Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Net Worth (Update) - 2nd Quarter


Originally, I was only planning to provide annual Net Worth updates.  However, since I am now part of an active list of bloggers who provide their net worth on Rockstar Finance's page - The Ultimate List of Blogger Net Worth, I have decided to start providing quarterly updates.  Providing quarterly updates will allow us to keep our readers more updated with our overall progress towards Financial Independence. It will also allow us to stay accurate and current on the Rockstar Finance's Ultimate List of Blogger Net Worth. ;)

As of the end of June 2015 (2nd Quarter), our family net worth is as follows:

Retirement Savings:                      $ 403,419
P2P Lending Accounts:                   $  18,767
Dividend Stock Accounts (DSA):     $  66,797
DSA - Surplus Cash:                      $    7,492
College Savings Accounts:              $  40,178
Cash and Savings:                         $108,582

GRAND TOTAL
$645,240
(Increase of $6,894 since 3/31/15)

Although we do not count it as part of our Net worth,
it is still nice to know that our Home Equity is:
$450,088*
(Increase of $174 since 3/31/15)

I'm not sure if it is just me but I have to admit that I look forward to doing our Net Worth reports. Since we began tracking our Net Worth, we have somehow managed to continue to grow our net worth each and every quarter (although some quarters are clearly better than others).  We certainly have had down months in between but thankfully have always ended quarters with an overall gain.  Personally, I believe it is a combination of having an end goal and commitment to live below our means in order to achieve our goal. Although we do not post our income and expenses on our blog, we save or invest approximately 50% of our income each and every month.

During this last quarter, we saw our net worth grow by another $6,894, from $638,346 at the end of March (1st quarter) of 2015 to $645,240 at the end of June (2nd quarter) of 2015.  

If you include our home equity, which some people choose to do, our net worth actually grew $7,068 from $1,087,464 to $1,095,328.  It's a pretty awesome figure when you include the home equity but the reality is we need our home for shelter and have no intention of selling it. Therefore, the home equity is locked into our home and simply is not liquid as our other investments. I'll still continue to calculate and show the numbers but won't consider myself a true millionaire until I can accomplish that feat without my home equity.  :)

* NOTE: If you follow us, you know that we do not consider the home equity in our home as part of our net worth. Although others do consider home equity, and even cars, collections, etc. as part of their net worth, it is our opinion that since these items are not very liquid and the value of these items is highly dependent on what others are willing to pay for them (at the present time), we have decided not to consider these type of assets as part of our family's recognized net worth.

10 comments:

  1. Nice work AFFJ. I bet it is a good feeling to consistently see this number rise.

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    1. Thanks Dividend Dreams. Have to admit it is nice to see continued growth but certainly easier when you save or invest almost 50% of your income. We strive to do that each and everyone month to ensure we stay on track to reach our ultimate goal.

      Best wishes and continued success my friend. AFFJ

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  2. Awesome progress, AFFJ. I really like reading net worth stories and seeing how investors grow their nest eggs over time. Thanks for sharing

    R2R

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    1. Thanks R2R. Consistent progress and growth does keep the motivation in the highest gear.

      Happy to be sharing a positive trend and not a negative trend. :) AFFJ

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  3. Just curious why so much of your net worth is held in the cash and savings category. Is that (or some of it) your emergency fund? It seems like quite a lot to have not particularly working for you.

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    1. EvenKeel. You are right, our cash reserves are a bit high. It was simply and agreement my wife and high made when we decided to keep her home with the kids. We dicided to keep a year expenses as opposed to the recommended 6-9 months.

      Ours is even higher because, in addition to our emergency fund, we have various sinking funds. It's probably overkill but our oven broke last thanksgiving, and a new timing belt and water pump for my wife's car was merely an inconvenience instead of a possible bump in the road. :) It just helps keep us on track and moving forward continuously each and every quarter.

      AFFJ

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  4. AFFJ,

    A $7K bump up is... AWESOME. Cannot congratulate you more than ever on that feat. So sweet. Keep it up Q3 has begun!

    -Lanny

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    1. Thanks Lanny. Thankful to be seeing continual progress. Even though our dividend portfolio has under performed this year. Overall, through consistent savings and investing, we've manage to continue to grow our net worth. When those underperforming stocks come back, things should only get exponentially better. 😊👍

      AFFJ

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  5. Not counting your home equity is a save and well-disciplined option. Some would argue that you could leverage that equity and get to the $1m mark faster. But that might be a non-SWAN (sleep well at night) option. Congratulations on your progress, here... You're getting closer and closer to that 7 figure mark!

    Cheers
    FerdiS

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    1. FerdiS - glad to know there are others out there with our same mindset. Although I'm probably more conservative these days, now that I have a wife and kids who depend on me, I know our approach to things now is the right approach for us. At the very least, it allows us to SWAN (sleep well at night).

      We are still a few years away from the 7 figure mark so hope you stay along for the ride upward. :) AFFJ

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