Financial Goals for 2014

I used to write goals and end up not tracking them. My journey to goal setting has been rough. Last year, me and my wife set 5 goals for the year. We barely made one goal and it was not because our goals were unrealistic. It was because me and my wife had different priorities. What happened was not a lesson on personal finance but a lesson on marriage.

Financial Goals:

1. Create an Income Statement. [Status: DONE]

After playing Cashflow 101 for the third time, I decided to create one Income Statement for both me and Joyce. What we found out was both liberating and somewhat heart-breaking. It was liberating because finally I know where we stand financially. This helped me understand what time of investment can I go for without risk of being bankrupt. It was heart-breaking because I realized I should have done it sooner. My decision-making could have been better.

Nevertheless, I was glad we made that leap. Having an Income Statement gave me a better picture of our financial landscape.

2. Create a budget allocation for funds. - [Status: DONE]

After creating our Income Statement, I decided to create a budget allocation for Expenses and Investment (including Insurance contribution). I think me and Joyce did a great job in making it as realistic as possible. 

The next step is to create a system of how can we achieve our allocation. For example, me and Joyce receives our salary two times a month. We have to plan where each salary goes.

3. Monthly investment to Mutual Funds  - [Status: on-track]

Last year, I learned that investing should be consistent. When I read Wealth 1 and Wealth 2 by Francisco Colayco he explained why this makes sense. So I decided to split our investment such that 50% will got to Mutual Funds while the other 50% goes to Stock Investing.

4. Monthly investment to Stock Market - [Status: on-track]

Fifty percent of our Investment money will be invested in Stock Market. I am a beginner in terms of Stock Market Investing. So I am trekking in muddy waters here so I am making study for myself how to invest in the stock market. I subscribed to an investor and talked to those who have invested. It is scary considering that I am exposing 50% of our cash to risky investment.

5. Wash, Rinse, Repeat [Status: under construction]

I think we will still continue to re-do our Income Statement and Budget Plan. One of the learning we had last year was we did not have a system to check if we are on track or off-track. Part of our system should be to review monthly and quarterly.

Last year, we did a great job in setting the goal but this year we are focused on execution. We need to execute them properly so we will be able to meet our goal.