Monday, August 11, 2008

Net Worth July 2008

The nauseating roller coaster ride continues! Picture me screaming as my net worth plunges by 1.4% during the month of July!

I keep telling myself it could be worse and it's just something I have to ride out. Even though my retirement contributions are often being negated by drops in market value, I remind myself that I own more shares of these funds each month, and someday their value will rise again.

Cash & Bank Accounts $31,909
Stocks $18,172
Retirement $218,176
Bonds $4,639
Home Equity $88,867
Credit Cards -$2,351
Total Net Worth $359,410

As for expenses this month, I had some major ones: over $600 worth of vacation travel expenses, over $200 worth of gifts, and renewing my gym membership and locker rental (or 15 months) for a total of almost $1300.
Otherwise, I didn't spend all that much as I was away for half the month: my meals were paid for as part of the vacation, and other than the gifts, I didn't shop.
Now that we're getting closer and closer to the end of the year, it's a bit depressing to see how far away I am from my net worth goal. To some extent this is beyond my control, but I haven't been all that successful in cutting back my spending to make up for being battered by the stock market. But on the other hand, I think the fundamentals are still in line: I may have spent some large amounts on certain things this year, but it's not like I've totally thrown all self-discipline out the window! One of these days, the market will turn around and the fact that I'm living within my means will start to show in my net worth numbers again... onwards and upwards!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are right. As long as you are living within your means your net worth will grow.

S said...

Its all good, August is a new month and is in full swing! I think alot of our networths would be donig alot better if this market would pick up. Optimistic is the best way to wake up every morning!

Anonymous said...

Um, in case you've missed it - there's a credit crunch in progress. A huge amount of wealth was loaned to folks who didn't have the income to repay it. As they default on their debts, cash is scarce. Since the financial institutions don't have the capital to mark down their assets to their true value, they keep most assets off their balance sheets (in SIVs, QSPEs etc) and slowly bring some on each quarter when they have some earnings to write down. The process is going to be long and excruciating. As the financial institutions are starved for capital they can't make loans, so many commercial sectors will be unable to grow. This will cause the economy to contract (and produce a recession with accompanying job losses). As corporate earnings drop, equity prices will decline. If you don't redistribute to safer asset classes, you will not preserve your wealth. I doubt your retirement savings will be back to their previous level any time soon. Of course, I may be wrong. OTOH, my insights have made me more with my options trades in the last year than your total worth.

Anonymous said...

I feel your pain....don't worry, we'll see The Bull again...it'll be fun again!!! Just hafta get through The Bear...

Anonymous said...

This pisses me off, people buying houses that they can't afford along with luxury cars and all the extras and now we, the stockholders, are paying for it.