We got the new year off to a great start by hitting our net worth milestone of $520,000! We passed our previous net worth milestone of $510,000 last month.
Our net worth is currently $520,539.17. I will update our chart on the right at the end of the month.
We hope to hit our next net worth milestone of $530,000 by March.
Happy New Year! Financially, 2016 was a strong year for us, hitting four of our five financial goals for the year. It was especially good considering my wife did not start her current job until the end of February 2016 and I was laid off in October 2016. I will be posting our 2017 financial goals shortly.
1) Pass both our 2016 and 2017 Net Worth Goals – SUCCESS
We were blessed to sell our last home for nearly $700K this past summer (only owed $350K on the mortgage). This helped us absolutely crush our net worth goals. We finished 2016 with a net worth of $517,430.64, propelling us past not only our 2016 goal ($343,700) and 2017 goal ($395,200) but also past our 2018 goal ($450,800) and 2019 goal ($510,900).
2) Pay off Car 1 Loan – SUCCESS
We began 2015 with two SUV auto loans, one for $22K at 3.29% and one for $27K at 2.59%. We had the simple goal of paying off the $22K loan by the end of 2016. I am happy to report that we sold both SUVs, replacing them with one low mileage sedan for $12K at 1.99%!
3) Pay $4,000 extra towards mortgage principal – SUCCESS
We killed this goal! We sold our home at a huge profit, allowing us to pay the $353K mortgage off completely and put $267K down on a new home. Our new $528K home has a 15-year mortgage at 2.875% that we have begun making accelerated payments on it as well (current mortgage balance $254,236.72).
4) Contribute $4,000 to 529 Plans – SUCCESS
We squeezed this win in at that last minute. Thanks to the blessing of my wife’s large quarterly bonus in December, we were able to hit our goal of contributing $4,000 total ($2,000 for each child) to our kids 529 Plans in 2016. Our 5-year-old currently has a 529 Plan balance of $17,301.90 and our 2-year-old has a 529 Plan balance of $8,587.02.
5) Building savings account balance to $20,000 – FAIL
We’ve attempted to accumulate $20K in savings for a few years but still can’t reach this goal. We had nearly $300K cash in the bank after selling our home, but we used it for a down payment on our new home and for furniture. We ended 2016 with a savings balance of $8,425.64.
December was an AWESOME income month, especially considering that I am unemployed (go wife!). As expected during the Christmas season, our expenses were higher than normal (see spreadsheet screenshot).
Our total income in December was $22,434.03. We were very blessed in that my wife received a $17,325 quarterly bonus ($10,152.65 net) this month! In addition to my wife’s normal two paychecks, she also received a third “extra” paycheck. I received $1,800 in unemployment. My wife also received $55.24 in company reimbursements. We earned $4.56 in interest income from our savings account.
This month, our spending was higher, mostly because of Christmas gifts. We spent a total of $15,974.46 in December. Big ticket items include $2,884 in giving, $1,900 in extra mortgage payments, and $1,707 in groceries & dinning.
January should be my last month on unemployment. I expect to start my new job January 30th. Happy New Year!
Overall
We ended the year really strong! In December, our net worth increased $17,361.40 to a total of $517,430.64 (see spreadsheet screenshot). My wife knocked it out of the park, scoring a large $17,325 quarterly bonus ($10,152.65 net). Huge blessing! With the bonus, were were able to put $4,880 into savings, made an extra mortgage payment to principal of $1,900, contributed $400 total to our kids 529 Plans, tithed $1,700, and kept the remainder as a cushion in our checking account.
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). My wife contributed $1,616.25 to her 401(k) and her company deposited another $3,232.50 into her 401(k) for her 5% match and 5% extra “chip in”. The total balance of our retirement accounts increased $8,172.17 from last month to a total of $207,925.13. We blew passed $200K total retirement savings this month!
Brokerage Account
Currently, our brokerage account consists of $100 cash and one stock (my wife’s old company) valued at $36.17 (on a $2,000.00 in initial investment).
Cash & Savings Accounts
Cash and savings accounts consists of a small sum of cash at home and our online savings account balance. It does not include our checking account balance that we use to pay our bills each month. This month our cash and savings accounts increased $4,884.56, bringing the total to $8,425.64.
College Savings Accounts
Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard. This month, we contributed $150 to our son’s 529 Plan and it increased $609.30 from last month to a total balance of $17,301.90. We also contributed $250 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it increased $480.12 last month to a total balance of $8,587.02.
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 $254,236.72. We paid $1,900 extra towards principal this month.
Cars
My wife has a company vehicle and I have a 2012 sedan with 60K miles. Our loan balance on my car is $11, 322.39 at 1.99%.
Credit Card Balance
We do not currently have a credit card balance that is not paid in full each month.
I am happy to have landed a new job. My entire team was laid off in October so I just accepted an identical position at a competing company. My new job will start January 30th.
Below is a comparison of my old job and my new job.
| Old job | New job | |
| Base Salary | $52,000 | $45,000 |
| Bonus at 100% | $28,000 | $30,000 |
| Bonus cap | 120% of goal | No cap |
| Vehicle | Company car & gas card | $450 auto allowance* & gas card |
| Vacation per year | 2 weeks | 2 weeks |
| Sick days per year | 4 days | 6 days |
| Holidays per year | 7 days | 9.5 days |
| 401(k) match | $1,000/year max | 4% |
* I negotiated a $450/month auto allowance & gas card in lieu of the company vehicle that is normally provided. I was going to keep my car even if I was provided a company vehicle so receiving the auto allowance is a plus for me.
Thanks to a large quarterly bonus that my wife received today, we were able to pass our net worth milestone of $510,000! We passed our previous net worth milestone of $500,000 last month.
Our net worth is currently $511,242.83. I will update our chart on the left at the end of the month.
We hope to hit our next net worth milestone of $520,000 by February.
November was our first full month with me on unemployment (I was laid off on 10/3/16). It was one of our more modest income months but our expenses have come down a good amount (see spreadsheet screenshot).
Our total income in November was $8,501.32. My wife received her normal two paychecks. I received $1,800 in unemployment. My wife also received $138.34 in company reimbursements. We earned $2.54 in interest income from our savings account.
This month, we successfully keep our spending down. We spent a total of $8,948.95 in November. Big ticket items include $1,776 for groceries and $356 for our phone bill (included a new phone).
Next month should be a strong month. My wife will receive a $17K gross quarter bonus and she also will receive a third “extra” paycheck. Our expenses will be higher with the Christmas holiday.
Overall
In November, our net worth increased $8,837.58 to a total of $500,069.24 (see spreadsheet screenshot). Nice to have a solid month, considering we’re just on one income after I lost my job last month. We passed the net worth milestone of $500K this month!
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). My wife contributed $500.00 to her 401(k) and her company deposited another $1,000.00 into her 401(k) for her 5% match and 5% extra “chip in”. I rolled my 401(k) over to my traditional IRA at Vanguard. The total balance of our retirement accounts increased $7,081.33 from last month to a total of $199,752.96. I hope we can pass $200K in our retirement accounts next month.
Brokerage Account
Currently, our brokerage account consists of one stock (my wife’s old company) that went down $70.72 this month. Our balance is $52.57 on a $2,000.00 in initial investment. Almost worth nothing. Lol!
Cash & Savings Accounts
Cash and savings accounts consists of a small sum of cash at home and our online savings account balance. It does not include our checking account balance that we use to pay our bills each month. We pulled cash out of savings to pay off a ~$700 auto loan balance on a vehicle that we sold a few months ago and ~$400 to cover some bills. This month our cash and savings accounts decreased $1,147.46, bringing the total to $3,541.08.
College Savings Accounts
Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard. This month, we contributed $0 to our son’s 529 Plan and it increased $637.48 from last month to a total balance of $16,692.60. We also contributed $0 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it increased $310.39 last month to a total balance of $8,106.90.
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 $257,307.03. We paid $100 extra towards principal this month.
Cars
My wife has a company vehicle and I have a 2012 sedan with 60K miles. Our loan balance on my car is $11,511.14 at 1.99%. We also paid off a small $706.48 loan balance (3.29%) on a vehicle that we sold in August 2016.
Credit Card Balance
We do not currently have a credit card balance that is not paid in full each month.
We just passed our net worth milestone of $500,000! I can’t believe we’re half-millionaires! LOL! We passed our previous net worth milestone of $490,000 in July.
Our net worth is currently $500,112.59. I will update our chart on the left at the end of the month.
We hope to hit our next net worth milestone of $510,000 by next month (thanks to wife’s large quarterly bonus).
Even though I was laid off on 10/3/16, October was a great income month. Thankfully, we were also able to keep our expenses down as well (see spreadsheet screenshot).
Our total income in October was $14,112.96. My wife received her normal two paychecks. I received one regular paycheck, a $1,690.64 bonus check, a $1,254.25 check for cashed out vacation + 4 extra days, and a $1,795.50 severance check. I received $1,350 in unemployment in October. My wife received $114.98 in company reimbursements. We earned $2.37 in interest income from our savings account.
This month, we finally got our spending down, although not as low as it needs to be. We spent a total of $11,108.99. Big ticket items include $2,000 down payment for a new (used) car and $1,707 for groceries & dinning.
Next month will be tight. It will be my first full month on unemployment (in my life) and we will be relying on my wife’s income almost exclusively. Thankfully, my wife should be receiving a large quarter bonus (~10K gross) in December. If I don’t have a job by then, that will help buy us some time.
