Maxed out my RRSP for 2008 with a final lump sum contribution in late December and also rebalanced accordingly. Happy to have finished 2008 with over $360K, although this number is somewhat inflated given a large tax bill (~$12K) and examination fee (~$3.5K) which will come due in early 2009. With all this mind, here are my financial goals for 2009:
(1). Maximize RRSP contributions for 2009 using a biweekly DCA strategy. I estimate that I will have near the maximum contribution room of $20K. Hopefully with this and a rebound in the capital markets my RRSP portfolio will exceed $50K by this time next year.
(2). Achieve total net worth of $390K by January 1, 2010. If we subtract $15.5K from my current net worth in anticipation of taxes and exams, this equates to about a 13% increase. It would be nice to be closer to $400K but given that I won't be working as much in 2008 as I did in 2008 I want to target a more realistic figure and not be disappointed if I don't reach a higher number.
(3). Leave the TFSA money as an emergency fund and plan to contribute another $5000 on January 1, 2010 to maintain an emergency fund of ~$10K.
(4). Begin to reallocate funds and start a non-registered portfolio consisting of equity index funds (with all of my bond fund money inside RRSP) once RRSP room has been maxed out so as not to have excess cash lying around doing nothing.
BONUS GOAL: Reach a net worth of $400,000 by January 1, 2009. |