You say you want a resolution baby...

Resolutions are tricky animals. Most people seem to make it too vague, something like: "I'll exercise more this year". It's pretty easy to get discouraged there. How much is more? If you don't have a set goal, then you'll get dismayed pretty quickly. This is why gyms fill up for 3 weeks in January, then settle back in.

I'm going to try something different, and not because of the resolution tradition, but mostly because my goals are chiefly financial, and it's a new tax year.

The rules of my yearly goals:

1. The goals must be specific: Quantitate whenever possible, and have a definitive goal for everything. That way, I can gauge my progress, and know when I'm done.
   
2. The goals must be transparent: I'm going to lay everything out, and hold myself accountable in a public forum (here). That means reasons, motivations, and numbers.
   
3. The goals must be checked up on: Monthly, I will review the past month, progress so far this year, and set sub-goals for the next month. That breaks things down to easily manageable month long packages. These will also be posted. I can also add month specific goals.

And now, my goals for 2008.

• FINANCIAL
  
  • Accumulate and maintain at least 3x monthly expenses as an emergency fund.
    
    • The recommended value of an emergency fund is supposed to be 3 months of bills and expenses. Our savings was drained by both the trip around Europe, and moving to the states (first and last months rent, covering us until I started working, etc). Bills and payments alone, I estimate cost me about $2000/month. That includes rent, car payments, debt payments, phone, internet, utilities, insurance, and other bills. Include food and gas, and we'll assume $2500 a month. That's $7500 dollars, not counting the drop in monthly bills I plan on enacting.
      
    • I plan to do this by depositing $2000 from each of the bonuses my wife and I will receive from the military this year, and by depositing at least $250/month from my paycheck into my HSBC savings account, which already contains about $1000 I've saved. This will lead to a total of $8000 by years end. The money will be saved in an easily accessible, liquid savings account by HSBC, earning 4.25% APY interest.
    
    
  • Deposit at least ½ max contributions to both mine and my wife's Roth IRAs
    
    • The earlier you prepare for retirement, the better. Even if we're not maxing out our IRAs, we can still deposit some. The maximum contribution for 2008 is $5000 dollars. My goal is to contribute at least $2500 each. This is a cost of $417 per month. For the first month or two, this may not be possible. Once some other items are paid off, it may become easier. This goal may not be met 100%, but any contribution will pay back in spades down the road.
    
    
  • Eliminate my credit card debt
    
    • I, for the first time, got a credit card, to help cover the costs of my wife's books and tuition. I get 0% interest for the first 6 months, and on any charges from the first 6 months. Although there is no interest, I want to eliminate that charge, and have the credit card maintained at $0 balance total per month. Once the card is empty, I will begin using it for specific purposes to improve my credit. I think I'll start out with using it to pay for gas, and pay it off in full at the end of each month.
      
    • There is $791.92 debt on the card right now. Paying that off will be a matter of using one of our bonuses.
    
    
  • Eliminate my loan debt
    
    • We had to take out a signature loan to pay for my wife's first quarter of school. Now that she's in the reserves, she'll get 100% tuition assistance. The loan was incredibly helpful, but I want to get rid of that $2,243.78 remaining, and the $211/month bill it carries.
      
    • That too, will be paid off by using some bonus money (in case you were wondering how much bonus money we'll be getting to be able to pay off so much and still save, we're each getting $7500 to affiliate with the reserves for our IRR time)
    
    
  • Refinance car for better rate, and reduce balance of loan by at least $5000
    
    • The car we were borrowing broke down, and we had to get a car quickly. Although we got an ok deal, our lack of a significant down payment meant our loan had 14% interest rate! Once we have more money for a better down payment (probably from my bonus), we should refinance through my credit union for a more reasonable rate. The balance remaining is $10,485.41. I want to see that rate reduced, the monthly payments dropped, and the total balance dropped by at least $5000. Much of that will be the monthly payments, and the rest will be the down payment we'll use for the refinanced loan to get that better rate.

Educational/Professional

• Take and pass the AMT MT board certification exam
  
  • I qualify now for the AMT, even though I haven't finished my bachelor's. I need to turn the application in (it's being signed by somebody else as a recommendation now) and study enough to pass. The bachelor's degree program should be enough studying.
  
  
• Complete my Bachelor's of Science
  
  • I had to stop my bachelor's program because the lab in Wuerzburg didn't do enough to let me do clinical exams. Now that I'm back in the states, I need to finish it. I qualify for life experience, which needs to be certified by previous supervisors, and I need to do the clinicals I don't have enough experience for.
  
  
• Complete required courses to qualify for PA course
  
  • The next step I want to take is the Army PA course. A bachelor's after 1 year of study, and a masters after 1 year of clinical experience, owing only reserve time in return. I plan to continue on to med school, but for now, I want to do that. I will take this year to take the prerequisite courses I need, and put together the application packet. This will happen after my bachelor's is finished
  
  
• Assemble and submit promotion packet for E-6
  
  • If I plan to do the PA course, I will be getting paid as the rank I hold when I'm accepted. A promotion to E-6 could mean good money later on. Also, if I'm deployed, I'd rather go as that rank. Not only that, but since much of our senior NCOs will be going to Kosovo for a year, I need to step up and fill that space.

Physical

• Train for and complete a full marathon
  
  • I've really been slacking off on exercise to get more situated with work. I need to set a goal. My wife is doing a full marathon, and has come up with a training plan. I want to train for, and complete that marathon with her.

Charitable

• Volunteer at least 1 day/month to charitable causes, and exceed a total of 100 hours within the year.
  
  • I need to get more involved in my community, and to get out. 1 day (8 hours) worth of volunteer work is not too much to ask per month. I need to discover volunteer opportunities, and take them.

Those are my goals for the year. Most of them are financial, trying to get into a more stable place, and the rest are personal development, trying to set goals that will improve me as a person, and as a professional.

I look forward to hearing your comments, and I hope you'll all wish me luck.