It’s that time again. To reflect on what you can change for the new year. A year to start fresh. I remember this time last year, I had made some financial resolutions, because as we all know, they are easier to keep than behavioral resolutions (like exercise more- which was an EPIC FAIL).
As a recap, here are my financial resolutions for last year, copy and pasted:
- Continue to calculate my networth every month (knowledge is power! I have asked for all the client access log-ins from my financial advisors- to their dismay- so am tracking my finances much more closely)
- Regain the money I lost in bad investments- I had entrusted my hard earned cash to some risky investments when I didn’t know any better (venture mutual funds, flow through shares, Investors Group mutual funds) and want to regain it. In total I think I am down about $10,000. I hope to do this by being more active and aggressive in my equities.
- Max out my RRSP and TFSA Iam hoping to max out my RRSP I can utilize the $25,000 allowance for First Time Home Buyers
- Reach a Networth of $100,000- This should give me enough leeway for a downpayment and extra money to play with
- Buy my first home – Hopefully the mortgage rates won’t skyrocket next year and hopefully the prices of Vancouver homes will come down to realistic prices (check out MLS.ca to see which closet you can get for $350, 000).
Okay so starting with the first one:
1) Calculating my financial net worth monthly- DONE. I would skip a month or two (or three) before this blog, and thanks to trying to keep accountable (and networth IQ), I have kept this resolution. It actually turned out to be really fun, calculating your net worth. I know that net worth isn’t necessarily a good measure of where one stands, and that cash is king, but I just do it mainly for myself and to make sure I keep on going into the positive, and not the negative.
2) Regain the money lost in bad investments: DONE..I think. In my calculations (in my handy dandy trusty notebook), I calculate how much I am “down” by from the actual cost of the investments/ equities that I hold. I have managed to recoup of my losses (not from those investments particularly, but from other investments like the nonregistered portfolio and the 38% gain I had with the TFSA)- this was also thanks to this year, the stock market increased back from the disaster a few years ago.
3) Max out my RRSP and TFSA- DONE. I maxed out my RRSP and TFSA this year but have also depleted it for my house purchase. This will make for a new lofty financial goal for next year. Fill the TFSA with $15,000!
4) Reach a Net Worth of $100,000: DONE. When I first started calculating diligently, I was at $79,300. I am now well over $122,000 (including my pension), though if I took out the pension, I would be at around $104000. So I managed to swing this by $4000- Phew!
5) Buy my first home: DONE. Even though I thought it wasn’t going to be done (and I wasn’t really pushing to buy a house ASAP or anything), it happened. I had thought I was going to get an apartment or a townhouse, but ended up joining forces and managed to get a house.
I am actually really really surprised that I somehow managed to fulfill most of these resolutions. I think it really speaks for the power of this blog for my financial well-being. When you write something down (and when you announce it publicly) it really affects how accountable you are. You really push for it to work out when you announce it to the world (or even just to yourself, or your dog, or your family, or even your pet rabbit).
I’ll be posting my 2011 New Years Resolutions soon. I think they will be challenging, and hopefully I can meet the challenge for 2011!
Readers, have you reflected on your 2010 New Years Resolutions?
Related posts:
- 2010 New Year Financial Resolutions
- 2010 Financial Resolutions from PF bloggers
- 2011 Personal New Years Resolutions
