Over the last couple of years I’ve posted our financial goals on My Own Advisor. Some fellow bloggers have noted this might be a bold move but I don’t consider it too daring. Other bloggers have reported on their goals for certain reasons but here are my reasons for doing so:
- I believe all goals should be clear and transparent,
- I believe all goals should be realistic,
- I believe all goals should be measured, and
- I believe all goals should be documented.
In my day job and industry, if things are not documented they didn’t happen. Making our goals clear, realistic, monitoring them for progress and writing them down should increase our chances of hitting the mark. Except for one objective we nailed all our financial goals last year. Did we get lucky? Maybe but I would like to think we realized our 2014 financial goals because our objective-setting and monitoring processes are working.
So, 2015 will be no exception folks and without further ado here are our 2015 financial goals.
- Maximize our TFSA contributions.
- Increase our mortgage payments by $200 every month.
- Save $5,000 – $7,000 for home improvements.
- Do not incur any new debt.
I did not include our RRSP contributions as a goal since those contributions are already fixed and we have no intention of changing them in 2015.
I’ll update our goals if our plan changes during the year.
Nothing fancy I know but when it comes to saving and investing I don’t think anyone needs to make things more complicated than necessary. As a reader though, you can be the judge.
Got any comments for our saving and investing goals for 2015?
What are your thoughts about us saving AND killing debt at the same time?
Mark
My name is Mark Seed - the founder, editor and owner of My Own Advisor. As my own DIY financial advisor, I'm looking to start semi-retirement soon, sooner than most. Find out how, what I did, and what you can learn to tailor your own financial independence path. Join the newsletter read by thousands each day, always FREE.
Hi Mark. I’m all for goal setting. Your goals are simple, yet effective. Here are my goals for 2015. 2015 will be a big year for me. I’m turning 30 and I’ll be mortgage-free. Here’s to a great 2015!
http://seancooperwriter.com/blog/2015/01/01/6-financial-goals-2015/
Great stuff Sean and good luck on your goals!
I always considered that paying off a mortgage was a risk free return so if you consider that the interest avoided is equivalent to a 5-6% riskless rate of return before tax (even at todays very low rates)-not available anywhere else, so I concentrated on paying off the mortgage first. I used RRSP contributions solely as a cash flow tool (if I needed some extra cash in the first few months of the year I’d do a contribution to make sure I got a tax refund). That worked for us as both my wife and I had fairly secure jobs and DC pension plans through work-admittedly a pretty good setup. Now-no mortgage, so we can do more aggressive investing. It has worked out so for in our circumstances.
Agreed Keith, I also see mortgage payments as a guaranteed rate of return.
With no mortgage, you’re in great shape, you can focus on investing which must be a nice feeling. 😉
My wife and I still have some fat mortgage debt but it should be killed in 6-7 years. We figure a combination of killing debt and investing will serve us well over the next 5-10 years; diversifying our assets this way.
Thanks for your comment – have a great weekend! #GoSens
Kudos on setting goals and posting them publicly Mark.
100% right on doing both the saving and the mortgage speed pay down. Exactly what I did and it worked.
Thanks Deane. Trying to do all the right things and to be honest, I’ve learned from others. I appreciate you and others sharing your story and what worked and what didn’t.
Mark,
Really nice looking goals. You have one of the best goals for 2015 in my opinion. Increasing your mortgage payments by $200 every month.
Thanks for sharing your 2015 goals!
Mr. Captain Cash
Thanks Captain Cash. I figure with no debt, eventually, that will literally buy my wife and I a host of new opportunities. 🙂
Good luck on your 2015 goals Mark. I have some similar goals that I hope to achieve and a whole lot of mortgage debt I need to pay off!
Keep up the good work and all the best in 2015!
Thanks for the encouragement. I think our blend of killing debt and saving at the same time should work out. Time will tell if our strategy is correct 🙂 Good luck for 2015 and stay in touch!
Those certainly are clear, realistic and measurable goals. Not adding new debt is binary — you either succeed or not.
Depending on your mortgage interest rate, adding just a little principal payment every month would make a big difference in the long run. (Our rate is fixed at 4.3% and we pay $315 extra per month).
Good luck on reaching your goals in 2015!
Thanks for the comment FerdiS, sounds like us, making those lump sum mortgage payments. All good stuff I think!
I saw your 2014 goals and now, after seeing your 2015 goals, it’s interesting to see a compounding effect taking place in your goals. If I’m reading correcting, you’ll be maintaining the additional principal payment of $300/mo from your 2014 goals, and adding $200/mo to that number going forward. That’s pretty impressive!
Ah, you’ve been reading the site! 🙂 We need to kill debt Eric, it’s one of our biggest keys to financial freedom. Thanks for the comment.
So at the end of the year you will have $2400 principal on your home? Good, given interest rates are BOUND to go up 🙂 (yes I say that every month).
Good goals (much like Team Canada Junior last night)
That’s the plan BCM! They are bound to go up….I think??
“Increase our mortgage payments by $200 every month.”
Is that +200 in Jan, +400 in Feb, +600 in Mar…etc? Or increase payments by 200 in Jan and hold steady from then?
Ah, fair question. That is $200 per month and hold steady. Thanks for asking.
Nice looking goals, Mark. My wife and I set a similar one — that we want to put down extra money each month in order to make extra mortgage payments this year. We are aiming for two extra payments per quarter, so hopefully that will help us in the long run.
R2R
I think being debt free is key for FI. We have a LONG ways to go which is why it is a priority for us.
Mark,
Sounds like some solid goals there. Really like the idea about not incurring any new debt. That does nothing but slow you down.
Best of luck throughout 2015. I’ll be rooting you on!
Cheers.
Thanks Jason. These are aggressive goals for 2015 but I figure some stretch assignments are a good thing.
Very realistic obtainable goals. best of luck in 2015. Today I journaled some REIT shares over to my tfsa from my non-reg account.
Good call, getting those REITs inside a TFSA. Otherwise, you have some tax headaches 🙂