With a new year comes new challenges. I thought I’d write down a few 2014 goals for myself.
“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”
~ Albert Einstein
1) Increase net worth by $55,000
Last year I aimed for $50,000 and passed. This year I’m upping the figure by 10% to give myself more of a challenge 🙂
2) Read At Least 3 Books related to money
Started one so far called Currency Wars, by James Rickards. Others I have lined up are “Think and Grow Rich” and “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind”
3) Make $6,000 in gross dividend income
Last year I made about $4,500 so I plan to buy more dividend paying stocks this year.
Stretch Goal: Start an emergency fund and put at least $100 into it. (This one is gonna be tough 😕 )
“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.”
~ Pablo Picasso
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Random Useless Fact: There are over 2.5 billion people in the world today who still live under a dictatorship.
Nice, solid, realistic goals. Our personal financial goals are to replicate last year. If I can do that, then I know last year was not just by chance. “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind” was an interesting book, and will be an easy read for you. I’m still reading my last year’s purchase ” Classics I – An Investor’s Anthology” – Cheers.
When I retire like you some day I’ll be reading books all the time 🙂
For some reason I don’t think your emergency fund is the hardest one.Or perhaps we should trade skills, you get me dividend income and I make sure you get an emergency fund :p:D
Haha, or we can both try to make some dividend income as well as each build up an emergency fund.
I like your goals. I haven’t come to any solid, specific ones like that yet for myself, but I’ll meditate on it this month.
Also, loved the useless random fact – always so great!
Chenquieh 🙂
I read currency wars 2 years ago. Its a very interesting read and the author shows how easily currencies can be manipulated and the disastrous effects it can have.
I’ve been getting the same sense from the book too. Currency is so important to our financial well being. Some of the policies around our money system can hurt a lot of people, especially those living on fixed income like the elderly.
I think one of the best parts of the book is when he describes the currency manipulation exerscise he did for the US government! On a side note I’ve been following your blog for awhile (excellent job btw) and I’m curious if you’ve ever looked into any estate planning considering the wealth you’ve accumulated?
That was a telling experiment. I enjoyed that part as well because it felt like I got to see a glimpse of a top secret, U.S. weapons research facility lol. He talked about how the Pentagon was paying him money to do this research. He had to leave his Blackberry outside and go through all those security checks before entering the warfare analysis lab, yet he described in detail all the events that happened inside including what all the players did, and the final outcome of the game. I’m glad and surprised that he was able to disclose so much information about it in the book. On the side note, yes I have looked into it 😀 There are a few options I could go with. All of them involves either dependents or a spouse which I don’t have yet so I haven’t actually made any moves yet. You make it sound like I have a lot of money lol, thanks. But my net worth is still less than the median household net worth in Canada so I still have a long way to go. If something were to happen to me before I start my own family my assets… Read more »
Yeah I was pretty surprised by the amount of detail he was able to go into to describe the situation and the outcome of the exercises…
Well I think you need to put everything into perspective. For people of our age (I’m 26) a networth of north of $200k is impressive. So you can’t look into the median numbers that much until you’re older. The only reason I ask is simply because about a month ago my mom suggested I write a will to ensure everything I’ve worked so hard for goes to the people/charities I would want to support. So TFSA and RRSP have beneficiaries , however all of the non registered stuff would just be part of the estate with no specific instructions. So I guess if you want everything to be left to your parents that wouldn’t be that big of a deal.
The only reason I came across your blog back in the day because it was featured on globe investor, I’m sure you recall that!!
Good luck on your goals for 2014. I am sure you will blow them away.
I’m going for 3 out of 3 this year! 🙂
I’ve been wrestling with my own goals this year. I am glad that you are able to put some pen to paper! Good luck with hitting these marks!
If I could recommend a book for your second goal – The Snowball Warren Buffett’s authorized biography. AMAZING.
Your dividend income is IMPRESSIVE at such a young age! I am 32 and barely pushing $1k
I like the fact that you have upped your goals this year – keep challenging yourself! I actually wrote a fairly extensive article recently on the importance of calculating your net worth just a few days ago on my new site – be great if you take a look.
cannycalgarian.com/2014/02/14/importance-understanding-net-worth
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