May Net Worth Update (+8.22%!)

This month was a great month for my net worth. It increased by a whopping 8.22%!

Ok, so that was mainly due to a very generous gift from a family member that is being tucked safely away.

Aside from that though, my investments are continuing to rebound. It's slow going, but it's at least moving in the right direction. My cash accounts took a bit more of a hit this month, thanks to vacation, but those were planned expenses.

With this generous gift, my net worth is up 7.68% from the beginning of the year. My goal for the year was to increase my net worth by 20%. I thought it was a tight goal, but possible. With the markets as they are, I just don't think it's possible to make that goal. Doesn't mean I'm not going to try though!

I also made my full Roth IRA contribution for 2008 this month. Sadly, it is already worth less than when I invested the shares. But it's money I won't need for years, so I'm not too concerned. Just got to keep on keeping on.

April Net Worth Update (+2.14%)

April was the best month for me financially. My net worth increased 2.14%. Again, the majority of this increase was due to investments continuing to bounce back, but my cash accounts also showed an increase - which tells me that I'm saving more than I'm spending. The YNAB plan is clearly working as it should.

For the year, I'm still below where I started - but by only about half a percent. I'm getting close, and I'm confident that if the markets either stay where they are or continue to rise and I just watch my spending, I'll finally be showing growth for 2008.

I am anticipating May to be a high spending month, however. I'm going on vacation this month and still owe my parents for part of my portion of the trip, and at the end of vacation, I'm jetting off to a friend's wedding, which will mean a hotel bill, and unfortunately, a lot of eating out. I've been planning for it in the budget, so I'm not too worried, but it will be interesting to see if I can still show some positive growth in my net worth anyway.

March Net Worth Update (+0.06%)

As I put together my monthly assets and liabilities table on Tuesday, I thought I was April Fooling myself! I was hoping for a month where I didn't lose too much money.

I actually got very excited when I started entering numbers and realized that for the month of March, I was going to end up with a net worth increase!

Ok, so it's not much. My net worth went up 0.06%. The increase was due to my cash accounts, as my investments dropped a bit, but not as much as I had feared. I'm hoping this new trend continues.

One of my 2008 goals had to do with a percentage net worth increase. So far for 2008, my net worth is still down 2.58%. Not great, but it could be worse. It could be much worse.
Here's to April also moving in an upward direction!

February Net Worth Update (-0.69%)

Another drop in my net worth this month. Down 0.69%. I suppose that's not a huge drop, but it's movement in the wrong direction. I look at the numbers and just shrug. There's not a lot I could do about it. The loss is mostly due to the downward movement in the market. In terms of cash accounts, the decrease was very small, and the fact that I already paid my state taxes but haven't received my federal income tax return was part of the reason I wasn't in the black. So I can take faith in the fact that my spending is under control.

It is interesting to see the variety in how my investments are playing out. Two of my mutual funds dropped by a small percentage, but one plummeted by almost 3%! My TSP (Thrift Savings Plan - the government version of the 401(k)) is doing ok. My Roth IRA is still down over $400 since I opened it last fall. I should start putting money into that while the market is down.

On the other hand, the six shares of Yahoo that I've had since the late 90's did quite well this month, with all the talk of a buy-out. Those are the only individual shares of stock I own. Years ago, I had a Geocities website, and when they went public, a number of us got 10 shares of Geocities stock. They were bought out by Yahoo, and I ended up with 6 shares of Yahoo stock as well as a check for what I believe was about $300. Since then, I've just let the stock play. I got it for free, and I've already gotten $300 from it. For now, I'm just letting it ride.

One of my 2008 goals is to increase my net worth by 20%. So far for 2008, my net worth has dropped 2.65%. I still think it's possible to come back from that though. I'll just keep plugging along.

January Net Worth Update (-2.0%)

My net worth in January actually ended in a better place than I thought it would, based on some tentative calculations I did mid-month. My net worth dropped a total of 2%. This is mainly due to current market conditions, but I also spent more money this month than I would have liked. Much of that is due to infrequent expenses, such as 6 month insurance bills coming due, and the fact that I had to buy a very overpriced plane ticket, but some of it was just me spending money where perhaps I should have been saving.

Clearly, I can't control the market, but I continue to hope for an upswing, and in the meantime, as I've mentioned, I've decided to really tighten my budget and see if I can save a bit more every month.

One of my 2008 goals involves increasing my net worth by a significant percentage. Clearly, this drop doesn't help, but I remain optimistic. It's just one month. Let's all hope that next month is better.

Suze Orman's Top 10 List for 2008

On last night's Suze Orman Show, Suze gave a top ten list of things to do for 2008:

Suze's Top Ten List for 2008

1. Try to get out of credit card debt.
2. Begin a 6-8 month emergency fund
3. Sign up for your 401(k) to the point of the match, then fund a Roth IRA
4. Look for the best buy on a home. Purchase only if you have enough for a 10%-20% down payment and qualify for a 30-15 year fixed mortgage.
5. Never loan money or co-sign for someone
6. Annuities - single premium deferred annuity is ok, but never buy variable annuities within a retirement account
7. Buy individual bonds, not bond funds
8. Get a will and a living revocable trust
9. Get term life insurance only
10. Buy no-load mutual funds only.

I'm pretty good on most of these, but not all of them, and it's a good goal to work towards. I do still rent my home, but mainly because I'm not sure that I plan to stay in this area long term. I'm giving myself 2 years, and then I'll make a decision. The other thing that I absolutely need to do this year is set up a will. I really should have done this years ago, but like so many people, I don't like to think about it. My uncle is an estate lawyer and would do it for me, but I only see him on holidays, and well, at Christmas, the last thing I want to think about is my demise.

So that is my goal from this list. How about you?

2008 Financial Goals

As the year is winding down, I've finally taken the time to solidify my financial goals. I made a list of things, some of which I think are very doable, some of which I think will be a struggle and might be a bit more dependent on the market than I like.

So here we are, my 2008 Financial Goals.

1. Fully fund my Roth IRA for 2008 (if possible).
The plan this year is to set aside the full $5000 for my Roth IRA contribution. Because I'm not sure what's going to happen financially, I'm not sure if I will be eligible to make the full contribution. Therefore, rather than contribute all throughout the year, I plan to set aside $5000 in a high yield savings account and then put it into the Roth IRA if I can. If not, I will have to look into other options.

2. Keep a running total of all taxable income.
This ties into goal #1. What better way to track whether or not I can make the full contribution than to keep a running total of all of my taxable income?

3. Place 3 paychecks directly into savings.
In 2008, there will be three months where I receive three paychecks. Because I'm used to budgeting with only two paychecks a month, I plan to take those extra three paychecks and put it directly into savings. Again, this may tie into goal #1, and be a relatively painless to at least partially fund my IRA.

4. Save a minimum of $400 a month outside of the above goals (not including investment income).
I think I can do much better than this.

5. Increase net worth by 20%.
This is the one that I think will be the hardest to achieve, and will be very tied to my investments. The past two months haven't been so great for my net worth, but I believe the market will bounce back, and hey, if nothing else, it lets me start at a low point. But in all seriousness, I would like to see a significant increase in my net worth. I have been pondering buying a home in the next few years, and I want to have at least a 20% down payment for that. So some serious savings are definitely in order.

So there you have it. My five financial goals for 2008. Pretty simple, but definitely worthwhile.

Thinking about 2008

Now that 2007 is quickly coming to an end, I've started thinking about my financial goals for 2008. I'm trying to set goals that are attainable, but not goals that are a given.

One clear goal is that I want to again fully fund my Roth IRA. I don't plan to actually fund it until the end of the year, however, as I'm not sure where my income level is going to be, and I don't want to deal with excess contributions. I do, however, plan to set aside the full $5000 and then put whatever I can into my Roth at the end of the year. Along with that, I plan to very carefully track my taxable income month to month so I will know where things stand.

I discovered that during three months next year, I will be receiving three paychecks a month. This is not an uncommon phenomenon - if you're paid bi-weekly, you will likely see something similar. I budget as if I only get two paychecks a month, of course, so the plan is to put those three extra paychecks directly into my long-term savings account. This is the account that I automatically put money into every month. I don't necessarily have a purpose for this account - it's just money that I don't touch. I might use it for a large purchase, perhaps towards a down payment, or maybe for a vacation, or just about anything. It's just another "pay yourself first" account.

I want to increase my monthly contribution to that account by $50 as well, possibly $100. I will have to crunch the numbers on this first.

I plan to continue to contribute to the match to my retirement account through my employer. That's an easy one. I will finally be eligible for the match sometime this spring, and it will be nice to see those contributions hitting the account.

I expect to get two raises this year - a cost of living increase at the beginning of the year and then a promotion of sorts at my anniversary with my employer. The goal is to try to continue where I am with expenses and just bank the salary increase. The COLA increase will likely only be an additional $100 take-home, if that, what with changes in my health plan and such. So it shouldn't be tough to just bank that. Every dollar helps!

I'm also considering setting a goal of increasing my net worth by a set percent. Right now, the number I'm toying with is 25%. That seems scary, but I think it's doable.

I will finalize this list in the coming weeks. What are your 2008 financial goals?