So far I have spent three posts in our Financial Plan 2008 series to elaborate the key driving forces of our financials in 2008 (part 1, part 2 and part 3). It is time to put everything together.

In summary, we are looking at $212K net worth increase in 2008, which will likely drive our total wealth to about $1.1M by the end of the coming year. The speed of the growth, however, will be slower than that of 2007, due to a number of headwinds, including:

1) Slower growth of job income, primarily due to change of stock compensation program at my employer;
2) 30% less business income, due to changing industry environment;
3) Unlikely further appreciation of vested employee stock option grants;
4) Higher expense expressed in USD when expensed in Chinese Yuan.

Partially offsetting the unfavorable changes will be a couple of favorable developments:

1) Likely higher income from our self-managed portfolio, mainly due to expanding portfolio size;
2) Reduced tax bill, thanks to more tax gross-up on certain benefits and less tax for employee stock option grants.

The key assumptions and the resulting annual financial planning model are included below. (2007 year-end figure is estimate. Final result will be available in a week.)

Recognizing that setting a slightly stretching goal is a virtue, I'm hereby announcing that for next year, we will be shooting for the goal of:

Net Worth Growth of $220,000

I will announce the extra absolute net worth dollar goal we will target once we close 2007 results.

P.S. I'm also happy to announce pj as the "Closest to the Pin" winner of our "Producing My 2008 Financial Plan" contest. His conservative estimate won him a $50 Amazon gift certificate. (A notification email has been sent out to his email address on record.)

P.P.S. Group wisdom vs my own on our 2008 financial plan. Nevertheless, thank you again for those who participated.