Tag Archives: financial goals

My Personal Finance Pyramid Update

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My Personal Finance Pyramid

A few years ago I decided to create a road map while I slowly climb my way up a financial pyramid, trying to acquire more wealth!  I see such a climb as a struggle towards building wealth!  A pyramid (based on Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs) seemed to be a great representation of such a wealth pursuing journey.  In many ways, it helps me visualize the various levels and created milestones for me to watch for since I love feedback!  So without further ado, here is my update on my progress climbing my “Personal Finance Pyramid“!

Financial Pyramid

Asset Accumulation Phase

Yes!  After spending too much time stuck at the “Action Plans For Wealth Development” phase, I can finally state that I’ve crossed the threshold and that I’m firmly in the “Asset Accumulation” level on my Financial Pyramid!

Why was I stuck at the “Action Plans For Wealth Development” for so long?

Originally, I expected to only spend a short time in the “Action Plans For Wealth Development” phase, but the “The Great Recession” took its toll on my planning and caused me to spin for a while, trying to decide what to do.  Fortunately, my money was still swelling from the fact that we paid off the mortgage on our house early, and so I had a small pool of cash available for investing and purchasing other assets.

Upper Middle Class still at a Distance!

I had hoped to be closer to this level by now, but the economy and work haven’t worked out according to my plans.  I could also make the excuse that my wife is a SAHM and even point out this article “Income Loss From My Wife Being a Stay at Home Mom” that makes a great case that we should have been millionaires by now, but really if I wanted it bad enough, I could have worked harder all along.

How Things Are Different on my climb up my “Personal Finance Pyramid”

Having a personal finance pyramid for the goals in combination with personal finance spreadsheets (homegrown), really helps me keep my eye on the ball.  Another big thing that has changed is that I want to start having bigger and better experiences by traveling more often, especially overseas!  And finally, a huge change is that I totally believe that it’s possible for me to get to some of those higher levels on my personal finance pyramid. You see, most people don’t even try, so just believing and continuing to work harder and smarter puts me at a huge advantage!

I’m hoping for the best!  What are your thoughts?

MR

Adsense Blogging Goal Met For The Year!

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My secret Adsense goal for this year was to have my blog earn over $100 in 1 month via Adsense.

Fireworks

Fireworks

I’m happy to announce that I met this goal this past August with just a few cents over $100.  Next month, I probably won’t hit $100, but that’s okay because it wasn’t part of my goal.

This seemed like a stretch goal for me because for the first 5 months after starting my blog (almost 2 years ago), I only made 5 dollars.  To be fair, I didn’t even run Adsense for the first 2 months though.

So to celebration, on the way home from my day job, I got some food at a pulled pork place and bought myself an ice cream cone (mint chocolate) at the ice cream shop next door.  Not a big celebration, but it was nice to celebrate the goal accomplishment in some manner.

My Adsense goal for next year will be to earn $150 in 1 month.  Nothing over the top, but respectable.  Actually I have a financial range for next year.  I really want to hit between $150 to $200 per month.  So at a minimum, I would like to hit $150, but really if by some miracle I passed the $200 mark, that would be a much bigger celebration.

To some these goal might seem trivial and they are right, they are trivial to a certain extent, but I find that little milestones on financial goals work best for me.  I used financial milestones in paying off my mortgage, and to help motivate me to contribute and grow my 401k balance.  Financial milestones/goals really do make a difference!

So am I going to become a full-time blogger next year?  No way, I don’t expect this blog to ever make enough money to stop working my day job.  But as a hobby that provides an alternative money stream, blogging is great!

Would I like to blog or do online businesses full-time some day?  Yes, but that’s a long ways off.

Thanks for joining my in my goal accomplishment for my blog for the year.

Have a great weekend,

MR

 

Staring at the Financial Crossroads

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Some days (this one in particular), I feel like I am staring at the financial crossroads in my life.

I’m debt-free (including my mortgage), I have a 401K that is coming along nicely, a Roth that I haven’t contributed to yet this year, and a regular  brokerage account.  By most measures, I’m doing okay.  I’m well past Get Rich Slowly’s First State of Personal Finance, but not even close to the stage where he quit his job, and I don’t know if I ever will be anytime soon, or perhaps not even before retirement age!

While it’s true that I am debt-free, I still have expenses that are like debt, so even though I’m debt-free, I don’t really feel like it.  And to make matters worse, lately I’ve been getting the urge to say screw it, and start to spend some money on my kids and on more grande vacations.  I would love to get my son a mini-bike, and schedule a trip for us to go to Paris or Hawaii someday soon (not to mention another Disney Trip).

I’ve also been tempted to go to some of the fancier restaurants… the ones that  are a bit better than the popular food chains (like Olive Garden) that we typically frequent!  I’ve been admiring this little dated steakhouse called Diamond Grille that everybody swears by.  Yeah, the meals are over $100.00 for 2, but well worth it from what I’ve heard.

 

I’m kind of tired of living so frugally, and would like a new fancy car, then perhaps my friends would stop thinking that I am poor in comparison to them?

I could do all of the things above, and still be somewhat ahead of the curve, but I won’t.  I know what got me here, and I know that staying the path will get me to the next level. 

So, I’ll plod on, being the frugal guy that I am, with specific savings goals per year!  If I meet those financial goals successfully, then the excess money will go toward enjoying life a bit more.  That said, I’m sure if there is excess money, at least part of it would go towards investments too!

So yes, I’m still on the path to become financially independent, but I choose to do so while enjoying life just a little bit more! 

How about you?  What is your strategy?

-MR

Wealth Pyramid Update – 2010, April 26

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I decided to review my progress on the Wealth Pyramid (also called my Financial Pyramid) that I created below.  You can also view the pyramid as levels, or even a journey down the sidewalk of success.

Back to me!  So far, I’m still at the “Action Plans For Wealth Development” level!  While I have some of the elements automated (401k, Life Insurance, etc), I’m still working on the non-retirement wealth accumulation part.  I’ve been waiting for my tax return to be deposited in my checking account before I start this piece, but that has happened this past weekend.  Now I need to focus on where to put that money.  Hopefully, I’ll blog about my decision by the end of the month.

Once I get the “Action Plans” level running, it will be a short jump to the “Asset Accumulation” phase, where unfortunately, I’ll be stuck at this level for at least a few years.  Now that my house is paid off and I’m totally debt free, I’ll have extra money for Asset Accumulation!

I don’t expect to get to the Financial Independence level for at least 10 years, and that’s if everything goes well.

Realistically, I don’t even expect to get to the top two levels (Gates and Wealthy), but the picture wouldn’t be complete without them, so I added them just to be whole.

For a better analysis of each level, check out my original post which explains each level in greater detail…  Click “here on My Financial Pyramid“.

Now on to my “Wealth Strategy Pyramid”!

I like to think of things from different angles, it helps me get a more three-dimensional feel for abstract thoughts.

Bests,

Don