Happy Friday!
So while I’m giving regular updates on my Emergency Fund, after reading a few blogs, I figured I could give monthly updates on my net worth as a way to show my progress on the road to Financial Independence. I figured I might as well start with where I left off last month.
May 2015 Net Worth: $422,042.26
Just to catch you up, I started the year off with $379,290.29 for a total increase (so far) of $42,751.97!
Here’s my first net worth statement:
You’ll notice a few things here. For one, my Emergency Fund jumped up from $30,000.00 to over $35,000.00, which is a significant jump and represented reaching 70% of the way to $50,000.00. After this month, you should start seeing bigger increases on the Taxable Brokerage Account line. Still, there was an increase of $227.35 in that area. Not too bad considering I don’t touch it. The home value is based on the Zillow “Zestimate,” which Mint uses. I realize this may be over or under, depending on the market, but for the sake of projections and updates, I’m just going to go with it. On the other side of things, my mortgage has gone from about $560,000 when it started, to hovering just at the $500,000 mark today. Still a long road ahead, but we’re making progress.
Overall, there was a change of +4.93% in net worth. A big part of that was probably the tax refund we got, which came out to $8,688.00.
Personally, I don’t like how much of my worth is tied up in the real estate market, but from what I gather, it all counts. I suppose I’ll be more on board with the notion once we start investing in more real estate. For now, it just seems like these numbers could plummet with the market and get cut in half. But such is the nature of the beast.
That wraps up the month of May. I plan to release an update like this once a month while keeping the corresponding number updated in the sidebar. I’ve been seeing that in a lot of blogs and I love it for some reason.
Until next time.
Hi FIMonkey,
Great job paying down the mortgage. I know it can feel like an impossible debt to overcome but slowly but surely it will happen.
Interesting that you include your cars as assets. Is that the price you could sell them for right now if you needed to? Will you have some kind of depreciation schedule for them as you continue updating net worth?
Thanks for sharing with us!
-Adam
Adam – IWTRS recently posted…Recent Buys: June 9, 2015
Adam,
Admittedly, I am new to posting my net worth for all eyes to see, but I’ve noticed others including their vehicles so I figured it wouldn’t hurt. Also, yes — I am tracking the value using kbb, so the numbers you see should be around what we would get for selling.
As for the mortgage, it does feel nearly impossible. Or at least like it will take forever. But I appreciate your words of encouragement!
FM
I just finished reading Rich Dad Poor Dad and he basically defines an asset as anything that makes you money, and not things like cars and houses. However, i dont know that i fully buy into that argument because a lot of people sell their homes and make profit from it.
Anyway i dont think there is a right or wrong way so dont let me dissuade you. Its just food for thought as we continue this exciting journey!
Best wishes,
Adam
Adam – IWTRS recently posted…Recent Buys: June 9, 2015
Adam,
Ah yes, I remember that part! But what I took away from his definition of “asset” is in terms of what to accumulate to generate wealth. I know he specifically says depreciating assets aren’t assets, but for me it’s anything significant I could sell, or that generates equity or passive income. But in the end, it’s subjective.
Anyway, definitely not discouraged! Just giving you my thought process.
Definitely appreciate your comments!
FM
FI Monkey,
That’s a very impressive net worth!
Maybe it’s just me, but it appears to me that you’re probably pretty close to some version of FI as it stands, no? You have a monster house/mortgage over there. Reducing that rather substantially (moving isn’t that hard, right?) means you’d become a lot more liquid and have a lot more money working for you.
I look at a guy like Pete over at MMM as a good example of this. More than $1 million in assets, but his house is only like $250k or something. That’s a pretty solid ratio. Your house, however, makes up a much larger portion of your overall assets (more than 80%). And since a house, in the end, is an expense (housing is an expense whether you own or rent), reducing it is a great way to accelerate the path to FI.
You’ve been writing a lot about not keeping up with the Joneses, but – I mean no offense – is having a house that’s worth almost $800k not keeping up with the Joneses? Over $40k in cars is pretty strong as well. If I had to own a car again, a $8k Corolla would be just fine. Just some things I notice here.
Any plans here with that moving forward?
Keep it up!
Best regards.
Dividend Mantra recently posted…Recent Buy
DM,
Firstly, I am honored to have you comment on my humble blog!
And you are absolutely right. My only defense is that I only started on the path to FI within the last couple of years and the purchase of both those luxuries ($550k, $40k) happened before that period — call it pre-englightenment (PE).
It’s funny you should comment on that because I was just messing with the FIRECalc and commenting on another post about the difference between retirement for someone with my mortgage and without. I day dream about the “Bill Gates” fairy coming along and paying my mortgage off because just having this house costs me — all things considered — about $50,000 per year. That’s before I even consider just living. Saying I want to live off of $3,000 or $4,000 per month, I now have to consider the base of ~$4100/month + monthly expenses. Assuming I stay where I am financially, that pushes my retirement date way into the future.
An alternative I have been discussing with my wife is potentially selling this house, which would net me around $200,000 after expenses (assuming the market doesn’t drop out in the mean time, of course). I could then roll a portion of that into a less expensive house with a 15-year mortgage. I’d also have $100k to invest in something or other. My portfolio or perhaps a rental property or two. That’s just one possible future, but you see where I’m going with it.
To put a silver lining on this dark cloud, I am sort of glad this is obvious. Part of the story I want to convey in this blog is someone going from the mindset of a mindless consumer to someone who has seen the error in their ways, and begins hacking away at years worth of bad decision. Because that’s exactly what I’m going through. On top of that, I have to consider my wife and kids, of course. My wife is very smart, but I can tell part of her wants to keep up appearances. Slowly, I hope she sees what that costs. There’s a lot of momentum I have to deal with in terms of expectations, but to answer your question about moving forward, yes — they are tentative plans, but they are in the making.
Thanks again,
FM
I can resonate especially with your last paragraph. Convincing your significant other is by far the biggest task. At least it is for me.
EurFI recently posted…Half time report for my June project (non-essential expenses)
EurFI,
For me, that’s one of the hardest parts on this path. The FI lifestyle really only works if both people are on board through thick and thin. Luckily, my wife is smart but that also means she will pick me apart. I can’t just throw ideas at her without knowing what I’m talking about. That’s one of the best things about her. It’s just never easy.
FM
Hey FI Monkey!
Glad to see youre on the rockstar net worth page. That is how I found you. Wow! That is an impressive jump from last month to this april to may and that is a very hefty emergency fund you have there. That is what I need!
Looking forward to seeing Junes post.
CashFlowDiaries,
Yeah, that net worth page is very interesting indeed, but as he points out on the page — it’s no real indication of financial independence or early retirement. We all have different expense needs and such. Still, it’s a nice way to arbitrarily sort of track your net worth for all to see.
And yeah, I’ve been building that Emergency Fund up as best I can just in case life happens (as it does so often). Six months expenses for me is apparently a lot!
What I’m focusing on now is making that a 9-12 month e-fund just by spending less on a monthly basis.
That means more security OR some free cash that I can use for investment opportunities.
Good luck with your e-fund and thanks for stopping by!
FM