2008 in review -- moneywise

January 1, and I've just wrapped up my review of 2008.

Basically, my net worth has dropped a bit, but it's not as bad as it could have been.

Employer savings plan:

I put 10% of my income in an employee savings plan that my company matches up to 3%. Although it's all in stocks, and they haven't performed too well this year, the good news is that I got a lot more shares for my money, which will pay off when the markets recover. Plus, this stock pays good dividends -- 6% yield right now.

Automatic savings plans:

I have money transferred automatically to 2 high-interest savings plans each payday. One is for my trip to Russia, the other is for my bathroom reno. The bathroom reno one is doing well, I'm about 40% there. But that account is a few years old.

The other account is only a few months' old, and I've dipped into it a few times (once, by accident!) so I might actually have to help myself to my bathroom reno fund. Well, better than than credit card debt, right?

RRSP (the Canadian Roth IRA):

My RRSP has gone down about 25%. That includes nearly $10,000 of dividend income I made in 2008. All in all, better than the overall TSX return this year.

Mortgage:

I paid off about 25% of my mortgage this year. Technically, I still have 3 years to go to pay it off, but I think I can do it in 2.

Other debt:

Not good. I've actually increased my debt this year. It's-low interest debt (3.5% and 1.9%) but it's debt nevertheless.

If it weren't for the "other debt" category, I'd be pretty happy with how the year turned out. But I need to better manage my cash flow. I have an agressive savings/mortgage payment strategy, but I make a good income and I should be able to do it without getting into debt.

Now, I've got to work on 2009 goals.