NOTE: Quarterly Numbers Updated on 12/30/2016…

I started my humble journey towards Financial Independence in 2014. But, I really did not have any formal goals for 2014. I just wanted to create multiple passive income streams, protect my family with life insurance, etc. I established what Financial Independence means to me and what the goals were. I accomplished all the implicit goals I had for 2014.

For 2015, I was a little bit more formal about goal setting and set my 2015 goals and updated my progress quarterly (here). In addition, I also tracked my progress via a Monthly Progress Report (here). At the end of year 2015, I reviewed my progress towards FI and I was happy to have reached and/or exceeded most goals I set (here). I did fail to reach some goals and they will be rolled over to 2016 (below).

For 2016, I have achieved most of the goals I set out for myself. The two goals where I failed badly are: Keep eating expenses under $200 per month & Estate planning. I will try again this year.

The Financial Independence criterion for me are:

For 2016, I have thought about the following goals to get me closer to the above financial independence goals.

1. Keep scouting for a possible home
   1. 03/31/2016        Not much scouting done…job hunting kept me busy
   2. 06/30/2016       Went to two open houses….prices are un-affordable still….
   3. 09/30/2016       Went to three open houses….prices are even more un-affordable…..
   4. 12/31/2016        Decided to wait for interest rates to go up and prices to go down…
2. Contribute $9600 towards Home Downpayment Fund
   1. 03/31/2016           $3100/$9600 done                         $6500 remaining
   2. 06/30/2016          $5314/$9600 done                         $4286 remaining        
   3. 09/30/2016         $8495/$9600 done                         $1105 remaining
   4. 12/31/2016           Done
3. Contribute $2400 to 529 College Fund 2 DONE (03/2016)
   1. Vanguard 529 Plan
      1. 03/31/2016        $3k/$2.4k done   Minimum investment 3k
      2. 06/30/2016       Done            
      3. 09/30/2016       n/a 
      4. 12/31/2016    
4. Contribute $4800 to 529 College Fund 1
   1. Vanguard 529 Plan
      1. 03/31/2016        $1400/$4800 done   $3400 remaining
      2. 06/30/2016       $2400/$4800 done   $2400 remaining    
      3. 09/30/2016       $3600/$4800 done   $1200 remaining
      4. 12/31/2016        Done    
   • Contribute $16k to Passive Income Streams (stretch goal of $24k) DONE (03/31/2016)
     1. VCADX, VWIUX,VTMFX, VWELX,VDIGX, VHDYX, VTCLX, VTMSX, VTMGX
        1. 03/31/2016        $36k/$16k done       $0K (severance,tax refund, espp)
        2. 06/30/2016       Done
        3. 09/30/2016       n/a  
        4. 12/31/2016
   • Max out 401k contributions for both me and my wife.
     1. 2016 401k limit is $18000 per person => $36k contributions for family
        1. 03/31/2016        $8.6k/$36k done         $27.04k remaining
        2. 06/30/2016        $27k/$36k done          $8.97k remaining
        3. 09/30/2016        $32k/$36k done          $4k remaining
        4. 12/31/2016         Done
   • Keep eating out expenses under $200 pm
     1. Last year, it ballooned to $377 pm..
        1. 03/31/2016    $356 pm     ….job hunting lunches 😦
        2. 06/30/2016   $393 pm     ….still out of control…need to tighten up….. 
        3. 09/30/2016   $362.53       ….not much improvement….$30 pm is less  
        4. 12/31/2016    Failed badly….     
   • Start and finish Estate Planning
     1. Will, POD beneficiaries, Caretaker for our child, etc
        1. 03/31/2016  No progress yet      
        2. 06/30/2016  No progress yet        
        3. 09/30/2016  No progress yet      
        4. 12/31/2016   Motivation lacking….perhaps due to tough choices…
   • Get a more stable job. DONE (03/2016)
     1. Current job is on very shaky foundations
        1. 03/31/2016  New job yeah!!      
        2. 06/30/2016  3 months into new job…doing okay.      
        3. 09/30/2016  6 months into new job…doing okay.      
        4. 12/31/2016  9 months into new job…doing okay