Our 2025 goals were a mixed bag of success and failure lol but now we have a new year to start fresh.  I should mention that in 2025, my wife earned $325,028, eclipsing our highest income year ever (2020 when we had a combined income of $312,801 and I retired the following year).  Below are our new financial goals for 2026.

1) Pass our 2035 Net Worth Goal

We ended 2025 with a net worth of $2,388,327, not quite reaching our 2035 net worth goal $2,500K.  So, let’s give it another attempt with a goal of ending 2026 with a net worth of $2,500K, which will be 9 years ahead of our net worth goal schedule.

2) $7,000 in tithing

We smoked our $6,000 giving target in 2025, ending the year with total church giving of $13,736.  So, let’s increase our goal for 2026 by $1,000, meaning a total annual giving goal of $7,000. I hope we crush it again.

3) Contribute $9,500 to 529 Plans ($4,750 for each child)

We succeeded in hitting our 2025 goal of $9,000 in total contributions to our kids’ 529 Plans so we intend to stretch the goal to $9,500 in total contributions for 2026. Our 14-year-old son ended 2025 with a 529 Plan balance of $101,977 and our 11-year-old daughter with a 529 Plna balance of $72,967.  College will be here before we know it.

4) Build our savings account balance to $15,000

Hitting our savings goal has been tough for us over the years. We ended 2025 with savings of $10,354, well below our $20,000 goal.  In light of that, we are going to set a more achievable goal for 2026, hoping to accumulate $15,000 in savings by the end of the year.  Roughly $8,800 of our savings are earmarked for property tax bills in 2026 so our goal is tougher than it seems.

5) Treat ourselves to our dream car

We’ve worked hard since 2007 to improve our financial situation and have been blessed to have a net worth that far exceeds our expectations.  Our son turns 16 years old in 2027 and we plan is to give him our well-maintained family SUV.  This means that we’ll need to get a vehicle to replace it and we’ve would like to treat ourselves to a dream car when the time comes.  God willing, we will splurge and purchase a lightly used Porsche 911 Turbo S in 2026 to enjoy some of the fruits of our labor.

Happy New Year! 2025 was an amazing year but we had mixed results reaching our 2025 financial goals.  Below are our results.

1) Pass our 2035 Net Worth Goal FAIL

We had hoped to reach our 2035 net worth of $2,500,000 by the end of 2025 in order to maintain our 10-year lead over the net worth goals that we set for ourselves years ago.  At one point this past year, we had passed the 2035 goal by a large margin, reaching a net worth of $2,700,000, but markets declined causing our net worth to fall.  We ended 2025 with a net worth of $2,388,327.

2) $6,000 in tithing SUCCESS

We blew way past our goal of tithing $6,000 in 2025.  We ended the year with total giving of $13,736.  We are so blessed!

3) Contribute $9,000 to 529 Plans ($4,500 for each child) SUCCESS

We hit our 2025 goal of $9,000 in total contributions to our kids’ 529 Plans right before the end of the year. Our son is currently 14 years old with a 529 Plan balance of $101,977 and our daughter is 11 years old with a 529 Plan balance of $72,967. 

4) Maintain savings account balance of $20,000 FAIL

We fell short of our saving account balance goal.  This is one goal that we seem to struggle with every year.  Our excuse for 2025 was that we had $45,000 in unplanned house and car maintenance that depleted our savings significantly.  We ended 2025 with total savings of $10,354.

5) Take two family vacations SUCCESS

We took two large vacations this past year (Greece and Hawaii) and also a number of small get away trips.  Priceless “memory dividends” and money well spent.

Happy New Year! Our success with the 2024 goals was hit and miss but now we have a new year to start fresh.  Below are our new financial goals for 2025.

1) Pass our 2034 Net Worth Goal

We ended 2024 with a net worth of $2,363,806.13, 10 years ahead of our net worth goal schedule. We were able to extend our lead thanks primarily to our cryptocurrency assets.   We would like to maintain this 10 year lead and end 2025 with a net worth over $2,500K (our 2035 net worth goal). 

2) Give $6,000 to church

We hit our $5,000 giving goal in 2024 with a total church giving of $9,432.73.  In 2025, we intend to increase annual giving goal to $6,000. 

3) Contribute $9,000 to 529 Plans ($4,500 for each child)

We reached our 2024 goal of $8,000 in contributions with four months to spare, so we decided to bump up our 529 Plans contribution goal again in 2025. We hope to contribute $9,000 total to our kids’ 529 Plans ($4,500 for each child). Our son is currently 13 years old with a 529 Plan balance of $81,500.14 and our daughter is 10 years old with a 529 Plan balance of $57,037.29.  College is rapidly approaching!

4) Maintain savings account balance of $20,000

We had a savings balance goal of $30,000 for 2024 but came up short.  We are going to try a smaller goal for 2025 in hopes that we can reach it and then build from there.  We would like to end 2025 with a savings account balance $20,000 balance.

5) Take two family vacations

In an effort to focus on creating more “memory dividends”, we plan to take two family vacations in 2025.  We hope to go to Scandinavia for an extended vacation and also squeeze in a shorter vacation to Hawaii. 

Happy New Year! We had a great 2024 but came up a little short on some of our 2024 financial goals.  Below are our results.

1) Pass our 2031 Net Worth Goal ($1,740K) SUCCESS

We ended 2024 with a net worth of $2,363,806.13, 10 years ahead of our net worth goal schedule.  It took us 14 years to reach $1M net worth and only another 5 years to reach $2M net worth.  Feeling very blessed! 

2) Give $5,000 to church SUCCESS

We are thankful to have exceeded our giving goal of $5,000 in 2024, giving a total of $9,432.73.

3) Contribute $8,000 to 529 Plans ($4,000 for each child) SUCCESS

We passed our 529 Plan contribution goal of $8,000 in August.  We contributed $4,000 to our 13-year-old son’s 529 Plan and his plan has a balance of $81,500.14.  We contributed $4,000 to our 10-year-old daughter’s 529 Plan and her plan has a balance of $57,037.29. 

4) Maintain savings account balance of $30,000 FAIL

We could provide a number of reasons (excuses) for failing to maintain $30,000 in savings but it comes down to simply not prioritizing this goal.  We ended 2024 with $13,366.35 in savings.  We came up short, even though we could have tightened our belts and likely been successful.

5) Book Mediterranean cruise FAIL

Money is a tool to have experiences, and we did have many fun family vacations in 2024 but we failed to book a Mediterranean cruise for 2025.  We went on a Disney cruise in 2024 and realized that cruising isn’t our favorite way to travel.  We would much rather fly to a destination and stay in a hotel.  So, no Mediterranean cruise was booked.  In fact, we decided to visit Scandinavia in 2025 and postpone our Mediterranean trip until 2026 or later.

We just passed our net worth milestones of $2,510,000 to $2,540,000! Our net worth is currently $2,547,962.71. We passed our last net worth milestone of $2,500,000 earlier this month. We hope to reach our next milestone of $2,550,000 sometime this month.

We just passed our net worth milestones of $2,460,000 to $2,500,000! Our net worth is currently $2,507,629.99. We passed our last net worth milestone of $2,450,000 last month. We hope to reach our next milestone of $2,510,000 sometime this month.

We just passed our net worth milestones of $2,410,000 to $2,450,000! Our net worth is currently $2,450,417.51. We passed our last net worth milestone of $2,400,000 a couple of days ago. We hope to reach our next milestone of $2,460,000 in a few days.

We just passed our net worth milestones of $2,190,000 to $2,350,000! Our net worth is currently $2,352,443.13. We passed our last net worth milestone of $2,180,000 yesterday. We hope to reach our next milestone of $2,360,000 in a few days.