2million's Personal Finance Blog

August 2018 Net Worth Update (+$19,155)

2018-12-21T20:51:15Z

Highlights for August

Im posting this several months later and hard to remember what even happened in August.
We are going to see Hamilton! I was able to land tickets to Hamilton when it travels to Durham in November for my wife's birthday. $242 for 2 tickets. Pricey, but we are excited to see it.
Otherwise August was a pretty quite month. Our daughters start back school in July, so our summer ends early.

July 2018 Net Worth Update (+$52,101)

2018-08-04T03:24:31Z

Highlights for July

I come out of July feeling optimistic all the way around. We had positive developments on numerous fronts including the bottom line.
In July we purchased our 5th rental property! The property market is very hot around our area and it was difficult to successfully agree on a purchase price that I felt would offer us a compelling return. However I feel really good about our successful efforts to aquire 2 additional rental properties this year. We will now shift our focus on rebuilding savings for future purchases. Hopefully it will be a more compelling market when we are ready to expand again.
We purchased the property by using available cash and our investment equity line. I intend to pay off the equity line over the next year with future cash flows.
In July, I took a new expanded position with my employer. The role is a significant challenge for me and even more intense than my previous role. I'm excited to mix it up and open up the door a bit more for potential success (or failure).
I also made a decision in July with my new role that I needed to find a way to better balance my time. Work will be even more demanding. My families' primary concern is that I already sacrifice a lot of family time for work. I made the decision as part of this move to outsource some activities I do myself. I signed up for $20/mo for monthly trash/recycling pickup and found a yard service for $35/visit for grass cut and trimming. This should free up 4-6 hours a month of my time. Im going to give it a try and see how it goes.
I will say I'm warming up to the idea of taking a couple more things off my plate.
We spent the first week of July on a beach vacation in Atlantic beach. We had previously paid for the condo and had minimal costs while on vacation (other than a couple dinners out).

June 2018 Net Worth Update (+$22,779)

2018-07-09T02:24:16Z

Highlights for June

In June our activity picked up a bit and we closed with another solid month in the books.
Our largest individual stock holding (Genworth) had a breakout month as the US govt (CFUIS) approved the deal for it to acquired by China Oceanwide Holdings. This contributed to a nice bump in our taxable stock holdings.
I received my annual bonus payout from my employer.
We spent ~$1,500 on remaining rental costs on our 2 upcoming vacations - a condo rental in July at the beach and a family cruise in October.
Once the kids were out of school we took a couple days and went up to Williamsburg for a quick vacation w/ some friends.
We spent ~$1,000 on a replacement fridge for one of our rental properties this month.

May 2018 Net Worth Update ($20,481)

2018-07-04T21:29:58Z

Highlights for May

In May we closed on some long term financing (5.375% 30 yr fixed) for our rentals that we used to pay off our equity line and reloaded our cash for the next acquisition.
Ive started looking for another rental property, but its a very tough market and none of our bids went very far.
Our taxable stock holdings (where most of our active investments are) had some outsized gains.
I spent ~$650 in car repairs & registration fees to fix a fuel sensor so my car would pass inspection and I could renew my tags.
This was our first significant repair for a car we purchased in 2009.
Our spending remains elevated and I don't really understand why. We are busy, and I recognize that costs more money. Our kids are also engaging in more extracurricular activities and that adds up....summer camp, swim lessons, club fees, uniforms, sports equipment, gas. At some point I want to focus on reducing expenses but not currently my priority these days as long as we feel like we are making progress on our overall goals.
Otherwise a pretty quiet month.

April 2018 Net Worth Update (+$22,946)

2018-05-20T16:27:03Z

Highlights for April

April was a busy month, with positive momentum as much of the month was focused on some long term financing for our new rental.
It took us longer than I expected, but for most of April we worked on a cash out refinance of our first rental property to put long term financing in place for our latest rental purchase (property #5). We locked in on a 5.375% 30 yr fixed rate (which provided enough credit to cover our closing costs). This rate is slightly lower than the 5.5% on our IELOC , insulates us from further rate increases, and allows us to get some additional cash freed up for future investment opportunities.
In the beginning of April we took a Spring Break trip to Williamsburg for 4 days. We purchased season passes to Busch Gardens for $400 for the family. We will plan to go back a couple additional times during the summer to leverage them.
We sold our baby furniture (crib and changing table). There was a lot of emotional attachment, but very proud my wife finally helped make it happen. The best part is we were able to sell the furniture for the same price we paid for them ($400) so basically got 8 years of use for free.
We maxed out our 2017 IRA contributions in April, but found I had a late scramble on our 2017 taxes as my wife was able to deduct traditional IRA contributions, but I was not. I quickly recharacterized my contributions to Roth IRA contributions for 2017.

March 2018 Net Worth Update (+$11,292)

2018-05-20T16:12:40Z

Highlights for March

It feels a little like I have woken up from a coma and finally taking some action to continue building our net worth! March was an exciting month as I dove back into real estate investing. Its been 8 years since I purchased my last property and it feels good. The stock market continued to slide a little.
I purchased our 4th rental, a single-family home for $142,000. The real estate market in our area was surprisingly hot; I made offers on 8 properties and this was the first one I received a counter on. I made a cash offer and quick close (closed within 14 days of offer acceptance). The house is currently rented for $1,250.
I purchased the property using our available cash as well as tapping an IELOC (investment line of credit) that we had on an existing rental.
I plan to do a cash-out refinance on one of my existing rentals to put long-term financing in place.
Also in March I broke my telephone so took the plunge and switched my service from Cricket to Project Fi. I expect my monthly cost will be about the same, but the big advantage for me will be international calling/data when I am traveling abroad. You and I can get a $20 referral credit thru this link when you join Project Fi

February 2018 Net Worth Update (-$47,198)

2018-04-08T00:18:29Z

Highlights for February

Finally some sanity kicked in and markets were all over the place in February. Who knows where the markets are headed now, but I still think they are richly valued.
Ive started working on my taxes and realized I need to continue to work on my property ladder. Ive got 3 rental properties and now only one with a mortgage, I need to refinance and plan to grow our investments.
I snagged a cruise on MSC cruises for us in the Fall when our daughters are out of school. I had been looking for a cruise for awhile and had almost given up on the thought of finding an affordable cruise, but this deal popped up with the kids sailing free (just paying port taxes) in my email one day and I booked it.
I also signed up for another Barclays travel plus credit card promotion with a bonus equivalent of a $400 credit for future travel spend. I will plan to use it to offset some of our upcoming cruise costs.

January 2018 Net Worth Update (+$43,834)

2018-02-14T22:21:49Z

Highlights for January

January was another incredible month of growth for our net worth growth kicking of 2018 with a nice start.
Only a few days into the new year and I had to unexpectedly replace a HVAC system at a rental property for $4,400. That is what our cash/emergency funds are for.
For the first time in a long time I got *close* to an overdraft situation in my checking account. My primary mortgage company somehow withdrew my January mortgage payment twice in January and then I had a multitude of Dec bills withdrawing from my account in early December. Its thrown my monthly cash flow cycle of income/payments off for a bit and Im still shuffling money around my cash accounts to re-adjust.
Late January we got into vacation planning mode planning a short Spring break trip on the Virginia coast (using hotel points), and a week in the NC Outerbanks during the summer (renting a condo for a week).
Our monthly spend still seems high. Its the new normal it seems, and I keep talking about reducing our spending run rate, but no progress. With healthy net worth growth its more palatable for me.

December 2017 Net Worth Update (+$32,893)

2018-02-04T21:51:59Z

Highlights for December

December was another good month of growth for our net worth growth bringing 2017 to a close. Our net worth grow over $245k USD in 2017! Its hard to complain about that kind of YoY growth. If the market were to continue like 2017 we'd hit out financial goals in the next 1-2 years.
I am in the process of paying off our equity line on House #1 as I received a letter reminding me it matures in July 2018. I sent a check in for $5.5k USD to pay it down and plan to get it paid off in the next month or so.

November 2017 Net Worth Update (+$31,585)

2018-01-15T14:45:10Z

Highlights for November

November was another good month with our net worth still growing at a healthy clip.
Ive decided to go ahead and payoff our equity line on House #1 as I received a letter reminding me it matures in July. I sent a check n for $10k USD to pay it down and plan to get it paid off in the next 1-2 months.
Otherwise November was a quiet month on the financial front.

October 2017 Net Worth Update (+$14,082)

2018-01-07T16:06:44Z

Highlights for October

October still had healthy gains after a significant bump in September.
We spent the first part of October on a Disney family vacation. I had a lot of heartburn about the expense of this trip for several months, but I came back convinced it was the right decision for our family. It was a magical (and exhausting) time for the whole group. In the end our entire trip cost us under $4,000 USD for our family of four for 6 nights/6 days in parks.
I also had another 2 week international business trip in October. I foresee work travel slowing down soon (I hope).
My wife and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary in late October! Hard to believe how fast time flies. I did buy my wife a gemstone necklace to mark the occasion and we celebrated with a nice kid-free dinner out.

September 2017 Net Worth Update (+$40,835)

2017-10-24T05:30:24Z

Highlights for September

September was a fantastic month with a huge gain on paper, our net worth is up $40k. Feels good to see such growth, but it does remind me of one thing my grandfather would remind me of growing up about the stock market - "The higher it goes, the lower it falls".
We have booked a Disney vacation for the beginning of October, our expenses are up as we prepaid for some vacation expenses by buying discounted gift cards. I'll post more about our trip later.
In early September I threw my wife a surprise birthday party. It was a ton more prep work than I anticipated and it was more expensive than I originally planned, partially because I waited to the last minute for with a lot of the planning. I learned my lesson and doubt I will try that again ;-).
Otherwise September was a pretty quiet month for us. I didn't do any business travel in September which was a nice break and good for the wallet.

August 2017 Net Worth Update (+$3,767)

2017-09-06T02:14:45Z

Highlights for August

August was a pretty muted month for us in terms of net worth change. We still ended up slightly positive.

I have bumped up my short term bond allocation in my 401k. I can't find any investment that Im excited about so parking more dollars in closer to cash equivalents.
We track our real estate holdings based on their cost basis. I believe this is a conservative approach to measure net worth given the illiquidity of real estate in general. For example Zillow estimates our current real estate values are $220k+ higher than what we track them at here.
Im still waiting for agreement on the car accident claim from the other parties' insurance company for our accident at the end of June.
I wrapped up a 3-week business trip to China in the 1H of August. I expect this is the last business trip for me for at least the next couple months.

July 2017 Net Worth Update (+$25,312)

2017-09-05T20:35:48Z

Highlights for July

Another great month in the books for 2017. If this was a typical net worth month for us we'd be financially free in < 2 years. Wishful thinking; we are in a marathon, but we'll take months like these when we can get them.

I've ramped up post-tax contributions to my 401k plan. I intend to try out a new conversion feature in my 401k plan that will let me convert these to Roth IRA contributions at some point soon.
This would effectively allow me to contribute at much higher levels to my Roth IRA than the current $5,500 contribution limit.
We completed our 2 week+ family road trip to Canada, 2,987 miles. Major stops included: Lancaster, PA; Niagra Falls, Toronto, ON; Montreal, ON; Quebec City; Bar Harbor, Maine; and New York City. It was alot of fun with a ton of great memories. It would be great to spend more time and do it slower once we are financiall free! I also mentioned last month that we got into a minor car accident on day 3, we are finally in the process of filing the claim with the insurance.
I am in the middle of a 3-week business trip to China for the last part of July and into August.

June 2017 Net Worth Update (+$26,879)

2017-07-21T22:14:47Z

Highlights for June

Finally a net worth jump to get excited about. I've been a little frustrated with Mint lately as some of my account values weren't getting updated. I finally spent some time in June to get those fixed (painfully) and believe that is a major contributor to our net worth pop.
I received a small annual performance bonus from my employer in June.
My employer 401k plan announced a new opportunity to convert post-tax 401k contributions into a Roth IRA. This appears compelling and Im going to test the waters a bit. If this
option is as good as I think it is, it seems to allow me the ability to effectively contribute and additional ~$25k USD into a Roth IRA each year. I've started contributions to it in June to see how well this works.
At the end of June we started our 2 week family summer road trip to Canada! Already had a minor car accident (other persons fault), here is to hoping the rest of the trip is smooth :-).