November 2005 Net Worth
OK, time to face the music for the month. How good or bad was it?
I have finally set up an emergency fund at ING, with bi-weekly deposits to increase the amount. It will happen slowly at first, but at least we now have a formal plan for an emergency fund.
The investments disappoint me. Mid-month the total was over $31,000 due to a couple of stocks running up to recent highs, but they quickly retreated. While these stocks are for the long term, I haven’t ruled out taking profits the next time they do something similar. Of course with my luck, if I sell them there will not be a retreat.
I’m very pleased with the increase of my 401K. Its value at July 1 of this year was right at $102K. In the past five months the increase is equally split between market increases and contributions/match. My informal goal is for my retirement accounts to be over $1 million in 20 years. That amount does not include any retirement accounts my wife will able to set up once her practice is profitable. I figure I can do that relatively easy if I average an 8% return.
I’m upset that the credit card balance went up this month. While not using them much since I’ve started this weblog, there were a couple of big-ticket items at the first of the month. This will be a major focus going forward. My goal is to have no credit card debt at the end of 2006. Once that happens we can increase the emergency fund faster, as well as plow more money into the investment account.
At first glance I’m a little disappointed that our net worth is at the same point as the beginning of May 2005. Digging into the details reveals that my stock options have declined almost $15,000 due to my company’s lackluster market performance. This is money I will not touch until the value is over $50,000. Plus, even if the stock price doesn’t move in December, the value will go up $10,000 due to more options vesting. But the biggest drag on net worth was taking out the home equity line. After seeing the retirement village my parents just moved into, however, I don’t mind that debt sitting out there. They are in a great place and we will never need to worry about their long-term care: they are set for life. While we have a plan to pay this off in five years or less, it is difficult to put a price tag on their security.
I have finally set up an emergency fund at ING, with bi-weekly deposits to increase the amount. It will happen slowly at first, but at least we now have a formal plan for an emergency fund.
The investments disappoint me. Mid-month the total was over $31,000 due to a couple of stocks running up to recent highs, but they quickly retreated. While these stocks are for the long term, I haven’t ruled out taking profits the next time they do something similar. Of course with my luck, if I sell them there will not be a retreat.
I’m very pleased with the increase of my 401K. Its value at July 1 of this year was right at $102K. In the past five months the increase is equally split between market increases and contributions/match. My informal goal is for my retirement accounts to be over $1 million in 20 years. That amount does not include any retirement accounts my wife will able to set up once her practice is profitable. I figure I can do that relatively easy if I average an 8% return.
I’m upset that the credit card balance went up this month. While not using them much since I’ve started this weblog, there were a couple of big-ticket items at the first of the month. This will be a major focus going forward. My goal is to have no credit card debt at the end of 2006. Once that happens we can increase the emergency fund faster, as well as plow more money into the investment account.
At first glance I’m a little disappointed that our net worth is at the same point as the beginning of May 2005. Digging into the details reveals that my stock options have declined almost $15,000 due to my company’s lackluster market performance. This is money I will not touch until the value is over $50,000. Plus, even if the stock price doesn’t move in December, the value will go up $10,000 due to more options vesting. But the biggest drag on net worth was taking out the home equity line. After seeing the retirement village my parents just moved into, however, I don’t mind that debt sitting out there. They are in a great place and we will never need to worry about their long-term care: they are set for life. While we have a plan to pay this off in five years or less, it is difficult to put a price tag on their security.
posted by Dwight at
3:51 PM
2 Comments:
Looks like you have a plan well laid out and that is half the battle right there. Welcome to the pf blogging world and I look forward to reading more in the months to come!
By
Anonymous, at 9:57 PM
The personal finance bloggers net worth rankings are up for November. Also included is a new October to November net worth change ranking.
By
Anonymous, at 9:23 PM
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