Financial Goals for Anyone (h/t to Financially Blonde)

So I was just wondering what to do for a Friday post when I saw that Shannon over at Financially Blonde had written up her Top 10 Financial Goals that she suggests to clients. It's a really interesting list and I figured I'd see how I was doing. I'll italicize her text then respond in red.

1) 15% Savings Rate -- Not right now, because I'm at the tail end of debt repayment. However, my rough budget for my new job (starting in July) suggests about a 40% savings rate from my gross income. That'll include $1000 to a 401(k) every month, along with contributions to an e-fund, housing fund, car fund, and travel fund. After I finish off the credit card debt I hope to up my savings even more. I'm really looking forward to see how well I can do on my savings rate this year.

2) Emergency Savings – Fail! Shannon thinks this should be around $6000 for me ("six months of living expenses," which I interpret to mean basics, not contributions to savings) and as I wrote earlier this week, not only do I have only $50 in it right now, but my savings plan suggests that I'll inch it up to $3000 and leave it there, unless my salary dramatically increases.

3) Retirement Account Started –Pass: barely for now (it's at $2870) but this is the one where I should make the most progress this year. My stretch goal is to have this at around $13,000 by the end of 2014 and then keep on keepin' on.

4) Healthcare for your family –Pass! I have health care through my employer, including dental, although I will have to make contributions for both medical and dental; not sure how much yet but I think it's around $100 for both, pre-tax.

5) Credit Score over 750 – Pass! It was over 800 when I checked it this morning, even having dropped a little because I just closed a credit card (the annual fee came up and I wasn't using it enough to make it worthwhile.)

6) Debt to Income ratio of 35% or less -- Definitely a pass, although I am currently paying way more than 35% of my income. But if a meteor struck and I suddenly had to pay only the minimums on my student loan and credit card then my DTI would be around 3%.

7) Ability to finance a home –LOL NO. Let's start with my total lack of a down payment and move on to my total lack of a down payment. With a side stop at "income so low that at my current salary and rate of savings, I should have a down payment in, uh, 18 years or so."

8) Ability to open a credit card – Oh, definitely, wouldn't be a problem. In the past, I've opened four cards for rewards points reasons, and one to do a balance transfer. Four of the five are still open, and see above on the great credit score, so I'm sure I could get another if there was a really good reason. No plans to do so, however.

9) Debt Freedom –Getting there! However, I am not going to promise to live an all-cash lifestyle beginning in October (my debt-free date as of now.) I anticipate a car loan sometime in the next five years, although it will be for a new-to-me car, not a new-new car. Depending on how things shake out, there could also be a mortgage in my future.

10) Financial Freedom –This is the "f-you-to-your-job" goal, and I am probably a good 30 years from that :) Barring a miracle, I can't see any way of not working until I'm about 65, give or take a year or two. Academic salaries aren't high enough to save a lot of money on, and I don't anticipate random inheritances or anything like that. C'est la vie. I enjoy my work, although I don't enjoy the crazy lack of security that goes with it.

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So -- to sum up, I'm doing well at a lot of things, and badly at a lot of things. That sounds about right! :-)