Making new year resolutions is not tough. It is only tough to keep them.
Like every year, I also made few resolutions last year. And to ensure that I don’t end up being as bad as I have been in keeping them, I decided to publish them in a post last year.
So with year now drawing to a close, I thought it would be a good idea to have a status check of the resolutions I made for 2015:
Resolution 1
I will increase my MF SIP contributions by 10%.
Accomplished for personal portfolio.
Infact, I even managed to convince my wife to invest more in equity MFs. She increased the SIP contributions by 20%! But that was after she managed to force me to buy some gold. 🙂
Resolution 2
I will once again try to surrender an endowment (insurance) policy, which an uncle of somebody sold me and I couldn’t surrender it, because of my family’s connection with that somebody’s uncle.
Failed. I tried to convince ‘the uncle’ about superiority of term plans but unfortunately, uncle is an agent and I could not push hard enough due to our family relations.
There are ways by which I can still get some of my money back. But that will come at the cost of annoying ‘the uncle’. So for sake of family relations, I have taken this hit and written it off. 🙂
I have also increased my insurance coverage by buying more coverage of plain term insurance plans.
Resolution 3
I will increase my Emergency Fund to cover 6 months worth of my family’s expenses. (In 2014, it was at a risky 4 months).
Accomplished. I managed to increase my Emergency fund to cover 15 months worth of family’s expenses. I have also ensured that my wife’s own emergency fund is big enough to cover 6 more months of our expenses. The amount is parked in less-used savings accounts and fixed deposits.
I know you will accuse me of sacrificing returns by parking money in savings account. But this setup is in line with my idea of giving more weightage to peace of mind than to earning more returns on my emergency fund.
Resolution 4
I will save atleast 5% of my income in Travel-Fund. I will push my wife to do it too. 🙂 We love travelling and that requires planning and money.
Accomplished. Both my wife and me save atleast 5% of our monthly incomes to fund future travels. Infact, the cash which we get from family members in social gatherings / festivals, also finds its way into our travel fund most of the times. 🙂
Resolution 5
I will read 3 books which I should have read long time back: Letters from Stoic, Titan – The Life of John D Rockefeller and Make Your Mark
Failed Miserably. Read none of the three. Infact, read very few new books this year. Very disappointed with myself.
Resolution 6
I will re-read these 3 books: Art of Thinking Clearly, The Intelligent Investor and Tap Dancing To Work
Accomplished. Read all three.
For those who haven’t read the Art of Thinking Clearly, I can only say that you are missing out on something really important. The book is highly recommended. And if you plan to read just one book in 2016, then pick this one up. It is worth making your constant companion. It has a permanent place on my study.
Resolution 7
I will use my Market Crash Fund (with courage)… if markets go down by 15%-20% this year.
Partially Accomplished. Markets did not go down so much this year. But I did buy few stocks when they fell significantly. I was happy to see large-caps being ignored at cost of mid-cap stocks. Many people seem to be suffering from overconfidence of the bull run in mid-cap stocks. My best wishes to them.
That was about my 2015 resolutions.
Earlier, I was quite skeptical about making New Year resolutions. But since this approach of publicly declaring resolutions has had reasonable success in 2015, I don’t think there is any harm in trying it out for another year.
So here it is…
My Resolutions for 2016
1) I will increase my MF SIP contributions again by 10% this year
I must confess that I already know it will be tough to achieve. There are few expenses that will surely loosen my wallet in 2016. Though I have already made provisions, things can always go out of hand. But I will still try to achieve this resolution.
2) I will save atleast 5% of my income in Travel-Fund
Tough again. But can’t compromise with travelling aspect of my life. 🙂
3) Re-read Poor Charlie’s Almanack, some of Warren Buffett’s Annual Lettersto Shareholders and all Memos by Howard Marks.
4) I need to put in place a more stringent fitness regime
Turned 30 in 2015. I believe that it’s the right time to get serious about my health. I have been walking and cycling on a daily basis for last few months. Now I need to use this momentum to put a more formal routine in place and ensure that I do atleast one exercise everyday in 2016. Fingers crossed.
5) I need to arm-twist atleast 5 people to buy life and health insurance to help them protect themselves.
Might sound odd but some people just don’t understand. I have recognized 5 such people (& families) who are close to me and don’t know the risk they are taking by not insuring themselves adequately. I will do my best to help them get insured. Even if it means helping them pay first few premiums. (Note – I am not an agent or distributor and won’t get any commissions if they do so.)
That’s all.
I would have loved to see broader markets correct more this year. But I am still happy to have found some opportunities at individual stock levels. Reason is obvious. I plan to remain a net buyer of stocks for next several years. Hence market falls give me opportunities to buy shares of good companies at cheap prices.
With this, I wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year.
May you give the right importance to yourself, your family and your money in 2016 and beyond.
Love to read your resolutions …. have given me strength to setup mine ….. but have not been as successful as u have been..
Thanks Sorabh. Best of luck 🙂