June 2008 Net Worth Update (+2.09%)
Welcome to the traditional monthly net worth update – The June 2008 edition. I keep writing these updates to give myself a little heads up on how the finances are doing and it seems that most readers find them enjoyable also.
Lets start off with our income and expenses. Even with our reduced income due to maternity, we have gratefully found that our savings is still on the rise. This is due to reduced spending in combination with increased alternative income. I do expect some larger expenses coming up as we’ve barely scratched the surface decorating the new house. Window coverings anyone?
How about those markets? Just last month, I was touting that the TSX was making all time highs, but we seem to be in a correction zone as of late. If you take a peek at the numbers below, you will notice that my RRSP’s have made quite the gain which seems to go against the current market direction. This is due to a micro cap play going crazy on rumors which has benefited my portfolio nicely. On the flip side, my Smith Manoeuvre portfolio, which is financials heavy, didn’t fare as well.
Here are the numbers:
Assets: $ 598,676 (+5.41%)
- Cash: $4,500 (+0.00%)
- Savings: $31,000 (+15.67%)
- Registered/Retirement Investment Account: $58,200 (+5.43%)
- Pension: $ 22,350 (+0.00%)
- Non-Registered Investment Account: $19,400 (+1.04%)
- Smith Manoeuvre Investment Account: $49,726 (+95.77%)
- Investment Property: $ 124,500 (+0.00%)
- Principle Residence: $275,000 (+0.00%) (purchase price)
- Vehicles: $14,000 (2 vehicles) (-6.67%)
Liabilities: $288,193 (+9.24%)
- Investment Property Mortgage: $93,300 (-0.21%)
- Principle Residence Mortgage (readvanceable): $136,514 (-0.43%)
- HELOC balance: $50,379 (+99.76%)
- Other Liabilities: $8,000 (-0.00%)
Total Net Worth: ~$ 310,483 (+2.09%)
Started 2008 with Net Worth: $279,300
Year to Date Gain/Loss: +11.16%
Another month, another modest gain. One big thing that pops out about this net worth update is that it’s the first month that my Smith Manoeuvre portfolio balance is worth less than the HELOC owing. If it wasn’t for the fact that I’m investing for the very long term, I would probably be very nervous right now. However, as I have a lot of cash in the trading account, I’m waiting for my strong dividend payers to get even cheaper so that I can buy more.
Interested in seeing how my net worth has progressed up to this point? Check out my history of net worth updates.
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I’ll throw in my $0.02 for full monthly updates. I disagree that it’s over kill, I’ve started tracking my family’s networth monthly as we do the month end budget check-in and file away bills and receipts.
As a reader I also like that the monthly stats gives me a reference if I want to compare any specific month.
If you have the information easily available I’d even say it’d be great if you could post your current asset allocation or even the actual equities held in your investment accounts.
Good points there guys. Boston, perhaps I can do the monthly updates on my own, but only post them once every two months.
Perhaps it’s time for another poll.
I would have to disagree with Dividend Growth Investor and john. I think monthly updates are essential and key to solid financial planning and networth growth. I personally review my expenses and income on a weekly basis and then create a personal income statement and balance sheet on a monthly basis. I find the more time I spend managing my money, the faster my networth grows. However, I only look at portfolio reallocation twice a year to see if I need to re balance my holdings.
Good job on the increase in net worth. I do think that if you are in it for the long run even quarterly updates are prone to “noise”. Maybe an annual report ( just like Warren Buffett) would be best..
FT,
WOW! Good job. Nice to see one of the PF bloggers net worth is up this month.
I know about the house sucking up money. My backyard has sucked about about $1300 so far this summer and I still owe $1000 for the hardwood that I’m installing later this summer.
I agree the net worth monthly might be a bit too much. I like the idea of alternating between net worth and smith updates.
Just my two cents,
Tim
Impressive month. Increased your net worth by over 6k while markets were down.
I close out my net worth statement after last day of month but its looking like I might be breaking even with the way markets have moved the last week or so.
Hey FT,
I see that you decided to double your SM investment. Are you planning on putting more money into the market later on this year or are you keeping it at 50K?
john, yes I do think about that often. I asked the readers a little while back and they mentioned that they enjoyed the monthly updates. Perhaps I will do the SM portfolio updates and net worth updates on alternate months.
the MDJ train keeps on chugging…..
john’s point is why I do mine bi-monthly. While I don’t find 1-month updates to be over analyzing, I find that within 1 month markets can swing and one time gains and losses can show a greater affect than they actually had.
Do you ever worry that by reviewing your finances every month, you may be over analyzing them? If you are really in it for the long term, maybe quarterly is enough