July 2012 Net Worth: $251,000 (+3%)

	Value	% Change
Assets	$604,000	+1.0%
Liabilities	$353,000	-0.5%
Net worth	$251,000	+3%

July 2012 was one of the best performing months in absolute terms that I have had since I started tracking my net worth in June 2011.  I was very pleased with the increase this month as it was the largest percentage gain since February 2012 and had no real 'one off' factors which have characterised my other previous large moves.

The larger than expected increase in net worth this month was primarily due to several factors which moved together this month:

• My liabilities decreased as I maintained control over my credit card debt over the month;
• I had one of my best monthly returns in the stock market which accounted for a significant portion of the increase over the month;
• I also received several dividends which I had not accounted for
• I managed to contribute a good amount to my home loan offset account, however it also means that I have limited cash left in my transaction account for day to day spending (note that I think this has the effect of causing me to think more before I spend)
• My employee share plan contributions continued for the month as did my employer's contribution to my superannuation (retirement) account

Looking back at my June 2012 net worth post, I had quite bleak expectations for this month as nothing seemed to be going right at the time, however I had not accounted for several factors (such as a strong run in the share market - especially in the risk on shares which I owned as well as dividends being paid on some of my more high dividend stocks).  I was also planning to launch my small business by June however as I have posted about before this is taking me much longer than I expected.

My predictions for August however are not as upbeat however there are several factors which may offset each other so I am hoping for a decent month (I am targeting a 2% increase in net worth which corresponds to a ~$5,000 increase in net worth).  Factors which are expected to influence my net worth include:

• My investment property's insurance bill is due in August and this will be quite a large number.  I am currently negotiating with my insurer for a lower price.  I have done this before but will post about how it goes this year
• My employee share plan vests in August as well which should result in a nice capital gain.  A fair bit of this will need to be set aside for tax so it is only a short term artificial increase in net worth.  I have posted about what my plan is for when this vests recently.
• I am planning on doing my taxes in either August or September.  This may actually be an uncertain result.  I may post about this later but because I started a new job I may see the expected tax return from my investment property eaten into because I have claimed two tax free thresholds