Literally no one asked for this but this stuff is fascinating to me. Here's my current plan:
My current retirement contribution is set at 6% and which my company matches 100% for the first 3% and then 50% for the second 3%. There's no additional matching after that. I've been maximizing company match since I entered the job market and rolling over my 401(k) into a traditional Roth each time I move companies (better fund choice). I'm still below what I figure I should be at (1x salary at least) so my plan next year is to prioritize my retirement by increasing contributions to my 401(k) to 10% and fully funding my Roth IRA by the end of the year (so, 500 a month to hit the yearly cap of 6k). Each year thereafter I'll bump up my 401(k) 5% to get close to the 19,5k limit which means I'll hit my goal of 3x salary savings by the time I'm in my late 30's which will be closer to being on track for retirement for me, unless a rich uncle I didn't know about dies at which point I'm moving to Malta.
My first financial goal was to get out of consumer debt which I did last month, now it's 3 months of emergency savings and then my retirement/other debt focus begins. It'll be a more "normal" allocation instead of sending all of my extra income to a single goal. That's what sort of got me on the thought process of figuring up my % breakdown of my budget because all of my allocations starting in December will be determined on % of total income instead of driving down a dollar debt figure. If I find a good balance of %'s that means things should naturally grow in proportion of my income (and I'm doing everything I can to work up that ladder).
My job is kind of weird because I'm salary but make overtime on the weekend at 1.5x of what my salary is if it's broken down an hourly rate. I don't factor in my overtime though as it's largely optional and could disappear at any time, so I don't want to be dependent on it. So generally, I budget out of my base salary and then put overtime pay/bonuses into my main financial goal.
My current breakdown is this:
My biggest variables are always dining out and misc and if I overspend in other categories, it's usually being drawn from my financial goal bucket which is where the largest portion of my income goes too. If I have a big expense I plan for, I work a few weekends of OT to plan for it but I want to get out of that habit and have something a bit more predicative for next year (i.e a fun budget with a separate account to funnel money into each paycheck). My living expenses are about as low as I can get them now for being a single person living in the house that I own without a renter. This used to be much lower since the rent covered the mortgage but I'm willing to live with the higher expense and have the luxury of not living with another person, especially in my tiny-ass house.
Re: End of Life Healthcare, I have no idea how the hell to figure that out. Relying on children seems risky but nursing homes are a fucking joke as I'm quickly learning as my parents deal with that nonsense. It's 10k a month for just basic care and if you don't pay and you have sufficient means in your portfolio, they can start dissolving your assets to pay for care. Fortunately, my grandparents are wealthy and have a good lawyer but paying an organization 120k a year for care is highway robbery. Elder Care Law seems to protect nursing homes over the actual people who need care so, I'd want to avoid having to go to a nursing home, at all costs. I know that's like 50 years down the road and a lot can change but I'm a planner and it helps keep my retirement goals in perspective.
TL: DR I've been spending too much time at work reading personal finance forums.
My current retirement contribution is set at 6% and which my company matches 100% for the first 3% and then 50% for the second 3%. There's no additional matching after that. I've been maximizing company match since I entered the job market and rolling over my 401(k) into a traditional Roth each time I move companies (better fund choice). I'm still below what I figure I should be at (1x salary at least) so my plan next year is to prioritize my retirement by increasing contributions to my 401(k) to 10% and fully funding my Roth IRA by the end of the year (so, 500 a month to hit the yearly cap of 6k). Each year thereafter I'll bump up my 401(k) 5% to get close to the 19,5k limit which means I'll hit my goal of 3x salary savings by the time I'm in my late 30's which will be closer to being on track for retirement for me, unless a rich uncle I didn't know about dies at which point I'm moving to Malta.
My first financial goal was to get out of consumer debt which I did last month, now it's 3 months of emergency savings and then my retirement/other debt focus begins. It'll be a more "normal" allocation instead of sending all of my extra income to a single goal. That's what sort of got me on the thought process of figuring up my % breakdown of my budget because all of my allocations starting in December will be determined on % of total income instead of driving down a dollar debt figure. If I find a good balance of %'s that means things should naturally grow in proportion of my income (and I'm doing everything I can to work up that ladder).
My job is kind of weird because I'm salary but make overtime on the weekend at 1.5x of what my salary is if it's broken down an hourly rate. I don't factor in my overtime though as it's largely optional and could disappear at any time, so I don't want to be dependent on it. So generally, I budget out of my base salary and then put overtime pay/bonuses into my main financial goal.
My current breakdown is this:
- Transportation (Car payment, gas, insurance): 16.7 %
- Motorcycle: (Payment, gas, insurance): 3.8%
- Living expenses (Mortgage, utilities inc internet): 26%
- Groceries: 7%
- Dining out: 3%
- Financial goals: 40%
- Misc: 3.5%
My biggest variables are always dining out and misc and if I overspend in other categories, it's usually being drawn from my financial goal bucket which is where the largest portion of my income goes too. If I have a big expense I plan for, I work a few weekends of OT to plan for it but I want to get out of that habit and have something a bit more predicative for next year (i.e a fun budget with a separate account to funnel money into each paycheck). My living expenses are about as low as I can get them now for being a single person living in the house that I own without a renter. This used to be much lower since the rent covered the mortgage but I'm willing to live with the higher expense and have the luxury of not living with another person, especially in my tiny-ass house.
Re: End of Life Healthcare, I have no idea how the hell to figure that out. Relying on children seems risky but nursing homes are a fucking joke as I'm quickly learning as my parents deal with that nonsense. It's 10k a month for just basic care and if you don't pay and you have sufficient means in your portfolio, they can start dissolving your assets to pay for care. Fortunately, my grandparents are wealthy and have a good lawyer but paying an organization 120k a year for care is highway robbery. Elder Care Law seems to protect nursing homes over the actual people who need care so, I'd want to avoid having to go to a nursing home, at all costs. I know that's like 50 years down the road and a lot can change but I'm a planner and it helps keep my retirement goals in perspective.
TL: DR I've been spending too much time at work reading personal finance forums.
2008 4Runner
1974 CB360
2015 FJ09
1974 CB360
2015 FJ09