Net Worth Update - December 2021


Net Worth | Balance Sheet | Equity | Financial Independence
Net Worth Update - December 2021

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, by way of the S&P 500, rallied strongly in December to close out what was a fantastic year for capital gains.  The S&P 500 rose 4.4% during the month and my net worth followed suit.

During December my net worth increased $40,061.10.  

Total Assets: $1,177,240.04
Liquid Assets: $480,819.82
Total Liabilities: -$148,208.73
Net Worth: $1,029,031.31

During December my net worth rose 4.1% and for the full year 2021 it rose 23.7%.  

December's rise also brought my net worth back up above the $1M mark.  While it's great to see that milestone again I fully expect a few more trips back below and above that level as time goes on.

I can honestly say that 2021 went no where near how I would have expected, but I'm playing the long game and am not concerned about our net worth even on a one year time frame as long we're handling what we can control.  It's pretty crazy though that in 2021 my net worth rose just under $200k for the year and even crazier to see that it took over 3 years just to hit a net worth of that level and last year alone we saw gains of that.






With our non-mortgage debt officially gone as of February we don't have much of a goal as far as the balance sheet.  So it's stock pile cash for a possible down payment on some land/house or a business venture and continue funneling savings into the brokerage account.

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.  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 December we have 32.2% equity in our house based on our purchase price from 2013.  According to Zillow our house has increased in value around $120.4 k from our purchase price which is a nice bonus, although I keep the purchase price as the value in the net worth equations.  I'm not holding my breath on being able to get that kind of sale price in the market though.  Based on Zillow's estimate the equity in our house jumps to 56.3%.

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

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

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 December our debt to equity ratio is 14% and our debt to total capitalization is 13%.  Not bad, but I can't wait to get that debt down to ZERO!
capital structure | personal finance | net worth | equity | debt


Going forward I plan to only update my net worth after each quarter barring any substantial changes to the balance sheet.

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Did you cross any milestones for your net worth in 2021?  

Please share your thoughts below!

Comments

  1. Great to see net worth increasing over the long haul. After all, we are all subject to the inflation tax over time. I like the idea of "aggressively pay down the mortgage" too. Never been a big fan of debt even if it is for a home. Keep up the good work!

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