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About Me:

Monkey Mama

Just a 46-year-old mom of 2 in Northern California. My kids are Monkey Monkey(MM) and Drama Llama (DL). I am married to Monkey Hubby (MH).

We were a one-income family for 13 years. In late 2015 my spouse returned to work (minimum wage/part-time/seasonal). Something recent on his resume just buys us more options for the long run. The main benefit of this job is that he just works while the kids are in school. As always, we are saving 100% of his income.

{2023 Update: I expect that MH will retire from this job when kids are done with college and/or home is paid off. I think he likes the idea of finding more interesting or full-time work, with kids both adults now. But practically, might just stick out the *good* and very flexible job as long as possible. The very part-time job is allowing him to pursue his film passions. We are only about 5-ish years away from financial independence. Would be very different if we "needed" the money or he thought he might have decades of working years ahead of him.}

We saved a lot while we were very young and also moved to a lower cost-of-living area, to make life much simpler. We still live in California though (in one of the most expensive regions of the U.S.). *Simple* and *inexpensive* is relative.

Likewise, we have never had debt aside from our mortgage.** My blog is a testament to how much simpler life is without debt; how we have that much more money to both save and enjoy!

**Caveat: I have no problem whatsoever with credit cards paid off monthly, or low-risk credit arbitrage (for example, 0%-interest debt while earning 5% on FDIC-insured cash). These are the kinds of debt we have had. Just not interested in high-interest debt, using debt to buy beyond means, and not interested in the hassle that comes with loans and payments. With age and means, the latter (hassle) is our biggest debt avoidance motivation.

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2024 Goals

[ ]Small monthly Charitable Contribution
...($35 @ 1/31/24)
...Trying to be more mindful about how the little amounts add up and are helpful.
...This is not an all inclusive list of charitable giving but it is a new habit I want to add in addition to other donations of time, goods and money

[ ]Pay cash for college
...This is so much a given, to me. But I realize not everyone can read my mind, and so will memorialize in my goal list.
...#1 We don't do Debt
...#2 The student loan system is a scammy and corrupt mess.
...Seriously, wouldn't touch these student loan servicers with a ten foot pole.
MM YEAR 1 ✔
MM YEAR 2 ✔
MM YEAR 3 ✔
MM YEAR 4

DL YEAR 1 ✔
DL YEAR 2

[ ]$10,000 to savings
...($4,529 @ 3/31/24)
...$1,000/month, plus interest
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$7,500 to investments
...($1,750 @ 4/30/24)
...$350/month, plus snowflakes
(Snowflakes: credit card rewards and dividends)
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$2,025 to mortgage
...($0 @ 4/30/24)
...Topping off with snowballs and/or excess cash
...Keeps us on track with $10K principal paydown per year

[/]9% of household income to work retirement plans
...(9% @ 3/31/24)
...This is the minimum for the match; I'd otherwise rather fund IRAs.
...Note: Total retirement savings rate is 20% (with IRAs)

Goal savings rate = 25% of gross salary, plus funding IRAs from other sources.

[ ]$14,000 to IRAs 2024 (MAX)
...($0 @ 4/30/24)
...Will fund with MH's income
...Will not fund until the year is over. This is for tax and planning reasons. I won't know what mix of Traditional/ROTH IRA we literally can contribute until we do our 2024 taxes. In addition to that, can make a more informed decision based on our financial and tax situation for the entire year.

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**Long-Term Goals**

[X]$500,000 in retirement accounts by age 45.

Current big picture goal:

[ ]$1 Mil in retirement accounts by age 52.

Stretch Goal: Achieve by age 50

Have decided to pretty much stay the course. Keep saving 20%+ to retirement. This means taking 401K match & maxing out IRAs.

NOTE: WE HAVE NEVER CONTRIBUTED LESS THAN 10% TO RETIREMENT. NO EXCEPTIONS.

If we can't achieve at least 10%, then something else has to give. I share because it's infinitely easier to save for retirement if you start early. Let the investments do the hard work for you.

-------------------------------

Debt: $85,000 mortgage
{Home Purchase Price $290,000}

Ongoing goal is to *never borrow money again.*

Took on a $230k mortgage in 2001 and have not added to that.

-------------------------

Net Worth: Increase net worth by $600,000 in the next 10 years. This is my "financial independence" goal.

2017: +$ 70,000 (partial year)
2018: +$ 51,000
2019: +$105,000
2020: +$104,000
2021: +$215,000
2022: <$ 65,000>
2022: +$ 85,000
TOTAL: +$565,000

This is in line with prior goal, saving 100% of our expenses every year.

{Our expenses are far more consistent than our income. Also, helps to prevent "living up to income."}

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My Pages

Another Wealth Score

May 9th, 2007 at 02:18 pm

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Savinganddebt/Savemoney/...

Oh yes, I did find another one.

Basically, divide your net worth by your lifetime earnings. That's it!

"For young clients early in their careers, the desired ratio is somewhere between 0 and 25%.

For clients in midcareer, he wants a ratio between 25% and 100%.

By the time they're ready for retirement, the preferred ratio is 100% to 200%."

Interesting. I have played with our savings as a percentage of income (from our social security statements) but I wasn't really sure how to measure the results I guess.

With home equity we are at a wonderful 68%. Without, we are at 28%. Considering we are so young and early in our careers, overall, I am quite pleased.

Of course I am more interested in forward progress, and at first glance I thought gosh, we are probably slipping behind. LOL. But my goal for the year is to increase our net worth by 33% of our income. 28% is actually quite an easy goal in comparison. The 33% is a little aggressive and depends on a good stock year. So overall, this fits in our goals, we are moving forward okay.

On the other hand, we probably need to more forward faster than our current 28% clip, so I don't know. Then again we are saving far less than our earlier financial peak, and overall the prospects for the future look much better. I guess something to keep in mind as we track further progress.

But overall another interesting article and another way to look at things. & the main point of the entire article is that it isn't what you make, but what you save. Amen to that one!

We have no doubt had a few good years, but most years in the last decade we made an income in the $20-$60k range. House aside, we have saved 28% of it all. These days aren't our best savings years, but our investments are certainly picking up the slack, all the same. Saving much, early on, truly makes all the difference. & the funny thing is sometimes I regret not doing more sooner, because it would make things easier today. I guess there is always room for improvement. As on the flip side it is saving so much early on that gives us more freedom today. I just have to be happy with that I guess.

Posted in Budgeting & Goals | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “Another Wealth Score”

scfr Says:
May 9th, 2007 at 03:28 pm 1178724486
1178724486

Oh no! Another one!!! hahaha

Of course I had to do the math ... we are at about 58%. I say "about" because we don't have records of my husband's earnings prior to his immigration to the USA, so we had to estimate those.

The desired ranges shown are pretty wide (25-100% for us as midcareer folks), but the simplicity of the calculations and the fact that they give different ranges for different career stages make this formula pretty neat.

Like you, Monkeymama, I LOVED how they showed that how much you save is the most important thing!

Thanks for sharing this.

[I haven't read Your Money or Your Life yet; just decided to add it to my library list.]
Aleta Says:
May 9th, 2007 at 04:56 pm 1178729782
1178729782

If you get a chance read YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE. I really enjoyed it and the graphs are great. I picked it up from the library, but will buy it used for a reference. He tells you what he thinks real financial freedom is and its encouraging because it makes sense.

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Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Over Prepare, Then Go With The Flow

Another Wealth Score

2 Responses to “Another Wealth Score”

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