The year 2021 has come to an end. It is time to reflect on the past year and see how I did on the goals I set for myself at the beginning of 2021. If you would like to check out the original post on my 2021 goals you can by clicking here. Let’s check out how I did on achieving my goals for the year 2021!
Budget
This year I continued to stay within my budget, at least for the most part. There were a couple of small hiccups along the way such as having to replace the hot water heater when it went out and the lawnmower when the motor seized up. Other than that, I stuck to the budget and did not allow lifestyle creep to increase my spending. One I accomplishment that I am extremely proud of this year is I managed to save/invest 21.8% of my income this year.
Income from Dividends, Options Premium and Interest
The goal for income from dividends, options premium and interest for 2021 was $1,000 per month or $12,000 for the year. I failed miserably at achieving this goal only bringing in a combined $7,736.65 for the year or $644.72 per month. Even though I failed to reach this goal I still made significant progress over 2020. I almost double my income from dividends, options premium and interest from 2020 when I earned $4,035.29.
Debt
My goal for paying down debt was $25,000 and paying off my car loan. I achieved both of these goals. I paid off $26,582 of debt this year. I really thought this goal was going to much harder to achieve. I am grateful that I was able to accomplish this goal. I was also able to pay off my car loan this year. I did have a little bit of help from the insurance settlement from my car accident but I was on pace to have it paid off by the end of the year anyway. It is so nice not having a car payment. I am able to allocate those funds to other areas such as savings and investing.
Investing
One of my investing goals was to evaluate each position in my portfolio and have an investing thesis for each position. This is a good exercise that I recommend everyone does. I was able to go through my entire portfolio and write an investing thesis for every position. Most of these are just a sentence of two to explain why I invest in each company. To be honest, I should have done this before investing in companies. I went through my portfolio and sold out of positions that I do not have a strong conviction such as IBM and some of the Big Pharma companies (see blog post here). I still hold some speculative positions especially in the taxable account. After accomplishing this goal, I feel I am in a much better place to monitor and manage my portfolio.
I also opened up a Roth IRA at the beginning of 2021. While I did not come close to contributing the max for the year, I was able to invest much more into this account than I expected. I look forward to increasing my future contributions and using this account to build my wealth.
Conclusion
2021 was a great year even if I did not accomplish all of my goals. I made a progress over the past year which is the important part. I look forward on building on the progress that I have made. While 2021 was a great year, I look forward to an even better 2022!
On a side note, I have added a Recommended Resources in the menu. It currently is a work in progress. It will contain blogs and YouTube channels that I enjoy as well as some sites that I use. I hope you take the time to check it out.
*Disclaimer – I am not a financial professional. The information shared here should not be considered financial advice. I am just a factory worker sharing my experience as I strive to achieve financial freedom. Before investing or making any financial decision do your own research and due diligence or consider seeking the advice of a financial and/or tax professional.
Here are some of the businesses that I use that I thought some of you might be interested in.
Lolli has a variety of stores that it is affiliated with and offers rewards for shopping at these stores. I use Lolli when I shop on Chewy and I get bitcoin as a reward. Who doesn’t want free bitcoin! If you are interested in Lolli and want to help support the blog here is my referral link: https://www.lolli.com/share/XP7gxDgqC4
I use M1 Finance for my taxable growth account. M1 Finance offers promotions for signing up. At the time of writing this post, the promotion is for $50. These promotions vary from time to time but is usually a $10 bonus. If you are interested in M1 Finance and want to support the blog here is my referral link: https://m1.finance/ktIiFeOI5zDr
Varo Bank is one of the banks that I use. From time to time the bank will run promotions. Currently, you can earn up to 3% on your savings with Varo, if you meet certain requirements. If you are interested in checking it out, here is my referral link: https://bank.varomoney.com/signup?r=William360
I use the free version on trackyourdividends.com. This is a quick an easy way for me to track my estimated annual income from dividends.
If you use the referral links listed above I could receive compensation. Please take the time to read the terms and conditions before signing up.