2011 Accomplishments and 2012 Goals

Financially, 2011 was a great year for our household.  After a good year of savings in 2010, we saved even more in 2011.   We maxed out our 403b and 457 accounts for a total of $66,000.  We also added $5,000 to my wife's traditional IRA.  The final step to our banner year will come next week when I add $5,000 to a Roth IRA.   Fortunately for us, we were able to hammer our 403b, 457 and IRA accounts to the amount of $76,000.  At the same time, we also accrued $6,892 in our 403b pension plans.  The grand total:  $82,892!

Here are our retirement contributions for 2011:

Retirement Accounts	Self	Wife	Total
457 at ECS	$16,500	$16,500	$33,000
403b at ECS	$16,500	$16,500	$33,000
Roth IRA & Traditional IRA	$5,000	$5,000	$10,000
403b pension at ECS	$3,717	$3,175	$6,892
Total 2011 Retirement Savings	$41,717	$41,175	$82,892

In 2011 we also continued to fund various educational accounts for our son and our nephews and nieces.  Here are the totals for 2011: 

Educational Accounts	Son	Nieces & Nephews	Total
Coverdale ESA	$2,000	$0	$2,000
GA 529	$300	$300	$600
Total 2011 Educational Savings	$2,300	$300	$2,600

Here is the grand total of all our savings for 2011:

Accounts	2011 Totals
2011 Retirement Savings	$82,892
2011 Educational Savings	$2,600
Total 2011 Savings	$85,492

Our financial goals for 2012 are pretty simple:  

1. We will continue to fully fund our retirement and educational accounts.
2. Since we will be enrolled in a high-deductible health plan in 2012, we will contribute $6,250 to our Health Savings Account.  In November we established a HSA at Alliant Credit Union.  We went with Alliant because their fee structure was transparent and their overall fees were low.    

Next December I hope to write a post confirming that we saved more than $90,000 in 2012!