stub
HomePersonal SituationJanuary 2012 Net Worth Update

January 2012 Net Worth Update

I can’t believe it has been about a year since I started tracking my net worth.  I resisted the idea of doing so since the beginning of this blog because of two reasons.  One, I didn’t believe it would help me with my long term goal of increasing my net worth, and two, I felt it was just too much information to put on the internet.  Since starting my net worth experiment a year ago I can tell you I was dead wrong on both accounts.

I can’t tell you why I thought putting the numbers out there wouldn’t help me.  I fully believe that accountability leads to success and I give full credit to this blog and all my readers for helping me pay off my credit cards and keeping up with financial goals.  This experiment proves yet again that when I create a goal and put it out there for all to see I have a better chance of reaching it.  Also, I came up with an idea to overcome my second hurdle, by “zeroing” out my net worth in January of 2011.  This way people can still follow along my journey of growth and I don’t have to say exactly how much money I have in the bank.  Some people hate it, while some people are still appreciative that I even put that out there for people to read.

Overall, I am mad at myself for not starting this project sooner.

2011 Net Worth Increase Statistics

  • From January to February I increased my Net Worth 2.67%
  • From February to March I increased my Net Worth 5.88%
  • From March to April I increased my Net Worth 6.95%
  • From April to May I increased my Net Worth 5.54%
  • From May to June I increased my Net Worth 8.69%
  • From June to July I increased my Net Worth 6.51%
  • From July to August I increased my Net Worth 3.38%
  • From August to September I increased my Net Worth 2.82%
  • From September to October I increased my Net Worth 1.83%
  • From October to November I increased my Net Worth 5.54%
  • From November to December I increased my Net Worth 1.32%
  • From December to January 2012 I increased my Net Worth 5.09%

This leads to a positive change from January 2011 to January 2012 of 72.77%!  Wow am I proud of The Wife and I.  Some interesting (to me) facts:

  • The Wife and I killed off a little over $14,000 of debt (including destroying my auto note and some good progress on my second law school loan);
  • I ran through the amount of actual cash I thought I have, almost doubling it;
  • I got a lot more serious about my dividend portfolio in the middle of the year (although it is a much smaller goal than just pure cash) and it can be seen by over tripling what is in this account; and
  • Long term Amortization Schedules take a long time to pay down lol!  On my main law school loan I paid about $230/month ($2,760) yet the principal only reduced by about $1,000.

I am pretty excited about gaining 72.77% this year.  My realistic goal for this year is a 50% increase, and my long shot goal would be 65%

RELATED ARTICLES

22 COMMENTS

  1. The percentages, as I mentioned before, are meaningless. My 5 year old grew his net worth 2,000% this year (off of a base of $1). However, the trend is the key. Positive net worth growth in every month is just excellent. It may reflect though that your approach to the stock market is TOO conservative. Someone in their early thirties should have more volatility in net worth driven by a large investment in stocks. Given the fluctuations in the market in 2011, I would expect to see a couple of down months in there for you (unless you are the guru of all stock gurus 🙂

    • Just taking a look at the underlying spreadsheet I think it has to do with my number one goal of saving liquid dollars (for the upcoming house purchase this year). So those months where I had low growth I still saved my normal amount but the market took a hit.

      I am NOT any type of guru so I think your prediction will hold true eventually. I have to have a down month this year.

      On a side note I am VERY conservative. I was talking to a buddy that does investments the other and he said that my mind set is more into fixed income.

    • Thanks! I am hoping to kill another 14K or so….but not much more than that since everything is at such a low rate.

  2. Throw out the number Evan! It’s OK!

    If I gained 77%, I would jump up and down with joy and go take 6 months off!

    Give us some perspective on what a 77% jump in net worth is. That blows the best investors out of the water!

  3. Way to go Evan! I might be more impressed with the consistency of the positive returns. 77% is a ton though. Great stuff.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Related Articles

Recent Comments