Gremlin's Asset Review - 2018

Bookkeeping Gremlin here to discuss my net-worth.  I first made this type of post a year ago, because its my birth month so I might as well see how current me compares to newborn me (financially).  This is something I like to do on annual basis to help me gauge what kind of progress we are making towards financial independence.  This report honestly is the not best I have ever had, but there are glimmers all over the place and it will not take decades to correct the issues that remain on my personal balance sheet.

Debts:

Debt sucks, period.  Most people accept debt as normal and expected, but that is crap.  Still, I have debt though, and am working on crushing it.  So here goes:

Car #1* (my car): $7,198 (maturity: 6/2021, $250 / mo.) interest = 1.9% ($2831 reduction from last year)
Car #2 (her car): $12,585 (maturity: 10/2020, $475 / mo.) interest = 1.5% ($5459 reduction from last year)

Mortgage: $329,855 ($2100 / month, 30 year, 4% interest)
Family Cash: $30,000 - a family obligation 0%, no timetable (help received purchasing our house)
Revolving debt / credit cards: No balances carried or maintained, used as debit cards with credit points.
Total monthly debt payments = $2825
Total debt: $379,638

Currently, we pay my wife's car in exact amounts, and I pay a little extra on my car and our house.  I count our house exclusively as a debt.  Could it be an asset? Yes, but at the moment its a little more important than that.

* - I almost sold my car, but due to work family and obligations, doing so would be a real problem.

Income:

My wife took the end of last year off to spend time with the baby, and will head back to work at the end of this summer.  Last year our total income was approximately $110,000 before taxes.  This year our expected income is closer to $94,000.  Her return to work, coupled with a very conscious effort on my part to cut expenses should help me to eliminate debt and make purchases of stock.

Expected income (2018):
My main job: $80,000
Wife: $14,000
My side gigs: $1,000
Total: $95,000

Looking forward to the second half of this year is a very pleasant thought.  Our income will balloon, savings will grow, and we will focus extra cash on more stock.  Additionally, I will like to dispose of one of my car loans.

Assets:

This is the fun part.  Current assets that are to be considered are my taxable investments, Roth IRA, IRA, 401K, and other retirement savings.  Cash, Health Savings Accounts, and miscellaneous assets are not counted unless they fit into another category.  I work to shield liquidity this way, and separate out what is needed versus what can be invested.  Assets including cash in investment accounts:

Taxable Invested Assets: $39,775
Roth IRA: $20,078
Traditional IRA: $38,468
401K: $19,305
Wife's Retirement / Pension: $15,416
Total = $133,042 ($32,195 total growth)

At the beginning of 2015 the total stood at $47,000.  At the end of 2015 it was $54,000, and at the end of 2016 it was $87,000.  Since the start of 2016 both my rate of investment and the market have been on tears.  Purchasing a house will stifle this, but only briefly.  This past month is the first time our total assets broke $100,000, so time to double down.  It is my goal to make this number hit $145,000 by end 2018.

Total Net Worth = (-$246,596)

Goals:

Last year I wanted to increase my income and investments, and decrease non-housing debt.  That was a success.  So I want to now lay down concrete debt related goals to reach before my next birthday.
1 - Begin retiring some of my family debt.
2 - Eliminate a car payment.
3 - Networth approaching or above $-230k.

Conclusion:

At the moment we are doing well relative to our peers.  However, though our peers represent a good metric, they are not what I want to use to measure my life's progress.  The primary drive is to achieve financial independence in a meaningful way - that independence would then be leveraged to pursue work and life goals that my current 9-5 does not give me time the time to chase.

- How is your net-worth coming along?  Buy a house recently?
- Gremlin

Gremlin's 2018 Soccer Call...

Sports Gremlin here, been a while since I've been around, but I have time for a quick visit.  Where has the time gone?  Seems it was just yesterday I was watching Germany win a World Cup, Portugal a Euro, and watching the US Men's team flame out in spectacular fashion - sigh.  That is just soccer, there have been tons of other sports, life, investing, and other moments which have come and gone.  Now the next World Cup is upon us all, so comes time for a quick review.

This year I will not be making any calls.  Last time, the teams seemed a bit more straight forward in terms of who was dangerous, who will play well below their means, who were the powerhouses, etc.  The field this year is much more level than years past.  The usual heavy weights - Germany and Brazil are here to play.  France, England, Spain, and Argentina are all there too, who along with Uruguay round out the past winners.  Italy did not even make the field!  Those are the 'traditional' powerhouses.  Of them, Brazil looks like it will struggle, Spain fired its coach a day before kick off, the German Machine's cogs are getting a little older, and Argentina's stars are even older than the cogs.  France has some amazing players, but they seem to also have huge egos that might beat them before the step on the field.  England looks to be in great form, however it seems this always happen right up until they blow it.  Uruguay has not been dangerous since 2010.

Then there are the dangerous teams no one wants to play - Egypt (looking at you Salah), Iceland (they create goals from nothing), Belgium, Denmark, Senegal*, Poland*, Colombia*, etc.  The presence of one of these teams can easily knockout one of the traditional powers, and most groups feature at least 3 legitimate contenders.  * - all in the same group

So enough kicking the dirt on this.  I think there are several likely outcomes:

1 - Russia makes it through the 1st round.  Russia, the host, is not highly rated, but only one host ever, South Africa, did not advance beyond the opening round.  I think that will trend will continue.
2 - Something stupid happens with a crowd.  Soccer fans are just prone to this, and I speak from first hand experience.  That being said those crowds are in Russia, so its like mixing an acid and base.  My call here is that the games should look pretty good on TV.
3 - France, Germany, England, and Brazil are the favorites.  I would guess one of them wins, but also likely is that a new team wins this year.  I would add Poland, Colombia, and Belgium to the likely final 8 teams (pending bracket shake out).
4 - Enjoy the game.  This is my favorite sporting event.  The field is wide open (dammit USA), and it should be a great spectacle.

Will you watch?  Is there someone you want to see win... or lose?

- Gremlin
- going to go Long Germany on this one...