Ask the Readers: What Are Your Financial Goals for 2016?
Editor's Note: Congratulations to Pam, Matt, and Susan for winning this week's contest!
It isn't enough to simply save money. What will you do with it? Financial goals give you something concrete to work towards and help keep you motivated.
What are your financial goals for 2016? What steps are you taking to make sure you reach these goals? Do you have other long-term goals, too?
Tell us about your financial goals for 2016 and we'll enter you in a drawing to win a $20 Amazon Gift Card!
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Pay off credit cards, create my emergency fund and save for a really nice trip
I'm saving saving saving. I'll be maxing out my IRA, as well as increasing the amount contributed to my employer-sponsored retirement plan. I also hope to buy a house this year, but modest homes in my target neighborhood are at least 50k out of my budget, so...
I want to finally have enough in my emergency savings so that it covers 6 months
Last year we had to put a new roof on our house, my husband broke his foot and was on Workman's Comp (which didn't pay as much as his normal wages), and our daughter had an expensive medical treatment that wasn't covered by insurance (but it worked!!!!).
Needless to say, our savings took a beating.
This year, our goal is to have no debt again, and get our savings back up to what we're comfortable with!
We would like to set money aside to eventually buy a 2nd home as an investment.
We are planning on purchasing a home this year, so we have been frugal, setting aside as much money as possible. Our goal this year is to continue this trend until we have our agreed upon amount set aside. We are also living as if we are paying the mortgage we have budgeted, which is helping with our savings.
My financial goal for 2016 is to pay down the mortgage by adding more money to the payment each month.
My goal is to max out my 401k
My goal is to save for my child's college
This year I am working on living on less. The less the better. I want to prepare myself for living well on social security alone---in case I have no other choice. Part of this is also increasing my emergency fund. I hope to use my IRA income less and to wait until age 70 when payout will be optimal. It is a tall order but I am determined.
I want to max out my ROTH this year.
Save more money.
Max out Roth IRA contribution and save for home improvements.
Main goal for 2016 is reduce my student loan debt to less than $95k (from $112K) by the end of the year. :)
really trying to repair my credit...tiny things have hurt me and mostly having no credit history (i.e. no credit cards at all) has hurt me, who knew?! so i'm trying to get it up to 800 but i'm at 700 now. realy trying to get my act together in 2016.
My financial goals for 2016 are to put the maximum amount into an IRA and continue to save for retirement with my investment account.
My main goal is to make enough money from scholarships and part-time work to pay for my university and to save a little bit for the future. I am working right now and found out I won a scholarship recently, so now I just need to add a few more hours to what I'm doing. Once I'm done with school, I hope to work to save enough to really fund retirement and to have money for a home down payment.
My goal is to save to buy a new car!
same as every year....save more money.
My goal is to continue building my emergency fund, something I've only been able to prioritize over the past few months. My contribution is modest, but every dollar counts!
I am still saving and investing with regular allotments that make setting aside money almost painless. If I don't see it, I won't spend it!
I want to increase my retirement savings and budget for a car.
I hope to save for a nice vacation!
Save enough money to buy a camper trailer!
My financial goa is to put more money is my children's college funds.
Saving extra money for retirement. Hope to purchase my grave and headstone.
I am concentrating on saving money this year.
My goal in 2016 is to cut back wasteful spending and save more.
My goal is to save money towards a vacation.
My goals are to save up an emergency fund and save for a vacation.
Mid-2017, when my youngest son graduates from high school, we will be losing his Social Security money (my husband died when my kids were babies). This is a $940 hit to our budget and unfortunately kid expenses don't stop when they graduate from high school so my goal for 2016 is to find a way to replace this money between increasing my income and decreasing our expenses.
I am trying to reduce unnecessary spending -- just the little things, every day, that add up to a lot of wasted money over time: Eating out too often, fast food drinks when I'm thirsty, wasted trips with my car/gas. I don't want to eliminate all of life's fun, spontaneous splurges but I am practicing thinking twice, planning ahead and using what I have.
With my wife making a career change, we are hoping to use the increase in salary to pay off credit card debt and to reengage in our ROTH IRA investing.
2016 Goal is to pay down student loans as quick as possible (1k/month). Also want to educate myself on investing/retirement funds so I will be set 30 years from now. In addition I will be purchasing a 2 family duplex and living on one floor (virtually rent free) and hope to rent the whole house out as early as 2017.....
I'd love to see this post in about 18 months to see how far I've come
I would like to pay off my Mamal for the loan we have from her for our car and I would like to save up a good amount of money for emergencies.
Mine is to save more money
Our goal is to save money for a downpayment on a house.
Pay off my car and purchase an income property.
Cut my credit card debt in half and get a new job. To cut the debt, I am reducing spending at sending a set amount each month to the cards. The job search is in progress and I have an interview lined up in two weeks!
My financial goals for 2016 are to invest my money, save enough to use for travel, and to increase my salary.
My financial goal this year is to learn to budget my monthly expenses better. I am going to try the envelope system and see how that works! Excited!
My short term goal is to pay for a trip this fall to Greece and Turkey with cash. I will also be beginning my three year plan to save for a down payment on a house. My long range plan is to save 15% in my 401(k) at work and max out my contribution to my Roth IRA so that I can retire by 60.
I would really like to build up my emergency savings this year!
#1 saving for retirement, emergency fund and both girls college
Catch up on retirement savings, pay extra toward my mortgage, contribute more than planned to my girls' college funds
I am saving money for my grandkids college.
To max out my 401k
Pay off debt and put more money in savings.
My savings goals for 2016 is to replace some leaky windows (trying to stay under $2K) and to take a closer look at how we spend...what things are worthy, and what are only lukewarm? I would like to spend only on what we really enjoy and not on the eh stuff.
Several:
1) Quit smoking (did it! -so far so good anyway. It's been 2 months and it's a b.)
2) Save 1200 by 4/2016 for IRS (just $400. left to go - I started saving in Nov. 2015).
3) Pay off credit card #1 by 5/2016
4) Pay off car loan by 9/2016 (then reprice/shop combined car and house insurance).
5) Pay off credit card #2 by 12/2016
6) Save 4 months worth of emergency savings by 12/2016 (I have 3 now).
If I can manage all of this, 2017 will find us debt free (except mortgage) and applying all unobligated funds towards continued emergency savings (6-8 months is goal), retirement savings and hopefully paying extra on the mortgage. I'm really trying hard to stay focused but I tell you there are days I just want a cigarette and a really nice dinner out. Sigh.
Mine is to just keep adding to my savings account!
I would like to pay off some medical bills.
I intend to get out of credit card debt. Beyond that, I will be doing my best to just keep my head above water until I finish school and find a full time job.
to (re)build up my emergency fund
I want to work on my house.
I am trying to build up my savings account and emergency funds.
Save as much money as I can!
Continue to save at least 20% of my paycheck in my 401K at work and add any extra money to my online savings account. Any overtime worked goes directly into savings, no spending it.
Pay off our medical bills
For me it's to pay off debt.
To save the max amount for retirement and save $15000 towards buying a home.
I would like to pay off some bills.
I want to pay off all of my student loans this year.
Add a baby to our family and still live within our means.
I'd like to save enough to do some home repairs with cash.
To develop a healthy savings account, develop a emergency fund account and to add to our down payment for a new home
I plan to pay down more on my car loan and keep trying to save for a future home.
Pay off dental and medical bills.
My financial goal is to save towards a vacation.
My goal is to save 5% of my pay check each month
1) Pay down mortgage by paying extra each month, 2) Keep emergency savings fund intact, 3) Save up for a family vacation
I want to buy a new house.
We are always looking for places to cut expenses so we are always hunting. We want to fully fund our emergency fund, retirement, college fund for children and save for vacation, hopefully a mission vacation to South America!