Thursday, July 05, 2007

Net Worth June 2007

My net worth at the end of June was $349,426, just a hair under my year-end goal of $350k. The money I saved was basically my 401k deductions, and the rest of the increase is due to business expense reimbursement received, and investment performance, and the very gradual chipping away at my mortgage balance!

So now it's mid-year, and I really do need to revise my year-end net worth goal. Factors to consider:
-- I will continue to contribute to my 401k, up to the total maximum allowed this year, $15,500.
-- I should get a raise between now and the end of the year.
-- Some of my major expenses for this year should be behind me, such as my gym membership and a lot of "new home" stuff.

My net worth has increased by over $30,000 in the first 6 months of the year, but part of that is due to a $10,000 bonus and tax refunds, so I won't keep up that pace. But I think I might be able to get to $20,000 more in the last 6 months of 2007.
So my new net worth goal for the end of 2007 is now $370,000. Wish me luck!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's a great example to follow - if you reach your goal early, revise the goal and encourage yourself to reach for more.

I'll try to use that, myself!

Chance said...

WOW! Impressive. And yes, good luck with the revised goals (but pat yourself on the back as well).

frugal zeitgeist said...

Good for you! Congratulations on a job well done.

Question for you, if you don't mind: how do you count your real estate equity? Do you use the amount you've paid against the purchase price, or the amount you've paid against estimated market price - or maybe something else altogether?

I'm asking because I have trouble with this one. Despite the real estate dip, I feel comfortable with estimating the value of my place at $100K over the purchase price (a year ago I would have said $150K), so I count estimated appreciation in my net worth. I'm not sure if that's necessarily the best way to do it, though.

Madame X said...

FZ-- I am using a value slightly higher than the price I paid minus the mortgage balance. I was very conservative about it, due to the state of the real estate market right now, but price per square foot in this area seems to have gone up since I bought, and I also factored in the extra taxes I had to pay as a buyer of a new construction condo, which whoever bought it from me wouldn't have to pay.

Given that you bought well before the peak of the market, I am sure you can count some gain in market value in your net worth.

frugal zeitgeist said...

Thanks, Madame - always helpful and much appreciated. I track apartments with similar features on corcoran.com and douglaselliman.com and use those aveage sales prices minus my mortgage balance as a proxy for my equity. Sounds like we're of similar minds on this.