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Financial Goals in 2025


StassneyHorn

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I figured I’d start a thread for the new year and see what people’s goals are to accomplish. This thread can be a place to state your goals and post progress/delays throughout the year.

Options being contribution goals for 401k trad, 401k Roth, max out IRAs, HSA, 529s, pay down higher interest debt, get ahead of mortgage, refi with UT Phil, or plans for major purchases/investments.

For me, I’m focusing mostly on post tax investments after hitting the pre tax goal this year.

1) pay off last 6k on loan balance.

2) max Roth IRA before 4/15 of this year. 

3) max Roth IRA for current year post 4/15.

4) max out HSA

5) open and max contribute to Roth 401k.

Going to try and attack these individually in order, with exception of #5, rather than spreading myself across. 

 

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1) Complete the remodel of Dad's house and sell that mofo.

2) Have another good year in the Stock Market whatever happens.

3) Keep paying off the cards every month.

4) Make a move on another property to remodel.

5) Take wife to NYC and make sure I spend at least 2 weeks fishing. _ I know not financial, but sanity allows for better finances!

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Buy low, sell high. 
 

Seriously need to focus on trimming expenses this coming year. It’s just a continual waterfall and the monthly nut is insane. As are the discretionary. I’m mostly if it ain’t broke don’t fix it plan guy, and I am very satisfied with my current coverage, but insurance policies are gonna have to get shopped this year if the rates go up substantially as I expect they will. Other than that standard stuff. Max the 410k and hsa. Pump the kids 529s. I need to look into this Roth 401k stuff I’ve been putting off.

 

 

 

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I am in a really weird situation.  Net worth is great and if I pull the pin should be set.  But … I have two kids in college and plenty of ongoing expenses and really high income.  I think I’d be stupid to give it up despite my inclination to do it.  So I think another year is going to happen, not least because my wife is on my case!

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1 hour ago, StassneyHorn said:

@Hefeweizen have you thought of adding a high dividend etf? How close to retirement?  There’s a number of people switching out growth funds and going into funds like SCHD for dividend income closer to retirement. Rebalancing is probably the better word.

It’s actually even simpler than that.  I wish diversification was my issue.  I have a lot tied up in deferred compensation.  Over five million.  So it is take it or not.  I’m not old enough to use diversification at age 55.  So it’s not either.  I stay with my private stock growing by 25 percent a year or pull the pin.

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My dream is just traveling at 40 and having a dividend hit every month or quarter, and being an absolute degenerate along w/remote work.

Im trying to do what I call a 4 horseman strategy. 4 accounts with 100k. Pre-tax, post tax, individual and home equity before 38.

Edited by StassneyHorn
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My investments are on cruise control.  And other than not quitting or getting fired I don’t have much control over my active income.  So the only lever I have to pull is reducing expenses.  I’ve totally taken my foot off the gas in terms of spending/saving.  So my main financial goals for 2025 are to dramatically reduce the amount I spend on restaurants, Amazon, and entertainment; not just to save more but to also reduce the amount we’d need to save.

I was on a super early retirement track and I’m very financially secure at this point, but now I’m resigned to working until my kids are out of the house.  So the good news is I’m going to be pretty fucking rich by my standards and it’s not really a matter of buckling down, it’s more just waiting for time to pass.  But the bad news is I have ~10 more years of the grind ahead of me.

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Married off a kid in ‘24, paid off 2 car notes and a Peloton that were 0% interest. 
My employer will stop contributing to my pension at the close of 2025, the time at which I will have 32 years of service. I’m in good shape there, with plans to keep working and increase my 401k going into 2026 because of a partial match they are adding in lieu of the straight up pension. I don’t want to retire until I am 63 at the earliest, unless circumstances change. 
For 2025, would like to avoid incurring any debt, as our mortgage is all we have on that column in the ledger. Want to treat wife to a nicer vacation, which some on this board might think is boring or cheap.  Basically our travel is to both coasts to see our kids/ grandkids. I do know the wife would love to do Napa, so that is in the works. Again, a yawner for surly 2%ers, but nice for us. 
Yeah, biggest goal is no new debt and also build personal savings up to pre-wedding balance in 2025. 

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1.  Max most of my 401K in the first 3 months of the year then lower take out percentage through the year to get full max contribution from employer.

2.  Get 6 plus gain in market

3.  Save 75K plus in cash by lowering expenses

4.  Last day of work at worst December 31st 2025 for retirement. 

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23 hours ago, Hefeweizen said:

I am in a really weird situation.  Net worth is great and if I pull the pin should be set.  But … I have two kids in college and plenty of ongoing expenses and really high income.  I think I’d be stupid to give it up despite my inclination to do it.  So I think another year is going to happen, not least because my wife is on my case!

Move this to the Divorce thread...

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Posted (edited)
  1. Update my will
  2. max out retirement contributions including an after-tax additional option 
  3. Add more to my “emergency” expense account. In retirement I want to be aggressive with my stock portfolio so I need a multi year cash position for down years.
  4. put 5k away for my next vehicle down payment
  5. Diligent about excess funds going into my brokerage account.

 

Edited by Nice Guy Eddie
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I buy new cars every 8-10 years. It’s just the way I’m wired. I don’t like buying new cars every few years. I feel like it’s a waste of money, even though I could easily afford to buy more often. Also, I feel like it takes that long to really get the full experience from a new model.

My Lexus hit 10 years old today, but it has only 53k miles on it. Work from home and retirement really dropped the mileage. But I still don’t feel like buying another car, especially given the low mileage. Here’s a tip for others. 

Every year you delay a $65-80k car purchase, you can make $3k+ in interest or financing cost savings, and save probably another $1k or more in higher insurance costs, for a total savings of $4k that you could then spend on hookers and blow throughout the year. 

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Thanks for starting this thread. Many of the comments are reminders we often have similar goals and concerns even though we don't talk much about them with people around us because...who knows why... maybe people don't want to admit they are having issues, or they don't want to sound like they are bragging,  etc. 

Anyway, the comments about grinding it out for awhile resonate with me. So, I'm personally trying to change my mindset on that and, in 2025, view my situation more as an opportunity to continue in a pretty dang good situation, with ability to help others along the way.

Financially, I agree with others that I need to reel in expenses and prepare mentally for retired life, still a few years away. Also, I plan to sell off some assets I hardly ever use so I can invest the proceeds and reduce maintenance expenses.

Keep up the great work, my fellow Surls! Happy New Year and hook 'em!

 

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On 12/30/2024 at 12:59 PM, StassneyHorn said:

I figured I’d start a thread for the new year and see what people’s goals are to accomplish. This thread can be a place to state your goals and post progress/delays throughout the year.

Options being contribution goals for 401k trad, 401k Roth, max out IRAs, HSA, 529s, pay down higher interest debt, get ahead of mortgage, refi with UT Phil, or plans for major purchases/investments.

For me, I’m focusing mostly on post tax investments after hitting the pre tax goal this year.

1) pay off last 6k on loan balance.

2) max Roth IRA before 4/15 of this year. 

3) max Roth IRA for current year post 4/15.

4) max out HSA

5) open and max contribute to Roth 401k.

Going to try and attack these individually in order, with exception of #5, rather than spreading myself across. 

 

Can you have a 401k Roth and a 401k traditional for 1 person and max them both out in a calendar year? 

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Max out both Mrs bogey and my Roth 401ks

max out both Roth IRAs 

max out HSA

contribute the the 2 kids 529s

pay down half the car making me debt free by 26 with exception of my house which I don’t owe much on because I bought in 2012

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On 1/1/2025 at 7:53 PM, Bogeywon said:

Can you have a 401k Roth and a 401k traditional for 1 person and max them both out in a calendar year? 

Short answer, no. 

Longer answer, look up if your 401k plan offers after tax contributions once you hit limit and they do in-plan conversions.

 

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8 hours ago, StassneyHorn said:

Short answer, no. 

Longer answer, look up if your 401k plan offers after tax contributions once you hit limit and they do in-plan conversions.

 

This is the correct answer.  The 401(k) contribution limit is the limit (age dependent) but then ***if your plan and your cash flow allows*** you can choose to make after tax contributions which go towards your total retirement plan limits and have what's colloquially called a Mega Backdoor Roth.

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1 hour ago, Reagan1k said:

This is the correct answer.  The 401(k) contribution limit is the limit (age dependent) but then ***if your plan and your cash flow allows*** you can choose to make after tax contributions which go towards your total retirement plan limits and have what's colloquially called a Mega Backdoor Roth.

Something, something, South Austin’s mom.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Great thread topic, thank you for prompting.  I had not sat down yet this year and put things on paper like I usually do the week between Christmas and New Years.  Most people don't have a plan that fails, but more often, fail to plan. 

Continue maxing  out 401k. Starting my 27th year with the same company, so I feel decent about retirement fund.  Likely going to grind another 10 years and try to get to 65.   Sell my recently deceased FIL's house.  Use equity to remodel beach house. We have an unfinished first floor that will add a lot of usable square footage and will prepare us for future family growth (spouses and gr kids good Lord willing) and add a lot of value.

One in college (jr) and two more soon.  Continue $100/week + $500 monthly + $1,500 quarterly to Vanguard Brokerage and 529. Comes out to appx $17K a year, for college and what i call the intermediate needs fund. Been pounding it for 20 years and have tinkered with the amounts based on needs/earnings etc.. dollar cost averaging and compounding for the younger readers is a phenomenon that is real and is hard to understand when  young, but just do it, you will never miss $50 a week or whatever, and one day you will look up and be happy.

 Based on college expenses thus far, should be aok with what is in the account and what im adding if my 9th grade math is correct.  Continue to keep debt limited to mortgages (2) and 2 autos, could pay both cars off but the one Apr is 1.7% and the other is a lower balance.  3 paid for.  Like someone said above, we too drive them until the wheels fall off.

Would be thrilled with 10% this year from the market (almost entirely in index funds) after 2 years of 25%+.  Continue to horde cash from quarterly bonuses. Wife (no pics) is a realtor so we have a tax bill every year and she has a nice cash pile plus 2 paid off rentals.   I like to keep a certain amount completely liquid, just my thing. I feel like keeping 10%-15% in cd's and savings allows me to sleep well at night, I can be a bit of a cynic with money. 

Good luck to all, though if  you reading this , you are already doing the right thing by educating yourself and making sure to have a plan.

On 1/15/2025 at 9:15 AM, StassneyHorn said:

First paycheck in for the year. 

Knocked out half the remaining amount on outstanding loan before I could wipe the gold from my eyes. It’s going to be annoying as hell looking at this last payment for 2-3 more weeks.

nice job!

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My 2025 goals are to take what I made at art shows the past couple of years (sufficient to pay bills, and not much more) and triple the gross. Primarily through better organization, offering new prints, going to bigger and better shows, and working faster and more efficiently, like I did during the Pandemic.

Since good shows cost more, as do other road warrior costs, maybe a reasonable goal is to double net profit.

I am packing the calendar with multi-day events with high attendance. No more little local craft shows where a couple hundred bucks are a good day. Stretching out to neighboring states.

Main concern is how to stay healthy. It's a beat-down if you're not in good shape. More planning, making new habits.

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On 1/1/2025 at 8:16 PM, Harrison Stafford said:

An old retired dude here with no debt living on a fixed income.  Was going to buy a Porsche Cayenne in 2025 (I have a 2010 Lexus RX350) and pay cash for it, but the Lexus has only 71,000 miles on it, has given me absolutely no issues, continues to give a quiet, comfortable ride, so I’ve decided to keep it.  To that end, I had the car ceramic coated.  Now, it looks boss inside and out and makes me feel better about holding onto it. So, I gave myself a $100,000 raise right there to begin 2025.  Have positions in a half a dozen stonks and need just one of them to take off in 2025.  With profits, I’ll take my kids and grandkids to Disney World followed by a Disney family cruise out of Port Canaveral.  If the stonk shoots high enough or multiple stonks get in on the act, I’ll rent a bar/party room in Austin and drinks are on me.  *I’m on the wagon these days and there will also be nonalcoholic offerings available.

So, after going “all in” with my 2010 Lexus RX 350, yesterday, I’m stopped at a red light and get rear ended in a multiple car accident as the car behind me was pushed into my car.  It smashed my right rear bumper, the hatch won’t open, and there’s lights flashing on the dashboard like a Christmas tree.  And the auto insurance policy of the guy who caused the accident had lapsed.  Two week ago as I hand washed my car for the first time in 15 years, in the back of my mind I thought something like this would happen.  Furk.  BUT, my wife and I weren’t killed or seriously injured, the car was still drivable, I wasn’t driving a new Porsche Cayenne, and I can still achieve my 2025 financial goals.  ‘‘Tis but a flesh wound.

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