Back in January, I wondered if a $335,000 Net Worth at the end of the year doable? Well, as of April, I’ve inched pretty close that number already – so my new end of year target is going to $365,000!
My total net worth grew by about $27,000 in the month of March alone, to $331,572.47 . This was primarily done in two areas, and not indicative of something that can be repeated every month. The first was my yearly bonus at work, and the second was that I had reinvested about 60% of my 401k recently from cash when the market was down and it saw a really nice bump as the market recovered a bit.
April 2020 Financial Statement
| Account Name | Previous Balance | Balance | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $275.00 | $180.00 | -$95.00 |
| Savings - Personal | $3,002.23 | $5,102.29 | $2,100.06 |
| Savings - Personal (CU) | $799.95 | $916.64 | $116.69 |
| Checking - Personal | $4,851.90 | $3,860.25 | -$991.65 |
| Checking - Business | $12,648.30 | $10,334.72 | -$2,313.58 |
| Credit Card - Business | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Credit Cards | -$17.17 | -$56.80 | -$39.63 |
| Retirement - 401k | $216,504.72 | $233,845.60 | $17,340.88 |
| Retirement - 401k Loan | -$8,063.65 | -$7,649.48 | $414.17 |
| IRA | $7.62 | $7.62 | $0.00 |
| Retirement - Pension | $32,996.00 | $32,996.00 | $0.00 |
| Retirement - HSA (Investments) | $9,336.86 | $10,577.64 | $1,240.78 |
| Retirement - HSA (Cash) | $2,867.03 | $3,168.67 | $301.64 |
| Asset - Vehicle 1 | $35,300 | $35,000 | -$300.00 |
| Loan - Vehicle 1 | -$35,252.17 | -$34,735.54 | $516.63 |
| Asset - Vehicle 2 | $6,000.00 | $6,000.00 | $0.00 |
| Asset - Precious Metals | $2,418.38 | $3,210.81 | $792.43 |
| Asset - Home | $156,021.00 | $156,302.00 | $282.00 |
| Mortgage - Home | -$130,397.04 | -$129,275.04 | $1,122.00 |
| Options Account | $0.00 | $1,787.09 | $1,787.09 |
| Net Worth | $304,447.06 | $331,572.47 | $27,125.41 |
A few things to note this update:
- I kept my credit cards paid off (or at least within $100 give or take, as I am now paying it off as I use it.
- I’ve done a good job at controlling spending this month, paying things down, etc…
- I created a separate spreadsheet to track potential 401k future growth and planned out large events like paying the house down to remove PMI, paying the car off, paying the house off, and eventually early retirement at 55. I think it will help keep me focused at a macro level with my finances over time. `
Side Business Income
April business was slow compared to the first quarter of the year due to COVID-19, however, we beat April 2019 and I think are still on track for a great year! I continue to pay myself $1,000.00 a month (after taxes). The firm I hired to manage the Adwords campaign is paying off, they’ve already saved me more money than I am paying them, while bringing in more new customers and better cost per click – a fantastic decision to go with them!
Retirement
April was very good to my retirement account, growing by $17,340.88, with about 60% of the account invested. I continue to pay off the 401k loan with each paycheck, which is also helping.
I did a bunch of research this month while wondering if I could retire early at say 50, in 11 years… and it turns out my company has some really great retirement benefits IF you retire after you are 55; that it’s going to be hard to walk away from, unless something changes significantly in my life / finances / US Healthcare situation that could warrant me walking away from those. Basically, by the time I am 55, I will have 24 years with my current company, which will give me about a 66% subsidy from my work on healthcare between retirement and medicare kicking in – that is significant, as long as by then I plan to be in the US the bulk of that time… we will see!
With retirement accounts totaling $266,841.60 and using a 3.5% safe withdrawal rate (SWR), that would allow me to take $778.29 as income each month. Add on to that my $1,000.00 a month draw from my website, and I’m at $1,778.29. We’re getting closer to “if I absolutely had to, this can work somewhere in the world” territory; but really not even close to dreaming about doing that anytime soon.
My current projections, assuming I retire at 55, keep contributing to my 401k at the same rate, the company continues matching, and a 6% annual retire…. at retirement, I will be able to draw about $5,800 a month from my 401k/pension accounts alone, and that is definitely doable!
Safe Withdrawal Rate (3.5%) monthly income: $778.29 + Website income = $1,778.29
Spendaholic Ways
April was a really good month for me, from a Not So Spendaholic standpoint. I did donate about $700 to charity giving back some of my COVID stimulus and yearly bonus to some organizations in desperate need right now.
I did eat out a few times with drive-throughs and curbside pickup, but nowhere near the amount I was before. Groceries for the family have gone up, but I think we come out ahead.
Building out those long term savings excel documents is really helping keep the bigger picture in focus for me, and I plan to watch them a lot to keep the idea fresh in my head when I make purchasing decisions.
Emergency Fund
My personal and credit union savings is now at around $6,000. It’s not enough, I know it’s not enough… but it is about $2,200 higher than it was last month, plus I paid off all my credit cards, so I can start hopefully saving more each month. By this time next year, I should hopefully be in a very good spot.
Looking Ahead
The big things ahead I can look at right now looking ahead are trying to keep my stress down and mental game strong, while keeping spending in check. Work is super busy right now, I’m not exactly happy at home, and some of my big stress relievers are unavailable due to COVID. I’m holding in there there!
There aren’t any major things on my financial radar until January, when my mortgage will be low enough to remove PMI, unless I get divorced later this year and need to deal with the fallout from that. Additionally, my 401k loan is scheduled to be paid off in January as well; which should set me up for a nice 2021.
So slow and steady and hopefully keep moving the numbers in a positive direction every month!