By Ashley
Thank you so much to those who left thoughtful comments on my post about open enrollment! It gave me a lot of ideas to think about investment strategies and encouraged me to think more strategically about moving forward with financial investing. Participating in this conversation also made me think more broadly about my financial goals for 2025. So here’s what I’m thinking about for next year:
Travel less
Ha! As an avid traveler, I never thought this would be on my list! 2024 was a unique year. I took two major international trips in the spring (one was to Peru for work and the other was a long-awaited Italian vacation we had planned for over a year). Furthermore, I took a leave of absence in the fall semester (August-December). I took advantage of this by taking several small trips: visiting my friend in Wisconsin, hiking Havasu Falls with my husband, and a long mother-daughter weekend in Savannah. Not to mention our regular family trips, like visiting family in Austin during the summer. It all adds up to a lot of travel!
The trip was fun and, fortunately, planned in advance. I’ve known about Italy for over a year, and started budgeting for sabbatical travel last December. I was prepared for 2024, which was going to be a busy and expensive travel year. But as much as I loved these adventures, I’m planning for a more relaxed, budget-friendly 2025.
In 2025, we will still have one big summer vacation and we will budget and save accordingly. Otherwise, we’ll stay closer to home. We might take a long weekend road trip during one of the kids’ school breaks, but there are no big trips that require extensive planning or saving. the goal? Less time and money is spent on planes and more time spent together close to home.
Investments
My open enrollment post covers many of my investment predictions and goals for the coming year. The main point is that I want to increase the amount I invest and diversify my overall investment portfolio. One thing I didn’t touch on in this post is real estate.
I still have a goal to buy a rental property, although I’m not sure if that will happen in 2025 or in the future. For now, I plan to do more research, monitor interest rates, and be ready to seize any good opportunity if it arises.
We’ve discussed the debate about short-term versus long-term, and I think we’ve come to long-term as the best option for us right now, and it better be somewhere nearby. Ultimately, I want to invest in a vacation rental that can be a vacation spot for our family. But for now, we’ll focus on monitoring the market locally and getting to know the rental landscape.
Open an LLC
I’ve been thinking about this idea since the summer, and it’s time to make it official. By opening an LLC, I can do business under that name and pay the girls when they help me with work tasks. It’s not just about getting help; It’s about setting them up with their Roth IRAs at a young age, and planting the seeds of independent, smart financial saving. Although it won’t be much at first, I see this as an investment in their financial literacy and future security.
Interview (and hire?) a financial planner/wealth manager
The comments on my last post made me rethink my stance on financial planners. My husband and I interviewed for a couple a while ago (maybe 2023??) but we never pulled the trigger on hiring anyone. Overall, I feel like I do a pretty good job of managing our portfolio and would have a hard time paying financial planner fees when I feel like I can get the same ROI using self-managed options through my Fidelity account(s). However, your comments got me thinking. I wouldn’t commit to hiring someone as a goal, but I would at least like to interview some people and see if I like their plans and if it makes sense at this time to have someone else help us manage our investments.
“Invest” in what matters
Aside from traditional investments, I also want to start investing money and time in things that contribute to our overall health, happiness, and values as a family. For me, this means prioritizing health and wellness through high-quality, nutrient-dense foods and supporting local brands (when possible) for products we use regularly.
I have already started purchasing a monthly farm box of meat from a family farm in our area. I do something similar with the veggie box too. It’s a little more expensive than meat sold in local grocery stores, but it’s much higher quality (e.g., pasture raised and processed, ethically slaughtered, etc.). You can see the difference in the color of the meat and taste the difference too! I joke with the family that you can taste the difference in a “happy cow.” Although this is something I would never have done 5-10 years ago when I was in the midst of debt reduction mode, it is something I have had an increasing interest in over the past couple of years.
I feel the same about some of the personal hygiene and beauty products we use as well. Sunscreens, facial moisturizers, shampoo/conditioner, deodorant, etc. I started to become more aware of the chemicals in many of these products and began looking for cleaner alternatives. They tend to be more expensive, but that’s something I want to start prioritizing. At the end of the day, I want us all to live long, healthy lives, and I believe the things we put into our bodies matter.
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These are my big financial goals for 2025: travel less (but with more intention), build a smarter investment portfolio, make my business official with an LLC, and start prioritizing higher-quality food and products. Have you started planning for 2025 yet? What are some of your financial goals?
Hi, I’m Ashley! Arizona on paper, Texas in heart. Lover of running, blogging and all things cheesy. Newly 40 years old, married and mother of two children, working in the academic field. Trying to finally (finally!) pay off that ridiculous 6-figure student loan debt!
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