We achieved one of our financial goals earlier this summer; building a house that we could call home for the next 20+ years. For over two years we directed most of our savings towards that goal and, after moving in and getting settled, we felt like we needed to get started on a new financial plan to help set us on the right path for the future.
I used the steps found in this MoneySense magazine article to launch our new financial plan, and for the past 10 weeks I have completed each of the steps outlined in the article and shared them on this blog. The intention was to create a complete financial plan by the end of the series, and I think we’ve done just that.
Create Your Final Plan
The best part about writing this series was that each of the steps required us to take action in order to complete our financial plan. Most of the actions were for things that are easily put off for another day, but because I was writing the series I felt an obligation to get everything done.
Our plan starts with taking care of some short term financial obligations:
- Landscaping and fence – $2,500
Student loan – $3,500(paid off this month!)- New (used) car – $10,000
Then we listed our top 3 financial goals:
- Take a 4 week trip to Ireland within 8 years
- Pay off our mortgage in 15 years
- Retire by age 55
Using a basic statement of assets and liabilities, we showed a current net worth of $184,175. After all of the bills are paid, we have a monthly cash surplus of $2,050. We’ve agreed to earmark that money each year for our financial goals in the following ways:
- Increasing our mortgage payments by $600 per month
- Transferring $125/month into a high interest savings account for our trip to Ireland
- Transferring $500/month into my tax free savings account
- Transferring $500/month into my wife’s tax free savings account
- Transferring $325/month into my RRSP
I have updated my life insurance policy by purchasing an additional $500,000 in coverage through my group plan at work. My monthly insurance premiums now costs me $43 per month for a total of $750,000 in coverage. We met with a lawyer last week to create our will and to set-up our powers of attorney. It cost $400 to have a lawyer prepare our will.
Next, I created an investment policy statement:
To maintain a portfolio consisting of 90% equities and 10% cash, with the equity portion made up entirely of dividend growth stocks. I will purchase stocks when they are value-priced and hold them for the long term. Dividends will not be automatically re-invested, they will accumulate in a cash account along with any new money added, until the right buying opportunity comes along. Individual stocks will not be sold unless the dividend is reduced, the dividend pay-out ratio becomes too high, or the company is no longer focused on growing their dividend.
The expected annual returns for this portfolio are between 6% to 8% per year, with individual stocks maintaining a similar 5-year rate of dividend growth. The time horizon is 23 years until I reach my goal of retiring at age 55. I fully expect volatility in this portfolio and I am prepared to withstand losses of up to 20% in any given year.
Our Complete Financial Plan
I feel like we accomplished a lot over the past 10 weeks; now we have a complete financial plan to guide us into the future. If our goals change, or if our financial picture changes, we can make simple modifications to this plan and keep going forward.
We have made a commitment to stick to this plan and to review it once a year. Should any major event occurs in our lives, we will make the appropriate adjustments to our plan. It helps to know that our path to financial freedom is laid out in front of us.
