It's always fun to do a year in review post because it's interesting to review all the failures! I'm always so enthusiastic about my goals during the beginning of the year and I inevitably lose steam towards the end. Does this happen to any of you? Let's dive into my 2016 year in review.
For 2016, I had 15 goals divided into business goals, personal goals, and personal financial goals. If we can do just one important thing a month, we'll all become superstars over time.
I didn't believe this year would be any good due to my less than enthusiastic outlook for the stock market, real estate market, startup ecosystem, and my own personal business. After all, 2015 eked out just a ~1% total return if you include dividends. But of course as we all now know, everything turned out lollipops and cotton candy!
Let's go through why it's always better to be lucky than good as I reflect on my 2016 year in review.
Business Goals – 2016 Year In Review
1) Test out a new layout for FS so that more articles can be seen above the fold.
Pass. I went from a two column layout to a three column layout with just titles and no snippets to get more articles on the homepage. Having three columns and multiple different category blocks has also given me more flexibility to play around with what gets shown on the homepage. Thanks Eric from Personal Profitability for helping me with the redesign and Colleen from Kong Savage Art House for a cool new mask and banner design.
2) Produce another FS product e.g. book, course, subscription product.
Fail. I'm not sure why I didn't get this done. Laziness is the most obvious reason. I do have a new FS Forum with a subscription section for accredited investors ready to go. But I'm hesitant to launch the paid option because managing a forum takes a lot of work. Forums also open up my site to vulnerabilities and attract thousands of spammers.
Producing online products is a more efficient way to generate passive income than amassing capital to invest for an equal amount of passive income once you've developed a platform. For example, it will take $250,000 in capital to generate ~$10,000 a year in gross passive income through a California muni bond portfolio. Or I could very easily generate $20,000 a year in gross passive income by spending three months writing another book, with no downside except for my time. Now that I've finished writing my 2016 year in review it's time to get to work!
Related: Ranking The Best Passive Income Streams – Five Factor Model
3) Inject more humor.
Probably a fail. I used to be funny once, I swear! Now, it seems like I'm getting a little saltier with age because I see so many more head scratching situations that make me go hmmm. The funny posts such as, Stay At Home Men Of The World, UNITE!, have all but gone away for more serious subjects. I like to poke fun at serious trends while offering some solutions as well. Feel free to let me know what other topics you'd like me to write more about for 2017.
Here are some posts with humor:
Predicting The Future To Get Rich – Who doesn't love a good Back To The Future reference?
Things I'll Teach My Daughter: Ignore His Car, Find His House – Instead of the classic overprotective dad with a shotgun image, I decided to go a more intellectual route to save all females from heartbreak and financial disaster.
How To Get A Job You Do Not Deserve – Everybody knows these three archetypes at work. But now I've got names for them!
4) Open up a digital wealth management (robo-advisor) account and publish its performance.
Fail. I was told I was not allowed to open up an account and write about the performance. Given I already researched and wrote about them, it would have been a shame to take down my work. But if I did invest capital with either firm, I would have been up a decent amount because of the ramp in the stock market.
I hope you guys who are using digital wealth advisors are enjoying the low fees and the simplicity of building an after-tax investment account through regular automatic contributions. If I was in my 20s and early 30s, using a roboadvisor to invest 20%+ of my after tax, after 401k maximum contribution is exactly what I would be doing. I wasted too much time trying to pick individual positions that either didn't make money, distracted me from my job, and/or gave me a lot of stress when I was younger.
Building wealth is all about having a regular contribution system over a long period of time. Allocate no more than 10% of your investable assets to trying to pick individual stocks if you must. The biggest problem retail investors have is not knowing how to manage risk. When you aret doing your own 2016 year in review, assess how you're doing with risk management and adjust accordingly.
Related: The Proper Asset Allocation Of Stocks And Bonds By Age
5) Focus on profitability, rather than growth.
Pass. Because private startups were getting crushed in 4Q2015, I took a very cautious approach to running my online business for 2016. Instead of spending aggressively, which I hardly do, I decided to optimize what I had instead. Think about an online business like a train with 10 empty carts. You can load as much or as little as you want. Either way you're burning the same amount of fuel and you'll get to the same destination at roughly the same time. You might as well optimize by loading up them carts!
My quarterly business off sites in places like Oahu, Hungary, Budapest, Austria, France, and Palm Springs this year really paid off. On every offsite, my team and I focused on what we did right, what we did wrong, and what we need to improve upon. The decisions have led to roughly a 35% increase in revenue based on existing traffic compared to expectations for flat to negative 10% growth.
I'm always surprised by the revenue upside from many bloggers of different genres. Here's a real example of a food blogging couple who are absolutely crushing it.
Related:
Why Start A Business? For A Better Life Of Course
PERSONAL GOALS
6) Live in Asia for one month. Target locations: Chiang Mai, Beijing, Taipei, Saigon.
Fail. My team and I had a great time visiting Malaysia, S. Korea, Cambodia, and Taiwan in 2015, but we didn't return to Asia this year. Instead, we went on the Hapsburg Trail (Prague, Vienna, Budapest) and ended up in Paris for the French Open thanks to a friend's generosity.
I wanted to check out Chiang Mai because that's the most cited place to be amongst digital nomads. Beijing or Taipei would have been nice because I could practice my Mandarin. Saigon would have been cool because I've never been. Oh well. It didn't make it into my 2016 year in review, but maybe sometime in the future.
Prague was a wonderful little town where I met up with a reader over some cold brew. Vienna was a pleasant place that felt extremely wealthy and a little artificial. Budapest was much more gritty, but had some amazing outdoor baths. Out of the three cities, I would choose Budapest as a place to live for several months a year.
Related: The Best Way To Travel For Free And Lower Your Taxable Income
7) Finish the deck off the master bedroom and do some landscaping to improve curb appeal.
Pass. Ever since I was a kid, I've weirdly dreamed of having a deck facing the ocean off my bedroom. There's something about being able to wake up, walk outside, and stretch to the heavens while breathing the crisp morning air that I just love. And of course, there's nothing more pleasant than watching the sunset with a glass of wine. In 2016, I finally was able to fulfill this little dream. The deck turned out much better than expected.
I decided to delay professional landscaping for a year given the deck, retaining wall, new header, and sliding doors took six months to complete because my contractor is an organizational mess. I'm still waiting for final inspection from the city if you can believe it. For landscaping, we did plant some nice succulents in the front and back of the house, decorated the deck, and removed some old shrubs on the side of the house.
Related:
Practice Taking Profits To Pay For Life
8) Get rid of all the old clothes I haven't worn in over a year.
Pass. I continued to give plenty of clothes and other things away after downsizing to my current house in 2014. I recently sold three Persian rugs over Craigslist because we're trying to have a beach theme since we have ocean views. They were just sitting there collecting dust in my garage. I was able to get this beautiful blue tonal rug from Pottery Barn that actually matches the color of the ocean. This was a big 2016 year in review win. Score!
Even though I'm dreaming of a sweet house in Honolulu one day, I'm all about enjoying the simple life now. Downsizing to my current smaller house in 2014 was the right move. It's a joy to travel for weeks on end with just my backpack. It feels wonderful to have less stuff. Giving away things I don't often use to people who would use them more often is a better allocation of resources.
Related: Always Dream Of Living The Dream
9) Attend at least four world class tennis tournaments.
Semi-pass. I went to two world class tennis tournaments. The first was attending the BNP Paribas Indian Wells tournament with two other couples. We rented a house with a sweet pool and hot tub and went out every evening for some good eats. I hope we get to do more couple retreats in the future.
The second world class tournament was the French Open, even though the tickets cost $550 each for the second round! We got there right before the floods. Finally, I attended three other tennis tournament events around the SF Bay Area as well. I decided to skip the US Open in NYC this year because I was tired of traveling.
10) End the year at under 163 lbs and win at least two 5.0 level tennis matches.
FAIL. I went from around 167 lbs at the beginning of the year up to 173 lbs. Now I'm back to where I started at about 167-168 lbs. My doctor says I should be closer to 150 – 155 lbs at 5'10”. I think I've got to get over my desire to be as thin and ripped as I was in high school and college. We ~40 year old men aren't supposed to be ripped, unless we're unemployed and have nothing better to do than to workout for three hours a day. Wait a minute…. that could be me! So long as I'm feeling healthy and can play 2+ hours of tennis at a time, I'm happy.
In the greatest losing streak of my tennis career, I ended up not winning a single match at 5.0 this year after seven tries. It was pretty disheartening because I was always partnered with a 4.5 player or a weak 5.0 player against two solid 5.0s. But I came close to winning with a couple tie-breakers and three set matches. I could have given up after my first two matches when I realized the team I joined wasn't going to be filled with 5.0 players as the captain promised. But I kept on battling anyway because I just love to play.
The crazy thing is, even after all my losses, the computer system still didn't bump me down to 4.5! They argued that because I had very close matches with a 4.5 against two 5.0s, I am indeed a 5.0. If you guys say so. Now I've got to do some selling this year to try and get on a legitimate 5.0 team to get better partners. Post coming as this failure truly got me down. I was quite bummed about this when reflecting on my 2016 year in review.
See: Track Everything! We're Eating And Spending Way Too Much
PERSONAL FINANCE GOALS
11) Don't go back to work full-time unless the work AND pay are amazing.
Pass. Due to perpetual worry the good times can't last forever, I got in the habit of looking for new jobs in the 4th quarter for the past four years. The idea was to find suitable work at a reasonable salary in case my finances fall apart. But this year, I only interviewed at one company for a full-time position after a headhunter pinged me out of the blue. I wasn't looking for a job at the time. I obliged to meet up so I could network, learn more about the life insurance startup space, and find a new story to write on FS. Too bad a couple of the founders turned out to be pricks. I've got a great post coming about my terrible experience you won't want to miss!
I'm happy to say my desire for going back to work has continued to fade even more. At the end of 2015, I had roughly a 20% desire to go back to work to do something fun and new. Now, this desire has declined to about 5%. I always keep the window slightly open just in case a great opportunity comes my way. But this life insurance startup I met with really turned me off to full time employment.
Perhaps now that I'm done with my 2016 year in review I'm complacent about the new year, doom will follow! Sorry folks if the world falls apart in 2017.
12) Increase net worth by $500,000.
Pass. I thought 2016 was going to be a slightly negative year for the stock market, and it was for several months when the S&P 500 was down 10% in February and sold off again post Brexit. I was anticipating a ~$300,000 decline in the value of my existing assets, which required an $800,000+ increase in new income and business growth to get to my net worth growth target of $500,000. But 2016 turned out to be another bull market! Therefore, about 25% of my net worth went up about 10% thanks to the stock market.
For real estate, Zillow revalued a rental property up by $350,000 alone. The weird thing is, you can't see the $350,000 jump in the chart below. It's as if the entire algorithm changed without telling anyone. I didn't edit any of the details all year either. Sadly, Zillow is wrong about this property's valuation. Instead of $3.3M, I'm thinking the realistic selling price is only about $2.5M. So perhaps the property appreciated from $2.35M to $2.5M in 2016 for a 6.3% gain. But it definitely didn't appreciate from $2.98M to $3.33M this year. If it has, I need to raise the rent from $9,000 to $10,000 a month when the lease is up!
Zillow then downgraded another property I own by about $130,000 without showing the drastic fall because a neighbor with a similar layout recently sold for my new Zillow estimate price of ~$1.57M. It had been showing ~$1.7M until October. The thing is, the neighbor needs about $400,000 of work to get to my house's condition because it is a total dump. I checked it out twice because I was considering buying it to remodel, but there was just too much demand so I didn't bother. You can't trust Zillow and its estimates because they don't know the condition of your house.
Overall, my real estate portfolio increased about 5% as the SF property market slowed down given a dearth of liquidity events. I'm anticipating continued softness until Uber, Airbnb, or Pinterest goes public. Then it's off to the races again because San Francisco is one of the cheapest international cities in the world. Based on my debt level, 5% return is more like a 9% return on cash. In other words, it would have been better if I levered up more.
If I was a corrupt foreign government official trying to extract money out of my homeland, I'd be buying San Francisco real estate all day long. Starting pay packages for 22-23 year old college graduates are now ~$100,000 a year. The incomes here support our real estate prices, unlike in places like Vancouver.
13) Finally achieve my $200,000 a year passive income goal.
Pass. I estimate about $211,000 in passive income for 2017 after consistently earning about $17,600 a month in passive income in the second half of 2016. It was looking shaky in May because I had to find new tenants for my 2/2 condo rental property. My existing tenants of three years decided to give me their 30 days notice two weeks before I was going to Europe for three weeks. Bad timing!
I was strongly considering selling the condo to simplify life back then. Now that I have tenants, I'm less restless about selling, but still undecided on whether I would have been happier if I had sold. I'm weird because I actually like visiting the condo every time there's an issue because it gives me an excuse to physically enjoy my asset instead of just collect a rent check.
It makes me happy to see an asset I bought around my 26th birthday. The period between 1999 – 2003 was very stressful due to the long work hours in NYC, the trauma of 911, the move to SF where I didn't know anyone, the move to a new firm, and the constant layoffs in the financial services industry after the dotcom bust. This rental condo represents perseverance. Every time I visit, it always reminds me that good things generally come out of hard work.
From now on, I've decided to do a mid-year passive income update because it motivates me to do more things. Doing a 1x review like this 2016 year in review is really helpful, but I think passive income deserves a more frequent look. I've already got two things I plan to accomplish in 1H2017 that may boost passive income by $2,000 a month.
See: A Long Road Home: Finally Achieving My Three Year Passive Income Goal In Five Years
14) Start hacking away at my vacation property mortgage.
Pass. I paid down an extra $21,000 of my 4.25%, 30-year fixed, Lake Tahoe vacation property mortgage. The amortization table says there's 20 years, 4 months left to go (sigh), but I plan to pay it off in 10 years or less. I've stopped aggressively paying down my two other mortgages because the rates are at 2.5% and 2.375%. With the 10-year bond yield at ~2.5%, it doesn't make sense to pay down mortgage rates that are lower than the risk-free rate.
Related: Mortgage Pay Down Strategies In A Rising Interest Rate Environment
15) Set up a new car fund.
Pass. I created a mid-life crisis fund at the beginning of the year so that I can buy my mid-life crisis car in 2017. The fund is almost fully loaded and I'm just waiting to find that perfect vehicle for a great price. I'm pretty sure I'll have a mid-life crisis for at least one month before I turn 40 where I'll go vegan, start working out 5X a week, and look for validation that I'm still a desirable man. Then I'll turn 40 and realize life is the same as it ever was.
For those of you who went through a mid-life crisis, let me know how it went and what you did to deal with such a funny scenario. With Carrie Fisher dying at 60, George Michael dying at 53, and Prince dying at 57, it's worth living it up if you have the means.
BETTER LUCKY THAN GOOD
Out of 15 goals, I failed at four, and was unsure about two. That means I got a grade of 60% – 73%, or a F to C-. Whoo hoo! Now you know why I couldn't get into a prestigious private school. I'm so happy with mediocrity!
The main financial takeaway from this report is that it's better to be lucky than good. I thought the stock market would be down marginally and robotic Hillary would win the election due to demographic trends and freebies for the middle class. Instead, Trump won, the stock market is up more than 10% and there's potentially a huge corporate tax cut down to 15% in 2017, just in time for my business to take advantage. Further, interest rates finally spiked after I locked in my refinance, so I can finally build a municipal bond portfolio to live for free. What luck!
When you invest for the long term, you start getting luckier with your investments. When you keep on grinding with your business, you'll inevitably stumble across business opportunities you could not have possibly foreseen. Out of my existing 2016 business revenue, roughly 25% of it was created without any anticipation.
What I'm most happy about for 2016 is that I didn't quit writing. It's so easy to slack off when you're already content. Conversely, it's so much easier to work hard when your back is against the wall and you've got no safety net. I've got to figure out how to create that consistent sense of urgency as I grow older.
Finally, things are going well on the family front. My parents are alive and healthy, home life is good, and I've strengthened existing friendships. Good relationships are priceless. I'm not sure why my restlessness and boredom have faded away, but it no longer gets old having lots of freedom like it did when I was 35.
Almost every other day, my wife and I go through this silly little skit. We know what we are going to say, but we say it anyway.
Me: Hey guess what?
Her: What?!
Me: There's no work tomooooorrow. There's no work tomooooorrow.
Her: Yay!
In unison we start singing and dancing: There's no work tomooooorrow.
Then we hug and figure out our day. I know it's silly, but laughing every day while doing silly stuff is what happiness means to us.
If you're curious, here are my goals and outlook for 2017, my actual 2017 results, 2018 year in review, and 2019 look back, and my 2020 recap.
Great post. As we look at our goals for 2017, we are looking for the best way to grow our investments, tax free. My spouse is self-employed and we are interested in an SEP because we can contribute more annually than a traditional IRA. As a highly compensated employee myself, I am limited in how much I can contribute to my company 401k each year, therefore limiting how much in total I can save in tax sheltered accounts such as an IRA. Since our adjusted gross income prevents us from even getting normal tax right off advantages for an IRA, we are trying to research best approach to SEP’s or any other products that may help shelter investment dividends or cap gains from taxes each year
Great job on thinking about the SEP.
Please read:
How To Contribute More Than $100,000 A Year Tax Free To Your Retirement Accounts
also
How Much Can I Actually Contribute To My Self Employed 401k Plan
My biggest goal in 2017 is to pay myself a small amount from my business every month. December 2016 was the first time my business paid me. The other goal is to finally perfect the skill I’ve been building for the past year and use that skill to double my pay at my full-time job.
I have a similar little skit I’ve been doing the past week. I sarcastically say something like, “It sure is miserable being home and getting to eat breakfast with my family.” Then we laugh and laugh.
This year has been pretty good for us, but it has also been very busy and a little stressful. Once we sell our house and move, 2017 should be a breeze.
I’d say that 2016 has been quite the successful year for FS, whether you attribute it to the hustle or the luck. Great content with nice detailed analyses each time.
It’s impressive how you’ve been able to keep a good amount of your funds in fixed growth like CDs. Nice way to diversify.
Sam, you probably get a lot of this, but I haven’t seen any comments like it so I don’t know for sure. DO you ever partner with other Blogs in a similar niche? For instance, another blog which you trust asks to pay for an ad on your website? Thanks! Also, as a long time reader, I am consistently surprised at the level of detail and the amount of content you post. This post is no exception!
Sam, congrats on a stellar year of lucky windfalls. ;) Isn’t it amazing how your hard work keeps paying you over and over?
I can’t complain much either about this year, but now I’m not sure where to allocate the lucky money I pulled out of the market. You like muni-bonds, right?
BTW, your deck is incredible! What an awesome place to get over your tennis losses this year…heh.
Wishing you and your wife a wonderful new year in 2017. Cheers!
Thanks Michael! Yes, I’ve been allocating the large majority of my money to municipal bonds in December once the 10-year bond yield got to 2.5%. I’ll take a 4.4% gross yield. That’s much better than my mortgage!
Related: The Case For Bonds and The Allure Of Zero Coupon Municipal Bonds
I can’t see interest rates going over 3% for the 10-year. Otherwise, the consumer is going to get squeeeezed, and the economy will start slowing again. Yin yang!
Have a great NY!
You really hit a home run on your $5K a month real estate property….Insane.
Seems like you don’t need so much money in CD’s any more, you can afford the risk.
Great job!
That property really is lucky, and I wish Zillow was right! Too bad it is way overestimating its value. Feels good on paper, but I know it’s not real. All I know that’s real is the $9,000 gross rent it generates a month and that the building is still standing (just drove by last week)!
A big CD slug expires Feb 2017 and I’m going to be reinvesting a lot of it in real estate crowdsourcing through RealtyShares. I’ve done a ton of due diligence, and feel comfortable. Posts about the sector will be plenty in 2017!
Cheers
My goal for 2017 is to save more.
“Feel free to let me know what other topics you’d like me to write more about for 2017.”
I have an idea. How does a typical family of four save 50-75% of their after tax income? I have seen you throw these number out repeatedly; however, it just doesn’t seem possible. Mortgage, food, clothes, youth sports, and insurance alone with two teenagers is a huge figure. Of course, total income is an obvious factor. For example, I’m sure it’s a lot easier to save 50% of 300K then it is 50% of 100K, etc. Do you count mortgage principal as savings? If not, it seems even more impossible. 200K generates about $10,500-$11,000 after tax income per month (after pension contributions/403b/health insurance, etc.). Can’t seem to get anywhere close to saving $5,250-$5,500 of the after tax income with a 10yr mortgage and two teenage children living in California.
Thanks for the feedback. It’s very hard to save more than 50% of one’s after tax income with a family of four. I’d start with maxing out both 401ks if both of you work, and then try and save an additional 20% after that. If you want to count your principal paydown as savings, that’s up to you.
Just make sure the amount of money you are saving each month HURTS. Otherwise, I don’t think you are saving enough.
If money is tight, then the key is to build more income streams. The amount of income growth is endless. It really was after I started aggressively investing in income generating assets AND working on my online business did my savings rate started hitting 75%.
See: How To Make Six Figures And Still Not Feel Rich – $200,000 A Year Income Edition
sam,
how much did you make with your side hustle driving for Uber. Would you recommend it?
I recommend it for the sign up bonus. The bonuses vary. For example, in SF they are offering $750 for new drivers who complete 30-50 rides within one month. So you make the $750 and you earn ~$15-20/hour net for 10-20 hours of work (3.5 rides per hour). So in other words, you can make $1,000+ in 2 days. That’s pretty good for most people. Sometimes, the signup bonuses go as high as $1,200 (last year).
Driving regular is NOT a great use of time or money IMO. I only switch on my Uber driver app when I’m going somewhere and have time. I enter my destination so the app can try and find someone along the way to pick up. For example, I always turn on the app when going to the airport or south bay. I’ll usually make $10 – 30 on the way, spending 5-10 extra minutes doing so. If I can make another $10 – $30 on the way back, I’ve paid for a month of gas.
The other thing is, you can only make driver referral money if you are a driver. That’s the passive income portion of driving, which I was hoping would do well. But I just lost interest after a while. Here’s mine if you plan to sign up for the bonus.
See:
How To Make $100 An Hour Driving For Uber
Why I No Longer Drive For Uber
Spoiled And Clueless? Try Working A Minimum Wage Job As An Adult
Good luck! It’s fun in the beginning and gets old, like most things. I signed up my wife and drove for her to collect a $1,000 bonus last year. That was fun. Only needed to give 20 rides :)
I have been reading your blog for a while now, Sam, and felt it was time to comment on your year-end review. I love honest year-end reviews of successes, but you also show where you missed or had a near miss. Your goals are also interesting. (Wanting to be funnier is an interesting goal.)
Money goals always pique my curiosity. As an accountant I see people from all walks of life and income levels. Net worth and income goals are great. Not many have a passive income goal (including yours truly). Providing personal financial details as you do is more than I would be comfortable with, but enjoy reviewing your numbers as a way to gauge my own newish blog and personal financial situation.
Keep sharing your insights; they are fun/informative/educational reading. You have a stalker from this neck of the woods you can count on for some traffic.
Happy New Year! Be safe.
Didn’t know you read my site. Cool.
I’ve been working on my passive income goal since 2012 when it was about $70,000 – $80,000. Hence, I feel comfortable sharing since it’s been almost five years and it’s only been once a year. It’s not that special of an amount as a 40 year old man living in expensive SF I don’t think. if I was 35 or younger with $200,000, that may be a different story. It’s been a long road that I’ve consistently worked on.
If it ever gets much greater than $250,000… then I’ll probably just wind down the series. Because after $250,000, who cares. It’s enough to be happy, even in expensive SF!
Happy holidays!
Sam
I am a novice and have a quick question about assessing one’s wealth.
My property value according to Zillow increased to 1,100,000 this year. However, I plan to live in the home for the next 15 years.
If I don’t plan to withdraw equity from the home or sell it, did I really increase my wealth this year. I don’t consider my house a liquid asset…
Hi Harry,
It’s really up to you whether you want to include it as part of your net worth. To be truly long real estate, you need to own more than one property as you can see. Otherwise, you are neutral.
See: Should I Include My Primary Residence As Part Of My Net Worth?
Cheers
thanks for the link …good discussion.
Sam,
I noticed that you have dividend income from a “Pre-Tax” account in your list of passive income streams. Is this money actually usable? Or are you just counting it because you could access it if you needed to? Just curious thanks!
Good question. The money is NOT usable until after age 59.5. But, I reduce the money by 25% to account for taxes. It’s just accounting. But, it is real money all the same.
Given I don’t have to live off my passive income anymore due to my business income, and given if I had to live off my passive income I live on less than the amount, I include the income.
I was thinking you might say X% is taken out for taxes. It wouldn’t be accurate otherwise. Thanks!
Thanks for the detailed update Sam. This was a great post. Like you, I’ve tried to set goals in all different areas of my life. I find it helps keep the happiness consistent when you’re advancing you agenda on a variety of fronts. For the most part, I achieved what I sought out to by keeping careful records and planning weekly and monthly activities that laddered up to my bigger picture goals. Cheers!!
Adding the deck was a brilliant move. I love the view and what you did with it—big win.
And I’m pumped to see your 2017 goals! They always motivate me as a blogger and personal finance nerd.
Hi Sam
If you need any advice or help on increasing your affiliate marketing income, I can always give you a 2nd opinion as I’ve worked in the affiliate industry for 15+ years. It’s the least I can do for all the information that I have learned from your blog.
Sure, shot you an e-mail. Cheers
CARS, CARS, CARS…..The midlife car need not be a budget buster. Check out bringatrailer.com, really cool used cars with a lot of backstory and interesting discussion. Bought a miata for my wife’s 45th here.
Sam, when you mention Rental Property 1 income as $66,708 for 2017 is that after repairs or is this just the rent you receive after PITI?
Yes, the figure is a roughly net estimate after all expenses. It will go down as repairs go up. I’m holding a $17,000 rental deposit from them that I will use to make repairs if anything is damaged. The tenants aren’t that responsible, unfortunately. But I’m going in for a quarterly check on Jan 2 b/c a new tenant roommate is moving in.
Love your honesty … I need to pass in more categories myself next year!
I like your new layout. Looks like a magazine.
You mentioned the goal to spend a month in Asia. Any reason Hong Kong isn’t on your list of potential places? Maybe you’ve already been there before?
I spent two weeks there this year and a week and a half there last year, and I love it! Depending on where you stay, you can literally walk out of a hotel, hop on a train, get off the train, hike up a mountain for hours, hike back down, get on the train, and go back to your hotel room, all without a car. The combo of hiking opportunities and an awesome metropolis is awesome.
Hong Kong is fun, but I went there for 10 years in a row because of the Hong Kong rugby sevens boondoggle tournament. I wanted to go to a new place a place where I could practice my Mandarin.
At least I checked out new places in Europe so that was really fun.
about to turn 42. 3 months ago i bot a certified pre owned tesla for 59k. zero to 60 in 4.2 seconds. sold my 2003 acura mdx for 3.5k. i am cheap, but surprisingly don’t regret this. do it.
Good to know that all is well going to a 16X more expensive car! I did that as well in 2014 when I went from a 2000 Land Rover Discover II that was worth ~$2,000 to a $20,000 Honda Fit. It felt great and I asked myself how come I didn’t upgrade earlier w/ all the creature comforts like Bluetooth.
I’ve got my car fund positioned for a $60,000 cash expense in 2017. Let’s do this!
Good midlife crisis car. How’s the family and work?
I’m glad you continued you to write in 2016 as well FS! As a 24 yo working in finance in NYC, reading your site is a constant reminder of the importance of hard work, grinding while young, and not settling for complacency. Cheers to 2017.
Hi Sam,
That sense of urgency!! I remember when I had it. I was up at 04:00 AM worked 12 to 18 hours per day. I went to bed thinking about how to do it better the next day. Little by little I did better and better. With success I lost the urgency. Wish I could get it back!! Any ideas let me know. Thanks, read your posts religiously.
Howdy KLR,
4am is impressive! I started at about 5am for 10 years, then went to 5:30am, now am grinding starting at 6am on average. Gotta do some work before the stock market opens at 6:30am PST right?
I know what it is that will bring back the sense of urgency. The answer is providing for a family. I’ve felt this way ever since I was in middle school when I noticed my mother was really stressed at work. All I wanted to do was make enough to be financially independent and let her retire earlier.
That deck just rocks. Mixed emotions about a new year in our family! The youngest finishes high school and then we’ll have the “empty nest”. Lots of exciting decisions ahead though – downsize, keep working, travel, etc… just have to keep focused on our health so we can enjoy whatever lies ahead! Love the end of the post “laughing every day while doing silly stuff is what happiness means to us” – that’s a no cost win for both of you every day of your lives! Great stuff and looking forward to more of what you’ll share with us in 2017!
Congrats on the empty nest! Although, tell me, is it a somewhat melancholic feeling? I ask b/c I feel somewhat sad writing this post b/c it just means that it’s one less year of my life to enjoy.
Love to laugh :)
Still one in the nest til Sept. 17′! I think it will be hard at first but we plan to hit the road so we don’t miss him so much ;) Time to get out there and see the world – the years go by so fast!
Sounds like a great year to me even if it sounds mediocre to you. That French open picture looks amazing. I was able to get to Wimbledon a few years ago; it was an amazing experience. I’m sure Roland Garros is special in it’s own way. Hopefully I make it to France and Australia and complete the grand slam one day.
I’ve had a long-term goal to make it to 4.5 by the time I turned 30. I started hitting with a few really good players about 4 years ago, and I’ve been steadily climbing the USTA ratings. Finally got the bump to 4.5 at the beginning of the month (I’m 28). Never imagined I would make it this far.
And congrats on staying a 5.0! We have very few of players at that level in New England, so that must mean you competed quite well!
Whoo hoo! Congrats on getting bumped to 4.5. I think 4.5 is the BEST level to play in. Some good players that will give you a challenge. Everybody has a decent game, and it’s a level where you know you can get comfortable in, even if you didn’t play college.
In 5.0, it’s kinda brutal b/c 90% of the players played in college. Big serves and consistent all around. Further, many of them are also in their early 20s too, which isn’t a problem for you, but it is more for old folks like me! :)
Let me know how 4.5 goes! Maybe we can hit some time.
There´s no work tomoooooorrow hahaha! , I can really picture you both saying that so happy!
Im about to turn 22 for now i am just investing monthly in the stock market (for my retirement haha), and been reading your posts since 2-3 years, and I feel like im about to really start my journey to financial freedom and with all your posts is literally like having you as a teacher and has been great to learn many things from your own experiences!
CONGRATS for all your achievements this year!!
continue with the good job FinSam Thanks!
and HAPPY NEW YEAR! ;)
Wow, to be 22 again. Almost 18 years ago for me. Cherish every moment. It goes by quick. Don’t take anything for granted either. Listen, learn, respect your elders. They know more than they are letting on. So much easier in life when you avoid the pitfalls just by learning from someone who has been there.
HNY!
Nice tennis goals! As a fellow ~40 year old it’s great to see the passion. If you’re a Federer fan (who can’t be haha) follow FedFan (https://federerfan07.com and @FedererFan07). The guy puts up great stuff with news and updates, especially at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Cool, will check it out! I’ve got a one-handed backhand as well, just like Fed. I have dreams of being secretly as good so I can wipe my opponents out. Always good to dream!