Net Worth

March 2019 Net Worth Update (+19,827.25)

Overall

March rocked!  We passed our $710K and $720K net worth goals this month! Our net worth increased $19,827.25 from last month to a total of $726,011 (spreadsheet screenshot). 

Retirement Accounts

Our retirement accounts are comprised of our 401(k)s, our Roth IRAs and our Traditional IRAs.  We contribute 7% to my wife’s 401(k).  My wife’s company matches up to 5% of her 401(K) contribution (100% vested when deposited) and chips in an additional 5% on top of the match in March (vests over 3 years). My wife’s company just deposited the $10.692.55 401(k) match into her account? This month, we contributed $1,819.41 to her 401(k).  We contribute 10% to my 401(k) and my company matches up to 4% and deposits the match in March (100% vested when deposited).   My company just deposited the $3,174.34 401(k) match into my account?This month, we contributed $501.93 to my 401(k).  The total balance of our retirement accounts increased $9,811.68 from last month to a total of $319,175.48.    

Brokerage Account

Currently, our brokerage account consists of a handful of stocks and some cryptocurrency (I prefer to track crypto in the “Brokerage Accounts” field rather than “Cash & Savings Accounts”).  The total current value is $7,971.29, up $1,441.06 from last month primarily because we invested a little more money.

Cash & Savings Accounts

Cash and savings accounts consists of a small sum of cash at home and our online savings accounts balance. It does not include our checking account balance that we use to pay our bills each month.  Our cash and savings accounts increased $1,612.49 this month, bringing the total to $15,364.66.

College Savings Accounts

Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard.  This month, we contributed $1,200 to our son’s 529 Plan and it increased $1,634.61 from last month to a total balance of $26,258.87.  We contributed $1,800 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it increased $2,078.78 from last month to a total balance of $15,515.95.

Home

We use the $528K purchase price that we paid in July 2016 for our home value.  Current comps in the area are ~$530K.  The current balance of our 15-year, 2.85% mortgage loan is $206,752.69.  We paid $2,100 extra towards our home mortgage principal this month. 

Vehicles

I have a company car and gas card.  My wife has a 2017 SUV with 50,000 miles.  Her company gives her $300/month auto allowance and $0.53/mile reimbursement. The loan balance on my wife’s car is $37,376.18 at 2.79%. We also have a ski boat with a loan balance of $50,845.292 at 5.24%.  We paid $100 extra towards our boat loan principal this month. 

Credit Card Balance

All of our credit card debt is paid in full each month. List Tab

Goals

NET WORTH MILESTONE: $710,000

We just passed our net worth milestones of $710,000! It has been a long time since we reached a new net worth milestone. We passed our previous milestone of $700,000 way back in September.

Our net worth is currently $712,820.28. We hope to reach the $720K milestone by May.

Uncategorized

February 2019 Income Statement

February was an amazing income month and our expense were pretty reasonable (see spreadsheet screenshot).

Our total income in February was $22,966.71.  In addition to our regular paychecks, I received a monthly bonus of $1,041.67 gross ($721.89 net) and a $450 auto allowance.  My wife also received a $1,342.96 auto allowance / mileage reimbursement, $44.99 in reimbursements and sold $2,343.60 of her company stock.  We earned $6.31 in interest income from our savings accounts. We also sold Car 1 for $6,300 (I got a company car).

This month, our expenses totaled $16,493.20.  Big ticket items include $4,542.97 to pay off Car 1 before we sold it, $960 to pay for part of our vacation in mid-March and $303 for doctor visits/prescriptions. We also had to pay $4,203 for our Federal taxes but received a $5,366 State refund, which more than offset it.

Next month, my wife should receive a large quarterly bonus but we also have a big vacation that will cost a bunch.

Net Worth

February 2019 Net Worth Update (+15,692.06)

Overall

February kicked butt!  Our net worth increased $15,692.06 from last month to a total of $706,173 (spreadsheet screenshot).  It was nice to pass $700K net worth again since we tippy toed by it in September 2018 but dropped back down.

Retirement Accounts

Our retirement accounts are comprised of our 401(k)s, our Roth IRAs and our Traditional IRAs.  We contribute 5% to my wife’s 401(k).  My wife’s company matches up to 5% of her 401(K) contribution and chips in an additional 5% on top of the match (both 100% vested when deposited in March).  This month, we contributed $790.95 to her 401(k).  We contribute 7% to my 401(k) and my company matches up to 4% and deposits the match in March (100% vested when deposited).   This month, we contributed $356.74 to my 401(k).  The total balance of our retirement accounts increased $13,066.78 from last month to a total of $309,363.80.

Brokerage Account

Currently, our brokerage account consists of a handful of stocks and some cryptocurrency (I prefer to track crypto in the “brokerage account” field rather than “Cash & Savings Accounts”.  The total current value is $6,530.23, up $820.73 from last month.

Cash & Savings Accounts

Cash and savings accounts consists of a small sum of cash at home and our online savings accounts balance. It does not include our checking account balance that we use to pay our bills each month.  Thanks to selling Car 1 ($6,300) and some of my wife’s company stock ($2,343), we were able to reinject our savings account with some life!  Our cash and savings accounts increased $3,918.63 this month, bringing the total to $13,752.17.

College Savings Accounts

Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard.  This month, we contributed $200 to our son’s 529 Plan and it increased $1,223.46 from last month to a total balance of $24,624.26.  We contributed $200 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it increased $758.42 from last month to a total balance of $13,437.17.

Home

We use the $528K purchase price that we paid in July 2016 for our home value.  Current comps in the area are ~$530K.  The current balance of our 15-year, 2.85% mortgage loan is $210,136.01.  We paid $300 extra towards our home mortgage principal this month. 

Vehicles

My wife’s 2017 SUV has 45,000 miles.  Her company gives her $300/month auto allowance and $0.53/mile reimbursement. The loan balance on my wife’s car is $38,002.36 at 2.79%. My company just provided me with a new company car and gas card so I sold my 2012 sedan. We also have a ski boat with a loan balance of $51,169.62 at 5.24%.  We paid $100 extra towards our boat loan principal this month. 

Credit Card Balance

All of our credit card debt is paid in full each month.

Income Statement

January 2018 Income Statement

January was a better income month than expected but our expense exceeded our income (see spreadsheet screenshot).

Our total income in January was $14.905.77.  In addition to our regular paychecks, I received a monthly/quarterly combined bonus of $3,458.33 gross ($2,579.37 net) and a $450 auto allowance.  My wife also received a bonus of $2,804.69 gross ($1,579.75 net), a $681.67 auto allowance / mileage reimbursement, and $44.99 in reimbursements.  We earned $12.32 in interest income from our savings accounts.

This month, our expenses totaled $15,874.39.  Lower than last month but too high for our income this month. Big ticket items include $685 in annual life insurance, $547 in medical/dental visits, and $442.07 in clothing/accessories.

Next month we may have a big bill for some water damage in our ceiling ☹ 

Net Worth

January 2019 Net Worth Update (+$23,481.51)

Jan 2019 Net Worth

Overall

2019 is off to a strong start!  Our net worth increased $23,481.51 from last month to a total of $690,481.78 (see spreadsheet screenshot). 

Retirement Accounts

Our retirement accounts are comprised of our 401(k)s, our Roth IRAs and our Traditional IRAs.  We contribute 5% to my wife’s 401(k).  My wife’s company matches up to 5% of her 401(K) contribution and chips in an additional 5% on top of the match (both 100% vested when deposited in March).  This month, we contributed $840.95 to her 401(k).  We contribute 7% to my 401(k) and my company matches up to 4% and deposits the match in March (100% vested when deposited).   This month, we contributed $511.32 to my 401(k).  The total balance of our retirement accounts increased $21,663.93 from last month to a total of $296,297.02.

Brokerage Account

Currently, our brokerage account consists of a few stocks and some cryptocurrency (I prefer to track crypto in the “brokerage account” field rather than “Cash & Savings Accounts”.  The total current value is $5,709.50, up $523.26 from last month.

Cash & Savings Accounts

Cash and savings accounts consists of a small sum of cash at home and our online savings accounts balance. It does not include our checking account balance that we use to pay our bills each month.  We dipped into the piggy bank hard this month ☹  Our cash and savings accounts decreased $2,990.80 this month, bringing the total to $9,833.54.

College Savings Accounts

Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard.  This month, we contributed $100 to our son’s 529 Plan and it increased $1,889.36 from last month to a total balance of $23,400.80.  We contributed $100 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it increased $1,099.60 from last month to a total balance of $12,678.75.

Home

We use the $528K purchase price that we paid in July 2016 for our home value.  Current comps in the area are ~$530K.  The current balance of our 15-year, 2.85% mortgage loan is $211,715.54.  We paid $200 extra towards principal this month. 

Vehicles

My wife’s 2017 SUV has 45,000 miles.  Her company gives her $300/month auto allowance and $0.53/mile reimbursement. The loan balance on my wife’s car is $38,621.41 at 2.79%. I have a 2012 sedan with 130K miles.  My company gives me a $450/month vehicle allowance and provides me with a gas card.  The loan balance on my car is $4,542.97 at 1.99%. We also have a ski boat with a loan balance of $51,451.49 at 5.24%. 

Credit Card Balance

All of our credit card debt is paid in full each month.

Goals

2019 FINANCIAL GOALS

Happy New Year!  The years have been flying by and we have set some exciting financial goals for ourselves in 2019.  Here they are:  

1) Pass our 2022 Net Worth Goal
We ended 2018 with a net worth of $667,000, over 3 years ahead of our 2018 net worth goal.  We would like to keep this lead and end 2019 with a net worth over $721,500 (our 2022 net worth goal).

2) Reduce average monthly expenses by $1,000
We spent an average of $15,620 per month in 2018.  An insane amount of money and not something we are proud of.  We hope to reduce our average monthly expenses by $1,000, to $14,620 average per month.  With life costing more each year, this might not be as easy as it seems, however, we flagged a couple of categories that we plan to reduce in order to achieve this goal: furniture, clothing, and food.

3)Create a family trust or will

With two children and rising assets, we have wanted to create a family trust or will but never have gotten around to it.  We want that to change in 2019 and plan to meet with a lawyer to get this goal competed.

4) Contribute $3,000 to 529 Plans ($1,500 for each child)
We feel a bit more pressure each year to save for our kid’s college educations.  Our son is currently 7-years-old with a 529 Plan balance of $21,511 and our daughter is 4-years-old with a 529 Plan balance of $11,579.  We successfully contributed $1,000 to each of their 529 Plans in 2018 and would like increase that to $1,500 to each of their 529 Plans in 2019.

5) Building savings account balance to $20,000
This is a goal we have made for ourselves a few times over the years and have never been able reach it.  In 2019 we want that to change!  We ended 2018 with $12,824 in savings and w

Goals

Review of 2018 Financial Goals

Wow!  2018 flew by!  Happy New Year!  2018 was another blessed year for our family.  We were on track to hit all of our goals until the stock market dropped at the end of the year.  Even though we only hit three of our five 2018 financial goals, I still am counting it as a very good year.  Here are the details:  

1) Pass our 2022 Net Worth Goal  – FAIL
We had a very good chance to hit our 2022 net worth goal of $721,500 but the market dump at the end of the year did us in.  We finished 2018 with a net worth of $667,000.27, still over 3 years ahead of our 2018 net worth goal target (2018’s target was $450,800) but short of our goal to be 4 years ahead of our net worth goal targets.

2) Continue tithing and improve attendance  – SUCCESS
We did a better at making it to church more consistently but still have a lot of work to do do better.  We tithed $5,471.01 in 2018, which is an average of $455.91/month.  That was better than we were shooting for but there is still room to improve.

3) Pay $6,000 extra towards mortgage principal  – SUCCESS
We nailed this goal perfectly!  We paid exactly an extra $6,000 towards our mortgage principal in 2018.  We started the year with a mortgage balance of $232,756.63 and ended the year with a mortgage balance of $213,191.54, a reduction of $19,565.09.

4) Contribute $2,000 to 529 Plans ($1,000 for each child)  – SUCCESS
We exceed this goal, contributing a total of $2,591.35 to our kid’s 529 Plans in 2018.  We contributed $1,321.35 to our son’s 529 Plan and $1,270 to our daughter’s 529 Plan.  It feels good to get back on track with this after taking most of 2017 off from contributing.  Currently, our 7-year-old son’s 529 Plan has a balance of $21,511.44 and our 4-year-old daughter’s 529 Plan has a balance of $11,579.15.  

5) Building retirement accounts balance total to $300K  – FAIL
We begin 2018 with $267k in retirement savings. Due to the big market downturn at the end of the year, we finished 2018 with a net worth of 274,633.09.  Unfortunately, we came up well short of our $300k goal.

Income Statement

December 2018 Income Statement

December was an outstanding income month and a lower than usual expense month (see spreadsheet screenshot).

Our total income in December was very good at $23,684.28.  In addition to our regular paychecks, I received a monthly bonus of monthly bonus $1,332.08 gross ($778.82 net) and a $450 auto allowance.  My wife also received $10,193 gross ($6,482.51 net) quarterly bonus, $3,150 special company bonus (on a credit card), a $641.50 auto allowance / mileage reimbursement, and $44.99 in reimbursements.  We also received an unexpected $843.71 California state tax refund.  Very nice surprise!  We earned $8.63 in interest income from our savings accounts.

This month, our expenses totaled $17,963.81.  Big ticket items include $1,922 in furniture, $1,945 in giving (tithe and gifts), and $293.17 in vacation.

Next month might be a bit of a tight income month as neither my wife or I expect to receive much in the way of bonuses.  That being said, 2018 ended on a high note income-wise!

Our path to financial independence and retiring early.