September 2026 Net Worth Update

Thoughts before calculating: I have no idea what this month is going to hold. It feels like the past month nothing really happened in terms of large movements. I took some money out of my non-qualified investment (loan not sale) to pay off some debt but that is a zero on both sides of the equation. Think we’ll be about flat.

Calculating my Net Worth

My Family’s Assets

While I have several asset categories, I don’t think they are particularly complicated.

Cash

Cash Equivalents – Last month I wrote that “Even after depositing a good amount of my bonus into my emergency fund I really still believe I am underfunded on the account.” Well I ate into it, but at least it wasn’t for consumer items – it was to get myself on to bi-weekly mortgage payments which should get my stress level down and pay down the debt a bit faster. Biweekly mortgage payments are set up and I have systematic savings going into the account – notwithstanding the small weekly savings is NOT going to get me where I want to be. Just monitoring for the rest of 2026.

Real Estate Holdings

Main Residence – Exactly what it sounds like, the Family home.  

Rental Property – Every month, I update a spreadsheet I keep for the minority owners of my rental property.  I wrote a few months back that, “February was the first month in a very, very long time when this was not a source of stress. I am excited for a few more stress-free months.” This is still holding true for yet another month! The oven went. Since I have a cash reserve on this it wasn’t the end of the world, UNTIL the one I ordered didn’t fit AND slid on the floor! Now I am waiting for it to get picked up and a new one delivered asap. Again, not a monster headache but sucks nonetheless. All but done…for now. In the shit year of 2025 the tenant allowed water to go through the house into the basement carpeting. I ripped up a ton of it, but it may be time to replace the carpeting. I am waiting on a quote and we’ll see the damage.

Retirement Accounts

My 401(k) – Going to stop complaining, and it is what it is with the fees on the funds. I am hoping to do one rebalance this month and maybe check it out once a quarter for rebalancing in 2026. Completed! Early this year I, rebalanced my 401k with the help of ChatGPT. My plan is to check this once a quarter. Sometime in the next week or two I will rebalance the 401(k), but boy did this thing get killed this past month (see above chart!). I looked into rebalancing this account last month – I didn’t have to, and I am going to skip this month from looking at it. I will review next month to determine how the rebalance is going.

My Traditional IRA – Need to review it this month for any changes. I didn’t make any major moves in 2025, and probably won’t this year as well.

The Wife’s Roth IRA – Same as above. 

The Wife’s SEP IRA – Sme as above.

Non-Qualified Accounts

My Trading Account – This one account houses both where I invest in my dividend growth companies and risky speculative option trades.  I am going to update how I handle trading profits this month. Failed. I’ll handle it in February. Same Failure. I finally updated how I would invest/distribute short put proceeds, and that has been going strong. My weekly standard purchase has not hit the number yet needed so I will check back in another month. Took a loan on the account to pay down some debt so right now just getting letting all proceeds pay that back while I am still holding a ton of stock on margin. Probably not getting out from underneath this until 2027+.

Notwithstanding, I have continued to buy ITOT every single week. Looks like I have one more more month of just buying ITOT every week. After that I can use my weekly contributions for the other ETFs to keep everything in line:

Alternative Investments

Crypto Currency – This account was basically started for FOMO purposes. It is a shitty reason, but it is mine nonetheless. I don’t pay much attention to the crypto market and will probably continue to ignore the account.

Life Insurance Cash Surrender Value – 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. In 2026, I plan on obtaining a bit more permanent insurance for purposes of adding a Long Term Care Rider.

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, but I haven’t bought some in so long. A few months ago I wrote that I wanted to get back into it. I have started a monthly purchase plan with Acre Gold. Given the historic price of gold, and the amount I actually allocated to the site every month, this will take a while before I get my first shipment! Finally I am done with Acre – and I would not recommend the company. I got my money back but it is a massive, massive rip off with fees built upon fees. This month I am going to have to go back to old school and just purchase it myself. 

Currently, I do not include my investment club in my net worth.

My Family’s Debt

Nothing to really talk about here. It grows, I pay it off. The consumer debt cycle is so frustrating. I just can’t seem to control the family’s spending, and we do not even live extravagantly for where we live!

My Net Worth Change

• Month over Month – My family’s net worth decreased about .10%
• Year to Date – I am up about 12%

I missed updating the site last month but I did update my spreadsheet so I have my month over month which, as expected, is basically a rounding error. It is my first down month since May of 2025, and I know it shouldn’t matter because it is so small it just makes me so frustrated!