Key Financial Goals for 2010

It is important to have goals. I decided to lay out some financial goals for this year.

Fully fund Roth IRAs by $10,000

My wife and I would both like to fund our Roth IRAs. The maximum funding is $5000 so to fund both accounts is $10,000. I plan to fund the IRAs at the start of the year to get it done quick.

Pay $20,000 towards Home Mortgage principal

In 2009 we paid and extra $800 or $900 a month towards our mortgage. In 2010 I'll continue to pay extra towards the principal and have the overall goal of paying $20,000 extra on the mortgage. I'll do that by making $900 extra payments monthly and then making additional payments as funds are available.

Earn 10% return on 401k & Roth IRA accounts

I have about $35k in a 401k and my Roth IRA which I manage. I'd like to get at least a 10% increase on my assets on those accounts for the year. The larger chunk of my retirement savings are held by my employer in a pension fund and I don't manage that money.

Keep Household Spending flat

I expect that spending on our household "needs" bills will remain the same. I don't want our bills to go up so I'll do what I can to keep that spending from increasing.

Cut Discretionary Spending by 5%

Given our household income I don't think our discretionary "wants" spending is too high. But it would be great if I could cut it by 5%. I will try to do this by looking for bargains, making sure we're not wasting money on things we don't need and otherwise simply watching the budget.