Monthly Net Worth Checkpoint: March 2009
Wow, did I really miss doing this for two months? I guess I just didn’t want to see the carnage that has become my net worth. Anyway, now’s the time to get back on track and keep plugging away. I didn’t actually get around to logging all my account values at the beginning of February, so all the percent change values show the change over the past two months instead of a single month like normal.
Our assets dropped more than 5.3%
Leading the charge downward were our cash accounts, retirement accounts, and house value. After many months of increase, our cash value dropped 8.5%. Two components of this were some increased spending lately (new laptop from side business proceeds – on which I am typing right now – and some home repairs) and a transfer over to an ETRADE account for a little stock speculating (interestingly, my stock account balances actually increased due to the transfer and an uptick in my employer stock). Like most people, our retirement accounts got hammered these past two months dropping more than 10%. House values in our area started finally dropping too, I assume, judging from the 4.5% drop in home value according to zillow.
There were some bright spots as the aforementioned stock accounts increased, my stock options value increased a bit, and our college savings balances increased as well. Overall, though, that was not enough to overcome the downward momentum in the stock market and home values.
Our liabilities decreased 1.0%
Our liabilities dropped the typical monthly rate of 0.5% times two. I am still considering accelerating our mortgage payoff but haven’t moved on it yet. I also did some preliminary research into refinancing our mortgage but unfortunately it appears that our lack of equity will prevent us from doing that at this point without a large cash outlay.
Our net worth decreased a whopping 13%
Wow, that number is not a nice friendly number (I’m not sure I feel like finishing up this post now). I’m trying to remember that this drop has taken place over two months instead of one…but that’s little consolation at this point.
I still feel like we are doing the right tings to position us for the long haul. We are still investing in mutual funds through Vanguard and our 401ks and buying a little company stock each month. This is certainly not looking pretty currently but I am convinced that this is what is best for our long-term financial health. Remember that there are decades before we need our retirement money and the price of index funds are drastically lower than they were last year. Every dollar that goes into those accounts buys twice as many shares as they did last year (or more in some unfortunate cases). Obviously, I can’t predict the future, but the US has been in dire econonomic straits before and has always recovered. So we are continuing our plan and hoping that it will pay off at retirement time.
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