Net Worth – March 2008 March 30, 2008
Posted by pf in Net Worth Update.Tags: average net worth, CD, certificate of deposit, Credit Card, debt, march, net worth, Retirement, stock market, what should my net worth be
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One year ago, I posted my very first net worth update. At that time, my net worth was $515,583. As I post the update for this month, I am currently at $577,487. In that time period, I have improved my net worth by just over 12%. While not a “lights out” gain, I think it’s very solid and would count myself very fortunate if I were able to sustain it throughout my lifetime.
As I look at the past year, I noticed that I increased my assets by about 8%, while barely showing any progress on reducing my overall liabilities in terms absolute dollars ($244,634 in 2007 vs. 244,009 in 2008). I would like to see this a bit higher, but would not expect huge gains as:
- Almost 95% of my overall liability is mortgage debt and will only be drawn down gradually over the course of a year (I’m not trying to accelerate the payoff)
- I do participate in some credit arbitrage (have significantly increased my credit card balance versus a year ago)
However, the ratio of my debt to assets has been reduced by 2% (32% to 30%). This is a difference of about $16,500 (ie – I would have that much more debt if I maintained the same ratio as in 2007). All in all, I think I’m moving in the right direction. Of course, the last year is just a small data point in time.
Anyway, let’s get to this month’s update. As you can see, we had a nice little gain in March. As I mentioned in the February update, this was somewhat expected as tax returns, work bonus, and tax rebates start making their appearance in the results. Otherwise, March was a fairly quiet month. Here’s the breakdown:
NET WORTH FOR MARCH
| 2 Mo Ago Jan – 07 |
Last Month Feb – 08 | This Month Mar – 08 | Monthly Change | Monthly Change % | |
| Cash | 132,594 | 130,899 | 152,888 | 21,989 | 16.80% |
| 401(k)/IRAs | 240,864 | 248,376 | 248,608 | 232 | 0.09% |
| Home | 290,000 | 290,000 | 290,000 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Other Real Estate | 130,000 | 130,000 | 130,000 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total Assets | 793,458 | 799,275 | 821,496 | 22,221 | 2.78% |
| Home Mortgage | 125,200 | 124,439 | 123,675 | -(764) | -0.61% |
| Other Mortgage | 107,656 | 107,373 | 107,054 | -(319) | -0.30% |
| Credit Card | 4,990 | 11,431 | 13,280 | (1,849) | 16.18% |
| Other | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total Liabilities | 237,846 | 243,243 | 244,009 | (766) | 0.31% |
| NET WORTH | 555,612 | 556,032 | 577,487 | 21,455 | 3.86% |
MARCH HIGHLIGHTS
- Fed continued to cut rates. I already made preparations for such events a few months ago and have a large stake of cash sitting in CDs making 5+%
- Tax refund, work bonus, and tax rebate starting to show up – welcome boost to net worth
- Stock market volatility continues
- Made a 2008 Roth IRA contribution of $2500
- Credit card arbitrage in full swing – balances going up
APRIL PREVIEW
- Hold the line on expenses
- Stream line payment of expenses (too much moving around of funds and inadvertently getting hit with some late fees)
- Spring finally arrives?
[...] Net Worth – Mar 2008 [...]