5 month financial checkup

[rennigade]

I was going to wait until 6 months but was bored and decided to start a thread.

How are your accounts looking after 5 months this year?

Between 401/roth/taxable I contributed $14,000 so far...In gains alone I am up $22,000 with only 1 account down...the dreaded vanguard international fund which is down around $600. I only started with $3000 so ill hold it until its back to even at the very least...no reason to get rid of it.

The market hasnt been doing too bad this year. I hear a lot of people talk about how flat it has been but that has not been the case for me.

[Magnus845]

Sounds strong.

[disneysteve]

I just checked. Our funds are between -3.87% and +3.55% YTD so pretty flat overall. I don't have access to my spreadsheet so I can't give actual portfolio value numbers but that's how the performance has been.

[Nutria]

Our net worth is up about $18K, but that includes a $17K reduction because of 2017 liabilities like tuitions that were "realized" in March when the schools sent their fee schedules & payment plans for next year, and EOY taxes.

So, we're doing good, I think.

[corn18]

$22k to 401k plus $7k employer match. 401k is up 4.1% YTD.
$12k to Roth IRA's in Feb. All bond index funds, up less than 1% YTD.
$84k to taxable (total US market index fund and Total Int Index fund). Up 8% YTD

Total retirement = $125,000 contributed, up about $17k so far this year

Saved more in college and medical fund for an additional $65k all sitting in cash or cash equivalent. Took out $15k to buy a car.

Net = $175k saved. Right on track so far.

[Jbone]

$22k to 401k plus $7k employer match. 401k is up 4.1% YTD.
$12k to Roth IRA's in Feb. All bond index funds, up less than 1% YTD.
$84k to taxable (total US market index fund and Total Int Index fund). Up 8% YTD

Total retirement = $125,000 contributed, up about $17k so far this year

Saved more in college and medical fund for an additional $65k all sitting in cash or cash equivalent. Took out $15k to buy a car.

Net = $175k saved. Right on track so far.

Am I reading this right? You saved 175k so far this year?

[Nutria]

Am I reading this right? You saved 175k so far this year?

What, you don't save $35,000 per month?? Slacker!!!

[Jbone]

What, you don't save $35,000 per month?? Slacker!!!

Yeah guess I'm a slacker

[corn18]

Am I reading this right? You saved 175k so far this year?

It is correct. I hesitated when I wrote the post to hit submit, but then I thought about how much SavingsAdvice.com has helped me get to this point and decided to post. SA (and the kind folks that post) are one of the key contributors to helping me grow my net worth from ~ $7k in 2012 to where I am today. I was one of those people that appeared rich but was living paycheck to paycheck. With the help of SA (and The Millionaire Next Door), i now save 40% of my gross income (60% of net income, I pay a lot of taxes) and I'm on track to retire in 10 years @ 60. Without your help, I would have been in serious debt until I died.

I sometimes feel like I am out of place on SA because of my income, but then I remember that the tenants that SA tries to convey apply to everyone. I feel very thankful for everyone on this site so I stay and share my story. I hope I can help others as they have helped me.

Tom

[creditcardfree]

I sometimes feel like I am out of place on SA because of my income, but then I remember that the tenants that SA tries to convey apply to everyone.

Tom

We all have a different sized shovel...paraphrased from Dave Ramsey! But you are correct, it is the actions that make the most difference, regardless of income.

[disneysteve]

We all have a different sized shovel...paraphrased from Dave Ramsey! But you are correct, it is the actions that make the most difference, regardless of income.

Exactly. Dave Ramsey also tells how early on, he tried to out-earn his stupidity. That only works for so long and then it all catches up with you.

It doesn't matter how much you earn. The principals of good money management are the same for all.

[feh]

I don't generally keep track of the dollar amount of our investments; had to do some calculations:

• contributions to retirement accounts: $21K
• asset appreciation: $75K

The amount in our EF fluctuates; I couldn't tell you if it's higher or lower today than Jan 1st.

[bjl584]

I'm up rather nicely this calendar year so far.

I have noticed quite the acceleration in asset appreciation in the past couple years as the power of compounding really starts to take effect.

[parafly]

Total contributions to savings accounts, Roth IRAs, 401K, and a newly opened college fund are about $25K so far this calendar year.

Performance YTD for Roth IRAs and 401K is about 3%.

[Nutria]

Exactly. Dave Ramsey also tells how early on, he tried to out-earn his stupidity. That only works for so long and then it all catches up with you.

It doesn't matter how much you earn. The principals of good money management are the same for all.

Before we got fiscally disciplined, my wife would frequently say, "Well, I'll just work more hours". My consistent response was that there are only so many hours in the week, and that she was only making $X/hour. Based on our spending habits at the time, and the fact that she could only work so many extra hours per week since she had other responsibilities, the math just couldn't add up.