Net Worth Update - February 2020

Net Worth | Balance Sheet | Equity | Financial Independence
Net Worth Update - February 2020
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 markets started going haywire due to concerns about the coronavirus and the S&P 500 shed 8.4% during February.  With a large portion of my net worth tied to the markets that unfortunately mean that my net worth took a big hit during Feburary's selloff.  

During February my net worth decreased $45,222.69.

Total Assets: $807,718.72
Liquid Assets: $301,601.09
Total Liabilities: -$171,343.74
Net Worth: $636,374.98

I just thought that $12k decrease in January was "shocking" to see.  Of course, I wasn't concerned about January's decline and am not about February's either.  We'll see about March's?!?!?!  Year over year our net worth is still higher by $80.2k so at least we got that going for us.

With the market declines in February that pushed us far away from any new high water marks for our balance sheet.  

For February my net worth decreased 6.6%.




Our main goal for 2020 continues to be raising cash and especially so now that the markets are going limit down nearly every day and the global economy being on the precipice.  Given some time I do believe that things will revert back to "normal".  

We're slowing down the debt reduction process although we are still paying more than the minimum and making extra payments to get rid of the one consumer debt that we have: the loan on my car.  After February's payment that debt is down to $16.3k.

At this time I don't believe it makes sense 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.  So the liabilities side of the net worth equation will be slow moving outside of the car loans.  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 February we have 29.0% equity in our house based on our purchase price from 2013.  According to Zillow our house has increased in value around $25.7k 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 jumps to 36.5%.

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 | balance sheet | equity | financial independence
Net Worth History through February 2020
In order to give you a general idea of the breakdown of my net worth I include 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 and deeply discounted (they don't really move the needle at all but I have them in my spreadsheet because I was bored).
net worth | balance sheet | equity | financial independence | assets | liabilities
Net Worth Breakdown - February 2020

Since I write so much (or at least try to) about investigating companies as an investment I figured it'd be fun to see how our balance sheet looks.  At the end of February our debt to equity ratio is 27% and our debt to total capitalization is 21%.  Not bad, but I can't wait to get that debt down to ZERO!
capital structure | personal finance | net worth | equity | debt
Personal Capital Structure - February 2020

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How did your net worth fare during February's market declines?

Please share your thoughts below!

Comments

  1. We try to concentrate more on finding best long term value buys rather than the decrease in our accounts. :) Just trying to take this opportunity to throw small amounts in an effort to average down our positions. Does it hurt to see all the blood in the water, of course! But in the long run, I think we'll all be fine.

    Best wishes and success on your personal finance journey! AFFJ

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