Net Worth of PF Bloggers: April 2008

Here's the current financial situation of some personal finance bloggers who post their net worth each month.

Monthly Net Worth of some PF Bloggers for April 2008:

Blogger    Age   Net Worth      $ Change  % Change
An English Major's Money  24    $23,613.00   $1,052.00   N/A
Aspire 2 Wealth           2x    $31,326.00   $2,489.00   N/A
Blogging Away Debt        2x   -$27,616.00   $2,827.00   N/A
Consumerism Commentary    30   $146,738.00   $3,564.00  2.5%
Debt Free 4 Ever          39    $50,099.00     $183.00   N/A
Enough Wealth             46 $1,072,448.00  $27,840.00  2.7%
How I Save Money          27   -$17,128.00     $657.00   N/A
Lazy Man and Money        2x   $218,825.00   $5,794.00  2.7%
Map Girl                  32    $50,847.00   $1,802.00  N/A
MaxLoot                   25    $42,986.00   $2,747.00  N/A
Moomin Valley             42   $485,756.00  $19,130.00  4.1%
My Money Blog             28   $257,939.00  $15,592.00  6.3%

nb. Some ages have been adjusted as follows:exact age provided = listed as given"20's" = listed as 2x"early 20's" = listed as 22"mid-late 20's" = listed as 27and so on.

Previous monthly reports can be found in the Net Worth category.

If you have any corrections, let me know as soon as possible after the post and I'll edit immediately. If it's more than a few days after the post, email me and I'll make the change the following month.

Note: Most of these figures are in USD, but some are not (eg. mine are in AUD). Also, some bloggers post combined net worth of a couple, others are single, or, like me, only post their personal net worth.

The N/A figures are either a lack of monthly data, or where I've not included % change data because the net worth is less than +/- $100K.
I've had some appreciative comments about this regular monthly post - if you like it, please link to it from your blog, or add a link to EnoughWealth to your blogroll. ;)

Subscribe to Enough Wealth. Copyright 2006-2008

Net Worth Update: April 2008

April showed gains in all areas of my portfolio and I ended the month up (2.67%) for the month, to $1,072,448:

Property valuations +$.6,249 (+0.74%) to +$849,227
Mortgage loans..... -$....20 (-0.01%) to -$366,520
Retirement accounts +$.8,066 (+2.73%) to +$303,850
Stocks & other..... +$13,505 (+4.96%) to +$285,891

My monthly retirement contribution from April (around $4,200) isn't showing in this month's figures as the employer contribution hasn't appeared in my SMSF bank account yet.

For those that are interested in household net worth figures:

Enoughwealth....... +$1,072,448
DW................. +$..540,104
DS1................ +$...43,755
DS2................ +$....7,133
TOTAL Household NW. +$1,663,439

Copyright Enough Wealth 2008

Net Worth of PF Bloggers: March 2008

Here's the current financial situation of some personal finance bloggers who post their net worth each month.

Monthly Net Worth of some PF Bloggers for March 2008:

Blogger    Age   Net Worth      $ Change  % Change
An English Major's Money  24    $22,561.00     $802.00   N/A
Aspire 2 Wealth           2x    $28,837.00   $1,658.00   N/A
Blogging Away Debt        2x   -$30,443.00     $750.00   N/A
Consumerism Commentary    30   $143,174.00   $7,525.00  5.5%
Debt Free 4 Ever          39    $50,056.00   $1,428.00   N/A
Enough Wealth             46 $1,044,608.00 -$19,167.00 -1.8%
How I Save Money          27   -$17,785.00     $144.00   N/A
Lazy Man and Money        2x   $213,031.00    -$315.00 -2.7%
Map Girl                  32    $49,045.00   $6,029.00  N/A
MaxLoot                   25    $42,986.00   $2,747.00  N/A
Moomin Valley             42   $451,951.00  $19,008.00  4.4%
My Money Blog             28   $242,347.00   $9,894.00  4.3%
Savvy Saver               27   N/A           N/A        N/A

nb. Some ages have been adjusted as follows:exact age provided = listed as given"20's" = listed as 2x"early 20's" = listed as 22"mid-late 20's" = listed as 27and so on.

Previous monthly reports can be found in the Net Worth category.

If you have any corrections, let me know as soon as possible after the post and I'll edit immediately. If it's more than a few days after the post, email me and I'll make the change the following month.

Note: Most of these figures are in USD, but some are not (eg. mine are in AUD). Also, some bloggers post combined net worth of a couple, others are single, or, like me, only post their personal net worth.

The N/A figures are either a lack of monthly data, or where I've not included % change data because the net worth is less than +/- $100K.
I've had some appreciative comments about this regular monthly post - if you like it, please link to it from your blog, or add a link to EnoughWealth to your blogroll. ;)

Copyright Enough Wealth 2008

Net Worth Update March 2008

March was looking really bad by the middle of the month, with my daily net worth estimate dropping below the $1m mark on the 17th and 18th. At the low point ($994,777) my net worth was down 6.60% compared to the end of February (even with a slight gain from my real estate valuations which are updated on the 1st of each month). But the stock market rally last week salvaged the situation and I ended the month down "only" -$19,167 (-1.80%) for the month, to $1,044,608.

The final result was due mostly to further losses in my geared equity investments (still down -$24,176 or -8.15% after the recent "bounce"), which were only partially offset by yet another good month for Sydney property valuations (at least for the northern suburbs) -- my share of our property valuations was up $11,534 (1.39%) to $842,978 while my share of the mortgage loan balance only rose $850 to $366,540 (0.23%) as we were able to fund part of our loan repayments using our tax refunds rather than the usual monthly "redraw" of some of our advance payment balance. Preliminary data for March shows that the property component of my portfolio will show a slight gain this month, but the amount could easily be offset by one bad day in the stock market given the current levels of volatility.

The $50,000 I invested in the Colonial FirstState Geared Share Fund on the 7th of March had shown a small profit by the end of the month, although I missed the March low point by a week (I've no idea if the March lows will eventually turn out to be the low of this bear market). This is small beer compared to the situation I'd be in if I'd still had the Index Put Options in place that I bought early last year, but which expired value-less in early December.

The balance of my retirement account gave back the gains of last month, dropping by -1.88% to $295,784. The decrease would have been even larger if not for my monthly retirement contribution (around $4,200). My retirement account balance is down 13.5% from it's peak last year, despite the large monthly contributions I've been making since last July via "salary sacrifice". The only bright spot is that this means my salary sacrifice contributions have been purchasing investment units (in the Vanguard High Growth Index Fund) at lower prices, which should be beneficial in the long term (fingers crossed). It hardly compares to the position I'd now be in if I'd simply stayed invested in cash since we moved our retirement accounts into our Self-Managed Superannuation Fund last June. Looking back there was no urgent need to reinvest my superannuation balance immediately into equities, given the exceptional performance of equities in recent years, the uncertainty about the impact of the sub-prime lending crisis (at that time), and the consensus view that equity returns would be modest in 2008. Short-term cash deposits in online savings accounts are currently paying around 8%pa, which is looking very attractive in the current environment. However I don't intend to alter my long-term asset allocation. No good closing the barn door after the horse has bolted!

We're now 25% through 2008 and there seems no way I can possibly achieve my initial goal of increasing my net worth by $150,000 (13%) in 2008. From my current position I'd have to gain around $244,000 (23.35%) over the next 9 months, or around 31% annualised!

My revised target is to reach $1.15m by the end of 2008 - this would be the same point I was at in May 2007, and still 4% below my all-time high achieved on 1 Nov 2007. I give this a 35% probability. However, I wouldn't be surprised to find my net worth dropping even lower sometime during 2008 (50% probability), in which case my net worth may not rise at all by the end of this year. I can only hope that we won't see a repeat of the 1970's, in which case I could find my net worth stagnating well into the next decade (10% chance).

Of course the real "worst case scenario" (<5% chance) would be a Great Depression II (possibly followed by WWIII). I'd give this scenario very, very low probability (1%?) - but people generally tend to completely discount high-impact, low probability risk events (such as earthquakes, tsunamis) unless they've happened recently. "What-ifs" such as a SARS pandemic around the time of the Beijing Olympics, or a hot war between the US and Iran, are possible, but not highly probably. It's much more likely that the global economy will weather the current storm, and we'll return to long-run average asset performance over the coming years.

Copyright Enough Wealth 2008

Net Worth of PF Bloggers: February 2008

Here's the current financial situation of some personal finance bloggers who post their net worth each month.

Monthly Net Worth of some PF Bloggers for February 2008:

Blogger Age Net Worth $ Change % Change 
An English Major's Money  24    $21,759.00     $508.00   N/A 
Aspire 2 Wealth           2x    $27,179.00   $1,629.00   N/A 
Blogging Away Debt        2x   -$31,193.00   $1,944.00   N/A 
Consumerism Commentary    30   $135,649.00   $9,879.00  8.4% 
Debt Free 4 Ever          39    $48,143.00     $274.00   N/A 
Enough Wealth             46 $1,063,755.00  -$2,302.00 -0.2% 
How I Save Money          27   -$17,929.00   $3,292.00   N/A 
Lazy Man and Money        2x   $213,031.00    -$315.00 -2.7% 
Map Girl                  32    $43,016.00     $404.00  N/A
MaxLoot                   25    $38,975.00   $2,591.00  N/A
Moomin Valley             42   $445,175.00   $7,440.00  1.7% 
My Money Blog             28   $232,413.00  $13,875.00  6.3% 
Savvy Saver               27   $226,073.00   $5,286.00  2.4% 

nb. Some ages have been adjusted as follows:
exact age provided = listed as given
"20's" = listed as 2x
"early 20's" = listed as 22
"mid-late 20's" = listed as 27
and so on.

If you have any corrections, let me know as soon as possible after the post and I'll edit immediately. If it's more than a few days after the post, email me and I'll make the change the following month.

Note: Most of these figures are in USD, but some are not (eg. mine are in AUD). Also, some bloggers post combined net worth of a couple, others are single, or, like me, only post their personal net worth.

The N/A figures are either a lack of monthly data, or where I've not included % change data because the net worth is less than +/- $100K.

I've had some appreciative comments about this regular monthly post - if you like it, please link to it from your blog, or add a link to EnoughWealth to your blogroll. ;)

Copyright Enough Wealth 2007

Boys Own Financial Plan

The boys (DS1 and DS2) net worth decreased slightly this month, taking hits on their small, undiversified stock portfolios. DS1 suffered the worst performance, with his investments in ANZ and QBE both doing badly. DS2 did slightly better, with CSL and CPU in his portfolio.

The long term financial plan for the boys aims for each of them to have a net worth somewhere north of $100K when they turn 18 - providing a sound base for them to save for a house and fund their retirement accounts without too much stress.

There actual and projected net worths are plotted against age below:



The projection is based on the following assumptions:
Savings accounts.....1.2% real return
RSA account..........4.7% real return
stock portfolio......8.8% real return
superannuation.......8.8% real return
(invested in stock/geared stock funds)

savings:

• $1,200 pa contribution each (by me) into their superannuation accounts
  
• $1,500 pa government co-contribution each into their superannuation accounts
  
• $50 per month saved from their odd jobs/busking/pocket money etc.
  

The recent dip in DS1's graph shows how unlikely it is that the actual outcomes will be anything like the smooth projection.

Copyright Enough Wealth 2007

Net Worth Update February 2008

Blame it on the leap year! February's performance was looking OK until the stock market drop on the 29th.

My net worth as at 29 February decreased by -$2,302 (-0.22%) during the month to $1,063,775 (AUD), due to further losses in my geared equity investments, which were only parially offset by a good month for Sydney property valuations (at least for the northern suburbs). Preliminary data for March shows that the property component of my portfolio will show another gain this month, but since the stock market dropped a further 3% today there's no guarantee that my overall net worth will improve this month. Since my savings and the interest I could get on a risk-free asset allocation (online bank investment) would see around $10,000 being added to my net worth each month, it's getting tedious to see back-to-back month's of flat or decreasing net worth.

The estimated valuation of my share of our real estate assets increased by 1.73%, but the balance of my half of the mortgage also increased by 0.24% as we continue to use monthly redraws to help cover the interest payments while DW is working part-time. We added a large chunk of our tax refunds to the joint account that funds the mortgage payments, so we should have enough to meet payments until at least the end of 2009 (provided the tenant of our rental property keeps up with the rent). We will also contribute a large part of any tax refund we get this year, which will help offset the expected 0.25%-0.75% in interest rate rises by the RBA in the next few months. Fortunately we have around half of our mortgages on a five year fixed rate loan, which lasts until 2011.

My leveraged stock portfolios decreased by -4.92% this month to $296,562, which is painful, but not as bad as last month (-18.35%). I'm not game to increase my margin loans to invest any more in the market at the moment, although this is probably a good buying opportunity.

The balance of my retirement account recovered slightly this month, by 1.73%, but that was largely due to my monthly retirement contibution (around $4,200) plus an amount being paid in by my employer that had been outstanding since September.

We're now 15% through 2008 and it appears highly unlikely that I'll achieve my goal of increasing my net worth by $150,000 (13%) in 2008. From the current situation I'd have to gain around $225,000 over the next 10 months, or around 21.1% in 10 months! From the current position I'll be happy to achieve half that increase.

Copyright Enough Wealth 2007

Net worth of bloggers: January 2008

Here's the current financial situation of some personal finance bloggers who post their net worth each month. It's interesting to see how those will higher net worths are getting clobbered by the stock market 'correction', while those with a modest (or negative) net worth are generally still making progress as their savings has a relatively large impact on their financial situation.

Monthly Net Worth of some PF Bloggers for January 2008:

Blogger Age Net Worth $ Change % Change 
An English Major's Money  24    $21,251.00       $4.00   N/A 
Aspire 2 Wealth           2x    $25,550.00   $1,121.00   N/A 
Blogging Away Debt        2x   -$33,137.00     $810.00   N/A 
Consumerism Commentary    30   $125,770.00   $3,174.00  2.5% 
Debt Free 4 Ever          39    $47,939.00      $70.00   N/A 
Enough Wealth             46 $1,066,077.00 -$72,120.00 -6.3% 
How I Save Money          27   -$21,221.00  -$5,697.00   N/A 
Lazy Man and Money        2x   $213,346.00  -$6,021.00 -2.7% 
Map Girl                  32      N/A          N/A       N/A 
Moomin Valley             42   $434,295.00  -$3,406.00 -0.8% 
My Money Blog             28   $218,538.00   $3,457.00  1.6% 
Savvy Saver               27   $220,787.00  -$8,234.00 -3.6% 

nb. Some ages have been adjusted as follows:
exact age provided = listed as given
"20's" = listed as 2x
"early 20's" = listed as 22
"mid-late 20's" = listed as 27
and so on.



If you have any corrections, let me know as soon as possible after the post and I'll edit immediately. If it's more than a few days after the post, email me and I'll make the change the following month.

Note: Most of these figures are in USD, but some are not (eg. mine are in AUD). Also, some bloggers post combined net worth of a couple, others are single, or, like me, only post their personal net worth.

The N/A figures are either a lack of monthly data, or where I've not included % change data because the net worth is less than +/- $100K.

I've had some appreciative comments about this regular monthly post - if you like it, please link to it from your blog, or add a link to EnoughWealth to your blogroll. ;)

Copyright Enough Wealth 2007

Net Worth Update January 2008

Net Worth Update January 2008

My net worth as at 31 January decreased by -$72,120 (-6.34%) during the month to $1,066,077 (AUD), due to the large losses in my geared equity investments, which was only parially offset by a strong month for our property valuations. Last month's comment that "it wouldn't be surprising to see a gain or loss greater than 6% of my net worth some month" proven uncomfortably prescient. (I'm still waiting for a month where my net worth increases by 6%!) Over the past two months my net worth has decreased by a substantial -9.26%

The estimated valuation of my share of our real estate assets increased by $25,384 (3.18%). The balance of my half of the mortgage increased by -$835 to -$364,804 as we continue to redraw some of our advance payments to cover the interest payments while DW is working part-time (until DS2 starts school in a couple of years). Interest rates are still being increased in Australia, as inflation has broken through the top end of the official 2%-3% "target" band. The RBA is expected to raise rates another 0.25% at next week's monthly meeting, which will flow on to variable home loan interest rates. Fortunately we have around half of our property loans at a fixed rate for the next 3-4 years, so we won't feel the full impact. One positive of higher inflation might be that house prices increase in line with rises in the cost of new home construction, while our home loan debt will remain constant. My parents' generation benefitted from this effect in the 70s and 80s when inflation took off into double digits after the first global "oil shock", causing a boom in house prices at a time when nearly all home loans were for 30-years at a fixed rate around 5%-6%.

My leveraged stock portfolios decreased by a net -$70,106 (-18.35%) this month to $311,922. I think this is the worst monthly result I've recorded. Another 10-15% decline in the stock market would force me to sell off some of my equity investments to avoid getting a margin call, and a further decline of 40% would wipe out the value of my geared stock portfolio entirely, wiping around 30% off my net worth. It's interesting that my hedge fund investments haven't been performing particularly well during this period, despite their alleged ability to profit from short selling during bear markets.

The balance of my retirement account also decreased substantially this month, by -$4,980 (-1.52%) to $322,893, as it's now invested about 98% in the Vanguard Lifestages "High Growth" fund which is allocated mostly to domestic and international equitites. I'm still waiting on an employer contribution of around $4,000 to be processed that has been outstanding since September, which would boost the account balance a bit. There's also the slight miscalculation in the 9% SGL employer contribution for six weeks during Nov/Dec that hasn't been corrected as yet. Yesterday the payroll manager informed me that the missing transactions have been located and the funds should appear in the SMSF bank account next week.

The timing of our move from a retail superannuation fund into our own Self-Managed superannuation fund last year turned out to be less than ideal, with our withdrawal from the retail fund being executed during the mid-year stock market correction, and then reinvested into the Vanguard fund over several months during late 2007 when the markets were hitting new highs. My current retirement account balance is now below what it was at the start of 2007, despite having contributed around $35,000 to my retirement savings during the year. This year I'll be contributing another $50,000 to my retirement fund via a combination of salary sacrifice and the 9% SGL, so if the market takes a while to recover or drops further I'll at least be "averaging down" the entry price.

One good thing is that I still have twenty years to go before reaching "normal" retirement age, so hopefully the current drop in my net worth chart will appear as an insignificant "blip" by that time - similar to the market crash of '87.

Although we're only 1/12th through the year, it appears highly unlikely that I'll achieve my goal of increasing my net worth by $150,000 (13%) in 2008. From the current situation I'd have to gain $222,000 over the next 11 months, or around 20.8% in 11 months!



Copyright Enough Wealth 2007

Net Worth of Personal Finance Bloggers: December 2007

Here's the latest round-up on how some of the various PF (Personal Finance) bloggers who post their Net Worth each month are progressing. It's interesting to see how those will higher net worths are getting clobbered by the stock market 'correction', while those with a modest (or negative) net worth are generally still making progress as a result of their savings.

Monthly Net Worth of some PF Bloggers for December 2007:

Blogger Age Net Worth $ Change % Change 
An English Major's Money 23 $21,247.00 $471.00 N/A 
Aspire 2 Wealth 2x $24,071.00 $788.00 N/A 
Blogging Away Debt 2x -$33,947.00 $2,437.00 N/A 
Consumerism Commentary 30 $122,596.00 $1,834.00 1.5% 
Debt Free 4 Ever 39 $46,263.00 $794.00 N/A 
Enough Wealth 46 $1,138,197.00 -$34,230.00 -2.9% 
How I Save Money 27 -$15,524.00 -$57.00 -0.4% 
Lazy Man and Money 2x $219,367.00 $4,541.00 2.1% 
Map Girl 32 $46,233.00 -$2,546.00 -5.2% 
Moomin Valley 42 $452,793.00 $4,283.00 0.9% 
My Money Blog 28 $204,759.00 $14,653.00 7.7% 
Savvy Saver 27 $229,021.00 $2,188.00 1.0% 

nb. Some ages have been adjusted as follows:
exact age provided = listed as given
"20's" = listed as 2x
"early 20's" = listed as 22
"mid-late 20's" = listed as 27
and so on.



If you have any corrections, let me know as soon as possible after the post and I'll edit immediately. If it's more than a few days after the post, email me and I'll make the change the following month.

Note: Most of these figures are in USD, but some are not (eg. mine are in AUD). Also, some bloggers post combined net worth of a couple, others are single, or, like me, only post their personal net worth.

The N/A figures are either a lack of monthly data, or where I've not included % change data because the net worth is less than +/- $100K.

I've had some appreciative comments about this regular monthly post - if you like it, please link to it from your blog, or add a link to EnoughWealth to your blogroll. ;)

Copyright Enough Wealth 2007

Net Worth Update December 2007

My net worth as at 31 December decreased by -$34,230 (-2.92%) during the month to $1,138,196 (AUD), due to quite large decreases in all components of my investment portfolio.

The estimated valuation of my share of our real estate assets fell by -$15,809 (-1.94%). The real estate valuations bounce around from month to month, affected by what mix of houses were sold during the month, so it's only the long-term trend that matters. I already have the raw sales data for the January estimate, and this drop was recovered the following month. The balance of my half of the mortgage increased by -$816 to -$363,969 as we continue to redraw some of our advance payments to cover the interest payments while DW is working part-time (until DS2 starts school in a couple of years).

My leveraged stock portfolios decreased by a net -$12,625 (-3.20%) to $382,028. This isn't as bad as last month, but the combined drop over two months ensured I didn't meet my overall net worth target for the year.

My retirement account also decreased, by -$4,980 (-1.52%) to $322,893. I'm still waiting on an employer contribution of around $4,000 to be processed that has been outstanding since September, which would boost the account balance a bit. There's also the slight miscalculation in the 9% SGL employer contribution for six weeks during Nov/Dec that hasn't been corrected as yet. Hopefully these outstanding contributions will appear in the SMSF bank account during January.

I've been estimating approximate monthly ROI (based on change in net worth minus the $30,000 I'm saving each year) since May 2002, and it's interesting to see how well the distribution of monthly returns matches a normal distribution (with average monthly ROI of 1.08% and a std deviation of 2.28%). Distribution of investment returns tends to have longer 'tails' than a true normal distribution, so it wouldn't be surprising to see a gain or loss greater than 6% of my net worth some month.



The long term change in net worth is still close to the fitted 20.3% pa rate of increase, but this will be harder to maintain in future as the contribution of my annual saving is becoming less and less significant compared to the ROI on my existing investment portfolio. I also doubt that 2008 will see overall investment returns of 14.1% and the cost of borrowed funds is likely to exceed 8% this year. As the interest rate available for prepaying annual interest on my margin loans will probably be quite high when it falls due in June, I may not prepay as much this year and instead sell off some stock holdings in the new financial year to reduce my gearing. Then again, I was thinking of doing that last June but decided against it. Having missed the chance to benefit from market timing last year, I run the risk of selling at a market bottom and reducing gearing when interest rates have peaked. So I'll probably just grit my teeth and stick to my long term asset allocation and gearing plan.



Copyright Enough Wealth 2007

Net Worth of PF Bloggers: November 2007

Here's the latest round-up on how the various PF (Personal Finance) bloggers who post their Net Worth each month are progressing.

Monthly Net Worth of PF Bloggers for November 2007:

Blogger                   Age       Net Worth      $ Change  % Change   
An English Major's Money  23       $20,776.00       $909.00      N/A     
Blogging Away Debt        2x      -$36,384.00     $2,699.00      N/A     
Consumerism Commentary    30      $121,861.00     $2,179.00      1.8%      
Debt Free 4 Ever          39       $56,800.00       $331.00      0.6%     
Enough Wealth             46    $1,172,427.00    $13,522.00      1.2%     
Finance Journey           25      $159,268.00    -$3,562.00     -2.2%     
Lazy Man and Money        2x      $214,826.00   -$14,859.00     -6.5%     
Moomin Valley             42      $451,536.00    -$1,789.00     -0.4%     
My Money Blog             28      $204,759.00    $14,653.00      7.7%     
Savvy Saver               27      $226,833.00    -$7,301.00     -3.1%  

nb. Some ages have been adjusted as follows:
exact age provided = listed as given
"20's" = listed as 2x
"early 20's" = listed as 22
"mid-late 20's" = listed as 27
and so on.

If you have any corrections, let me know as soon as possible after the post and I'll edit immediately. If it's more than a few days after the post, email me and I'll make the change the following month.

Note: Most of these figures are in USD, but some are not (eg. mine are in AUD). Also, some bloggers post combined net worth of a couple, others are single, or, like me, only post their personal net worth.

The N/A figures are either a lack of monthly data, or where I've not included % change data because the net worth is less than +/- $100K.

I've had some appreciative comments about this regular monthly post - if you like it, please link to it from your blog, or add a link to EnoughWealth to your blogroll. ;)

Copyright Enough Wealth 2007

Net Worth Update November 2007

My net worth as at 30 November increased by $13,522 (1.17%) during the month to $1,172,427 (AUD), largely due to an increase in the estimated valuation of our real estate assets which more than offset the losses in the stock market. The real estate valuations bounce around from month to month, affected by what mix of houses were sold during the month, so it's only the long-term trend that matters. The balance of my half of the mortgage increased slightly by -$89 to -$363,153 as we continue to redraw some of our advance payments to cover the interest payments while DW is working part-time (until DS2 starts school in a couple of years). This month the redraw was mostly offset by there being three fortnightly repayments falling within the month. My leveraged stock portfolios decreased by a net -$22,302 (-5.35%) to $394,653. My retirement account decreased by -$4,450 (-1.34%) to $327,873. This figure is still a bit understated (by around $4,000) due to a delay in the processing of my employer's contribution for the month of August. There's also been a slight miscalculation in the 9% SGL employer contribution for the past six weeks.

Copyright Enough Wealth 2007

Net Worth of PF Bloggers October, 2007

Here's the latest round-up on how the various PF (Personal Finance) bloggers who post their Net Worth each month are progressing. Several blogs have been dropped off this list, some by request but mostly because they haven't updated their net worth data this month, or because they appear to have stopped blogging entirely.

Monthly Net Worth of PF Bloggers for October 2007:

Blogger                   Age       Net Worth      $ Change  % Change   
An English Major's Money  23       $19,867.00     $1,054.00      N/A     
Blogging Away Debt        2x      -$39,083.00       $542.00      N/A     
Consumerism Commentary    30      $119,970.00     $3,495.00      6.4%      
Debt Free 4 Ever          39       $56,469.00       $675.00      1.2%     
Enough Wealth             46    $1,158,905.00    -$3,590.00     -0.3%     
Finance Journey           25      $162,830.00    -$2,353.00     -1.4%     
Lazy Man and Money        2x      $229,685.00    $18,915.00      9.0%     
Mapgirl                   3x       $49,793.00       $235.00      N/A
Moomin Valley             42      $476,333.00    -$3,893.00     -0.8%     
My Money Blog             28      $190,106.00    $13,439.00      7.6%     
Savvy Saver               27      $236,134.00    $12,230.00      5.5%  
Tired But Happy           30      $187,881.00     $9,741.00      5.5%  

nb. Some ages have been adjusted as follows:
exact age provided = listed as given
"20's" = listed as 2x
"early 20's" = listed as 22
"mid-late 20's" = listed as 27
and so on.

If you have any corrections, let me know as soon as possible after the post and I'll edit immediately. If it's more than a few days after the post, email me and I'll make the change the following month.

Note: Most of these figures are in USD, but some are not (eg. mine are in AUD). Also, some bloggers post combined net worth of a couple, others are single, or, like me, only post their personal net worth.

The N/A figures are either a lack of monthly data, or where I've not included % change data because the net worth is less than +/- $100K.

I've had some appreciative comments about this regular monthly post - if you like it, please link to it from your blog, or add a link to EnoughWealth to your blogroll. ;)

Copyright Enough Wealth 2007

Net Worth Update October 2007

My net worth as at 31 October decreased by -$3,590 (-0.31%) during the month to $1,158,905 (AUD), largely due to a decline in the estimated valuation of our real estate assets. The real estate valuations bounce around from month to month, affected by what mix of houses were sold during the month, so it's only the long-term trend that matters. The balance of my half of the mortgage increased by another -$929 to -$363,063 as we continue to redraw some of our advance payments to cover the interest payments while DW is working part-time (until DS2 starts school in a couple of years). My leveraged stock portfolios increased by a net $2,816 (0.68%) to $416,955, but would have been around $5,000 (1.2%) higher except that my large block of IPE shares went ex dividend on Wednesday. My retirement account increased by $2,785 (0.85%) to $332,322. This figure is also a bit understated (by around $4,000) due to a delay in the processing of my employer's contribution for the month of August.

Copyright Enough Wealth 2007

Net Worth of Pf Bloggers September, 2007 - Updated

Here's the latest round-up on how the various PF (Personal Finance) bloggers who post their Net Worth each month are progressing.

Monthly Net Worth of PF Bloggers for August 2007:

Blogger                   Age       Net Worth      $ Change  % Change   
Amateurist Fin. Journey   23      -$37,328.00       $329.00     N/A     
An English Major's Money  23       $18,813.00       $884.00      N/A     
Blogging Away Debt        2x      -$39,625.00     $1,376.00      N/A     
Blunt Money               40      $229,226.15     $3,360.14      1.5%      
Consumerism Commentary    30      $116,475.00    $10,002.00      9.4%      
Crazy Money               27      N/A             N/A            N/A  
Debt Free 4 Ever          39       $55,794.00     $1,187.00      2.2%     
Enough Wealth             46    $1,162,495.00    $30,681.00      2.7%     
Financial ladder          xx      $175,636.87    $10,835.43      6.6%     
Finance Journey           25      $165,183.00    -$1,373.00     -0.8%     
Lazy Man and Money        2x      $210,770.00     $4,819.00      2.4%     
Make love, not debt       2x      N/A             N/A            N/A  
Mapgirl                   3x       $49,558.00      -$753.00      N/A
Moomin Valley             42      $467,765.00     $8,803.00      1.9%     
My Money Blog             28      $171,667.00    $15,267.00      9.5%     
Savvy Saver               27      $223,904.00    $12,308.00      5.8%  
Tired But Happy           30      $178,140.00     $3,281.00      1.9%  

nb. Some ages have been adjusted as follows:
exact age provided = listed as given
"20's" = listed as 2x
"early 20's" = listed as 22
"mid-late 20's" = listed as 27
and so on.

If you have any corrections, let me know as soon as possible after the post and I'll edit immediately. If it's more than a few days after the post, email me and I'll make the change the following month.

Note: Most of these figures are in USD, but some are not (eg. mine are in AUD). Also, some bloggers post combined net worth of a couple, others are single, or, like me, only post their personal net worth.

The N/A figures are either a lack of monthly data, or where I've not included % change data because the net worth is less than +/- $100K.

I've had some appreciative comments about this regualar monthly post - if you like it, please link to it from your blog, or add a link to EnoughWealth to your blogroll. ;)

Copyright Enough Wealth 2007

Net Worth Update September 2007

My net worth as at 30 September increased by $30,681 (2.71%) during the month to $1,162,495 (AUD), largely due to the rebound in the Australian and International stock markets boosting my stock portfolio over the month. My leveraged stock portfolios increased by a net $11,924 (2.96%) to $414,139. The estimated valuations for my share of our home and investment property also increased by a considerable $18,164 (2.38%) to $780,953. Preliminary sales price data suggest that next months property portfolio valuation will have given back most of this month's gain, although the overall trend in Sydney property prices has started to look more positive. I expect our real estate holdings to add to our net worth over the next few years. Rents are currently rising strongly in Sydney, so we may get some extra investment income from our rental property next year. The balance of my half of the mortgage increased by another -$924 to -$362,134 as we continue to redraw some of our advance payments to cover the interest payments while DW is working part-time (until DS2 starts school in a couple of years).

Many other bloggers report on household net worth, rather than personal net worth, so I'll report on the net worth of the rest of my household occasionally. Currently the situation is:
DW NW=$474,225
DS1 NW=$ 49,153
DS2 NW=$ 1,370

Total household net worth is approx. A$1,687,243

DW has the same real estate holdings as me, a smaller retirement account balance, and no other assets. DS1 had some impressive gains in his stock portfolio [ANZ and QBE] over the past 5 years, and had his retirement account 100% in a geared Australian stock fund until recently. He used to earn a significant income from a paper round (done with considerable help from dad!), but these days only earns some extra money from busking a couple of times a month. DS2 just turned one, and I haven't bought him any stocks yet. I was planning on buying $2000 worth of CSL and a listed investment fund during the August slump, but didn't get around to it (D'Oh!). He has a child superannuation account which I opened with $1,200, and I'll add $1000 to it each year for at least the next couple of years. As I don't intend to do another paper round with DS2, and he missed out on the past four years of high returns from the Australian stock market, it will be difficult for him to accumulate the same NW as DS1 has achieved by age 7. I no longer contribute to DS1's child superannuation account, but I may have to contribute the maximum $1000 pa into DS2's child super account until he hits 18 in order to roughly "even things out" between DS1 and DS2.

Copyright Enough Wealth 2007

PAW or UAW? Compare yourself to the Millionaire Next Door

One of favourite books relating to personal finance (see my recommended reading list for some of my other favourites) is "The Miilionaire Next Door" by Stanley and Danko. One of the most interesting ideas in the book is the concept of Prodigous Accumulators of Wealth (PAWs) and Under-Accumulators of Wealth (UAWs). Two people (or households) could have the same net worth, but for one of them such an accumulation of wealth may be exceptionally good, and yet for the other this amount rather unimpressive, depending on their relative ages and income levels. In her post about net worth Millionaire Mommy Next Door linked to an interesting tool from Banksite.com that allows you to calculate if you are a PAW or AUW and compare your net worth to the "expected" net worth for a household/individual of your age and income level. Type for income, age and net worth in and see how you compare...

Copyright Enough Wealth 2007

You think that's a net worth? THIS is a net worth!

The SMH had a summary of the latest Forbes Rich-400 list of America's super rich. Among the interesting tid-bits: There were 482 American billionaires, and the net worth of the top 400 increased by 18.8% over the past year. The youngest member of the list is 33-year-old John Arnold (at #317 with $1.5 billion), and the oldest is 98-year-old John Simplot ( at #214 with $3.6 billion).

Copyright Enough Wealth 2007

Net Worth - PF Bloggers August

Here's the latest round-up on how the various PF (Personal Finance) bloggers who post their Net Worth each month are progressing.

Monthly Net Worth of PF Bloggers for August 2007:

Blogger                   Age       Net Worth      $ Change  % Change   
Amateurist Fin. Journey   23      -$37,657.00    -$1,185.88     -3.1%     
An English Major's Money  23       $17,929.00       $872.00      N/A     
Blogging Away Debt        2x      -$41,001.00     $1,068.00      N/A     
Blunt Money               2x      $225,866.01        $24.21      0.0%      
Consumerism Commentary    30      $107,488.00     $5,477.00      6.3%      
Crazy Money               27      $278,506.00     $3,488.00      1.3%     
Enough Wealth             45    $1,131,814.00     $5,044.00      0.4%     
Financial ladder          xx      N/A             N/A            N/A  
Finance Journey           25      $166,556.00      -$120.00     -0.1%     
Lazy Man and Money        2x      $205,951.00    -$1,256.00     -0.6%     
Make love, not debt       2x      -$41,303.44     N/A            N/A   
Mapgirl                   3x       $50,311.00     $1,863.00      3.8%     
Moomin Valley             42      $440,137.00     $1,182.00      0.3%     
My Money Blog             28      $161,400.00    $13,524.00      9.1%     
My Open Wallet            37      N/A             N/A            N/A  
Savvy Saver               27      $211,596.00     $4,416.00      2.1%  
Tired But Happy           30      $178,140.00     $3,281.00      1.9%  

nb. Some ages have been adjusted as follows:
exact age provided = listed as given
"20's" = listed as 2x
"early 20's" = listed as 22
"mid-late 20's" = listed as 27
and so on.

If you have any corrections, let me know as soon as possible after the post and I'll edit immediately. If it's more than a few days after the post, email me and I'll make the change the following month.

Note: Most of these figures are in USD, but some are not (eg. mine are in AUD). Also, some bloggers post combined net worth of a couple, others are single, or, like me, only post their personal net worth.

The N/A figures are either a lack of monthly data, or where I've not included % change data because the net worth is less than +/- $100K.

I've had some appreciative comments about this regualar monthly post - if you like it, please link to it from your blog, or add a link to EnoughWealth to your blogroll. ;)

Copyright Enough Wealth 2007