Chasing Dollars

One thing I'm not going to do is reveal my identity or my line of work here.  These reasons are primarily personal, and I'm probably being overly cautious, but on the other hand I don't think who I am or what I do matters.  But I would like to shed a tiny bit of light on myself so you at least get a feel for what goes on around these parts.

I have been in the industry I'm in for nearly six years, working in various capacities and positions.  As of January 1, 2006, I own my own small business providing relevant services to other companies in this industry.  From the business, I pay myself a set salary which is somewhat small but subject to all normal taxes on both the employer and the employee side of the equation, and I'm also able to take distributions from the business that are not subject to self-employment tax.  (More about that later.)

I bought a home in late winter of 2004 and have lived in it ever since with my fiance.  She is a teacher.  We have a joint checking account into which we deposit a reasonably set amount each month that covers groceries, dining out, and other things we do together.  Apart from that, we manage our finances separately.  She has no ownership interest in the house, or at least that's the case until we get married–our state automatically qualifies the marrying spouse with 50% of the real estate owned by one spouse.  We have no plans to change our money management strategy between us.  And on this blog, I'll talk about my finances only.

I bought a vehicle in July 2005 and am not upside down on the loan, though I owe more than I'd like to owe. 

I have very recently started saving for retirement.  Through my business I'm eligible to participate in a profit-sharing Keogh plan (I currently contribute the maximum and as an employer I also contribute 25% of my salary as a match) and I also have a Roth IRA that is very nearly fully funded for 2005.  My current focus in on managing our wedding and honeymoon expenses while building my emergency savings to about $12,000.  I hope to do this by the end of July.  

I have accounts in a number of different financial institutions and I hope to make this simpler over the coming months.  I'd also like to begin investing in a regular brokerage account and not necessarily only in tax-advantaged retirement accounts. 

I use Quicken to manage my finances and have a sort of love-hate relationship with the product. 

That should give you a bit of background on where I am in my career and finances.  I hope that provides some context for the rest of this blog.