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January 2016 Net Worth Update (+$179.62)

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Jan 2016 net worth

Overall

In January, our net worth increased $179.62 to a total of $331,293.56 (see spreadsheet screenshot). My wife and her team were laid off on December 31st but she received a severance and quarterly bonus in January.  My wife is such a superstar that she already landed a new job that starts in February making the same salary ($130K), a similar target bonus ($35K), two months off per year, car/laptop/phone, and her new company contributes 10% of her annual salary into her 401(k).  Such a blessing!

Retirement Accounts

Our retirement accounts are comprised of my wife’s 401(k), my 401(k), our Roth IRAs and our Traditional IRAs.  We contribute 3% to my wife’s 401(k) and 15% to my 401(k).  My wife’s company matches up to 3% of her 401(K) contribution and deposits the sum once a year on January 1st (it is 100% vested when deposited).  My company matches up to $1,000 per year (vested over five years).  This month, we contributed $397.35 to my wife’s 401(k) and $900 to my 401(k).  My wife also received her once a year 3% company match totaling $3,900 to her 401(k).  We saw the total balance of our retirement accounts decrease -$4,549.96 last month to a total of $154,792.12.

Brokerage Account

Currently, our brokerage account consists of one stock (my wife’s old company) that went down $79.23 this month.  Our balance is $642.54 on a $2,000.00 in initial investment.  Even though my wife’s team was laid off, we’re going to hold onto the stock.

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.  Thanks to my wife’s severance and bonus, this month our cash and savings accounts increased $4,808.46, bringing the total to $16,324.92.

College Savings Accounts

Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard.  This month, we contributed $200 to our son’s 529 Plan and it decreased $654.37 from last month to a total balance of $12,669.00.  We contributed $200 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it decreased $191.82 over last month to a total balance of $5,570.25.

Home

We use the $489K purchase price that we paid in January 2012 for our home value.  Current comps in the area are ~$650K.  The current balance on our mortgage loan is $356,930.90.  We paid an extra $0 towards principal this month.

Cars

“Car 1” is a 2011 SUV with ~70K miles and “Car 2” is a 2012 SUV with ~75Kmiles.  When calculating our net worth, we depreciate the vehicles 1% per month.  “Car 1” has a current loan balance of $21,245.41 and Car 2 has a current loan balance of $26,637.61.  I receive $230.13/month as a fixed car reimbursement and $0.22 per mile as a variable reimbursement (to help cover gas, wear and tear, etc.).

Credit Card Balance

We do not currently have a credit card balance that is not paid in full each month.

Goals

2016 Financial Goals

I hope everyone’s new year is off to a great start!   We hit three out of five of our 2015 financial goals and hope to have better luck reaching our 2016 financial goals listed below.

1) Pass both our 2016 and 2017 Net Worth Goals We finished 2015 with a net worth of $331,113, meaning we are roughly $12K short of our 2106 net worth goal of $343,700. God willing, we should easily reach that goal and once we do, we’ll shoot for hitting our 2017 net worth goal of $395,200 one year early. My wife was laid off on 12/31/15, so these goals are more challenging than they seem.

2) Pay off Car 1 Loan Last year, we went from having no car payment to have two car payments that total $850/month. Insane! We must try to pay off the smaller of the two loans. As of December 2015, we owe $21,585.22 on our loan for Car 1.

3) Pay $4,000 extra towards mortgage principal We paid $3,100 total in extra mortgage principal payments in 2015 and would love to try pay an extra $4,000 towards mortgage principal in 2016 (an average of $333/month in extra payments.

4) Contribute $4,000 to 529 Plans ($2,000 for each child) We hope again be able to contribute $4,000 total ($2,000 for each child) to our kids 529 Plans in 2016. We barely pulled it off in 2015 and hope to do it again in 2016. Our 4-year-old currently has a balance of $13,323.37 and our 18-month-old has a balance of $5,762.07.

5) Building savings account balance to $20,000 We’ve tried so many times to build and maintain a saving account balance of $20,000. We ended 2015 with a saving account balance of $11,516.46. Hopefully we will reach $20,000 in 2016.

 

Goals

Review of 2015 Financial Goals

I can’t believe 2016 is hear already.  Below are the results of the 2015 financial goals that we set for ourselves 12 months ago. As you can see, it’s a mixed bag in terms of success and failure. We’re excited about what 2016 will bring.  I’ll be posting our 2016 financial goals soon.

1) Pass our 2016 Net Worth Goal 1 year early – FAIL

We passed our 2015 net worth goal of $296K one year early so we set a goal to of hitting our 2016 net worth goal of $343K by the end of 2015. We didn’t quite get there but got darn close, ending 2015 with a net worth of $331,113. I was out of a job the first 5 months of the year so that’s not too shabby.

2) Pay off credit card balance of $5,767.31 – SUCCESS

We successfully paid off the $5,767.31 credit card balance from purchasing a new HVAC system a little over a year ago.

3) Pay $3,000 extra towards mortgage principal – SUCCESS

Another success! We paid $3,100 total in extra mortgage principal payments in 2015, surpassing our goal by a tiny bit.

4) Contribute $4,000 to 529 Plans ($2,000 for each child) – SUCCESS

We squeezed this one in the last month of the year. By contributing $640 to our son’s 529 Plan in December and $285 to our daughter’s plan in December, we reached goal of contributing $2,000 to each of their 529 Plans in 2015.

4) Building savings account balance to $15,000 – FAIL

We set a goal of building our savings to $15,000 in 2015. We didn’t quite make it but finished with a respectable $11,516.46. We hope to exceed the $15K in savings in just a couple of weeks with a ~$34K gross severance that my wife will receive in January.

Income Statement

December 2015 Income Statement

December was a great income month and reasonable expense month (see spreadsheet screenshot). Sadly, my wife and her team were informed that they are being laid off as of 12/31/15. Thankfully, they put together a generous severance package for her.

Our total income in November was $18,110.35. In addition to our paychecks, my wife received $4,489.54 (net) for cashed in PTO and I received a monthly bonus $2,764.10 gross ($1,584.05 net). My wife also received an $800 auto allowance and a $150 in company reimbursements. I received $481.58 in auto allowance and mileage reimbursement. We also received $287 in preschool reimbursement, and earned $4.10 in interest income from our online savings account.

This month, we spent a total of $10,724.62. Relatively low compared to our income for the month. Some of our larger, non-typical expenses included $1,407 in gifts (Christmas), $1,024 in household items, and $181 in clothing.

Next month, my wife will receive a severance and bonus totaling $34K gross. We plan to bank as much of this as possible to provide us a cushion as she looks for a new job.

Dec 2015 Income Statement

Net Worth

December 2015 Net Worth Update (+$6,852.72)

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net worth Dec 2015

 Overall

In December, we passed the net worth milestone of $330,000, thanks mainly to my wife’s $4,489 cashed in PTO and my monthly bonus of $2,764.10 gross ($1,584.05 net). Our net worth increased $6,852.72 this month, to a total of $331,113.94 (see spreedsheet screenshot). My wife and her team were informed that 12/31/15 was their last day of work. Thankfully, she will receive ~$34K in severance and bonus in January.

Retirement Accounts

Our retirement accounts are comprised of my wife’s 401(k), my 401(k), our Roth IRAs and our Traditional IRAs. We contribute 3% to my wife’s 401(k) and 15% to my 401(k). My wife’s company matches up to 3% of her 401(K) contribution and deposits the sum once a year on January 1st (it is 100% vested when deposited). My company matches up to $1,000 per year (vested over five years). This month, we contributed $541.66 to my wife’s 401(k) and $700 to my 401(k). We saw the total balance of our retirement accounts decrease $1,096.78 last month to a total of $159,342.08.

Brokerage Account

Currently, our brokerage account consists of one stock (my wife’s company) that went down $103.11 this month. Our balance is $721.77 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 $6,450.00, bringing the total to $11,516.46. We made huge progress this month thanks to my wife’s cashed in PTO.

College Savings Accounts

Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard. This month, we contributed $640 to our son’s 529 Plan and it increased $377.72 from last month to a total balance of $13,323.37. We contributed $285 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it increased $292.83 over last month to a total balance of $5,762.07.

Home

We use the $489K purchase price that we paid in January 2012 for our home value. Current comps in the area are ~$650K. The current balance on our mortgage loan is $357,625.03. We paid an extra $0 towards principal this month.

Cars

“Car 1” is a 2011 SUV with ~60K miles and “Car 2” is a 2012 SUV with ~60Kmiles. When calculating our net worth, we depreciate the vehicles 1% per month. “Car 1” has a current loan balance of $21,585.22 and Car 2 has a current loan balance of $27,017.99. My wife receives $800/month as a car reimbursement and her gas is paid for by her company. I receive $230.13/month as a fixed car reimbursement and $0.22 per mile as a variable reimbursement (to help cover gas, wear and tear, etc.)

Credit Card Balance

We do not currently have a credit card balance that is not paid in full each month.

Goals

Net Worth Milestone: $330,000

Got this one in before the New Year buzzer:)  We passed our net worth milestone of $330,000.  We passed our previous net worth milestone of $310,000 last month.

Our net worth is currently $331,813.98. I will update our chart on the left at the end of the month.

Thanks to a severance package that my wife is receiving, we should hit our next net worth milestone of $340,000 next month!

Income Statement

November 2015 Income Statement

November was a great income month and high expense month (see spreadsheet screenshot).

Our total income in November was $18,592.90. In addition to our paychecks, my wife received a $11,500 gross ($6909.37 net) quarterly bonus. This was a huge blessing! She also received an $800 auto allowance and a $150 in company reimbursements. I received $547.35 in auto allowance and mileage reimbursement. We also received $307 in preschool reimbursement, and earned $1.35 in interest income from our online savings account.

This month, we spent a total of $12,368.07. Some of our larger, non-typical expenses included $2,219 in vacation and $699 in auto service.

Next month, I will be receiving a monthly bonus.

Nov 2015 Income Statement

Net Worth

November 2015 Net Worth Update (+$7,338.66)

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Nov 2015 net worth

Overall

In November, we passed the net worth milestone of $320,000. This was achieved, primarily, due to my wife’s $11,500 gross ($6909.37 net) quarterly bonus. Our net worth increased $7,338.66 this month, to a total of $324,261.222 (see spreadsheet screenshot).

Retirement Accounts

Our retirement accounts are comprised of my wife’s 401(k), my 401(k), our Roth IRAs and our Traditional IRAs. We contribute 10% to my wife’s 401(k) and 20% to my 401(k). My wife’s company matches up to 3% of her 401(K) contribution and deposits the sum once a year on January 1st (it is 100% vested when deposited). My company matches up to $1,000 per year (vested over five years). This month, we contributed $1,116.66 to my wife’s 401(k) and $800 to my 401(k). We saw the total balance of our retirement accounts increase $2,058.54 over last month to a total of $160,438.86.

Brokerage Account

Currently, our brokerage account consists of one stock (my wife’s company) that went down $103.11 this month. Our balance is $741.41 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 $4,501.66, bringing the total to $5,066.46.  It feels nice to be moving in the right direction with our savings again.

College Savings Accounts

Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard. This month, we contributed $0 to our son’s 529 Plan and it increased $27.14 from last month to a total balance of $12,945.65. We contributed $0 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it increased $11.50 over last month to a total balance of $5,469.24.

Home

We use the $489K purchase price that we paid in January 2012 for our home value. Current comps in the area are ~$650K. The current balance on our mortgage loan is $358,317.00. We paid an extra $0 towards principal this month.

Cars

“Car 1” is a 2011 SUV with ~60K miles and “Car 2” is a 2012 SUV with ~60Kmiles. When calculating our net worth, we depreciate the vehicles 1% per month. “Car 1” has a current loan balance of $21,928.82 and Car 2 has a current loan balance of $27,792.50. My wife receives $800/month as a car reimbursement and her gas is paid for by her company. I receive $230.13/month as a fixed car reimbursement and $0.22 per mile as a variable reimbursement (to help cover gas, wear and tear, etc.)

Credit Card Balance

We do not currently have a credit card balance that is not paid in full each month.

Goals

Net Worth Milestone: $320,000

It took awhile but we finally passed the net worth milestone of $320,000.  We passed our last net worth milestone of $310,000 back in May.

Our net worth is currently $320,922.87. I will update our chart on the left at the end of the month.

Based on my estimates, we should hit our next net worth milestone of $330,000 by February.

Income Statement

October 2015 Income Statement

October was a good income month and larger than average expense month (see spreadsheet screenshot).

Our total income in October was $11,883.87. In addition to our paychecks, my wife received an $800 auto allowance and a $150 in company reimbursements. I received $649.54 in auto allowance and mileage reimbursement. We also received $276 in preschool reimbursement and earned $0.31 in interest income from our online savings account.

This month, we spent a total of $11,513.75. Some of our larger, non-typical expenses included $197 in auto service, $192 in clothing, and a $522 electric bill.

Next month, my wife should receive her quarterly bonus.

October 205 income statement

Our path to financial independence and retiring early.