Let's Make Some New Year's Resolutions!

Folks, I don't know about you, but I'm feeling the need to set some goals for this year. What are your financial goals for this year? Here's mine.

• Increase my emergency fund by $4500

I'm a huge believer in having a cash emergency fund as a buffer between my family and murphy. There's no better way to keep unexpected expenses from driving us to take out an loan. We are currently debt-free other than our house. However, 2007 was an emergency fund wrecker year for us. My son had to have all four wisdom teeth removed ($1200), I had not one, but two car accidents ($3000), my car needed repairing ($400), my wife injured her back ($600) and more. We've got to work hard this year to build our savings back up!

• Decrease my total cost of insurance by a total of $500 per year

Insurance costs are eating my family alive. We've got to find a way to save money. The main ways I plan to investigate to accomplish this goal is by shopping around and/or bundling our homeowners, automobile and umbrella liability insurance policies.

• Review and Optimize my 401K Plan

It's time for a 401K checkup. In the last couple of years, some new options have become available including the Roth 401K, the ability to transfer my money out of the company plan to an individual retirement account and a "Goal Manager" feature. I need to evaluate all these options and make sure my retirement account is in the best shape possible, with regards to flexibility, tax treatment, growth rate and management fees.

Ok! There's my goals for this year. What are yours?