2021 Business and Personal SMART Goals
Happy New Year! To kick off every new year, I like to set goals for all aspects of my life, both personal and professional. To make sure that my goals are clear and reachable, I create Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (S.M.A.R.T) goals. By publicizing my goals, it helps me stay accountable for the things I set out to accomplish for the year. In this post, I’ll talk about my personal finance and business goals. Now, let’s dive in!
Business Goals
Monetize this blog to at least cover its operational costs by the end of the year. I launched Buck by Buck at the end of September in 2020 and haven’t monetized it whatsoever since it’s so new. Currently, it operates at a loss since my primary focus has been creating content and growing my subscriber base. In 2021, I'd like to shift my focus to monetizing my blog to get to a breakeven state.
Offer 1-1 coaching to those seeking financial freedom to at least 1 person per month on average. One of the primary reasons that I launched Buck by Buck and my respective BBB Instagram account was to help others reach financial freedom. But since launching just a few months ago, I've only been focused on creating content and building my credibility in the community. In 2021, I'd like to do more 1-1 coaching to concretely help others with their finances. So if you’re interested in some coaching, contact me so we can help each other reach our goals!
Start an out-of-state flipping business and flip an average of 1 home per quarter. So far, I've primarily invested in out-of-state turnkey properties and followed a buy-and-hold strategy focused on cash flow. In 2021, I'd like to venture into other forms of real estate investing, like flipping houses.
Buy another buy-and-hold rental property. I intend to allocate $3M of my future $10M nest egg in rental properties. So if I’m going to accomplish that, I need to continue to grow my rental business at a consistent rate. One per year is a start, and I already have a few in my portfolio. For this next rental property, I’m aiming to purchase a property with a market value around $500K, but I’ll only invest 25%.
Reach 10K followers on Instagram by the end of the year. Growing an Instagram following from zero to 10K is the hardest part. Once I reach 10K, the magic “swipe up” feature is unlocked and will allow me to attract followers more easily. Not only that, social media platforms promote content that’s engaging, which takes into account how many people are liking/commenting on your posts/stories. So the more followers you have, the easier it is to grow your account. It’s analogous to how it’s so much easier to make more money when you already have lots of it.
Personal Finance Goals
Max out my 401(k). Every year since I started working, I’ve always maxed out my 401(k) contributions. 2021 will be no different.
Max out my partner’s 401(k)s. If you read my previous blog post on my 2020 retirement accounts, you’d know that my partner maxed out their traditional 401(k) with pre-tax dollars and post-tax dollars, up to the combined employee/employer limit of $57,000 per year. The post-tax dollars are rolled over to a Roth 401(k) through a process called a Mega Backdoor Roth conversion. We will do the same again in 2021, though the limit has now increased to $58,000.
Backdoor Roth IRA conversions. In 2020, my partner and I both did Backdoor Roth IRA conversions since our combined income limit exceeded the 2020 income limit of $206K. In 2021, the income limit rose to $208K, but we’ll still be above that. So we will definitely both do our respective Backdoor Roth IRA conversions again with a max of $6K each. If you’re interested in doing this yourself, you can read through my step-by-step guide on how to do this via Fidelity.
Contribute $500 per month to a 529 account. My partner and I intend to pay for our child’s entire college education. By contributing $500/month to a 529 account for 18 years, at an 8% annual rate of return compounded annually, the account will grow to about $225,000.
A friend of mine asked why we don’t just front load a lump sum and stop the monthly contributions. It’s a great question since, historically speaking, return on investment is higher the earlier you invest. I do like the current DCA (dollar-cost averaging) aspect of contributing monthly, but it still won’t outperform the lump sum approach. So I’ll definitely be thinking about the suggestion some more!
Auto-invest $2,500 per week into mutual funds. In 2020, we set our auto-investments to $5,000/week. Every other week, $2,500 was invested in FSPGX, the week after $2,500 was invested in FXAIX, etc. 2021 is going to be a crazy year for us, so our goal will be halved to $2,500 as we set aside some cash in a high-yield savings account for large real estate investments coming our way. Once those large expenses are out of the way, if we have leftover cash, we’ll definitely put that money to work!
Conclusion
One of the great things about blogging is that my readers hold me accountable for the things I set out to accomplish. By posting my 2021 goals publicly, I always have my goals readily available since all I have to do is grab hold of a browser and find this blog post! As most people’s New Year’s resolutions go, some of my goals may change over the year, but I’m usually pretty good about sticking to the ones I set every January.
Happy New Year, and thank you for reading! I wish you and your loved ones good health and much prosperity. What are some of your goals this year, and how do you plan to achieve them? Share below!
