2022 Goals – Year End Review

At the beginning of 2022, I decided to establish 5 new goals – and track the progress throughout the year. Those 5 goals were:

1. Be more intentional
2. Write more
3. Max out our Roth IRAs
4. Research other means of income
5. Compartmentalize for long-term goals

You can check the monthly progress by clicking on any of these links here:

• January
• February
• March
• April
• May
• June
• July
• August
• September
• October
• November
• December

Now that the year is over, I felt it was prudent to assess how well I actually did in achieving those 5 goals. Let’s take a look at each – starting with intentionality.

Set goals and pursue them – Image credit here

 

2022 Goals – Be More Intentional

The Canadian Rockies are magnificent

I have long held that intentionality is a key trait; indeed, it may even be THE key trait to possess and exercise. Because I believe this to be so, I decided to be more intentional throughout the year in several ways – one of which was to write and publish here bimonthly. I have wanted to be consistent with content to help promote the brand and I accomplished that. Moreover, I was also intentional with some personal items; notwithstanding I’ve purchased another home, am renting out our old house, and actually finished some projects that have been on the perennial list for far too long.

Overall grade for being more intentional?

A-

 

2022 Goals – Write More

Writing provides me direction, clarity, and an outlet for creativity

Part of the previous goal was to publish bimonthly – which also happily falls under this goal, too. What’s more, I did quite a bit of additional writing as part of a class I took in the fall. Let’s take a look at all of the articles that I’ve written and published this year:

1. Happy New Year: 5 things I Plant to do in a 2022 Focus
2. Why You Should Always Pursue Excellence
3. 2022 Goals – January Review
4. The Cost of Writing: 4 Years Into It
5. 2022 Goals – February Review
6. Why I Don’t Pay Attention to Percentages and You Shouldn’t Either
7. 2022 Goals – March Review
8. The Skilled Trades – Where an Emerging Generation and Technology Intersect
9. 2022 Goals – April Review
10. The Ubiquitous 401K, Business, and American Wealth
11. 2022 Goals – May Review
12. Chicago and 150 North Riverside
13. 2022 Goals – June Review
14. Generational Wealth
15. 2022 Goals July Review
16. Summer Sucks – I Said What I Said
17. 2022 Goals – August Review
18. Do You Need A College Degree To Get A Good Job?
19. 2022 Goals – September Review
20. NOW Is The Time To Get Into The Trades
21. 2022 Goals – October Review
22. Leadership, Management, and The Skilled Trades
23. 2022 Goals – November Review
24. Budgeting 101
25. 2022 Goals – December Review

 

As you can see, I was successful in putting content out there on a bimonthly basis – which is what I was aiming for.

Grade for this goal?

A+

 

2022 Goals – Roth IRA

Time and money – the two we need for Roth IRA (and other investment vehicles) growth

 

For this particular goal, I wanted to max out our Roth IRA’s – which I did NOT accomplish. I did manage to invest a modest $7038.02, split between two accounts. While I was not successful in achieving this goal, I am pleased with our progress. The amount is more than the limit of a single IRA ($6,000 for 2022) and that is important for two reasons. First, as a model, if I can do it so can every other person in the skilled trades. Second, we are a single-income household – and that makes it all the more demonstrative to those in the trades. Diversification of your retirement accounts is important and I advocate for everyone to adopt contributing to a Roth IRA – this is especially true for those who have more than one income.

Grade for this particular goal?

C-

 

2022 Goals – Researching Other Means Of Income

 

I researched other means of income – but that’s about it. I never capitalized on any of the concepts or ideas I had. For the most part, I plan to continue exploring this goal in 2023 but for 2022 it was a bust. The only reason it doesn’t get an F is that the goal says to “research” and not act upon anything. I should be more intentional (see what I did there?) about my choice of words.

Grade for this goal?

D-

 

 

2022 Goals – Compartmentalize For Long-Term Goals

I am a BIG fan of compartmentalization

For this section, I compartmentalized it into 4 categories:

1. Build up my emergency/opportunity fund more
2. Build up another savings fund
3. Build up another investment account
4. Build up custodial accounts for each of my kids (UGMA/UTMA & Roth IRA)

I’ll give myself a grade for each of these sub-goals and then as an overall goal.

 

Build up my emergency/opportunity fund more

This one is a bust, too. We will actually be building up our main emergency fund in the first few months of this year to a more comfortable level but for a goal in 2022? Bust.

Grade for this sub-goal?

F

Build up another savings fund

For the most part, this one was achieved, albeit slowly. We were depositing a modest $25 a week into another account to build it up – but for compartmentalization’s sake, I will be using that account to pay bills going forward. Keeping things separate for specific purposes is how I like to roll.

Grade for this sub-goal?

B

Build up another investment account

I love acorns! This investment platform has tremendous potential for wealth growth

I signed up in January for Acorns and I am glad I did. It’s not that we can’t save money without it; rather, it has some unique features I really like and appreciate. Not only have we saved over $700 in a year through this taxable account, but about $60 of it also came from companies investing a percentage into our account just for using their services that I was planning on using anyway! Have I mentioned how much I like Acorns?

Grade for this sub-goal?

A+

 

 

Build up custodial accounts for each of my kids (UGMA/UTMA & Roth IRA)

It takes money – and time – to grow a sizeable nest egg

 

This is another goal I am pleased to have set. Again, using Acorns, I opened custodial UGMA/UTMA accounts for each of my kids. After a year of simply throwing some spare change in, they have around $237 – not too shabby all things considered. I actually have their contributions as part of our budget and plan to continue growing their respective accounts.

Their Roth IRAs are a different matter. While they have been set up and some money has been deposited, I am cautious. I keep an excel spreadsheet for when deposits go in and the reason (or job they did to earn the money) since the IRS heavily regulates IRAs.

In any case, the accounts are open and there have been contributions.

Grade for this sub-goal?

A-

 

And the grade for this entire goal?

C+

Ugh – that F really brings the whole thing down.

Wrapping up the year

I’ve had some success but also setbacks with the goals for 2022. Nevertheless, I’m convinced goals are worth setting and pursuing. Otherwise, you are wandering aimlessly through life, being tossed to and fro with every little wave. When I look back, I can see how things in life just happen and derail you – and that’s alright. What’s important is that you achieve and pursue something. And when you are thrown curveballs? Adapt and overcome.

So, what were your goals and how well did you achieve them?