Short-Term Goals (1-2 years):
- Save up $10-12k to go traveling - My plan is to go backpacking around the world for 12 months with my amazing boyfriend, starting in the summer of 2010.
- Save $5,000 in my Emergency Fund.
- Have $25,000 in my RRSP Portfolio.
- Establish self-employed graphic design business - I haven't been working very hard at this, and I need to step it up in order to increase my monthly income!
- Become a home-owner - I wanted to become a home-owner years ago ... but one thing led to another, and I'm still renting. I am excited to purchase my first place (if the timing is right) when J and I return from traveling and settle down in a city.
- Get a 4-year degree - I have a 2-year degree right now, but I want to go back to school. Perhaps in business or marketing or communications. I have some time to think about it.
- Have $35,000 in my RRSP by the time I'm 30 - As of right now, I have just over $20k in my RRSPs and I'm 26.
- Set up an Emergency Fund of $3,000-5,000 - Barring any major disasters, I believe I can have this funded by the time I leave to go traveling.
- Set up five 5-year escalator GICs - I would love to invest $1,000/year for five years in Outlook Financial's 5-year GICs, so that a GIC would mature every year.
Long-Term Goals (5+ years)
- Set up an Emergency fund of $15,000 - This would equal 6-8 months of expenses, depending on the amount of my mortgage, if I have car payments, where I'm living, etc.
- Have $100,000 in my investment portfolio by the time I'm 40 - I have yet to really figure out how I'm going to do this, but one of my life goals is to retire before I'm 60. Ideally at 50. Maybe I should make it a goal to win the lottery.
Published by krystalatwork
Labels: annual goals
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so far, my mutual funds are returning around 9%, but because of the MER, I'm actually only seeing about 7%
Are you sure about this? When mutual funds release their performance, they take the fees out before giving you the number. So if the company sent you a paper saying "your fund made 9%" that's after they took their share.
Or maybe you've just done the calculations yourself. I'll shut up now.
Like the blog, by the way. An interesting find.
GIV: Yeah, I just did the calculations myself. :) Well, I should say Quicken and Excel did the calculations for me. I hope just by switching to e-funds which all have low MERs, I'll be able to make more than 7%.
very nice goals.
congrats on achieving some of them.
the best way to conquer your goals is to put them in writing.
FYI, you should NEVER EVER have to pay mortgage insurance. I know this to be true in the U.S., perhaps it isn't so in Canada?
It usually works like this:
You're buying a $100k house.
Your downpayment is $10k.
You take out a line of credit/second mortgage for the other $10k for the downpayment.
Poof! There's your 20% and you've successfully avoided mortgage insurance.
A second mortgage for about $15k will run you somewhere around $125/month, so I think its worth it! It helped me buy my first home!
Best of Luck,
MGB
Hey, great blog! Very inspiring and congrats on having a positive net worth! Just regarding mortgage insurance, I'm not going to tell you whether or not to get a line of credit to increase your downpayment but I work in the insurance field part time (full time student in a totally unrelated field and I have no interest in trying to sell you anything, in fact I couldn't if I wanted to because I'm not a licensed insurance agent LOL), but I would recommend NEVER take the mortgage insurance offered through the bank. Their rates are ridiculously expensive and they own the insurance. Instead, purchase a really cheap term insurance policy (T10) through an independent agent. They can "shop it around" using a program life LifeGuide and find you the best deal. That way, YOU own the insurance, you pay a fraction of the premiums (you just assign the required portion over to the bank temporarily until you pay off your mortgage) and you can convert it to permanent insurance in the future without having to qualify medically. Bank mortgage insurance is the biggest scam ever.
Wow, I'm becoming one of those insurance nerds that made me leave the biz full time in the first place LOL
Anyways, great blog can't wait to read more. I honestly don't know how you can make it on your budget in Vancouver and still have a positive net worth that's saying a lot! lol
where did you find a mutual fund with a return of 9% ? i am just starting to looking into investing for my future??
thanks
Hey congrats on all your progress. You're truly an inspiration to folks out there looking to do the same.
I've kinda done much the same myself. I do think you are setting your goals a bit low though, the way you are heading, you should set a goal of being a cash millionaire by 40, seriously. Go for it!
Hey! I just stumbled across your blog and was happy to see another person from the Vancouver area working to improve herself! :) I am also from Vancouver, and i'm 24! I am trying desperately to improve my finances as well. Congratulations on your success!
hi.
so far my pension fund gives me 12% and 16% and growing!
i have PPM(Premium Pension) in sweden.
Premium pension is part of the national pension and it is administered by the Premium Pension Authority (PPM). You personally decide how you want your money managed by choosing from PPM's range of funds.
(my blog is in english,but i live in sweden and is a swedish girl)
How did you find your goal tracker for the side bar? I want to add one to my blog, but don't know what it is called.
Anonymous: I found the HTML coding somewhere and tweaked it so that it would go with the layout of my blog. If know HTML, go ahead and steal it from me. Otherwise, there is a link in my About Me section for a website that will teach you how to make them yourself! :) Hope that helps!
Why only $5K for emergency fund? How long will that last you? That amount just scares the crap out of me?
Anonymous: A $5k emergency fund will last me about 8-10 months with the way that I'm living. My bare bones budget is about $525/month in living expenses.