It's Just Money

2007 Year End Net Worth Update +$4,541.20

I suppose I have a few more days before the year is officially over, but I wanted to do my end of year tally to see how I am finishing.  My last update was at the end of October, so the change in value is for two months.  Not a bad increase of $4,541.20, especially given the decline in market value of most of my mutual funds in December.  However, in general a net worth increase of less than $2,500 per month is not enough.

Totals and notes below...

October 2007 Net Worth Update +>$22,000

It's been a while since I have update my net worth.  In my blog-slackerness, I outright stopped tracking my net worth.  Not just for the blog, but personally.  I stopped adding the numbers.  I knew they were moving in the right direction, but never stopped to see just how much.  The overall change looks fantastic, I mean an increase of over $22,000?  That's awesome!  But this happened over a period of five months, not one or two.  So, putting it in perspective, it's very good.  Not as awesome as it looks.

Here's the balance sheet...

Net Worth Update for April 2007 +$3,807.60

And the market races on.  Dow 13,000?  Who would have thunk it?  Maybe Mr. Glassman, author of Dow 36,000, prophetically published in late 1999.  Can you imagine the publicity he's going to get when the Dow actually does reach 36,000?  I mean, let's say that it happens in 2024 or something like that.  Who knows, I'm just throwing a year out there.  He's going to get as much play as Prince got in 1999.  You know, "tonight we're gonna party like it's..."  Anyway, you know what I'm talking about.

Well, thanks to Mr. Glassman's prediction coming partly true, my portfolio advances.  Here are the numbers and notes:

Net Worth Update for March 2007 +$4,667.58

Volatility remains the word of the day.  Markets dropped and climbed, dropped and climbed, and ultimately ended the month, as well as the quarter, almost exactly where they began.  My holdings in an energy fund were frustrating through the last two quarters of 2006, but proved worthwhile in the first quarter of 2007.

Oddly enough, I had my best month in exactly a year.  Last April, I increased my net worth from $126,241.95 to $133,656.41 for a gain of $7,414.46 and 5.87%.  On a percentage basis, that one was much more impressive, but I'm still happy with this month.

Here are the numbers and notes:

Net Worth Update for February 2007

Well, February certainly turned in a wild finish, no?  The volatility has been interesting, but has surprisingly little impact on my overall net worth.  Part of it, of course, is the fact that I have a significant amount of my net worth in liquid money market or CD accounts.  More later.  For now, here are the numbers.

Net Worth Update for January 2007

I don't know how I started doing this wrong, but all of last year I was giving the Net Worth Update with the month that was just beginning. Thank you to Mapgirl for pointing out this eggregious accounting oversight.  Clearly when I prepare a balance sheet, it is for the month ending, not for the month beginning.  When you receive your brokerage statement with your year end values, do you think of it as your 2007 statement?  No, it's your summary for the end of last year.

So, enough of that.  Here is my Net Worth Update for January 2007:

2006 Year End Net Worth Update +$2,194.54

2006 was a good year.  On a month over month basis, I had another modest increase in my net worth for December.  I didn't make it to my short term goal of $155k for the end of the year, but I'm awfully close.  That's good for now.

My first Net Worth Update was in March, but I provided the prior two months in that same post.  I started the year with a net worth of $115,256.63.  I closed out the year with a net worth of $154,321.48.  That is an increase of $39,064.85 and 33.89%.  You can never really scoff at a net worth increase of greater than thirty percent.  However, I am still at a stage where a large portion of my increase comes from contributions.  One of my goals over this year and the next couple of years is for my net worth increases to come more from dividends, interest and equity capital gains than contributions.

Here is my final spreadsheet for 2006:

December Net Worth Update +$1,611.46

I'm not so sure I'm going to get to $155k before the end of the year.  It'll take a pretty good December for it happen, and as we all know, outflows tend to be a bit higher during this time of the year.  So, one of two things need to happen.  Either my employer surprises me with a big year end bonus (not going to happen), or I experience growth in the investment portfolios, which I currently have invested fairly conservatively.

Here are the results:

November Net Worth Update +$2,101.65

Well, I got to a buck fifty by Halloween as I anticipated.  Another mediocre month for me.  My income has seen a bit of a decline recently.  Not anything too serious.  I expect that I'll still hit my Net Worth target of $155k by the end of the year, but much of it depends on how my investments perform over the next two months.

I expressed in my last Net Worth Update that I was not terribly optimistic about the market in the short term.  Well, the market made me look rather foolish, racing to all time highs and right on through the next benchmark of 12,000.  Of course, the cheerleaders at CNBC couldn't be any happier, throwing confetti, and sending out the marching bands!  Well, in my pessimism, I have gone rather conservative in my investing, thus my lackluster returns.  My outlook has not changed.

Here are the results:

October Net Worth Update +$2,935.96

We're heading into the final stretch here, the fourth quarter of 2006 has begun.  I'm a stone's throw from $150k, and given a decent October, should get there by Halloween.  The stock market has been positive, but with the Dow pushing its all time highs, and the historically worst month, October, upon us, I'm not feeling overy optimistic about the market short term.  The key, however, is that it is a short term feeling.  I'll set a rather modest goal for the end of the year.  I would like to have a net worth of $155,000 by the New Year.

Here are the details: