It’s hard to believe that the New Year is almost here. Christmas has now come and gone (along with Hanukkah) and we’re fast approaching the end of the year 2007. For me 2007 was a great year. I began truly getting my finances in order and building wealth. I’m by no means wealthy at the end of this year, but I am a step closer to achieving my goals. How did you do? Can you look back at the past year and know that you did well with your money? Did you begin an emergency fund (or completely fund an existing emergency fund)? Did you pay down any existing debt? Did you invest any excess money in the stock market or any other financial markets? What sort of returns did you make on your money this year? If you are the type of person who likes to own individual stocks, which companies did you purchase and how did they do? What sort of returns did you make on your retirement accounts? All flavors apply here: IRA’s, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, Roth IRA’s, SEP IRA. How did you do? If you didn’t have a retirement account at the beginning of the year did you start one and fund it this year?

I realize that I’ve asked quite a few questions, and honestly I could probably ask even more, but I think that’s good enough for now. I really want to know how you all did with your finances this year. I want to know, and I want to encourage you to do even better in the upcoming year. Will you do this? I hope so. I definitely plan to.. I know I’ve still a long way to go before I reach my ultimate goal of financial independence. Enough chatter though, let me highlight some of the goals and things that I did with my finances over the course of the year 2007…

At the beginning of the year 2007 my wife and I began a short-term savings account to save up for expenses such as college tuition, vacations, and a down-payment on a house. About midway through the year we expanded our savings by creating an emergency fund money market account. We have been funding this account with $250 every single month. We also opened a mutual fund (investing in gold and other precious minerals & metals) and a brokerage account. As of the time of this writing we have managed to accumulate between these four different accounts about $7,500 dollars. Most of this I money I prefer to think of as long-term, but it’s a start and it’s a cushion just in case we ever face an emergency.

We did pretty well this year I do believe. I want to do better next year, and I think we can. I also want to start focusing a little bit more on saving for a house, and also our retirement. I plan to open and fund an IRA for both my wife and I this coming year. So again I ask, what did you accomplish this year with your finances?

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