 60 or 90 days I have had a new found focus…not sure why lol

  7. Evan, I’m catching up on my reader and am really enjoying these 2010 goal reviews from you and others. Congratulations on the goals you met.

    I’m looking forward to reading your post on 2011 goals.

    P.S. My advice is to stop stashing cash and accelerate debt repayment.

    • Once I hit a certain number I am going to start focusing on the debt. I am not sure if I’ll hit that number before we start looking for another house, but basically I want to have enough in cash to put 10 to 20% down on a 400K – 500K House (I live on LI!).

  8. Having a healthy baby boy is definitely a good reason for a great 2010! Hope 2011 is as healthy as 2010 and maybe even more successful. Can’t wait to see how My Journey to Millions grows in the upcoming year.

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