What I Saw

I was surprised to say the least at how unimpressive my finances look once I add my goals. I thought I was doing well by putting money in my retirement every month and keeping my checking account higher than my monthly expenses. I am going to model my personal financial scenario with a lower paying job, but I can see already that there is no way that I can fund all of my goals on a lower salary. I only have 444 left at the end of the month with the status quo. Furthermore, my Success Rate is only 78%, meaning that even with my current income, I come up short of funding my goals 22% of the time when my scenario is run 1000 times with varying market conditions. I know it will not be possible, but lets see how far off I am when I run this with a 60,000 annual salary after next year.

Yikes! This is way worse than I thought. If I quit my job and immediately get a new job in a year, I will not be able to fund any of my goals except my home purchase. I really want to explore a different line of work as a writer. I have a friend who says I could start at his company at $60,000. I know that I would have the opportunity to become an editor like him if I stay for 5 years or so. That would pay around 75,000. I will run a different scenario assuming I can do this. I will also add a 20% hit to my investments to stress test. I will lower my expenses for comic con and push my retirement back a couple of years as well.
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​Scenario 2: Promotion in 5 years and Goal Modifications

Key Takeaways

After lowering my Comic Con trip from$5,000 to $2,000 a year, retiring two years later, and giving myself a raise at my new job in 5 yearrs, I am still a long way from funding any of my goals other than my first home. I am disappointed, but I am glad that I was able to see this detail modeled in different ways over time. I need to reevaluate how I spend money and be more meticulous about current lifestyle decisions as well as planning for the future. I am not confident that I can change jobs unless I can figure out ways to spend less. I think I have a lot of areas for improvement, and I plan to model this personal financial scenario again once I do some thinking on how I can change my lifestyle to better prioritize where my money goes. I will have to do that if I really want to be happuer at my job every day and still fund my goals.
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The Importance of Comprehensive Planning

This case study presents a simplified financial scenario. In a more detailed personal financial scenario, we would incorporate specific expenses, financial goals, and the details of all debts and assets to ensure a more precise and tailored financial plan.

The Role of Professional Advice

​While we’re confident in the numbers we’ve run, we recognize the importance of consulting with a financial advisor. StartingOutPlan has given us a solid understanding of our financial situation, but having a professional advisor validate our plan will give us peace of mind and ensure we haven’t overlooked any critical details.