2018 financial goals - what are yours?

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Compound
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by Compound »

TheTimeLord wrote: Mon Dec 11, 2017 2:42 pm Increase the value of my portfolio by 14.635% (seriously, this is my goal)
Interesting goal. Care to elaborate?
davidsorensen32
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by davidsorensen32 »

Just one goal - Find gainful employment.
notmyhand wrote: Sun Dec 10, 2017 4:51 pm Is it too early for New Years resolutions? Well I totaled all of our 2017 and compared to our goals and so of course I had to make next year's goals. Any I should change? And anyone make 2018 financial goals yet?

2 income household, 0 children, late 20s

2017 goals -
3 months emergency fund - done
max our IRAs - done
max out 401ks and solo 401ks - one last pay period's worth left
25% increase in networth - done, thanks stock market!
20k home improvement - done
10% mortgage reduction - done
Purchase 10k in IBonds - done
6 months emergency fund in cash - no done, home improvement ate a lot more money than saved for

2018 goals (in order) -
15% increase in taxable account
6 months emergency fund in cash
max out IRAS
max out 401ks
purchase 10k in IBonds
25% mortgage reduction
25% increase in networth
save for a round if IVF

This will be around 45% of our gross income which is what we managed to do last year.

Should we switch order or change anything?

Share your goals!
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GerryL
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by GerryL »

Goal: Spend more money by increasing travel.

Shortly before retiring I had a financial plan done. Turns out, based on how much I figured I would be spending, the WORST case scenario was that I would reach age 96 with more money than I started retirement with. I have upped my "allowance" but despite more travel this past year I have not reached the new limit. So now I am planning more trips, while I can still get around. It would be great if my net worth keeps growing, but that's not really the point at this stage in life, is it?

BTW Has anyone visited the Bay of Fundy? That is one of the trips on my 2018 calendar.
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TheTimeLord
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by TheTimeLord »

Compound wrote: Mon Dec 11, 2017 7:42 pm
TheTimeLord wrote: Mon Dec 11, 2017 2:42 pm Increase the value of my portfolio by 14.635% (seriously, this is my goal)
Interesting goal. Care to elaborate?
It would take me to where I would like to be. Actually slightly above since I rounded up. Actually need a bit less after today.
IMHO, Investing should be about living the life you want, not avoiding the life you fear. | Run, You Clever Boy! [9085]
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Sandtrap
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by Sandtrap »

2018 Financial Goals
1 Transition deeper into retirement via portfolio maturation
2 Continue selling off R/E
3 Explore VRBO purchase options in the spring if the market slumps. Delay if not.
4 Deepen my knowledge of investment finance (part of #1)
5 Spend a little, worry less, ignore all noise.
j :D
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grettman
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by grettman »

1. Max all retirement accounts (goal every year).
2. Pay down $2K of my mortgage every month without fail
3. Don't worry about small set backs with money
4. Enjoy and appreciate what I have more than I did the year before
indexonlyplease
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by indexonlyplease »

sschullo wrote: Mon Dec 11, 2017 2:59 pm
2comma wrote: Mon Dec 11, 2017 12:15 am Retired, conservative investor, no debt. As long as we beat inflation we're good, that's the goal.
Mine too exactly. Here is my absolutely BORING portfolio AA as a 70-year-old retired k12 LAUSD teacher:
Image

Did I mention the 7.5% return on this portfolio YTD!
Hi sschullo, I like the simple portfolio. How about mine at 53 retired. Not sure how to do the fancy chart
50% Stock (Schwab Total Stock index and Schwab Total Stock index International 80/20
50% Fixed Value fund paying 3.5%
Investments in my Nationwide 457 plan.

How about that being boring. Not sure of the ytd. Will figure that one next.
scrabbler1
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by scrabbler1 »

Okay, I'll play.

(1) Remain comfortably retired, financially, for my 10th year.
(2) Hit he $1M mark in investments, not including my IRA.
Grt2bOutdoors
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

sschullo wrote: Mon Dec 11, 2017 2:59 pm
2comma wrote: Mon Dec 11, 2017 12:15 am Retired, conservative investor, no debt. As long as we beat inflation we're good, that's the goal.
Mine too exactly. Here is my absolutely BORING portfolio AA as a 70-year-old retired k12 LAUSD teacher:
Image

Did I mention the 7.5% return on this portfolio YTD!
+1 - good for you. Proves that earning a decent return does not require outsized risk.
"One should invest based on their need, ability and willingness to take risk - Larry Swedroe" Asking Portfolio Questions
Grt2bOutdoors
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

1. Fund a mega back door Roth.
2. Donate more time and/or money to charitable causes.
3. Fund 401k and make contributions to our friend, IRA.
4. Pay off some debt.
"One should invest based on their need, ability and willingness to take risk - Larry Swedroe" Asking Portfolio Questions
seity
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by seity »

Pay off half the CC debt.
montanagirl
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by montanagirl »

I'd like to hang on *one more year* until filing for my old age benefit at 70 yet not take any IRA distributions. I can't believe I've hung on this long! I worked a part time job for 2017 but couldn't do it any more. I did get a better anypia 'replacement year' out of it.

I will do tax prep Jan-Apr but after that, who knows. Just going to play it by ear...
jlcnuke
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by jlcnuke »

1. Max contributions to 401k.
2. $5.5k into Roth IRA.
3. Contribute enough to get full company match into HSA.
4. Put another $10k into taxable account.
5. Spend less money on food (been spending way too much on groceries).
6. Spend less "misc" money (cash out of ATMs used to purchase crap I don't keep track of).
7. Save at least $5k for future large purchase(s).
furikake
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by furikake »

Will be saving for a car fund and also saving for a shed/workshop.
indyfish
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by indyfish »

Married - both in our 40s, one child (born this year). State: Indiana.

2017 Goals

1. Max out my 401k.
2. Max out my wife's 403b.
3. Max out both of our Roth IRAs
4. Max out wife's parent + child HSA.
5. Put $5000 towards 529 to get $1000 state tax credit
6. Put $2600 towards my FSA (this was a mistake by me - I misread the tax laws on this - ended up buying lots of eyewear instead of using towards child's birth).

2018 Goals

1. Max out my 401k.
2. Max out my wife's 403b.
3. Max out both of our Roth IRAs
4. Max out wife's parent + child HSA.
5. Put $5000 towards 529 to get $1000 state tax credit
6. Put $5000 in a dependent FSA
7. This is the new one - but it depends on the thingie we can't discuss on this forum. If that thingie happens, I would start Partial Roth Conversions for the next several years. I can't do Partial Roth Conversions currently because we would lose the child tax credit.
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new2bogle2
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by new2bogle2 »

I hope to save 5% more in 2018!
Maita
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by Maita »

Here are my 2018 financial goals. Excited to have it as my first post.

Emergency Fund:
Convert 2nd 3 months of Emergency Funds to US I-Bonds

Retirement:
Continue to fund retirement total contributions to 20% of gross income
Rollover 457 (from previous employer)
Rollover CalPERS (from previous employer)
Rollover spouse old retirement to Roth IRA: 1st previous job and 2nd previous job
Max Roth IRA
Max spouse Roth IRA

College Savings:
Transfer USAA UTMA to Vanguard 529
Contribute to 529 of 1st child
Contribute 529 of 2nd child

Other Savings:
Max HSA
Max FSA

Taxable Savings:
Keep only minimum in the Checking account: Calculate minimum amount. Example: monthly bills, kids tuition, professional fees, transportation savings/insurance/reg and other expected expenses
Save $30,000 cash for the large expected-unexpected (Car repair, car purchase, vacations, tuition)
Invest regularly (ex. VTSAX and maybe more I-Bonds)
Sell Individual stock shares if it is greater than 5% of Asset Allocation and buy Vanguard Mutual Funds. Consider individual stock as play money and not an investment. Remember, no more than 5%
Transfer Mutual Funds to Vanguard Mutual Funds
Work extra to save for wife's graduate school
Do not work for money, make your money work for you!
ADower
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by ADower »

1. Max 401k
2. Max Roth IRA
3. Start putting away money for our daughter. Going to open a ROTH IRA for her when we can. We believe it will be more beneficial than a 529.
TheHouse7
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Location: Washington State

Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by TheHouse7 »

Max hsa
Max 401kx1
Max Roth x2

Pay tax, keep DW happy.
"PSX will always go up 20%, why invest in anything else?!" -Father-in-law early retired.
cureious
Posts: 24
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by cureious »

Max out both 401ks
Backdoor Roth IRAs for both spouses
28,000 to my daughters 529
At least 75,000 to my taxable account
Extra 25,000 in principal payments to my mortgage
Likely deploy 10-20K to alternative investments, haven’t
Allocated Any money to high risk ventures while keeping
It a small portion of my portfolio.
Likely 10-20K to realty shares as well
Continue to read at least 3-4 books per month
Continue to learn as much as possible
Might start a blog and work on my writing
spammagnet
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by spammagnet »

sschullo wrote: Mon Dec 11, 2017 2:59 pmMine too exactly. Here is my absolutely BORING portfolio AA as a 70-year-old retired k12 LAUSD teacher:

[graph]

Did I mention the 7.5% return on this portfolio YTD!
Why so many funds?
spammagnet
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by spammagnet »

Married, first full year with young adult kids off our payroll.
1. Max 401k/403b contributions
2. Max Roth IRA x 2 contributions
(Have already been doing both of the above.)
3. Replete e-fund partly used to max Roths this year. (Near retirement, e-fund not essential, but nice to have cash on hand.)
4. Pay off very low interest (2.1%) truck loan.
5. Consider contracting/travel for 1-2 remaining career years vs current salary position.
6. Consider paying extra toward low interest (<3%) mortgage. (13.5 years remaining). Pay off if contracting lucrative.
7. Accumulate additional taxable investments if cash flow permits.
kaudrey
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by kaudrey »

1) Max TSP.
2) Add set monthly amount to taxable brokerage account as well as savings account (mostly to be used as vacation fund throughout the year).
3) Hit a certain target in my investment portfolio by 12/31/2018.
clutchied
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by clutchied »

2018
Max 403b's again - $36k
Max HSA again - $6750
E-fund to 6mo's from 3mo's +$25k
Begin Mort. Paydown fund

5yr.
Payoff 1 rental

10yr.
All rentals paid off.

15yr.
Decide if we want to continue working
snowox
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by snowox »

For 2018

Take 25% less from my retirement funds and draw down my cash surplus to offset our needs

Put my Wife's entire net check into 401k (with the catch up that goes in effect this year), HSA and 529s so in essence having no taxes due at end of year.

Challenging myself since Fire'd to earn 100$ a week cash for fun money doing all sorts of stupid things.
Engineer250
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by Engineer250 »

I think 2018 will be the first year I can max 401k. Goal is to also max Roths for the first time. I am excited. Only people here know what this means. None of my normal friends or acquaintances (even the well off ones) understand how happy this makes me.
Where the tides of fortune take us, no man can know.
stoptothink
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by stoptothink »

Engineer250 wrote: Thu Dec 14, 2017 12:26 pm I think 2018 will be the first year I can max 401k. Goal is to also max Roths for the first time. I am excited. Only people here know what this means. None of my normal friends or acquaintances (even the well off ones) understand how happy this makes me.
In a conversation with my boss yesterday about my annual review/bonus/raise, I briefly noted that the fact that 401k contributions were taken out of my bonus (which had not been done in previous years) was unexpected and may result in me overcontributing this year, he looked at me and said: "huh, there is a limit on how much you can put into a 401k?" This is the CMO and co-founder of a multi-billion dollar company with over 4,000 employees, he's worth 9-figures. He literally had no clue about retirement investing. It was a shocking and enlightening conversation.
sschullo
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by sschullo »

spammagnet wrote: Thu Dec 14, 2017 7:59 am
sschullo wrote: Mon Dec 11, 2017 2:59 pmMine too exactly. Here is my absolutely BORING portfolio AA as a 70-year-old retired k12 LAUSD teacher:

[graph]

Did I mention the 7.5% return on this portfolio YTD!
Why so many funds?
I titled towards value and mid and small cap, that's why I have Wellesley and extended market. I have my Roth in the Wellesley also. I also have an international bond fund and treasure direct iBond. I wanted to diversify bonds too. Finally, I wanted a fixed account with principle guarantee, fixed interest with no surrender fees, the primary reason why I choose TIAA.
Never in the history of market day-traders’ has the obsession with so much massive, sophisticated, & powerful statistical machinery used by the brightest people on earth with such useless results.
Tiffku08
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by Tiffku08 »

.....
Last edited by Tiffku08 on Thu Nov 26, 2020 8:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Osprey
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by Osprey »

Thanks for posting to inspire me to think some more about next year which is rapidly approaching!

Start wind down to retirement in 2018 with husband retiring in the spring.

Max my 401k
Max Roth
Continue to monitor spending to see if it remains in line with past 2 years

Special trip to celebrate husband's retirement
3 trips to visit aging parents

Have fun and enjoy the present while continuing to explore retirement interests :sharebeer
rashad3000
Posts: 314
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by rashad3000 »

Here are our goals:

1. $11,000 in our Roth IRAs
2. Pay off the remaining $21,000 on our car
3. $15,000 towards our TRS accounts
4. $15,000 towards mortgage principal
5. $25,000 emergency fund
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Didymograptus
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by Didymograptus »

Goal is to hit the $1MM mark in my retirement accounts. :happy
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mbasherp
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by mbasherp »

According to the spreadsheet, our goals boil down to a 33.4% increase in net worth over 2018. Hopefully we get that or better!

Max retirement vehicles that are available, not take on any debt, and begin saving in taxable. Taxable has always seemed like a milestone on the horizon; to be able to be at the point that tax advantaged accounts are filled, there's no debt other than the mortgage left, and we've got real EXTRA!
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FireflyGlow
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by FireflyGlow »

Fun thread! I enjoyed reading everyone's goals. Good luck to all the families planning new babies in 2018 and for the person planning the trip to Ireland. I went to Ireland for the first time in August 2017 and it was the best trip I've ever taken, and I've been all over Mexico, Caribbean, UK, Central America, etc.

Newly divorced single parent.

2017 Goals:
Get through unexpected divorce without entirely depleting emergency fund (done)
Not decrease contributions to 401(k) and 529 (done)
Increase income from $122K in 2016 to over $130K by putting in extra hours at work (done)
Travel to Europe as I had not been to Europe since 2006 (done)
Rebuild ER to 6 months expenses (not done)
Replace carpet in house (not done)

2018 Goals:
Rebuild ER to 6 months expenses
Increase contributions to 401(k) to max
Increase income to over $140K
Travel to Italy and Greece with parents and child
Replace the carpet in my house (about $4k)
Replace furniture in child's room ($1500)
Not worry about mortgage (3.5%), car (1.9%), or student loans (3.5%) too much for now, just try to gear those up for major paydown in 2019.
MathIsMyWayr
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Location: CA

Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by MathIsMyWayr »

Increase NW by $450K-$500K:
  • Max 401(k)/match, 403(b), 457(b), ESPP, and backdoor Roth.
    RSU and increase taxable.
    A good/modest growth of asset.
    Max 401(k) early just in case of bailing out; 401(k) match is true up.
Goinganontoday
Posts: 60
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by Goinganontoday »

Max 1 401k
Max 1 403b
Max 1 Roth IRA
Max 1 traditional IRA
Max HSA (including employer contribution)
Contribute to 529 up to max for state tax benefit
Save toward house downpayment (The goal is to save about $60,000, but that would be a big stretch. I'd like to get as close as possible to that number.)
Research Roth conversion ladder
Leave work by 5 at least 4 nights each week
Enjoy time with family
h82goslw
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by h82goslw »

clutchied wrote: Thu Dec 14, 2017 9:05 am
Max HSA again - $6750
It’s a minor thing....but max amount for 2018 HSA is $6900. I was excited about this until finding out wife’s employer was taking away HSA option for 2018.
metalworking
Posts: 357
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by metalworking »

1. Max my 403b and contribute to roth IRA despite changing from full time to part time
2. See if i can really live for 6 months on my expected retirement investment income
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quantAndHold
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by quantAndHold »

To still have health insurance at the end of the year, without needing to go back to work. COBRA ends in July.
meercatter
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by meercatter »

Our 2018 goals:

1) Max 401k and wife's 403b (sadly a non-matching 403b, but useful for tax reduction).
2) Perform backdoor roths
3) Continue saving for a down payment on our next house
4) Max HSA
5) Contribute to our son's 529 plan
6) Figure out ways to reduce our tax burden. We live in California and the new tax bill will hurt us pretty badly
7) Perform a 20k renovation on our house
clutchied
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by clutchied »

h82goslw wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2017 10:44 am
clutchied wrote: Thu Dec 14, 2017 9:05 am
Max HSA again - $6750
It’s a minor thing....but max amount for 2018 HSA is $6900. I was excited about this until finding out wife’s employer was taking away HSA option for 2018.
great point. Always better to have current info than "rollover memory".

sorry about your HSA loss :(
Tammy88
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by Tammy88 »

I found thinking financial goals is easier than career goals :)

1. Max 401k before and after tax for both of us. Max out HSA and not use it.
2. Max 2 kids' 529 plan, e.g. $28k for each kid.
3. Set aside $28k for brokerage account.
4. Continue to pay off primary house and 1 rental property. Just follow regular payment since 1 has a 2.875% low rate, the other will be paid off in 3 years.
5. huge tax bill in April

Good luck to everyone on reaching the goals!
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Candor
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Re: 2018 financial goals - what are yours?

Post by Candor »

Hoping to hit 1M in NW next year. As long as the market doesn't go down I will make it on savings alone which should be over 50% of my gross salary. We'll see if the market cooperates.
The fool, with all his other faults, has this also - he is always getting ready to live. - Seneca Epistles < c. 65AD
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