Stretching is all part of the goal process. James and I have had the fortune to continually surpass our goals. Even when we really feel that we are making a big stretch, and don’t know where the money will come from, it most often exceeds our expectations. This year alone we’ve passed our goals several times over.Alas, we’ve sat down and really considered what our finance goals for the end of the year should be, considering that we’d already reached this twice. We thought it was best to stretch ourselves a bit more than what feels comfortable.
Our year end stretch goal is a networth of $400,000. If we were playing it safe we’d say $392,000. We may not have a clue as to where that extra $8k will come from, but it feels great to go after it.
Here are some of the actions that we are taking to reach this goal:
- Switched extra mortgage payments to our higher interest mortgage loan
- Switched extra mortgage payment currently going toward our investment property, plus positive cash flow, to our highest interest loan
- Switched Miel’s extra $100 that has been going towards student loans to the higher interest mortgage
- Added to the monthly extra principle payment on the higher monthly mortgage
- Miel will continue to max out her retirement contributions
- James will work on maxing out his ROTH IRA (Miel has already done so)
- Continue to get ING interest on extra cash
- Miel paid an extra $650 toward home equity payment today
- Work on ways to economize within our household
- Seek opportunities that would add to our bottom line
As you can see, many of our moves have gone towards paying off our highest interest mortgage. The reasoning behind this is that while the stock market is treating us well, it probably isn’t the best time to dump all of our extra money into a market that is at a high. If there are market fluctuations we can always shift extra payments towards buying stocks if we think the price warrants it. There are definitely money making opportunities out there, and we just have to keep our eye out for them.
Another thing is that it is a reasonably small goal with an end in sight. This mortgage is $20k and we could reasonably pay this off faster than our main mortgage or student loans, and the interest is higher as well. Thus, the quick victory will both feel good and allow us to pay off our highest interest loan.
We’ll keep you posted as we make progress!
Miel & James
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