Monthly Update for December 2007

Average gain for the month of 1.4% or $2,447 for a grand total of $182, 008 as a net worth. This was actually a surprise as my wife and I are still in the middle of paying off our HVAC. Last payment is this month of about $1,100. I am doing my best to transfer any extra cash over to our ING savings account so that we can add to our cash cushion. I am expecting January to be a tad bit better with a noticeable increase in February. This also depends upon any small home improvements we intend to make to our bathrooms. More to follow on this. I am going to try and get a quote this month from our contractor for work on all three bathrooms and then make the decision based on the price....

Monthly Update for November 2007

Net Worth is down by $249 Dollars to $179,561. I'm actually happy about this. There have been some unexpected events the past 30 days or so.


My heating and air conditioning unit in my home decided to go on me. ugh! The joys of home ownership...And this is supposed to be an investment. Yah, I'll keep telling myself that until I believe it. However, the new unit has added a great improvement to the house. We even have a fancy new programmable thermostat. The total cost of the equipment and labor was around $4,700. I got the installer to agree to breaking up the payments over the course of three months. I am learning that I don't like to drag out financial obligations this way. Kind of like my dislike of our CC balance at zero percent. The upside of this is not having to take out any cash from my ING account, but in turn, I have had to suspend any further payments into this account until mid January. I am hoping to pay off the repair bill and maybe add a little additional cushion to the joint checking account by doing this and not have to actually transfer any savings. This home improvement is really crushing my cash flow in a bad way. I am estimating that I can put the ING on automatic pilot for $500 a week beginning mid January.
A few other factors were:
1. My employee stock actually went down by about 7% instead of the rumor of a heavy increase.
2. Overall Stock Market decline


December may not be much better. We still owe about $1,200 to the installer and another $700 for some recent furniture purchases. On a positive note, my next paycheck should be a bit higher. I received a 5% raise and will be able to drop my W4 form down by about $200. I am also expecting about $500 dollars (Net) from a bonus from work. I am hoping to break into the $181K bench mark in December. This should be achievable with just our 401K contributions and company match. As I suspected the stock market has come roaring back in the past few days adding easy money back into our accounts. This will certainly help the cause.


My short term goals are still the same. I want between 40-50K total in our cash accounts. I will then start contributing to our brokerage accounts to include Roth IRA and maybe even a little extra into the mortgage. I must say I feel like I'm running up hill pretty hard right now. Sometimes it feels like I just won't make it over the hill. I look forward to the day when I can feel comfortable with the amount of cash I have on hand and start putting more money into the brokerage accounts.

Monthly Update for October 2007

Another good month! Net worth is up to $179, 810 an increase of just over $6,000 from last month or 3.5%. A more detailed listing of all my assets and liabilities can be found at http://www.networthiq.com/people/VAContractor

I am particularly proud of the large increase in my cash holdings with an increase of over $3,000 for the month. I am still focused on getting my cash savings up to $40-$50K. This will make me rest easier at night. Additional savings this month came from extra income generated from traveling at work.

Projections for next month are difficult to anticipate. I will need to pay my property taxes for $1,600 and also plan to pay down some of the CC balance of $5,000 that I am currently holding at 0%. I would rather pay this down a little at a time rather than just one large $5K payment. What can I say, I just don't like having CC debt. Even if it is at 0%. This could be a weakness of mine. The total amount needs to be paid by May 2008.

Next month could also see a spike in my employee stock (employee owned). I currently have about $8K worth of company stock. Rumor has it that there could be about a 20% jump in the next month. Not sure when I will see this realized in my balance if at all.

This month my wife and I also sat down for about an hour and did an estimate on what we may owe in taxes. The numbers look good. Since we bought our home in May we do not get the full year advantage of writing off the interest but it looks like we may be breaking about even. This is a weight off my shoulders. After December I will be able to adjust my W-4 and give myself about a $175 a paycheck raise (I get paid every two weeks). This is a nice little raise.

On another note, I find myself getting excited as each month comes to a close. I love to sit down and plug in my new numbers to see what progress I am making. This exercise has also forced me to look at each month as a seperate transaction period. I can try and strategise what actions I would like to take place within each month. I guess what I'm saying is that keeping a detailed spreadsheet and this blog makes me view my personal finances as a true business. Each month at work we do monthly roll ups to see if we are going to hit our annual goals/budget. I now do much of the same for my own finances.

Net Worth Projections

I have been doing some analysis of how to best estimate the potential growth of my net worth. This is to try an answer the question of "how much money will I have when I'm 33, 34, 35 etc. years old. It will be nice to try and celebrate the smaller successes along the way to achieving my goal. Celebrating every six figure amount is nice. I am heading close to the $200K range as I write. This exercise is also an attempt to try and determine if my current path will allow me to hit my goal of having $1M by the time I'm 40 (Feb. 2017). This exercise or analysis has been very interesting for me and reveals a lot about how the future will play out.

I have taken a look at several ways to come up with a good predictor. Right now I have decided to compare the growth of a set rate of return on a monthly basis (1.5%) versus an increase of a set amount of money (how much I save) each month as well as a specific rate of return (8% annually or .0066 a month). The past several months I have been able to save at least $3K dollars a month and hope to get about 8% return from all my investments.

An important note is that since tracking my progress I have beaten this growth rate on both accounts almost every month. I have somehow been able to save more and gain a better rate of return. However, I believe that there will be good times and bad on the road ahead so I should account for that somehow. I believe that both of these methods have a strong a potential for becoming my baseline from which to compare my progress. I have highlighted in the spreadsheet below my birthday which is in February as well as the $100K milestones.

As you can see the 1.5% column on the left does not beat out the $3K plus 8% return. However, as time goes by the advantage shifts to the 1.5% growth column. In June 2016 or in the $700K range the column on the left or 1.5% growth has the advantage and takes the lead for ever more.

As the my net worth increases the advantage becomes even greater. If I draw the numbers down until I'm age 50 the discrepancy is over 50% in favor of the 1.5% growth column.

In February of 2027 when I turn 50 the 1.5% column reads $5,365,340 while the $3k in savings plus 8% annual return column only reads $2,420,486.96. This is amazing if you ask me.

Some takeaways from this analysis so far are:

1. Saving the first 700K is influenced more by my ability to save money. From this point on it is the true growth or rate of return from my investments.

2. Based on these two predictions I will fall short of my $1M dollar goal by age 40. I turn 40 in February of 2017. At a 1.5% increase I will have $898,818.97. At $3K a month plus 8% return I will have $851, 058.98. Either of these numbers would be something to be proud of by the time I'm 40, but most definitely falling short of my goal.

3. More to follow as I ponder these numbers.

Any thoughts?

Life Get's in the Way

What a crazy few weeks I have had! My work situation is not good. The Division I work in is going through some major business issues right now. The good news is that I am still in the good graces with my supervisors (I have 3 or 4 or maybe 5 bosses). At least I feel that they would be upset if I were to leave. However, the current situation has caused me to consider other options for employment. I have only put in a minimal effort in looking for a job. I updated my resume and went to one job fair which has resulted in two potential opportunities. I also have a potential opportunity within the same company I am working. This entire situation has caused me to really question what I want to do with the next few years. I can try and stay with one company for a long time and move up in the management chain or bounce around every couple of years working on various different project that peak my interest. Having said that... All of this is stressful. In the middle of all of this I got a bad sinus infection that I am still getting over and I have also developed my first experience with TMJ (I am still not sure what this stands for) which is severe jaw pain brought on by stress.
Oh, did I mention, my wife and I just found out that she is pregnant. This does add to the stress but in some way brings everything back into perspective. Regardless, I am in a good job market in a thriving industry with some money in the bank.
The lesson learned over the past few weeks is really the importance of saving money. The corporate rat race is risky business. Not to mention it is bad for your health.

$200,000 a year and completely broke.

Someone who I have worked with for a few years has recently left the company. For reasons I won't go into, the move was sudden and unexpected. He is in his early 50's, extremely smart, very employable, but his financial choices are questionable at best. I was very close to this person, and he would often share some very personal details of his financial situation. I have recently reread "The Millionaire Next Door," and I would say he is the perfect example of a hyper consumer. His financial situation is completely out of control. Overspending on just about everything from cars for his kids, last minute trips, and even a stretch-Hummer for one son's senior prom party. An overall complete disregard for the value of a dollar.

This person made a combined income of about $200K a year including his salary, his wife's salary, and a pension from the government. He was living paycheck to paycheck. I know this because he told me, as he would say, "most people live check to check." I didn't say anything about my situation. Don't get me wrong...I am hardly perfect, but not living check to check. He had convinced himself of a couple of things. One being, "most people live check to check" and that "it is impossible to get ahead." $200K a year and completely broke.

I work for a medium-sized corporation with a benefit of a retirement plan made up of a 401K, stock sharing plan, and a healthy match made in the form of cash and company stock. This is about 95% retirement money subject to all the rules and regulations you would expect. This person's account was just over $100K at the time of his departure. Again, I know this because he told me. He was contributing only 3% of his salary. When he told me his account was $100K, he framed the conversation in the terms of "you'll have this much some day, too." I kept my mouth closed as I usually do. I rarely disclose any personal money info (except on this blog).

This person left our company about 6 weeks ago and has recently cashed out of all retirement accounts. I imagine that after all penalties and taxes he is walking away with maybe half ($50K). To make things worse he has cashed out at the end of a tax year. Interesting enough, his financial move has come up at work. His former boss and my big boss asked how he was doing and if he had found another job. In my area, he could realistically find another job within about 4-8 weeks. Someone in the room replied, "he hasn't found another job, but he is OK because he cashed out of his 401K and he now has several months to figure things out."

I feel totally amazed at these comments. Not only is this person not okay and probably headed for financial ruin, but I am amazed that other people view this move as no big deal. Not only did all those taxes and fees have to be paid but he is most likely going to blow through this money in a few months. Even with a government pension of about $40K a year, he is in real financial trouble unless he makes some real changes.

If my wife and I both lost our jobs or even just one of us lost our jobs we would be worried. We would quickly hit the pavement looking for new work and slow down on all non-essential spending. Cashing out of even taxable accounts would be a last resort. The money we have saved has come from hard work and sacrifice. I would do everything I could to avoid spending it down on monthly expenses. I think what I have observed really comes down to a person's values. How they value money and really how they value themselves. A hyper consumer who thinks he is providing for his family by giving cars and lavish gifts, is really potentially leading them over the financial waterfall. Loving your kids (again, I don't have any yet) means making some tough decisions on what you are going to provide and what you are going to hold back - having some control over the situation and not being a victim.

I am left wondering why people who have made poor financial choices seem to be more inclined to bring them up in conversation as if these moves are okay. Are they trying to get reassurance? Should I speak up more about my opinions? I'm not for hiding one's mistakes, but at least admitting that they were an unfortunate financial move. Why is there a social awkwardness in admitting that you are saving as much as you can for your future? And really saying that if you are not saving for your future you are in danger of some pretty bad things?

"Millionairs in the Making"

I am debating about taking the links to CNN's "Millionaires in the Making" pages off my blog. Why am I highlighting some of these people? Some of these families are doing great. However, there seems to be a lot of stories written about families who are only one or two steps away from financial ruin. Why are these families being highlighted as financial successes? I enjoyed the new postings on the Millionaires in the Making for a long time but now I find myself quickly reading through the story to get to the juicy comments left by other people evaluating the true situation. Is it just me?