It's been a couple months since I posted my last net worth update, so I thought I'd share what's up with our finances through June 2009. Here are the highlights:
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Net worth was up a measly 0.64% for June while the market was up 1.15% from the end of May. Remember that because we have a decent amount of funds in cash for a potential house we might buy, our net worth will probably not rise as quickly (in general) as the market will (this is not always the case -- see below for an exception). Then again, it didn't fall as much as the market did during the crash either.
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Net worth is now up 7.39% for the year. It was DOWN 6.62% after the first two months of the year, so this is quite a turnaround. And for the year, the market is up only 3.72%, so we're well ahead of the pack.
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Net worth is at its highest level since August 2008. We're still 9.96% below our net worth high in May 2008, but we're making progress. Still saving and if the market shows any life at all, we should be back up near the top in no time at all.
Our net worth is, and will continue to be for quite some time, driven by two major factors:
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We save/invest a lot. This is one of the benefits of spending less than you earn -- you have a nice surplus to keep funding your net worth's growth.
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The market. The vast majority of our net worth is tied to the performance of the market in some form or fashion. The market goes up, our net worth goes up -- and vice versa. For the most part that is. We do save enough that if the market is down slightly or flat we can still be up because of the amounts we regularly sock away.
How about you? How's your net worth performed over the last few months?
My net worth has increased by nearly 25k since January. This is purely from debt repayment and sticking to a budget for the first time ever. Hopefully I can keep up this up through the rest of the year.
Posted by: Angie | July 15, 2009 at 04:27 PM
We're up about 6% for the year, that's not bad considering that 1) we had our first child in January and 2) had to buy a (used) SUV since the car seat didn't work in my truck.
In your other post you said that it was unlikely that you'd buy a new house now. Any thoughts on putting some of that cash you were saving into the market now?
Posted by: Darin H | July 15, 2009 at 08:00 PM
My NW is about the same as it was in the beginning of 2008, some stock market appreciation, th rest by working and saving. My retirement portfolio and value of the house is still down from the peak. Also my savings rate has slowed down as the new job not nearly as lucrative as the old one (all bonuses and variable compensation are zero).
Too bad I didn't work at Goldman Sachs or another of the firms who is sucking the taxpayer dry. At least I can sleep at night. If I worker there I'd feel like I need to take a shower every 5 minutes.
Overall it's all good.
-Mike
Posted by: Mike Hunt | July 15, 2009 at 09:45 PM
Strange but because our home business provides information on making money or saving money, we have had a considerable boost in monthly income - however our net worth has decreased because of our decline in our mutual funds.
Hopefully the corrections will straighten out in the next year.
Posted by: CLF | July 15, 2009 at 11:28 PM
Do you have specific numbers of what are your networth is? Congrats on 7% b/c that is huge!
Rgds,
RB
Posted by: RichBy30Retireby40 Blog | July 16, 2009 at 02:09 AM
My NW is also up about 6% since February, due to my recent focus on saving. This about compensates for what I lost in the market meltdown (mutual funds) & the decrease in my house's value since Oct 2008, so I'm pretty happy about that.
But I'd feel happier if the economy showed any signs of recovering...! The longer this strangely severe recession goes on, the more I worry about being able to predict anything about my family's financial future. The unemployment and underemployment rate here in the Midwest is horrific. None of the young people I know who graduated in June 2008 have been able to land a decent job--none! It's starting to look like the "new economy" is going to be nothing like the old one.
Posted by: MC | July 16, 2009 at 06:58 AM
FMF,
This is an appropriately timed post for me. Our net worth is now officially positive. You may wonder why it was negative - student loans. My wife and I have been working hard to get them paid off and we are now seeing the fruit of our labor.
We have to thank you for that since we have been following your advice all along the way; spend less than you earn, save and invest and pay off your debt! We still have a ways to go, but it is encouraging to see how much progress we have made in the three years we have been married and that our net worth can only go up. I just wanted to say "thanks."
Posted by: Rob | July 16, 2009 at 08:01 AM
Darin --
I don't know about the house, still unsure. But I did just up my automated investments at Vanguard -- moving a larger percentage from cash to index funds.
Posted by: FMF | July 16, 2009 at 08:07 AM
RB --
I do, but I don't share them. Let's just say it's well above average. :-)
I have written before about how my net worth compares to others my age as well as my income.
Posted by: FMF | July 16, 2009 at 08:09 AM
Rob --
GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!! CONGRATS!!!!!
Keep going!!! Now you can really grow your net worth by saving, saving, saving...
Oh yeah, and don't forget to enjoy some of the fruits of your success along the way. :-)
Posted by: FMF | July 16, 2009 at 08:28 AM
RB has a valid question, because without sharing the actual numbers, saying your net worth is up 7% is completely meaningless.
Posted by: Pop | July 16, 2009 at 10:25 AM
Pop --
Not IMO. I tell you why they are up.
Posted by: FMF | July 16, 2009 at 10:55 AM
I quit tracking the "illiquid" net worth numbers when the housing market crashed. I still have equity, as I bought 12 years ago, but until I'm ready to sell, it's pointless to worry too much about the real estate values. I've always tracked it by the tax assessment value, rather than market value, anyway.
My liquid assets are up a couple % month to month. If I had picked a different day than the 30th to track them, it might have been either better or worse. I just keep saving, and trusting that the recovery will eventually lift us back up to a point where we can retire in about 17 years.
Posted by: Jon | July 16, 2009 at 10:57 AM
Ours is up about 1% overall this year. It would be up about 5% if I hadn't decided to write a bad investment to zero in January, which we stayed negative until last month for the year. Overall, we're about where we were in mid 2007 after the losses last year.
Posted by: Foobarista | July 16, 2009 at 12:55 PM
No offense, FMF, but I think checking your net worth every single month borders on paranoia. I check mine on a fairly rough basis (i.e. rounded to the nearest $1000, using estimates from places like zillow for my real estate and KBB for my vehicles, using cash accounting instead of accruals, etc) once per quarter, and that almost seems like overkill. I chose once per quarter since that's how often publicly traded companies report to the street. I figured that seems like a reasonable interval for a check-up. I do have a monthly budget that I monitor. The monthly budget is more of a short-term, cash flow thing. But the net worth is a longer term consideration, thus the less frequent intervals.
JMHO.
Posted by: Bad_Brad | July 16, 2009 at 12:57 PM
Bad Brad,
This is a personal finance blog, I think monthly updates are not inappropriate.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Hunt | July 19, 2009 at 09:52 AM