Going into 2017 there are several goals that we have set for ourselves. We have discussed in past post our goal or mission to save $1,600,000 for retirement over the next 22 years. So our first and most important goal is to max out our 401k for the year.
Goal #2 Invest $250 a week for a total of $13,000 for the year.
We have also looked at different options to make more income along the way. One was buying a rental property which we owned for about two years before selling. Real estate is a good way to build wealth, but it can be time consuming and frustrating at times. We have been looking at different options to increase income without requiring lots of time. What we eventually landed on was creating an account of dividend paying stocks. Basically, you purchase stocks of strong companies that pay out a dividend or send money to you monthly or quarterly for owning their stock. In 2016, we were paid $2,325.67 in dividend payments. So, goal number two is adding to this account to increase our yearly dividend payouts.
Goal #3 Saving $200 a month for purchasing an automobile.
Our next goal is to start saving for a new vehicle. We bought our current truck used and it was seven years old and it had about 14,000 miles on it at the time. It was only $7,000 and we have now owned it for over 10 years! It is a 2000 model so it is about time to be replaced. So, the next goal is saving for this purchase.
Goal #4 Saving $400 a month for home repairs.
Along the way we have neglected some things around the house that need to be updated and repaired so we are going to start also saving money for some of those costs. One responsibility for sure will be replacing our old A/C unit.
Goal #5 Save $3,600 to take a two week vacation to California.
Our final goal for the year is to save for a big vacation this summer to celebrate what we have been able to achieve. It has taken a lot of discipline and doing without somethings that we may have wanted over the years to get to this point, but it is like a 50 pound weight has been taking off our shoulder by paying off our debts. *We hope to post details about our trip this summer....we can't wait!*
We hope to keep working hard to stay on track and meet all of our goals in 2017!
In later posts we would like to dive more into what our dividend investment portfolio looks like.
