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Net Worth Update: January 2017

February 2, 2017 By The Money Wizard 21 Comments

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The first Net Worth Update of 2017!

According to my fancy analytics machine, there’s a 57.1% chance that you’re new here. If so, congrats! You’ve found a website that’s probably gonna make you rich. Or at least be a fun distraction…

For those 57.1 percent of you, here’s my usual monthly spiel. Every month I spill all of my financial beans in an effort to track my progress towards an early retirement, while also showing that you don’t have to eat actual beans every night to reach such a dream.

To take the last point to an extreme, I went and did one of the most wallet crushing things possible in January; I went on a ski vacation.

I did save money where I could, plus the trip was bolstered by its strategically chosen international location.

Whistler, British Columbia!

I’m talking about Canada, our friendly neighbors to the North who are so kind, they even weakened their currency leading up to my visit! Thanks, friendly Canadians!

With the favorable exchange rate, I enjoyed a 25% discount on all my purchases. As an added benefit, Whistler happens to have some of the best skiing in North America. Frugality and amazing memories… talk about the dream vacation for yours truly.

That said, no matter how rich those American dollars make you feel, it’s never cheap to hop on a plane, fly halfway across the continent, and set up a new life for a week.

Thankfully, I was rewarded with skiing one of the most mind blowing mountains I’ve ever had the pleasure to visit. Whistler is YUGE, and believe me, I’ve skied everything from the Minnesota mountains (ahem, hills..) to Utah Mountains to Colorado Mega Resorts. But at Whistler, in one ten minute ski run, a person can ski all the way from the top of the mountain to the bottom – an astounding 5,800 feet of elevation change. For comparison, even the second biggest ski mountains on this continent are only about half the size.

I won’t lie, I was huffing and puffing like an out of shape flat-lander. But cut me some slack, that’s a vertical mile!

An added bonus of a mountain that sits above the clouds is the jaw dropping photo ops. I managed a few pictures out of the deal which, although they look pretty darn good from my office desk, don’t do the real life scene any sort of justice:

Very, very few places I’d rather be…

For now, a trip to a place so beautiful, spending my carefree days doing something I love, is just a taste of the life that waits outside the chains of the wage slaving world. These are the sort of vacations which recharge my motivation to work harder, earn more, save more, and build myself the freedom to live this sort of lifestyle permanently.

In other monthly news, I spent a few more days house sitting for the now infamous million dollar home, where I can still report that mansions are completely, entirely, overrated.

Oh, and this native Texan took one step closer, literally and figuratively, to becoming a true Minnesotan by walking across this frozen lake:

Let’s snowshoe right onto the update!

January 2017 Net Worth Update

Whoa! After all the chaos, we have a smooth, clean, $158,000… exactly! Is this the monthly update equivalent of one of those old-timey screen savers bouncing off the exact corner of the screen?

Oh the things we bloggers get excited about. On a similar note, isn’t it strange how the Merrill Lynch account has the repetitive balance of 47474?

No? Maybe these patterns are getting out of control. Somebody shake me before I go all Jim Carey in The Number 23 on ya.

(Bam, a reference from a movie I never even saw!)

Cash Savings: $8,772 (+$661)

Honestly, I’m a little surprised this didn’t increase higher. I collected a lot of the expenses I previously fronted for the above mentioned 8 person ski trip, although I guess this lump sum was partly canceled out by paying last month’s unusually large credit card bill.

Vanguard: $61,338 (+$901) 

Dow 20,000 lifted all boats, apparently. This balance includes just two funds: the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSAX) and my Roth IRA, which holds Vanguard’s REIT Index, VGSLX. Balances at month end were roughly:

  • Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSAX): $47,900
  • Vanguard REIT Index (VGSLX): $13,400 (Roth IRA)

vanguard performance money wizard

Can’t decide if a Roth IRA is right for you? Read this, and give yourself permission to relax.

Merrill Lynch: $47,474 (+$1,555)

No contributions to the brokerage account this month, (or during the past 12 months) so this is all market gains.

Here’s a quick lesson to myself and others why there’s no sense panicking over record highs in the stock market. When I published my first net worth update back in April 2016, I thought a market crash was just around the corner. Human tendency is to try and outsmart this “high” market and sell at the top, then hold off investing until prices come back down to “reasonable” levels.

Well, since that April update, this brokerage account alone continued to rally another 8%, which is an annualized return of well over 10%. Had I sold, I’d have missed all these gains, and waiting for more “reasonable” prices could have left me sitting on the sidelines, right through all of the market rallies.

The key takeaway? When in doubt, keep investing!

401K: $48,219 (+$1,592)

$950 of the ~$1,600 gain was from my own automatic contributions and employer matches, while the other $650 came from the January market increases.

I am looking forward to this account growing faster once I kill that car loan and get back on pace for $18,000 of 401K contributions in 2017.

Rent Payable: $717 (+$27)

Ah! The utilities! My heating bill was not pretty this month. I think I have some faulty insulation, because my bedroom is FREEZING! I noticed a nice arctic blast breezing right through the bedroom window.

Something is telling me it’s time for a maintenance request, and by something, I mean my numb toes in the middle of the night.

Credit Cards Payable: $1,178 (-$2,662)

I like this level of credit card bill much more than the previous month. This isn’t quuuite a full month of spending, since my primary credit card these days has a billing cycle which ends in the middle of the month.

Which reminds me, I need to get that due date changed to match my other credit cards. (Protip: always make sure your credit cards’ due dates line up, in order to avoid confusion and late fees.)

Auto Loan: $7,500 (+$0)

This sucker is dead in the water. I can pay it off today, but I’ll wait one more paycheck when I should be able to pay the loan off completely and still have about $2,000 left over, which is almost exactly my preferred emergency fund size.

Conclusion

If you told me a few years ago that my net worth would be increasing $7,334 in a month, almost entirely from compound interest and stock market gains, I’d have said you’re wackier than Britney Spears with a shaved head.

But saving is a helluva drug, and compound interest is as mind boggling as ever. Between motivating vacations and portfolio rallies, I couldn’t be more fired up about the idea of big time savings. Because big time savings leads to big time freedom, and we’re all getting closer and closer every day.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Peter says

    February 2, 2017 at 11:00 am

    *Just insert the gif here when the boy starts to clap in the right time and everyone follows*

    Reply
    • The Money Wizard says

      February 2, 2017 at 9:54 pm

      via GIPHY

      Reply
  2. Mad Money Monster says

    February 2, 2017 at 11:26 am

    Congrats on the progress! And double congrats on such a mind-blowing vacation. Being a skier myself, you definitely gave me some motivation to hit the slopes. I think an awesome vacation beckons to be planned. And the pictures. My god, the pictures are beautiful. Sure beats this cubicle I’m currently sitting in. *eye rolls*. Keep up the fabulous work!

    Mrs. Mad Money Monster

    Reply
    • The Money Wizard says

      February 2, 2017 at 9:55 pm

      haha, thanks! Life’s too short to not go skiing!

      Reply
      • Dan P says

        February 3, 2017 at 11:54 am

        Great Progress – I had the opportunity to ski whistler on Sunday – tacked a day on to a business trip. loved it. Coastal snow is so different than the Canadian Rockies snow.

        Don’t remind me of how bad our dollar is. Everything is more expensive now. Damn snow-pesos.

        Reply
        • The Money Wizard says

          February 3, 2017 at 12:58 pm

          Nothing better than spinning a free ski trip out of a business trip! Well done.

          Reply
  3. Karen says

    February 2, 2017 at 11:40 am

    Can you talk more about why the Merrill Lynch account did so much better than the Vanguard when the Vanguard had more money in it. I’m new to investing and trying to learn as much as I can. I finally have $1000.00 to invest per month and not sure what route to take. I’m 58 and living comfortably off a pension and my husband’s social security so I can’t do a Roth IRA but was thinking about just some index funds or maybe I should look at Merrill Lynch type of fund. Thanks, and I love your blog!! Karen

    Reply
    • The Money Wizard says

      February 2, 2017 at 10:16 pm

      Karen,

      Glad to hear you’re enjoying the site! The Vanguard account just includes those two indexes mentioned in the post – a broad stock market index which tracks the overall market, and a real estate index which tracks the real estate sector. On the contrast, the Merrill Account includes a lot of individual stocks which may go up or down, no matter what the general stock market does. Most months it lags the index, some months it outperforms. If you’re curious, take a look at the first net worth update for a more detailed breakdown of everything in the Merrill Fund.

      For most people, I recommend Vanguard’s index funds. In the next few weeks I’ll publish a post about this in much more detail.

      Reply
  4. Julie @ Millennial Boss says

    February 2, 2017 at 12:06 pm

    Congrats on a great month and I’m super jealous of the skiing you did! I’m going to Telluride in March though and can’t wait! Also, your rent makes my shed a small tear for Silicon Valley housing. My rent is triple that UGH. Can’t wait to move to decrease that amount!

    Reply
    • The Money Wizard says

      February 2, 2017 at 10:16 pm

      Julie, for some reason I thought you were in Colorado? Did you recently move?

      Also, extremely jealous of your Telluride trip! You’ll have to let me know how it goes, we are considering making that our destination next year.

      Reply
  5. Smart Provisions says

    February 2, 2017 at 1:20 pm

    Great progress on January, My Money Wizard.

    Your pictures from British Columbia are beautiful! What kind of camera did you take them with?

    Reply
    • The Money Wizard says

      February 2, 2017 at 10:17 pm

      Thanks! Nothing fancy for the pics, just the iPhone 6s.

      Reply
  6. Jaymee says

    February 3, 2017 at 3:09 am

    Hey there! I just found your site 😀 that’s totally awesome that you’ve achieved over $100k by 25! I’m inspired.

    On another note, I did a snowboarding trip in January too – except that I went to Montana and I’m Canadian. So! I didn’t save as you did with the conversion but splitting the costs between 20 people did help. Sadly I have not been to Whistler however that is on my list! Good to know you enjoyed it there 😀 beautiful photos too!

    Reply
    • The Money Wizard says

      February 3, 2017 at 1:01 pm

      Very cool to hear that sharing my story is worthwhile. Let me know if you have any questions!

      Also, where in Montana? Big Sky?

      Reply
      • Jaymee says

        February 5, 2017 at 1:44 am

        We went to Whitefish! Our group does an annual trip in January. It’s an easy 5-6 hour drive from Calgary where I live. I enjoy going there because the weather tends to be slightly warmer than the mountains closer to home. Mountains are just gorgeous! Have you been?

        Reply
        • The Money Wizard says

          February 5, 2017 at 2:16 pm

          That sounds awesome.

          Last summer I took a roadtrip from Minnesota through Yellowstone National Parka and into Calgary. I stopped in Whitefish along the way, and promptly added a Whitefish ski trip to my bucket list. Such a cool town.

          Reply
  7. Gary @ DebtFreeClimb says

    February 6, 2017 at 6:55 pm

    Lol that screen saver comment had me cracking up!

    After a year of having unaligned credit card dates in the middle of the month, I finally aligned all my cards to end the billing cycle on the first of each month. Much better for me to autopay everything at once.

    Keep crushing it! Always enjoy your Net Worth updates!

    Reply
    • The Money Wizard says

      February 11, 2017 at 5:31 pm

      Thanks! Unaligned due dates drive me crazy!

      Reply
  8. 4567 says

    March 4, 2017 at 2:09 pm

    Do you contribute any money from your income into this investment on a monthly basis? I have just never heard of anyone make 7k a month from just interest and compound rate. If it was this simple, wouldnt we all be rich!

    Reply
    • The Money Wizard says

      March 12, 2017 at 5:19 am

      When you choose to spend your money on investments, it really is that easy! That’s exactly what I’m hoping to show by publishing these updates.

      Usually I contribute over 25% of my income towards automatic monthly investments. Right now it’s less because of some factors I talk about in the update.

      Just because you’ve never heard of it, doesn’t mean it’s not possible. Plenty of people who have more assets than I do saw their Net Worths increase far more than $7,000 last month. Here’s one public example: J Money’s net worth increased $21,000 last month:

      http://www.budgetsaresexy.com/2017/03/net-worth-update-631k/

      Reply
      • 4567 says

        March 13, 2017 at 9:46 am

        I understand but I’m just wondering how much you’re making on interest vs. how much you’re just contributing from your salary.

        Reply

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I'm the Money Wizard, a 20-something who started this blog after I saved $100,000 by age 25. Now, I'm sharing everything on my journey towards early retirement in my 30s.
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