I'll attempt to include a screenshot of my
December 2009 post, but the run down I posted then was that we contributed $14,147 to retirement, our retirement accounts had increased by $33,219, and the value had exceed $100K for the first time.We had paid over $10K on a home equity loan, with total debt decreasing by $17K. Not sure our total debt amount, but we may have had a loan on my van and home debt. If I had to guess $160K to $175K in debt.
I also reported paying our daughter's braces in cash along with a trip to Disney World. We were also getting ready for my husband to deploy to the Middle East for the second time.
Ten years later:
Husband is cosigner on a car loan for our daughter which had a balance of $4,959 at the end of December 2019. Otherwise we have zero debt.
We do not own a home and live on a military installation. We pay rent equal to our housing allowance. At this point we have rented since June of 2015.
We have $95,327 in cash (most of it invested in high interest rate CDs.) Part of that, $72,083.93, is cash towards our Big Savings Goal of $200,000.
We saved $21,627.56 in 2019 towards retirement. Our retirement accounts increased $172,287.30 in one year, with an ending balance of $660,822.27.
In 2019 both of our daughters were in college full time for the first time. Tuition bills were paid in full, with our oldest daughter taking out her first loan in the fall for $2,750. No parent loans thus far!
Our 2007 Honda vehicles are still paid off. While they have lots of miles they still run and look fantastic.
In ten years there has been significant progress in retirement and we have mostly stayed out of debt (just a little help for our daughter).
It's fun to look back and I look forward to another ten years of financial progress. It should make for an interesting story!
January 15th, 2020 at 11:47 pm 1579132047
January 16th, 2020 at 01:11 pm 1579180300
January 16th, 2020 at 06:48 pm 1579200489
January 16th, 2020 at 08:16 pm 1579205772
January 21st, 2020 at 12:41 am 1579567317