by Ashley
I’m a goal-setter. I like to have something I’m working toward, always. And when I set goals, I often set them across multiple different categories (e.g., health/wellness, financial, relationships, personal development, motherhood, professional, etc.).
On August 1st I started a new fitness challenge: 75 Soft. This is a lighter variant of the 75 Hard workout challenge that became popular during pandemic times when author Andy Frisella published his book about the challenge. I’ve had a few friends try it, but this is my first time jumping on the bandwagon.
In the original version (the “hard” version), you follow a diet, do two 45-minute workouts per day (one must be outside), read 10 pages of nonfiction per day (no audiobooks), drink 1 gallon of water per day, take daily progress pictures, and restart the entire challenge if you fail any of the requirements.
In the lighter version I’m doing for myself, I’m trying to eat healthy, do one 45-minute workout per day, read for at least 10 minutes per day (audiobooks are okay), and drink 3 liters of water per day.
So far, I’ve been doing pretty good! Starting on August 1st means I’ll finish by mid-October, which feels like perfect timing. I’ll be able to enjoy all the yummy fall treats and food-centered holidays that come with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the rest of the holiday season without feeling like I’m in the middle of a fitness challenge.
Perhaps because of this new goal, or perhaps because we’re now fully in the back-to-school phase and schedules are changing, I’ve been thinking back to my 2026 financial goals. I wanted to do a little check-in to see where we’re at and what I might need to adjust or change to meet my goals by the end of the year.
I wrote about my financial goals for 2026 here:
Let’s see how we’re doing…
Plan and Prepare for Early Retirement. Grade: A
I’m still actively planning and preparing for an early retirement goal, but I’ve had to accept that I’m living in some unknowns for the time being. There’s really no way to know the future well enough to have a definitive timeline.
One of the biggest things up in the air is the girls’ college plans. One of my benefits at work is a significant reduction in tuition for dependents. My stretch goal has been to retire at 50 (8 years from now). At that point, though, the girls will be sophomores in college (assuming they go straight to college from High School).
If that’s the case, I cannot see myself retiring at 50 and giving up the major benefit of having inexpensive college tuition for my kids.
So maybe I’ll work until 52. But what if it takes them 5 years to graduate instead of 4? What if they take a gap year before starting college? What if they don’t even want to go to a traditional college?
All this to say, I’m having to be okay with not having definite answers about when I will retire. In the meantime, I still think 50 is a great goal to work toward. And if I end up staying employed for a few years after that, it will just help pad my retirement and investment accounts all the more.
My only real “itch” is that I want to move away from Arizona. The heat is too much, friends! So I’m anxious to be done, but who knows what the future holds?
I’m trying to hold my plans with an open hand so I can be flexible when the time comes (as a Type A planner at heart, this type of flexibility does not come naturally to me).
Save 50% of Our Income. Grade: B-
This is why having goal check-ins is so good for me. Because I set this goal and then…that was it! I didn’t really think anything of it after that!
So this gives me an opportunity to address it directly. I’m already saving a lot, so I decided to do a little math…
I looked at the income coming in each month and what we’re automatically setting aside for savings and investments. Since most months have two paychecks, I used the average monthly take-home amount as the baseline for this calculation. (I realize I’m ignoring the fact that there are actually 26 pay periods in a year, not 24, but I’m okay with that. I’m just looking at an average month.)
My goal is to save 50% of that amount.
I then added up all the money being automatically directed toward retirement, HSA, 529s, and investment accounts. When I added it all up, the savings rate came out to about 41%.
That number increases if I also include the money going into my kids’ retirement accounts. That’s technically an expenditure from my business because my kids both work for me doing personal assistant tasks. They earn a little bit of money, which I invest into custodial Roth IRAs on their behalf.
When I include that money, the savings rate comes out to 47%.
So I’m not too far off. I’m only a couple hundred dollars per month away from the 50% goal.
Even so, that extra couple hundred dollars per month feels tight. It would mean cutting into some “lifestyle” spending that I’m reluctant to give up. But it’s something to think about if I want to be serious about hitting that 50% savings goal.
Adjust Investments. Grade: A+
I’ve been doing well with this.
One of my biggest financial take-aways last year was that I need to invest more into a taxable brokerage account. That account will really serve as a bridge between the time that I retire (whenever that is) and when I’m allowed to draw from retirement accounts without penalties for early distributions.
I’ve started auto-investing monthly into a taxable brokerage account. If I increase my savings to reach that 50% threshold, this is where the money will go.
Keep an Eye on the Rental Market. Grade: A
While I’m still passively checking out real estate here and there, costs are just so high right now that I think I’ve rethought this goal a bit.
I would like to own real estate as a way to diversify my investments, but I’m really not interested in the extra upkeep and work involved.
I also had a bit of an eye-opening moment.
When my dad passed away last year, my sister and I both inherited a good sum of money. She immediately took her money and bought a rental home. She owned it for right around a year before selling it after she got an offer she couldn’t refuse.
When we were on our family trip this summer, she told me a ballpark figure for how much she made from the sale of the house. It was a lot.
But here’s the thing…it was almost exactly the same amount I had made on my investments during that same year.
Only she is going to be hit with capital gains taxes (because she did not reinvest the money into real estate), and she had all the hassle of finding the house, furnishing the house, renting the house, paying the mortgage during months when it wasn’t rented, etc., etc., etc.
I just clicked a few buttons on the computer occasionally to move my investments around. I had none of the headache, and I’ll have a fraction of the taxes.
That was eye-opening for me.
Do I really want to chase this real estate dream, knowing the pain and hassle that comes with it, if I’m able to make the same or similar ROI with none of the work or headache?
Hmmmmm…… I’m not saying I will definitely never dabble in real estate. In fact, my husband and I have talked about wanting to never sell our current home. Whenever we move, we want to keep our house and rent it at that time. So we’ll likely end up in the real estate game at some point. But for now, I’m pretty happy with things as they are. (just never say never!)
Become Debt-Free (minus the house). Grade: A+
This is perhaps the most exciting financial accomplishment of the year!
After more than a decade of debt, my final student loan payment was forgiven in May 2026, and I got the official notice that we are now debt-free (not including the home mortgage)!
What an amazing feeling of peace it is to be able to say that.
It’s crazy to think that when I first started blogging here, I was projected to be debt-free something like six years ago. But life had different plans, and I think the path that got me here is exactly the path we needed to take. I wouldn’t trade anything to make it different. I’m really proud of this one.
That sounds a little weird because, in the end, I didn’t actually pay off these loans. They were forgiven. But I more than paid off the original balances I borrowed, and then some.
And I’m proud of the life I’ve lived, the lessons I’ve learned along the way, and the perspective shift that allowed me to move from feeling like I had to pay down every last penny to finally deciding to let it ride and have the remaining balance forgiven through PSLF. Wow. What a time it’s been!
I wonder what the rest of the year has in store! I’m excited for the change in season, the cooler temperatures (Lord, please!), the pumpkin spice everything, and whatever is ahead!
How are you doing on your financial goals?
Are you a goal-setter? If so, what are you working towards currently?
Hi, I’m Ashley! Arizonan on paper, Texan at heart. Lover of running, blogging, and all things cheeeeese. Early 40s, married mother of twins, and working in academia. Currently working toward financial independence with the goal of (hopefully!) retiring early at 50.
