Well 2006 is coming to a close and I figured I would check in on how I am progressing on my goal to have $100,000 in principal (solely my contributions) contributed to my various retirement plans. Here is my contribution table my initial planning post on reaching $100k by 30.

Year	Age	Roth IRAs	Traditional 401k	Roth 401k	Total Contributions
2004	24.5	$6,000	$1,146.68	$0	$7146.68
2005	25.5	$8,000	$8,268.10	$0	$16,268.10
2006	26.5	$8,000	$0	$9,380	$17,380
2007	27.5	$8,000	$0	$11,424	$19,424
2008	28.5	$10,000	$0	$9,710	$19,710
2009	29.5	$10,000	$0	$10,281	$20,281
Totals	30	$50,000	$9,432.78	$40,795	$100,227.78

As you can see I was suppose to have saved up $17,380 this year to stay on pace with my planned projections. Well my final contributions showed up in my 401k account today and I have good news. I actually beat my goal by over $1200. I maxed out both mine and my wife’s Roth IRAs in January last year and throughout the year I have contributed $10,591.60 to my Roth 401k. The reason I came in above target is because I got a raise in Novemeber and because I got a bonus in December, which accounts for the extra $1200. I had an idea I would be getting a bonus and possibly a raise each year, but I never wanted to count on them when doing my projections as they are out of my control, so when they do come it’s just icing on the cake.

Heading into 2007 I need to max out mine and my wife’s Roth IRAs again, unfortunately this is the first year I haven’t saved for these accounts through the previous year and don’t have the $8000 to deposit in January. Part of this is because of a conscious decision to pay down my HELOC mortgage vs saving the extra money in my ING savings account. The idea is that I would now take the needed $8,000 out of my HELOC to fund the IRAs, but I now find it hard to force myself to do that as I like the idea of paying down the debt, especially with it being at 8.75%. So I guess I will just find a different way to fund those accounts.

To make matters even harder on myself I recently bumped up my Roth 401k contribution percentage to 20%, which means I’ll have even less money to fund the Roth IRAs. Contributing 33% of your income post-tax, with a mortgage, a HELOC, a wife, and 1.5 kids ain’t the easiest thing in the world but hopefully a little sacrifice now pays off down the road.