Regular and Stretch Goals for 2007
Last year, around this time, I didn’t do much goal setting and so I never really had much of a benchmark to judge my performance against. That being said, had I set goals for 2006 I probably would’ve shattered them because many of the things in my life, both financial and otherwise (though here we’ll only focus on the monetary ones, this is a personal finance blog after all), have exceeded my expectations on a daily basis.
So, what are some of my/our goals for this year?
- Maximize both my and my fiancée’s contribution to our 401(k) plans.
- Maximize both my and my fiancée’s contribution to our Roth IRAs.
- Save at least 20% of our incomes and put it in a Vanguard Target Retirement fund.
- Generate more passive income than what I earned actively in the first year of my full time job.
- Donate more to charity in 2007 than we did in 2006 (~$2,000).
Now, if you have regular goals, you need to have stretch goals that you really really want to get but may be a little out of reach (or out of scope)… so here are a couple of my/our stretch goals.
- Generate more passive income than what I earned actively from my full time job.
- Research all the options and then open a 529 plan.
- Increase total net worth by 25%.
- Buy an investment/rental property.
- Donate $5,000 to charitable organizations in 2007.
- Start a scholarship in both my high school and my fiancée’s high school.
We’ll have to take a six month look at this and see how we’re progressing, but I believe the regular goals are reachable, the stretches may be… well, a stretch. I’d claim victory if we knocked out a couple of those.
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There are 16 comments, add your thoughts now!
[...] Blueprint for Financial Prosperity: Regular and Stretch Goals for 2007 [...]
[...] Almost like a great high school guidance councilor Flexo has laid down the gauntlet to define my 2007 goals. I had been planning them in the back of my head, but it’s about I put those thoughts into electrons for all to read. You will see some similarities to Jim’s Blueprint for Financial Prosperity goals. [...]
I like the inclusion of reachable and ’stretch’ goals. I’ve been impressed at the ability to reach goals set just outside of what I thought was possible. Having things almost within fingertip range makes the reach easier to push and more things happen. Best of luck to you.
[...] 2006 has been quite an adventure and has set the stage for 2007 to follow suite with many personal, social, and financial quests. It is now time to consider the choices available for charting a course through 2007. I’ve set up general and specific goals that are attainable with dilligence and a little stretchingwhere needed. [...]
[...] Setting realistic goals allows success, and success breeds more success. The goals shouldn’t be so realistic that they’re easy, though. I like what Jim from Blueprint for Financial Prosperity has done: define regular goals and stretch goals. This allows you to take into consideration many unpredictable variables. [...]
Wow. Your first stretch goal must mean that you are close to achieving that already. Is that right? If so, great work on that!
RetiringEarly.blogspot.com
Whoa - that is alot of passive income. I imagine some of that is blog money and some of it is appreciation on your house.. what other sources of passive income do you have?
I have near-zero P.I. and would like to change that in the new year..
Hey Angry Dinosaur just a quick thought- you don’t get passive income from a blog. A blog is something you have to work at every day. If you stop working on it, it will die.
[...] Some other goal setting posts in the blogosphere: What Are Your Goals For 2007? How To Set 2007 Savings Goals Regular And Stretch Goals For 2007 Planning And Goal setting Week: Flexo’s 2007 Goals [...]
[...] Blueprint for Financial Prosperity has his goals outlined for 2007. [...]
MoneyMan: I did consider blog income as my “passive” income and you are correct, it’s not entirely passive (but not entirely active either) so it’s a bit of a mis-categorization on my part.
[...] Jim @ Blueprint for Financial Prosperity [...]
[...] Finally, one thing I was very proud of was our ability to donate as much money as we did (it’s not really that much in an absolute scale but it’s a lot for us just starting out in life) to various philanthropies both nationally and locally. It means a lot to my fiancée and me to be able to give back and we’re thinking about also donating time in addition to money in 2007. Also, If you’ve read our goals for 2007, we’re looking to give back to our respective high schools in some way, perhaps sponsoring a small scholarship of some kind… I think that would be exciting stuff. [...]
Jim, I am doing a goals post and I am seeing this post for the first time. I had no idea that you also want to fund a scholarship. That’s great!
[...] in Kansas’ goals The Digerati Life’s goals Tricia’s goals Flexo’s goals Jim’s goals Medicated Money’s [...]
[...] include charitable giving among their 2007 financial goals. You can read about a few here, here and here. [...]
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