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RSSMarch 2009 Net Worth Update (2.14%)
I think March may have hit the bottom for the economy. Im getting optimistic about things in general, but maybe thats just because we are just about ready to have a baby.
| Assets | Feb-09 | Mar-09 | Change | % |
| Cash & Savings | $ 43,484.02 | $ 34,036.39 | $ (9,447.63) | -21.73% |
| Taxable Brokerage Accts | $ 64,775.99 | $ 66,991.59 | $ 2,215.60 | 3.42% |
| Roth IRAs | $ 29,456.61 | $ 32,979.09 | $ 3,522.48 | 11.96% |
| Pre-tax Retirement Accts | $ 118,992.46 | $ 129,851.00 | $ 10,858.54 | 9.13% |
| Stock Options | $ - | $ 640.00 | $ 640.00 | |
| ESPP | $ 24,577.35 | $ 25,705.73 | $ 1,128.38 | 4.59% |
| House #1 - Rental | $ 160,000.00 | $ 160,000.00 | $ - | 0.00% |
| House #2 - Rental | $ 128,225.00 | $ 128,225.00 | $ - | 0.00% |
| House #3 - ??? | $ 108,310.00 | $ 107,710.00 | $ (600.00) | -0.55% |
| House #4 - Primary | $ 300,000.00 | $ 300,000.00 | $ - | 0.00% |
| Receivable (Payable) | $ - | $ - | $ - | |
| Other Assets | $ - | $ - | $ - | |
| Total Assets | $ 977,821.43 | $ 986,138.80 | $ 8,317.37 | 0.85% |
| Liabilities | | | | |
| Credit Card Balances | $ (413.44) | $ (428.63) | $ (15.19) | 3.67% |
| House #1 Mortgages | $ (113,520.95) | $ (113,314.10) | $ 206.85 | -0.18% |
| House #2 Mortgages | $ (99,273.24) | $ (99,063.94) | $ 209.30 | -0.21% |
| House #3 Mortgages | $ (89,045.39) | $ (88,629.95) | $ 415.44 | -0.47% |
| House #4 Mortgages | $ (241,302.93) | $ (241,004.66) | $ 298.27 | -0.12% |
| Rental Deposits | $ (4,135.23) | $ (4,135.23) | $ - | 0.00% |
| Additional Tax Liability | $ - | $ (230.40) | $ (230.40) | |
| Other Liabilities | | | $ - | |
| Total Liabilities | $ (547,691.18) | $ (546,806.91) | $ 884.27 | -0.16% |
| $2million Goal Progress* | $ 371,433.18 | $ 380,336.55 | $ 8,903.37 | 2.40% |
| Net Worth | $ 430,130.25 | $ 439,331.89 | $ 9,201.64 | 2.14% |
Highlights for March
- All credit card debt (except current month's purchases) is in the form of 0% APR balance transfers earning interest in my savings accounts. We paid off the last of our 0% balance transfers in January. The well has dried up for now, but we are ready to take advantages if any offers come our way.
- Our major financial move this month was buying a replacement car as the engine went on her 1994 Acura Integra. We ended up buying a 2008 Hyundi Sante Fe with ~13k miles on it for about $15k.
- I also received my annual performance bonus this year which, while small, was a nice boost to help offset a small part of the car purchase.
- Last month I moved $1,500 from House #1 HELOC (3.25%) to pay down House #2 30yr fixed mortgage (6.5%). Im testing the waters with a little interest rate arbitrage between the loans. I will likely expand this with another $1,500 move this month to continue to push towards reducing the balance of the most expensive mortgage we have.
- My wife and I have continued to focus on reducing our expenses given we are now living off 1 income. Lots more planning to be done on how we move forward from here.
- Investments posted their best monthly showing in over a year, and I am feeling optimistic about the market and economy in general.
You can see my previous monthly net worth updates here.
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Comments (7)
Don't be fooled. This is a sucker's rally. Read Barry Ritholz's blog (http://www.ritholtz.com/blog) or Mike Shedlock's blog (http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/).
The fundamentals are still in the toilet. Unemployment is still increasing. The banks still have the bad assets, they just got an accounting change to help them hide them in their financial statements without marking them down.
You'll know when the economy starts to turn around when firms start hiring temps (they do this before they commit to hiring permanent employees). We may have a long way until then and now.
This party is going to end real quick once earnings season begins. Don't get caught flatfooted. Keep some cash reserves (or buy some "puts" to protect your investments).
If you're really sure that this rally will continue (and hey, I could be wrong!), move to cash with most of your money and keep a small amount in call options so if the market continues up you win, but if it's flat or down, you don't get creamed.
Good luck!
Posted by Thisson | April 3, 2009 3:31 PM
I hope you are right about March being the bottom of the well, but it would not surprise me to see things lead even further into the abyss. Hopefully it will turn around soon, but there's no insurance at this point... we are living overseas right now and it is painful to follow the economic news in the US.
Nevertheless, congrats on the baby! That's fantastic news, and good reason for positive thinking...
Jerry
Posted by Jerry | April 3, 2009 5:31 PM
I laughed out loud when I read that you think that the economy may have hit bottom in March. What planet do you live on? I think I'd like to live there.
Posted by Rob | April 8, 2009 9:06 PM
Optimism breeds optimism. I honestly think things look pretty good - we can't sustain this state for too long before we start expanding again. Maybe things will get worse, but I don't think they will.
Posted by 2million | April 9, 2009 8:48 AM
Are you keeping track of your net worth accounting for inflation or are you going by nominal value? I think in the next few years inflation will be out of control, so is important to measure your goal using the value of the dollar when you first started.
Posted by Rick | April 10, 2009 2:21 PM
Great blog, but I really can't accept your numbers. On the assets side, you still show your 4 houses to be collectively worth around $700,000, about the same as a year back, even though housing prices have crashed nationwide from 2008 to 2009. C'mon now....how honest is this? Are you really so scared of mark-to-market accounting that you continue to mark-to-fantasy on the asset side?
Posted by Anonymous | April 24, 2009 4:12 PM
Anon - thanks for the comment. I should probably put a monthly line item that indicates why my real estate asset values have remained the same. Its simple - I have listed the cost basis of the properties from day 1. I never marked them up during the boom and their rough values are still at or above the values I have listed (with the potenial exception of House #3 that we think we might decide to sell soon so we marked the property value down below cost basis). I feel very confident that these properties in agreggate are listed at under there cumulative total value.
Posted by 2million | April 24, 2009 8:43 PM