Asset Milestones | Net Worth Update - November 2017

November 2017 Net Worth Update

While cash flow is more important when it comes to financial independence, it's still good to look at the balance sheet too, which is why I provide these net worth updates.  Since more and more of my net worth is tied to the markets, there's a larger correlation between my net worth and the markets but in the long run as I continue to save and invest the net worth trend should be higher even though short term fluctuations can vary wildly.  As a dividend growth investor I'm not overly concerned with the short-term gyrations as long as the dividend stream remains in tact, but the markets' effect is noticeable.

The bull market continued on its way during November with the S&P 500 gaining 2.81% for the month.  While I'd prefer to see lower prices if I was buying, I can't say my net worth is disappointed with this bull run in the least.  November's move higher boosted my assets across the $700k mark which I can honestly say I didn't see coming at this time last year.

During November alone my net worth increased $19,086.47.  

Current Assets: $703,472.78
Current Liquid Assets: $250,957.40
Current Liabilities: $-179,642.07
Net Worth: $523,830.71

My net worth increased 3.8% during November and has climbed over 11.4% YTD.

While it's great to see the net worth over $500k and assets over $700k, the thing I'm most excited about is that we're back to being cash flow positive by a few grand each month.  That extra cash flow will be aimed at the bit of debt that we have to free up our income to go towards savings and investing instead of towards debt.  We'll likely be a bit conservative with our debt pay down for the next month or two in order to get a bit of a cash buffer, but after that it'll be full steam ahead.

At this time I don't see much reason to pay extra on the mortgage given our relatively low interest rate as well as the tax break on mortgage payments and think we'll come out much further ahead investing the extra cash flow.  Actually I'm considering trying to do a refi sometime after Q1 is over.  So the liabilities side of the net worth equation will be slow moving.  However, once the FI portfolio is able to get to a self-sustaining level of dividends then the plan is to aggressively pay down the mortgage.

As of the end of November we have 25.6% equity in our house based on our purchase price from 2013.  However, according to Zillow our house has increased in value just over $32k from our purchase price which is a nice bonus, although I keep the purchase price as the value in the net worth equations.  Based on Zillow's estimate the equity in our house is 35.2% thanks to the appreciation.

The following chart shows my assets and liabilities, as well as my net worth, since January 2012.  While I have accurate records for my net worth dating back to July 2010, I didn't keep track of my assets and liabilities on a monthly basis until the start of 2012.

Net Worth History through November 2017

I've started including a % breakdown of our net worth with each monthly update.  The assets are broken down into cash, taxable investments, tax advantaged investments (401k, Traditional & Roth IRAs), house (using our purchase price) and other which covers things like our cars and various collectibles from when I was a kid (they don't really move the needle at all).  

The liabilities are much simpler and fall into either the mortgage or a personal loan that we have.  Although I do need to gather more information on the various medical, funeral and other debts that total around $40k to give a more accurate representation of our liabilities.

Net Worth Breakdown - November 2017

Since I write so much about investigating companies as an investment I figured it'd be fun to see how our balance sheet looks.  As of the end of November our debt to equity ratio is 34% and our debt to total capitalization is 20%.  Not bad, but I'd love to get that debt down to ZERO!

Non-Work Cash Flow

Each month I like to examine the state of our non-work cash flow.  Since our goal is to become financially independent the monthly cash flow has to come from somewhere in order to cover our expenses.  

Truly passive income, dividends and interest, totaled $263.98 during November which was about a $22 decrease from August.  Although there was a decline it was just due to the timing of dividend payments.  *Dividends are from my taxable accounts only.  

With my writing taking a back seat the past few months the EBIT from blogging/writing was a big, fat ZERO for November.  So total non-day job income for November stayed at $263.98.  YTD I've received $6,129.19 in non-day job income.

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Is your net worth riding the bull market wave to new heights?

Please share your thoughts below!

Image courtesy of holohololand on FreeDigitalPhotos.net.