Monday 2 March 2015

February 2015 Net Worth: $537,000 (+5.5%) and Goal Tracker

I have been doing these net worth posts for almost 5 years now and I am constantly refining the process.  As explained in my last post I have 'reset' my measurement methodology to account for future committed liabilities (like my wedding and honeymoon) to more accurately reflect what my net worth position was.

This is the second month where I have included these future liabilities and is a clean month (i.e. you can compare back to last month easily).  My future liabilities balance currently sits at $65,000 so add this to my net worth if you want to know what I would have been at if I had not restated it.


February 2015 Net Worth: $537,000 (+5.5%)


Value
% Change
Assets
$966,000
+2.5%
Liabilities
$428,000
-1.0%
Net worth
$537,000
+5.5%

I can't believe the month I just had.  In absolute terms this was the best monthly performance that I have had (outside of months where I am paid my bonus) since I started tracking my net worth.  The best bit is that it was a 'clean' result - there were no restatements or inclusions of big swing factors.

Below I have outlined some of the positive and negative factors which affected my performance.

Positive Factors

  • My share portfolio performed incredibly strongly
    • Australian shares have had an incredibly rally since the end of the last calendar year and my portfolio benefited significantly from these moves
    • A couple of stock specific bets really paid off this month and I took the advantage to sell some of my FKP (now AOG) stock which I have written so much about.  I have sold approximately 1/3 of my portfolio locking in a ~90% gain (although  did crystalise a capital gain which increased my liabilities a bit)
    • Additionally the Australian dollar continued to depreciate against the USD which helped my international shares which make up just under 50% of my portfolio
  • My employee share plan vested
    • I get a significant bump in the value of my shares every time my employee share plan vests because I get the shares issued at a significant discount to market value
  • I started to include the value of my alternatives portfolio
    • At the moment the value of this portfolio is tiny (sub $1000) however I plan on growing it over time so decided to include it as a line item
  • My credit card balance reduced slightly
    • The reduction in my credit card balance was a positive factor however it should have been much higher but for the fact that I had to do an emergency trip for personal reasons and last minute flights really hurt
  • My future liabilities balance decreased
    • My future liabilities balance decreased by almost $4,000 as I paid costs associated with my new car and also paid some additional costs for my wedding
    • There was a corresponding decrease in cash and the net impact on my net worth was nil (which is exactly why I started including these future liabilities in my net worth in the first place...so big expenses like this are accounted for

Negative Factors

  • I didn't save much cash this period
    • My credit card bill was so large last period that I saved virtually no cash this period.  The increase in net worth was purely a result of market moves...not anything I did or didn't do

I shouldn't have a lot happening over the next month and if the market stays where it is I will continue to sell shares and hold cash taking advantage of the market moves.  If the market retreats again I will become a net buyer.  A net worth of $540,000 would be a great outcome for March.

February 2015 Goal Tracker

Like last month I have included a goal tracker to keep track of my large financial goals.  I no longer track every dollar I spend so cannot provide a detailed expenditure tracker.  This month I managed to tick one goal off my list - that is fully save for my wedding...and the market moves means that I've almost ticked off another (my share portfolio has almost increased to my annual target).

For full details see the table below:


GoalFeb 152015 Total2015 TargetRemainingAchieved?
#1: Get Married+$1,500$5,000$5,000$1,500YES
#2: Honeymoon+$0$0$20,000$20,000No
#3: Home Deposit+$0$0$40,000$40,000No
#4: Emergency Fund+$833$1,667$10,000$8,333No
#5: Share Portfolio+$22,823$268,744$276,000$7,256No

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3 comments:

  1. Hey 90M,

    Good to hear from you, been quiet recently although sure this is probably due to you getting ready for the wedding..

    Great result there but as you say this is due to the market itself.. I like what you've continued there with the goals aspect of the net worth tracking..

    Almost close to finalising a property purchase of my own as well soon..
    Interesting times and hope all is well for you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Jef - good luck on completing the property purchase.

      I'm trying to take advantage of the market at the moment by selling out some shares and will buy back in aggressively if and when the market pulls back a little bit.

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  2. You did a great job on tracking your net worth! It’s not that easy to compute your financial stability, especially when interest rates and market prices are fluctuating. Also, it's good that you’ve been taking advantage of the recent market to increase your income. I hope you’ll be able to progress on your ventures, and raise your net worth as time passes by. I wish you all the best!

    Rebecca Cross @ ADVBAC

    ReplyDelete