May 2009 Net Worth Update (+$18,587)

Wow - another nice month to get excited about. What econoimic crisis? With investment returns like these we could be starting on a strong road to recovery or at least some temporary relief. I wouldn't get too comfortable with the gains though - its hard for me to think these will continue for much longer. Too much too fast, but if they do, no complaints here.

Assets	Apr-09	May-09	Change	%
Cash & Savings	$ 37,542.03	$ 39,098.57	$ 1,556.54	4.15%
Taxable Brokerage Accts	$ 68,260.59	$ 70,396.82	$ 2,136.23	3.13%
Roth IRAs	$ 37,177.15	$ 40,331.92	$ 3,154.77	8.49%
Pre-tax Retirement Accts	$ 136,803.53	$ 144,495.48	$ 7,691.95	5.62%
Stock Options	$ 6,464.00	$ 10,344.00	$ 3,880.00	60.02%
ESPP	$ 27,989.06	$ 28,922.23	$ 933.17	3.33%
House #1 - Rental	$ 160,000.00	$ 160,000.00	$ -	0.00%
House #2 - Rental	$ 128,225.00	$ 128,225.00	$ -	0.00%
House #3 - ???	$ 107,110.00	$ 106,510.00	$ (600.00)	-0.56%
House #4 - Primary	$ 300,000.00	$ 300,000.00	$ -	0.00%
Receivable (Payable)	$ -	$ -	$ -
Other Assets	$ -	$ -	$ -
Total Assets	$ 1,009,571.36	$ 1,028,324.02	$ 18,752.66	1.86%
Liabilities
Credit Card Balances	$ (2,032.61)	$ (2,258.85)	$ (226.24)	11.13%
House #1 Mortgages	$ (114,083.02)	$ (113,930.23)	$ 152.79	-0.13%
House #2 Mortgages	$ (97,266.96)	$ (96,761.16)	$ 505.80	-0.52%
House #3 Mortgages	$ (88,383.05)	$ (87,885.60)	$ 497.45	-0.56%
House #4 Mortgages	$ (240,404.48)	$ (240,102.56)	$ 301.92	-0.13%
Rental Deposits	$ (4,135.23)	$ (4,135.23)	$ -	0.00%
Additional Tax Liability	$ (2,327.04)	$ (3,723.84)	$ (1,396.80)
Other Liabilities			$ -
Total Liabilities	$ (548,632.39)	$ (548,797.47)	$ (165.08)	0.03%
$2million Goal Progress*	$ 401,343.45	$ 419,629.11	$ 18,285.66	4.56%
Net Worth	$ 460,938.97	$ 479,526.55	$ 18,587.58	4.03%

Highlights for May

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.
We track our real estate properties according to our cost basis (with the exception of House #3 which we may be selling soon).
Our lives changed forever as we welcomed Baby 2million to our family. Im still in shock as we adjust to our new world. Blogging has been lighter than normal, but Im slowly getting into the swing of things
I got contacted by a collections company saying I owed back taxes in Virginia for YR2003 even though I moved to NC in 2001. It scary to think about - how do you know any of the states you don't live in think you owe them income taxes? I don't think there really is way to be sure another state doesn't believe your obliged to pay income taxes in their state unless they contact you.
Investment gains are still looking good for May- the markets have gone up significanlty over the last 3 months.

You can see my previous monthly net worth updates here.

Related in Net Worth Archive:

May 2012 Net Worth Update (-$28,098) (Jun 10, 2012) Highlights for MayWe like to take advantage of 0% APR balance transfers and other credit card offers for free money. We are actively looking at taking advantage of new credit card arbitrage opportunities. Our properties are listed on our...

April 2012 Net Worth Update (+$2,763) (May 09, 2012) Highlights for AprilWe like to take advantage of 0% APR balance transfers and other credit card offers for free money. We are actively looking at taking advantage of new credit card arbitrage opportunities. We received $1,000+ in rewards cash...

March 2012 Net Worth Update (+$22,032) (Apr 11, 2012) Highlights for MarchWe like to take advantage of 0% APR balance transfers and other credit card offers for free money. We are actively looking at taking advantage of new credit card arbitrage opportunities. We are close to earning ~$1,000...

Comments (9)

Just curious, but I notice that the value of your real estate holdings remain constant every month.

When did you buy the properties, and what did you pay for them? I would think that anything bought between 2004-2007 directly from a prior owner and not as foreclosure property is underwater at this point.

What criteria do you use to value your real estate?

Posted by james | June 3, 2009 11:21 AM

James,
We track our real estate properties according to our cost basis (with the exception of House #3 which we may be selling soon). The values listed above are at or below what we paid for the properties. I do not subscribe to the idea of trying to mark to market these non liquid assets.

As another reference point - when you take all these properties as a whole I feel very confident that they could be liquidated in total for more than they are listed for above.

Also here are purchase dates:
House #1 Bought in 2002
House #2 Bought in 2006
House #3 Bought in 2003
House #4 Bought in Dec 2008

Posted by 2million | June 3, 2009 11:30 AM

2million,

Everyone thinks his/her house even NOW can be liquidated for at or more than the cost basis. The problem is that statistics say a completey different story. Though real estate is regional, unemployment continues to rise. It's going to hit 11% at least in the next year. House prices have another 25% to drop from current valuations to even reach the Shiller Case longterm median valuation. 80% of people who bought in the last 5 years are underwater (whether they realize it or not) and we will not see 2006 valuations until 2020.

Posted by Bill | June 3, 2009 8:24 PM

Hey 2Mill,

Congrats on another up month! Good for you!

Posted by James | June 4, 2009 9:50 AM

Nice Numbers there. Knowing that housing will eventually rebound, I am confident that your net worth may sky rocket when that happens. Good posts as well. Keep them coming. Exciting to see those with ongoing financial goals.

Posted by Dwight Anthony | June 8, 2009 9:53 PM

what would you do with the proceeds for house 3 if you sold it? Assuming you get what you are valuing it at, you would clear ~$20k.

Would you pay down another mortgage?

Posted by tax monkey | June 9, 2009 1:58 AM

Tax monkey - good question. At this point I think I would use it to pay down the mortgage on House #2. One of my short term goals is to payoff that mortgage, and leave the mortgages on House #1 and #4 in place. That would put me in a more comfortable position in terms of monthly cash flow.

Posted by 2million | June 9, 2009 8:48 AM

2million,

Can you talk about the investments listed under "stock options"? Are these fully vested options? Also when you show your ESPP holdings, is the gain based on your cost basis minus any tax implications?
James

Posted by James Hardin | July 6, 2009 9:56 AM

James,
Sure - the row "Stock Options" just values my current employer stock option gains at mark to market (ignoring taxes, fees, etc). The "ESPP" figures is the mark-to-market value of my employer stock holdings in our ESPP account ignoring taxes.

So basically taxes are ignored in all the assets.

Posted by 2million | July 7, 2009 9:57 AM