May 2011 Net Worth Update (-$236)

Assets	Apr-11	May-11	Change	%
Cash & Savings	$ 59,100.67	$ 55,373.16	$ (3,727.51)	-6.31%
Taxable Brokerage Accts	$ 167,738.07	$ 167,512.80	$ (225.27)	-0.13%
Roth IRAs	$ 77,934.91	$ 79,451.38	$ 1,516.47	1.95%
Pre-tax Retirement Accts	$ 282,711.03	$ 284,815.01	$ 2,103.98	0.74%
Stock Options	$ -	$ -	$ -
ESPP	$ 932.82	$ 922.87	$ (9.95)	-1.07%
House #1 - Rental	$ 160,000.00	$ 160,000.00	$ -	0.00%
House #2 - Rental	$ 128,225.00	$ 128,225.00	$ -	0.00%
House #4 - Primary	$ 300,000.00	$ 300,000.00	$ -	0.00%
Receivable (Payable)	$ -	$ -	$ -
Other Assets	$ -	$ -	$ -
Total Assets	$ 1,176,642.50	$ 1,176,300.22	$ (342.28)	-0.03%
Liabilities
Credit Card Balances	$ (2,940.66)	$ (5,643.54)	$ (2,702.88)	91.91%
House #1 Mortgages	$ (93,043.33)	$ (91,907.42)	$ 1,135.91	-1.22%
House #2 Mortgages	$ (8,843.50)	$ (7,524.96)	$ 1,318.54	-14.91%
House #4 Mortgages	$ (253,559.58)	$ (253,205.85)	$ 353.73	-0.14%
Rental Deposits	$ (4,697.72)	$ (4,697.72)	$ -	0.00%
Additional Tax Liability	$ -	$ -	$ -
Other Liabilities			$ -
Total Liabilities	$ (363,084.79)	$ (362,979.49)	$ 105.30	-0.03%
$2million Goal Progress*	$ 767,117.29	$ 766,526.58	$ (590.71)	-0.08%
Net Worth	$ 813,557.71	$ 813,320.73	$ (236.98)	-0.03%

Highlights for May

We like to take advantage of 0% APR balance transfers earning interest in my savings accounts, but that well has dried up for now. We are actively looking at taking advantage of new offers on 0% APR on purchases as an additional arbitrage opportunity.
Things are starting to look interesting as the market has racked up some losses and so far they have continued into June. We saw a small net worth loss in May for the first time in a while driven primarily by investment losses. I feel like we are in a pretty comfortable position for some market correction - we have sold off my employer stock options in April, moved ~5% of our 401k to a stable value fund last month, and have ~$55k cash in taxable accounts (emergency funds/car fund) that we can deploy partially for buying opportunities.
My wife and I have been scratching the travel itch as we started kicking around long term plans of taking a mini-retirement. We ended up deciding to plan an extended trip later this year that includes a transatlantic cruise.
We took advantage of an airline credit card promotion to earn miles to pay for the flights for our extended trip. We used a couple techniques including purchasing Amex gift cards and Amazon Payments to hit the required spend to maximize the miles promotion.
I hit 200,000 miles on my car's odometer in May and I hope to keep using my car for another 50,000 miles or so as its an easy way for me to minimize transportation expenses.
Our investment portfolio did poorly compared to our benchmark (VTI) in May (-1.06% vs -1.56%). I'll post additional details of our investment activities in May later this month.

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 (11)

I did a transatlantic cruise once and loved it. Very peaceful. You can wake up in the morning to the sunrise, go outside with coffee and see nothing but beautiful ocean as far as the eye can see in every direction often without another ship in sight. I hope you enjoy yours. Be sure to pack your motion sickness medicine of choice though ;)

Posted by No Debt MBA | June 15, 2011 9:16 PM

What cruise line are you considering? We just went on our first cruise in October and we loved it.

Posted by Renee | June 19, 2011 6:09 PM

How do you get your Roth IRA rise by 2% in May when S&P dropped 5%?

Posted by koala | June 21, 2011 8:29 AM

You've got quite a bit of your assets tied up in cash. Have you considered a shorter duration investment grade bond / commercial paper fund?

Posted by Selling Theta | June 23, 2011 11:29 AM

If you have that much cash, why wouldn't you pay down some of the credit cards?

Posted by Joe | June 24, 2011 1:21 AM

Credit cards are paid off every month - we don't carry a balance.

Posted by 2million | June 24, 2011 8:45 AM

Housing prices have crashed this year. My area is down 9% in 4 months.

I would think if you accurately reflected housing prices you need to rethink a mini retirement.

Posted by Dave | June 26, 2011 11:11 PM

Dave,
The properties are listed by their cost basis, not their current value. I agree real estate values are going down now, but I did't mark them up when property values were going up and I don't mark them down when the market is declining. I plan to hold the properties long term and Im confident when I sell them they will likely be more than I bought them for. That is my approach at least.

Posted by 2million | June 27, 2011 11:13 PM

2M,

That makes sense. Thank you for the reply.

Posted by Dave | June 29, 2011 12:29 AM

2M, Just found your blog, very interesting journey. what's your range of income currently if you don't mind sharing.

Posted by DKAS | July 6, 2011 7:49 PM

JD, Thats a really good question. Will probably give more thought on the specifics, but generally Im not too concerned if most of our networth is tied up in retirement assets. Between rental income, part-time income, and consuming non-tax accounts first I suspect if we are able/ready to be financially free that it shouldn't be a show stopper.

Posted by 2million | July 20, 2011 9:09 AM