Mid-Year Review of My 2021 Personal and Money Goals
At the start of 2021, I set out to accomplish some business and personal finance goals for the year. Since we’re right at the middle of the year (6/30/21), it’s a good time to review how I’m progressing towards each of my goals and think about whether or not I need to make any adjustments to them. Also, while I didn’t share any of my non-money-related goals at the beginning of the year, I’ll do that today!
Business Goals
Monetize this blog (goal abandoned). I initially set out to monetize Buck by Buck to at least cover my operational expenses for running the website. However, I’ve decided to scrap this goal entirely for 2021. My primary goal for this blog is to help as many people learn about all things finances. I think that monetizing the website at this point in the blog’s growth will take away too much of my valuable time from sharing educational content.
Offer 1-1 coaching. I set out to do 1-1 coaching at least once a month. In January and February alone, I had done 4 or 5 sessions, well ahead of my goal. However, I haven’t done any since. If time permits, I’ll try picking this one back up in the 2nd half of the year.
Start an out-of-state flipping business and flip an average of 1 home per quarter (4 for 2021). I’m happy to say that I’ve purchased all 4 homes already and sold my 1st flip for $130,000 over appraised value! The last 3 are underway and 2 of them are slated to finish their rehab in July. Hopefully, these 3 will be just as profitable as my 1st one. Fingers crossed!
Buy another buy-and-hold rental property. This one is going as planned. I got into contract last summer to purchase an out-of-state investment property for close to $500,000. It’s a new construction, too, so the maintenance should be low and should attract great tenants since it’s in a highly-desirable area. This transaction is slated to close at the end of August, so I’ll need to get a solid tenant in there shortly after.
Reach 10K followers on Instagram by the end of the year. I think this is going as planned. Currently, my Instagram account has roughly 8,800 followers. In the middle of April, I crossed the 5K mark, so I am optimistic that 10K followers will be attained well before the end of the year.
Personal Finance Goals
Max out my 401(k). This goal changed shortly after the start of the year because my company announced that they’re going to offer the Mega Backdoor Roth option this year. It took effect sometime in February or March, but instead of “just” maxing out my pre-tax contributions to $19,500, I decided to max out at $58K this year by utilizing the Mega Backdoor Roth. Here’s my progress YTD (year-to-date):
Contributions:
Employee: $31,918.04
Employer: $1,500.00
Contribution progress: 57.62%
YTD earnings: +$28,232.09
YTD return: +14.24%
Max out my partner’s 401(k)s. Like me, my partner’s employer also offers the Mega Backdoor Roth. So we’ll both be maxing out our 401(k)s with $58K in contributions respectively. Here’s my partner’s progress YTD (year-to-date):
Contributions:
Employee: $23,278.00
Employer: $9,782.14
Contribution progress: 57.00%
YTD earnings: +$32,307.00
YTD return: +12.94%
Backdoor Roth IRA conversions (goal completed!). Just a few days after New Year’s, I completed the Backdoor Roth IRA conversions for both me and my partner. So we effectively front-loaded $12K to our Roth IRAs at the beginning of the year. If you’re interested in doing this yourself, you can read through my step-by-step guide on how to do this via Fidelity.
Roth IRA #1
Contributions: $6,000
YTD earnings: +$4,363.56
YTD return: +17.92%
Roth IRA #2
Deposits: $6,000
YTD earnings: +$2,292.29
YTD return: +9.65%
Contribute $500 per month to a 529 account (goal completed!). Typically, every month we auto-invest $500 into our child’s 529 account. We’re still doing that, but I decided to front-load an extra $24,000 into the 529 in May 2021 so we won’t have to contribute as much in future years (the sooner you invest, the better). This means we’ll contribute $30K into the 529 this year, up to the annual gift tax exclusion limit.
Auto-invest $2,500 per week into mutual funds. This goal is well underway. And since my 4 out-of-state flips have already been purchased, I only have to keep enough cash around to fund their rehab projects. That means we have a bit of extra cash to invest now, so I’ve slowly increased this auto-investing back up to our “typical” $5,000 per week. Nearly back to normal!
Personal Goals (Not Money-Related)
Travel. Like many, the pandemic has made us weary of traveling. However, my family decided to take a trip to Tahoe earlier this year. To stay safe, we booked an Airbnb all to ourselves. Boy am I glad we did that. It was such a fun, memorable vacation!
After our Tahoe trip, my partner and I got fully vaccinated. With that, we felt safe enough to fly to Dallas and Los Angeles a couple months ago. And I’m happy to say that we’ll also be vacationing down in the beautiful San Diego area soon! I’m hoping we’ll also find a way to book a Hawaiian getaway later this year, as well!
Cooking. I’ve always been the one in the kitchen to prep veggies, sauces, etc. But, like many, the pandemic kept us indoors quite a bit. So I decided to up my game in the kitchen and learn how to cook a bit. And I’m happy to say that I can now follow a dozen or two clearly-written recipes!
Health. I’ve never been one to regularly hit the gym or go for a run. But at the end of 2019, I decided to try out Orange Theory as a New Year’s resolution kind of thing. It was going really well, and I went consistently a few times a week. And just as I felt like I was getting the hang of things, March of 2020 hit and everything shut down..
Only until I got fully vaccinated did I feel safe enough to return to a local gym. So in June of this year, I decided to go back to the gym. Now I’m going 3-4 times per week, and it certainly feels good to exercise for once!
Needless to say, this past year has been crazy in so many ways. I launched the Buck by Buck blog and Instagram account, started an out-of-state flipping business, and continue to oversee my buy-and-hold rental business. All this while working a full-time job and parenting a strong-willed preschooler that keeps me on my toes!
The stress of everything going on both in the world and in my own life has definitely started to take its toll, and I’ve learned that I need to find a better balance of work, business, and life and take care of both my physical and mental health. To that end, I’m trying to slow down in the second half of this year and not be so hard on myself if I’m unable to keep up with the lofty standards that I’ve set for myself. I’ve already done so much, and I need to remind myself that it’s okay to go at a normal or even slow pace sometimes.
In my effort to prioritize my mental and physical health, I decided to take up a new hobby and learn how to play “the fastest growing sport you’ve never heard of,” Pickleball. It’s like a hybrid between ping pong and tennis and played on a court the same size as a badminton court. Compared to tennis, it’s much more forgiving on your body. And, it’s very much a social sport, though you can certainly get as competitive as you’d like! The sport has been gaining lots of popularity recently especially near me, and there are even brand new dedicated Pickleball courts nearby!
Final Assessment
Overall, the year has progressed pretty well. I’m pleased with the way things have been going, so I don’t feel the need to rebalance my investments or adjust my goals in any major way that I haven’t already mentioned previously. I’ll certainly be over the moon if I’m able to complete my remaining goals by the end of the year!
