As I'm writing this blog post, today is the last day of 2021. Other than the temperature being in the low-single-digits Fahrenheit and the several inches of snow cover here in Central Wisconsin, it would be hard to tell that we're just hours away from January 2022. The year went by so very fast and was filled with big decisions like quitting my day job to focus on writing for The Motley Fool and Seeking Alpha.
Since it's the end of the year, that brings me to whether I accomplished my financial and personal goals for the year. Let's dive in!
Image Source: My portfolio
2021 Financial Goals:
1. Collect at least $1,800 in net dividends during the year - Success - $1,823.11
In a bit of a spoiler alert for my December 2021 dividend income, I received a record $353.38 in net dividends/special dividends. I'll save the details behind that figure for my monthly dividend income post, but that brought me to $1,823.11 in net dividends collected during the year.
In hindsight, my goal to receive at least $1,800 in net dividends for the years was just within reach. This signals that I was on the mark between setting both a reasonable and ambitious goal.
2. End 2021 with at least $2,200 in net annual forward dividends - Success - $2,295.05
I also achieved my second goal to end 2021 with at least $2,200 in net annual forward dividends, which is evidenced by my screenshot above in which my portfolio will produce $2,295.05 in net annual forward dividends as of today heading into 2022. Since I only beat my goal by a few percent, I would argue that this was also a goal that struck a good balance between being lofty and attainable.
The single greatest factor that helped me to reach my goal was consistently deploying capital. Because I deployed over $2,000 in capital in 10 of the 12 months in 2021, I was able to invest more than $27,000 for the year!
3. Amass at least $55,000 in investments/end 2021 with a net worth of at least $65,000 - Success - $70,700 in investments and $84,500 in net worth
Due to my commitment to capital deployment for the year and the huge bull market, I was able to crush my goals of amassing at least $55,000 in investments and ending the year with a net worth of at least $65,000.
Financially, 2021 was a year beyond my wildest dreams for this point in my life. With each passing year, I become more motivated to work even harder and smarter to help my portfolio be all that I know it can be.
2021 Personal Goals:
1. Publish at least 1 blog post each week - Success - 52 blog posts published during the year
Once again, I was able to achieve my goal of writing one blog post each week. Looking ahead to 2022, I'm going to keep my goal the same as it has been for years now. That's because I believe writing one blog post each week for this site is enough content for me to properly document my journey to financial independence for myself and posterity.
2. Publish 1 Seeking Alpha article each week - Success - 59 articles published for the year
I also was able to exceed my goal of publishing 1 Seeking Alpha article each week. There were several weeks during the year that I had 2 Seeking Alpha articles published, which explains how 59 of my articles were published during 2021.
Similar to blog posts, 1 Seeking Alpha article each week is a nice balance for me. That's why I'm running the goal back for 2022.
3. End 2021 with 8,000+ followers on Seeking Alpha - Fail - 5,862 followers
Unfortunately, I was unable to run the table with my financial and personal goals due to falling short of 8,000+ followers on Seeking Alpha. But to be fair, I did gain over 800 followers over the end of last year on the articles that I published. It wasn't entirely surprising that I failed to reach 8,000 Seeking Alpha followers. I wasn't exactly covering popular tickers for most of the year because I find that too many articles are published on certain stocks and I enjoy researching those less covered stocks.
Overall, I believe I did pretty well with my personal goals for the year. Going 2 for 3 on your goals is just a sign that you're pushing yourself, but also being realistic about those goals.
Concluding Thoughts:
I'm really thrilled to have attained all but 1 of my goals for 2021. The year in general was great for me and I look forward to giving 2022 my best shot as well. That's all I can do, so I'll let the cards fall where they may!
Discussion:
What were your goals for 2021?
Were you able to accomplish them too easily?
Did they prove to be too ambitious?
I appreciate your readership and look forward to your comments in the section below!
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