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I am on a mission to have a positive networth in 2012. Here's my background: I am 30 years old and married, no kids yet. I am an attorney earning $69K annually. My income will increase to $83K in September. I do not have access to an employer-sponsored 401(k) plan. I have a rollover IRA and a Roth IRA.
My husband just got his job and was not working for the past 7 months. He now earns $31 per year. My husband has access to both a 401(k) and Roth 401(k) with his new employer. He has a rollover IRA and a Roth IRA.
Within the last year, we moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio. We own a condo in Pennsylvania that we rent out and lose about $25/m. For now, we're keeping the condo. Though it may be in the cards to sell it within a couple years.
When I started calculating our networth about a year ago, we were at negative $35K. In the last year, we've managed to widdle it down to negative $14K. We've been able to sock away quite a bit since my husband started his job, saving his entire salary.
We started saving the following with my husband's income:
- $218/pay period to 401(k) or $3,924 for 2012
- $183/pay to Roth 401(k) or $3,294 for 2012
- $577/pay to Emergency Fund/general savings or $10,386 for 2012
Total anticipated savings from my husband's income for 2012: $17,604.00
I also save approximately $500/m from my income and will save my entire increase in pay that starts in September.
Our assets currently total $217,660.72:
Cash: $25,179.40
Stocks and 529: $749.45 (This is just some money we invested to get bonuses)
Savings Bonds: $3,811.25 (Gifts to us from when we were children.)
Retirement: $30,920.62
Condo: $157,000.00
Our liabilities currently total $232,038.46:
Mortgage: $140,884.89
Student Loan: $89,438.90 (Owed to a relative at 3% interest: interested in suggestions to pay back early, but don't want to create an accounting nightmare)
Credit Cards: $1,714.67 (This is monthly spending and is always paid in full each month)
Networth: Negative $14,377.74
Goals:
To reach our goal of having a positive networth in 2012, we'd need to save $1,797.22 each month for the 8 remaining months of 2012. We're on track to reach a positive networth by mid-November given the planned savings of $17,604.00 (approx. $2200/m) from my husband's income, not counting any additional savings. To make this goal more challenging, I will attempt to have a positive networth by September. I think it will be a stretch, but I think it's possible too. It would mean increasing our networth by $2,875.40/m regardless of market dips and savings.
We both want to max out our Roth IRAs for 2012 before April 2013. We are willing to use some of our emergency fund/general savings to max out the Roth IRAs, so this is not necessarily a separate $10K that we need to save.
My vehicle lease will expire in December 2012 and I will need to get a new vehicle. It is undecided whether I will buy with a loan or lease again, but I will need a downpayment for either. I estimate $2K to lease and $3K to buy (putting 15% down if I buy). Again, this can come from our general savings, but I'd also like to save a bit extra toward this as well once I get the increase in pay.
My plan is to keep this journal updated monthly. I'm open to any suggestions to improve our current plan or add additional goals. Thanks for reading!
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