Thinking About New Goals for 2025
Do I need to revise my goals every year? I don’t know. Maybe I should think about them.
When I started this blog in 2022, I had a lot of cash. So, my main goal in 2022 was to get “fully invested.” I also wanted to grow my investments to match my business income, which was an inspiring goal.
Then, in 2023, I decided I shouldn’t be taking on crazy risks, and all I really needed to do was beat inflation.
Then, in 2024, I said I wanted to reduce trading, add new investment types, be fully invested, and beat inflation.
As I write this, I am not entirely meeting all of those goals. I still have relatively large amounts of cash in checking accounts. Something like 15% of my total investable assets are sitting in cash. Not money market funds, but bank accounts.
If I really wanted to, I could reduce that tomorrow. At least I could put an additional 10% into investments that return some income. (As I wrote this, I pushed 5% of my cash into preferred shares, earning around 9% yearly. And started doing some fund transfers to get more into brokerage accounts.)
I have not pursued real estate as planned and may not go that route. I talked to an agent and looked at some investment ideas, but this kind of decision is hard to reverse. If I bought a condo to try to rent it out, I would have to hold onto it for at least 5-10 years. Laws can change in that time, taxes can change, and attitudes towards real estate investors (landlords!) can change. I don’t know if I want to get involved in that. I don’t even know where I’ll live in 10 years.
I am beating inflation well and feel my investments are stabilizing or simplifying. So, at least I’m meeting that goal.
As for 2025, what do I want my goals to be?
My 2025 Goals
I think, first, I need to keep doing what I have been doing. My investment returns have been great, even if I’m not 100% invested, I’m 85%-90%, and that’s pretty good. I like my risk profile, generally.
Should I add real estate? I am leaning towards no right now. If I buy some, it will be for personal use (a vacation home, say) rather than as a true investment.
I continue to want to beat inflation. And since I lean towards not losing money, will also shy away from riskier investments.
Maybe the next frontier of my investments needs to be in reducing taxes. Either now (withholding taxes) or in the future (tax-free capital gains). I need to investigate that more.
So in 2025, I’ll:
- Beat inflation with my returns
- Track the S&P 500 return (not lag behind it too far)
- Lean towards capital preservation and away from pure risk or speculation
- Increase tax effectiveness
My first step may be to determine how much tax I’m paying on interest, dividends, and capital gains today and see if inefficiencies stand out.
