Whew! December was the month of travel, as you might have noticed from my sporadic posting schedule these last few weeks.
I started the month off with a week of some boring work related travel. I came back just in time for Lady Money Wizard and I to jet off to Denver, which has become a sort of annual Christmas tradition for us.
Long time followers of the blog probably remember that I lived in Denver for a few years before moving up to Minneapolis three years ago.
I love Minnesota in it’s own, umm… unique… way. It’s important to remind myself of that during these winter stretches of brutal sub-zero temperatures. Nevertheless, it’s about this time of year that Lady Money Wizard and I enjoy taking a sentimental trip to the sunny, mountain-playground state called Colorado.
In Denver, we wined. We dined. And this time, we skied!
Yep, I finally convinced Lady Money Wizard to join one of my ski trips, and we had a blast. Or so she tells me, to avoid breaking my heart. 🙂
With legs turned to complete jelly thanks to the mountains, I flew home to Minnesota. Where I spent a whole whopping 9 hours before catching the next plane to Dallas, to visit family for Christmas.
The trip home was filled with far too many family highlights to list in this short post, but for completeness, I will include this massive 17-beer flight we managed to chug down at a local brewery.
With the end of December approaching, we packed up the Christmas decorations and I said my good-byes to parents, grandparents, brothers, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Again, I found myself flying back to Minnesota.
This time, I’d stay a whopping one day before catching the next plane to Florida, with plans to crash with Lady Money Wizard’s family for the New Year.
All in all, total days not traveling in December? 8.
Let’s see what that did to my net worth:
Net Worth Update: December 2017
Wow, didn’t expect that. To the detailed breakdown!
Cash: $6,760Â (-$1,536)
The two biggest cash events this month were:
- A $2,750 contribution to my Roth IRA. Hooray! After months of procrastination, we’re finally maxed out for 2017 IRA contributions
- A $1,000 year-end bonus at work. A nice little surprise.
Brokerage: $113,238 (+$4,140)
At this point these net worth updates are starting to sound like broken records, but the market continues to a new high.
In last month’s net worth update, I mentioned the Dow index hit a new all time high of 24,000. In this month’s update, what do you know… another new time high! 25,000 now.
It’s a good thing I didn’t sit on the sidelines when I thought the market was already overvalued last year, or I’d have missed out on a legendary run up. I still think this economy could be a sham, but as an index fund investor, I’ll keep riding the wave ever higher and hope for the best.
No contributions this month, and my breakdown remains:
- $58,000 invested with Vanguard’s Total Stock Market Index Fund (Related: How to Choose a Vanguard Index Fund)
- About $33,000 invested in a mixture of Vanguard growth, value, and bond ETFs.
- About $20,000 of individual stocks back from the days when I thought I could beat the market. I’ve now wised up and decided not to trade individual stocks
401(k): $88,043Â (+$6,191)Â
Around $2,000 of that $6,000 gain was from my own contributions and employer matching, and the rest was the continued rally of this crazy stock market.
In December, I actually adjusted my contributions down for 2018. I’m still planning on hitting the $18,500 IRS allowed 401k maximum, but since I won’t be spending the beginning of 2018 paying off a car, my contribution per paycheck should be about $250 less come January 2018. Definitely looking forward to that little “raise” as we head into the new year.
Roth IRA: $23,679Â (+$2,177)
Take that, procrastination! After almost an entire year of feet dragging, I finally contributed to my Roth IRA in November. Then in December, I kept the streak alive – I finished maxing out my 2017 IRA with a final $2,750 contribution.
And my efforts were immediately rewarded with a $600 drop in IRA value. Thanks, Vanguard’s REIT index fund. (Where my entire Roth is invested.)
Of course, none of that short term performance even matters, since I’m in this baby for the long haul.
Mortgage Payable: $768 (+$10)Â Â
Not a whole lot of surprise here. Our mortgage stays at $680 per month, and we keep pretending our rent is $1,300 in order to build up a fund for the home maintenance that we know is eventually coming our way.
The $10 difference comes down to the freezing cold temperatures this time of year, which apparently meant the radiator was working a little harder to keep it toasty.
Credit Cards Payable: $2,177 (+$7)Â
Veeeery overstated this month, because not only is there a week long business trip on there, but I also plopped down a whopping $1,300 to rent a ski cabin for a group of 8. Me and my best friends are heading for an affordable ski trip in Steamboat, Colorado at the end of January, and I couldn’t be more excited.
Let’s head to the monthly spending report for a more accurate break down:
Total December Spending: $1,897
Groceries: $5!!Â
Traveling for 23 out of 31 days has its expenses, but apparently groceries isn’t one of them.
Dining Out: $86
After last month’s disasterous $400+ dining out bill, I went on record, even offering to let you readers beat me over the head with my restaurant bill, if I didn’t get this expense under control in December.
Luckily, I mostly succeeded. I brought my lunch to work almost every single day, and I kept to home cooking for the few days I was home.
I did eat out some while traveling, which will show up a little further down this report. Even still, my wallet and my health is definitely happier with the fewer trips out.
Travel: $623
I didn’t fork over a cent for the 5 flights I took this month, thanks to cashing in points from my Chase Sapphire Reserve. I was also fortunate in that mine and lady money wizard’s family are much more generous in their lodging costs (free) than the standard hotel chain.
So most of this spending was related to entertainment while traveling. Ski lift tickets, a rental condo, a few dinners out, and the previously mentioned 17 beer MONSTER flight make up the bulk of these costs.
Other: $194
‘Tis the season… mostly the cost of Christmas gifts here.
I also went on a shopping spree to support Toys for Tots. In doing my best impersonation of my 12 year old self, I also realized something my 12 year old self never would – charitable giving to a good cause really is some of the best money spent.
And that’s a wrap on 2017!! Stay tuned on all sorts of annual reviews, goal setting, and much more shenanigans over the coming days and weeks.
By the way, if you’re not already tracking your own spending, I can say from experience it’s probably the easiest way to take control of your money. I highly recommend Personal Capital, which will track everything for you automatically. If you prefer to be a little more OCD, you can always track it manually using this underrated iPhone app.
Readers, how was your December?Â
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MW, Nice summary and nice results. Good luck in 2018 and I look forward to following you progress. Stay warm. Tom
Thanks Tom! Happy New Year!
Nice work Money Wizard! Congratulations on a great year! Best of luck to you in 2018. 🙂
Thanks, and right back at you Handy Millennial!
Hi just curious why your renting? You plan on leaving the twin cities area?
The girlfriend and I bought a house a few months ago. Details here:
https://mymoneywizard.com/i-sort-of-bought-a-first-house/
I call it “rent” in the spending report, although “mortgage and maintenance expenses” would be more accurate. Details in that linked post.
The end of 2017 had some big changes for me.
1. I turned 26 in November, so starting Dec 1 I switched to my company health plan.
2. Contributed $2,350 to Roth Ira to max it out for the year.
….and
3. PAID OFF MY STUDENT LOANS!!!!
I had quite a large cash reserve, and paid off the final $16,486.27 in full. It was somewhat out of the blue, but came about after talking with some people who had resolutions to become debt free in 2018…so I stepped it up a notch and decided to just head into 2018 debt free. Another reason I paid them off is because I’m still actively looking for another engineering job and by being debt free I have a new found attitude of wanting to find something I’m more passionate about, than just how much the job pays.
To go along with the theme of “enjoying life more” my parents bought a 2018 California State Park Pass as a family Christmas present, and we’ve made it a plan to do more camping (or “overlanding” as the cool kids now say) and offroading this year. It’s something we kind of stopped doing back when I was in college just cuz our schedules were so busy, but I’m eager to get back out there into the California desert and enjoy friends and family around a campfire under the stars.
With the small market rally at the end of the year, and paying off my loans, I ended 2017, and rang in 2018 with a Net Worth of just a tad over $70K. Because I kind of liquidated most of my cash/”emergency” funds, I’ll be building that back up. Then I’m personally wanting to start saving for a house (if I can find an affordable one out here in SoCal)… or possibly an investment/vacation house along the Colorado river (looking at pros/cons of buying on the CA or AZ side).
I’m feeling pretty positive as to what 2018 has to offer 🙂
Good luck to yourself, and I look forward to all your articles in this new year!
Congrats Steph!! That’s an awesome accomplishment! It’s gotta feel amazing to head into a new year completely free.
Definitely sounds like an exciting 2018 is heading your way. Best of luck!
Nice net worth increase MW! We just broke $3million in December. I’m pretty pumped that we’ve increased our net worth by $1million in just two years!
But, (like many others) I don’t expect these good times will last forever. At some point the market has to come to its senses!
Wow, quite a milestone Mr. Tako! Congrats!
Which brewery in Dallas has the 17-beer-flight? I reside in Fort Worth.
Peticolas! A very cool brewery!
And to add insult to injury, most of their brews are of the 7-12% variety. Stay safe out there!
Congrats on a great 2017! I hope they gave you a t-shirt or something for taking down that monster flight.
I try to max out the Roth in the beginning of the year to get it over and done with. I look forward to following along in 2018!
-MH
Sounds like you’ve had a successful year, congrats. My last paycheck and year end bonus put me over the $100k networth milestone at 28 y/o. It’s been a pretty wild ride and I’m not sure where I’m going from here. Now that I’ve been able to “settle in” financially and get myself to more than a 50% savings rate after paying off student loans and getting rid of my car, I expect things to get shuffled around in 2018. I hope to find a job I enjoy more, which may require an MBA, or I could go another route and possibly buy a rental property. Either way, 2018 is going to be a turning point in my career and retirement plans.
Congrats on the big gains! Was this the first month of double digit gains? Really looking forward to the days when mine is like that!
I’ve been reading your blog since the summer but first time commenting… Well done with everything, I enjoy reading all your posts! Decided recently to start my own blog to document my journey to FI as well. Cheers!
Hi Money Wizard, great month!! Certainly can’t complain about a 5% bump in net worth! I did well, but not quite as well as you in December (net worth up around 3.5%).
I wanted to ask you if there is anything you would recommend for someone like me who works for an employer that doesn’t offer a 401(k). To the best of my knowledge, I’m otherwise doing all I can to maximize my savings. I fully contribute to my Roth IRA (just contributed my full $5,500 for 2018 last week). That total account balance is a little more than a quarter of my net worth. Most of the rest of my net worth (about two thirds) is invested in a brokerage account that I add to twice a month (after each paycheck). I will be opening an HSA for the first time in 2018 as well and use that as an additional investment vehicle. Of course, I live well below my means, usually saving between 65-70% of my take home pay.
Outside of getting a new job that offers a 401(k) (duh!), do you think there is anything else I can do to make my returns more efficient? I’m not unhappy with my returns, but I’m always looking for that extra edge!
Don’t forget to update your networth page with the last 2 months of data: https://mymoneywizard.com/net-worth/
It’s pretty interesting to compare the networth over time and seeing how it’s increased and being able to dive into a month to get more details.
Thanks for the reminder Dan. It’s (finally) updated.
‘nother fantastic month dudechop. Did the 17 beer flight also include two Uber rides? One to Taco Bell then one home? That’s my problem with craft beer flights — always forget about the hidden of a breakdown of self control. #IdeserveIt #YOLO #chalupa
Hey Wiz – have you thought about doing an update on your “How I’m on track to retire at 37” post? Are you still aiming for $750K? Are you ahead/behind? Is $30,000 still a reasonable budget for you then?
Thanks and love following the progress. You’ve definitely influenced my plans and habits for the better.
Nice net worth update! I particularly like reading your updates because I hope to be in your shoes financially in a few years. I’m still chasing my first $100k, so it’s neat to see how someone’s net worth who is more than triple what mine is growing over time. Great update 🙂
Hello!
I am trying to invest in VTSMX with a 3000 min and it’s asking me where the money will be going. I have the option between opening another Vanguard mutual fund or the Federal Money Market (settlement fund)?
What do these mean?
Vanguard’s settlement funds are where your money goes when you haven’t decided what to do with it. You can think of it like a buffer between your bank account and the funds you plan on investing in.
If you already know you want to invest in VTSMX, then you’re good to go to “open another Vanguard mutual fund” aka send the money directly from your bank to VTSMX.