So long 2020! With another month in the books, it is time to take a look at my assets and liabilities and see how my family did with net worth. I have years and years of history, but it wasn’t until I started “Accumulating Assets” that I would share the growth or decline ($) from the inception of the site assuming my net worth was $0 on November 1, 2020.
Feelings before calculating my net worth: Prior to calculating I usually have a gut feeling about how I did for the particular month – this is going to be a good month. Cash flow was insane this month with a good amount of billables coming through, bonus at my main job, and the actual closing of my old personal finance blog (and ancillary sites).
Calculating my Net Worth
My Family’s Assets
I will be writing an introductory post about most of the assets below, and update them whenever it seems appropriate.
- Cash Equivalents – I finally got this number to a comfortable number! It represents about 2 months of my family’s bare minimum run rate. It is also is probably the largest, “oh shit” number I would need access to within a day or two.
- My Trading Account – This one account is both where I invest in my dividend growth companies and risky speculative option trades.
- My 401(k) – My 401(k) has some terrible investment options that have ridiculous fees, but since I am getting a match at work I fund it to that match.
- My Traditional IRA – Just some companies that have caught my attention at some point or another.
- The Wife’s Roth IRA – Again, some companies that have caught my attention at some point or another.
- Crypto Currency – A handful of years ago during the height of the first crypto mania I decided to put a few dollars into BitCoin (literally it was just $1k). It felt like immediately after I made the transfer BTC took a nosedive. At that point, I made the decision just to ignore the account – and it is just back to above even.
- Life Insurance Cash Surrender Value – As described I recently I own a number of permanent, cash value whole life insurance policies. Since the cash is accessible I include it in my net worth statement. This money is also accessible via a loan against the cash value.
- Physical Gold – A few years back I decided to start buying physical gold, I am hoping one day to be that crazy guy with a stack of gold I can swim through.
- My Rental Property – Every month I update a spreadsheet I keep for the minority owners of my rental property.
- My Main Residence – My Family’s home!
Currently, I do not include my investment clubs in my net worth.
My Family’s Debt
- Law School Debt – Overall this account is just not that large anymore, but at 3.5% fixed I just ignore it.
- Mortgage and Home Debt – I have a mortgage on each home and a home equity line of credit on the rental property. I am still in my process of trying to refinance my primary residence to take advantage of the recent lower rates.
- Revolving Credit Card Debt – The Wife and I pay off our credit cards every month for the most part. Granted we get behind from time to time, but that is the goal, month in and month out.
I am really hoping that when I write next month’s post I’ll be a lot closer to refinancing my home.
My Net Worth Change
- Month over month my net worth has increased 3.7%
- Since starting AA my net worth has increased $60,065.
While the past two months have been huge it has only lead to an increased net worth of approximately 3.96% since January 2021. Given what others are going through in 2020, I consider myself very fortunate. I am well aware that there are a lot of people out there struggling, so the idea that I am leaving 2021 eeking out gain makes me feel very grateful.