Weekend Reading – 2024 Goals edition
Happy Holidays Everyone!
Welcome to some holiday-time Weekend Reading, recapping our 2024 goals from the year that almost was…
In case you missed my Holiday Wishes to you, here they are 🙂
And…
Looking ahead, here are 3 stocks or ETFs I want to buy more of starting next week!
Weekend Reading – 2024 Goals edition
I post my financial goals on My Own Advisor every year to keep me honest and focused. One thing I’ve learned over the years is I have a much better chance at realizing my/our goals if I keep tabs on them…I figure you can’t manage what you don’t measure.
I’ve also learned from other savvy DIY investors over the years, individuals that have “been there, done that” per se – what it takes for financial success. There is huge value in learning lessons from others. These individuals kindly share their wisdom on this site in the comments section or via emails to me and I publish what I can to reshare all content with you.
The most savvy and successful DIY investors I’ve engaged with over the years do not do anything flashy nor engage in any radical attention-grabbing stuff. They just do the personal finance basics very, very well for a really, really long time:
- They don’t invest in meme stocks or fads.
- They worked hard to get out of debt and stay out of debt.
- They keep their money management fees low by avoiding expensive wealth managers who may not add lots of value – they know fees erode performance.
- They invest in a diverse basket of stocks or ETFs for income and growth.
- They don’t actively trade.
- They keep a bunch of cash/cash equivalents on hand for emergencies or near-term spending as to avoid interrupting their investment portfolios from ongoing compounding power.
- They know there is an inverse relationship between following what the financial experts say they should do and their own investment performance and goal-setting – including what some “experts” suggest:
Weekend Reading – More experts saying you need $5 million to retire
Given we were sooo close to financial independence at the beginning of 2024, you might recall we only had two big financial goals for this year:
- Max out our RRSP contribution room by April 2024.
- Save for our 2025 TFSA contribution room by September 2024.
That was it.
Well, after we retired our mortgage in early January this year, and after we bought our new PHEV this summer, we diverted savings to near-term investing – as a final push towards fulfilling some potential semi-retirement dreams for 2025.
Related to the 2024 financial goals above, we did max out our 2024 RRSP contributions and we also managed to save up next week’s 2025 TFSA contributions as well. I’ll be making my etransfers to our TFSAs next week.
In addition to the above, we also managed to save up/confirm at the end of 2024 we have ~ 1-years’ worth of expenses saved in cash/cash equivalents across all our various accounts (including my corporation) to cover basic living expenses if/when/should we need to use that.
Although I can’t speak for you, keeping cash/cash equivalents on hand does offer us a very meaningful sleep-at-night factor that’s very hard to ignore.
“We do it because cash is the oxygen of independence, and – more importantly – we never want to be forced to sell the stocks we own.” – The Psychology of Money
What’s up for 2025? Any goal setting?
Well, I’m not quite there yet mentally. 🙂
I’m enjoying some holiday time with family right now. At some point, my attention will turn to goal-setting or at least some meaningful cashflow planning for 2025 given some transition from full-time work to part-time work may occur for me. I’m excited for that and I hope to learn more about that in January. Whatever I learn, I will keep you posted!
In closing, goal-setting is an important exercise for many things in life. When it comes to personal finance and investing, if you need some assistance in mapping out a plan for multiple financial goals, beyond my site, Morningstar has a few tips here.
When it comes to building some cash buffer, I have a dedicated post about that since some form of a cash wedge can be used at any age – you can download my visual below for free as an option to structure your portfolio around as you wish.
I look forward to keeping you updated as My Own Advisor in 2025 on many subjects, including how near-term savings and long-term investments have been positioned across our portfolio to begin any semi-retirement lifestyle that is planned to occur at an age much sooner than most.
Happy New Year and best wishes, with more new content to come in the coming weeks!
Mark
Mark
My name is Mark Seed – the founder, editor and owner of My Own Advisor. As my own DIY financial advisor, I’m looking to start semi-retirement soon, sooner than most. Find out what I did and how I realized Financial Independence to tailor your own path. Join the newsletter read by thousands. Always free.
