Sunday, May 2, 2010

April 2010 Progress Report

I've reached a pretty important milestone in April - my net worth is in the six-figures for the first time in my life! But... does this really reflect my current net worth?


MY DEBT



Starting Debt (6/08)

Last MonthThis MonthDIFFERENCE
Private SL$49,528.99$39,111.05$37,742.72$(1,368.33)
Fed'l SL$55,852.68$53,170.49$53,034.22$(136.27)
Car Loan
$9,779.33$0.00$0.00$(0.00)
CC
$13,610.75$0.00$0.00$(0.00)
TOTAL
$128,771.75$92,281.54$90,776.94$(1,504.60)


Still chugging along with my snowball.

Ooooooh and I'm almost at the next milestone of going below the $90k mark. I'm also *this* close to paying off one of my private student loans that I took out to pay for my living expenses while I studied for the bar. This basically means that I'll be paying off my living expenses (rent, food, entertainment, etc.) from 1998 in 2010. *Shaking my head in disgust.*

Anyhow, reduced my debt 1.63% from last month. That's pretty good, right?


SAVINGS

LAST MONTH

THIS MONTH

DIFFERENCE
$8,883.55$8,970.12+$86.57

The savings I report here is with respect to my emergency fund savings only and does not include my future spending earmarks. I fell short on my monthly target to save $100 into my EF. Oopsie. Don't want to sound too defensive, but I had to pay boatloads of money in taxes this month (Federal $788 and State $2,318). But.... I'll also admit I over spent this month too. :-(


MY "X"-FUND

LAST MONTH

THIS MONTH

DIFFERENCE
$24,272.43$24,344.25+$71.82

My "X"-Fund represents a part of my recent windfall that I'd set aside either as an emergency fund or a down-payment for my first home. Either way, it's money that I don't intend to touch unless it's for necessity or reinvestment.

I didn't put any extra money into this fund in April, so the increase represents the interest I accrued in my Everbank account. Sadly, the promotional 2.71% APY came to an end in March. From here on forward, I'll only be accruing ~1.26% of thereabouts, so I'll probably only earn about ~$30/month or so. Sucks.


MY ROP (LIFE INS) FUND

LAST MONTH

THIS MONTH

DIFFERENCE
$0.00$660.00+$660.00


Long story short, I'm pretending to pay myself an additional $55/month for a "hypothetical" return of premium (ROP) term life insurance policy. (I'm basically trying to "earn" back the term life insurance premiums through interest and investments.)

I've set aside $660 ($55 x 12) for this year's premium into my SmartyPig account that's earning 2.01% APY. But starting in June, I'll invest my hypothetical $55/month ROP premium into my IRA. Or I may buy savings bonds. Or I may just save or whatever.

Anyhow, my gamble is that over the long haul (i.e., 30 years, or during the period of time that I am paying for my life insurance premium), I can earn enough to cover the premiums paid. At this time, I'm estimating that the benchmark I need to beat is 3.98% APY.

Since I'm curious how this experiment will turn out, I'll be reporting about my returns/losses monthly. I've created a new category for "life insurance" in my net worth chart to map my progress.


MY NET WORTH



LAST MONTHTHIS MONTHDIFFERENCE
$98,184.22$105,514.01+$7,329.79


I made it into the six-figure club!!! Hurray!

But my excitement is tempered by the nagging question of whether I should even count my 401k and my IRA as part of my current net worth, especially since I can't touch the money (without penalty and ungodly taxes) for another couple of decades.

If I omit my 401k and IRAs, my net worth is... -$43,285.19. Ugh. If that number ain't demotivating, I don't know what is. I'll continue to include my retirement accounts in my monthly net worth, thank you very much.

The breakdown and the history of my net worth can be seen here.

4 comments:

Sallie's Niece said...

Congrats on reaching six figures!

Anonymous said...

Good work.

444 said...

Yay for the six-figures club! What a milestone... enjoy it!

Sweetie Queen Elbi said...

Where have you gone?