my first net worth update
April 2021
By MeTheMillennial
First Monthly Net Worth Update.
Whew that was some week – Friday! We made it! Another week in the books, another step towards financial freedom.
To celebrate, I’ve decided to crack open a bottle of Red (Spanish Rioja) and start the first of, hopefully monthly financial net worth updates.
Why am I posting this on the internet for all to see? Especially given everything that is going on in the world right now, am I just gloating?
For starters, apart from my Mum I’m not sure how many people are reading my blog posts. I’m using the website as an almost therapeutic distraction from lockdown and the constant corporate grind to put my thoughts on paper.
Secondly I want to keep myself accountable to follow through on my goal to get out of the rat race at a relatively young age (35), keeping this website updated so I can track my progress going forward. Potentially turning this into a side hustle when I eventually, fingers crossed, do reach that goal.
Finally, and most importantly I want to help people out there who are disillusioned with their career and the widely accepted requirement of grinding it out for 40 years in a job you don’t like all that much just to retire on a basic pension at the age of 65+. Surely life involves more than being chained to your desk, always having a boss and apart from 3 weeks vacation a year, having little to no control over where and how you spend your time.
I want to show there is another way, if you are deliberate in your actions and work towards your set goal.
So what is my goal?
For me personally I’ve set a target of $1.5 million by age 35 (now 30).
Going off the 4% rule – I could live off the dividends from my investments which would equate to $60k per year ($1.5M * 4%), and most importantly without ever touching the principal amount.
This amount for me (the amount will differ depending on your circumstances) will give me the ability to spend my time where and how I want, the goal is to spend my time in an area I am genuinely interested and passionate about.
Personal finance is one, teaching is another or being outdoors in general – the point is I want control over what I do and not be a slave to the dollar.
What do you mean by net worth update?
Put simply, it’s how much I have saved and/or invested across my assets minus my liabilities. Assets include cash, stocks, ETF’s, REIT’s, Pension etc. Liabilities are recurring bills I pay each month such as credit cards, rents etc.
Net Worth is simply a snapshot of your total wealth at a point in time.
Put simply, it’s what you own minus what you owe.
“Net Worth is simply a snapshot of your total wealth at a point in time. Put simply, it’s what you own minus what you owe.“
Okay, long intro – get on with it, how much are you worth then?
Okay, as this is the first update – I’ve kept it quite simple.
Next month I will give a month to month comparison but for this entry I have listed out the main assets I have.
Below is April, 2021’s breakdown (in excel of all places, as if I don’t spend enough time there in my day job working in strategy consulting)
Checking: ($200) – Okay I know what you’re thinking, why is your checking so small, where is your emergency fund?
And you’re right, I should probably look to get this started, for peace of mind more than anything. But in my head at least I feel like I’m young, have very liquid assets which I can sell a portion of if needed, so why not invest everything.
As I get older and maybe look to have kids, I will of course change this but right now I’m okay with holding very little cash.
Brokerage: ($213k) – As you can see most (85%) of my financial net worth is in my brokerage. Which is primarily made up of stocks. I will provide a more detailed breakdown in future posts.
But primarily I’m invested in ETF’s (examples include Vanguards VTI, VOOV and VEE) along with some specific individual stocks providing some downside protection (examples include Barrick Gold and Flutter Entertainment) along with some US treasury bonds.
I’ve recently started investing in REIT’s, to gain some Real Estate exposure given the market wide prediction of increased inflation to come. Real Estate tends to perform well in periods of high inflation so I want to increase my exposure here.
They also tend to pay a pretty high dividend which is always appealing for reinvestment potential.
RRSP AND DPSP ($38k) – This balance would be greater if I moved to North America earlier, but I am now taking full advantage of employer matches. I am pretty heavily indexed to equity stocks given my age and time horizon. I currently have an 80/20 split between equities and bonds respectively.
Discounted Employer Equity Scheme: ($700) – I contribute a portion to an equity scheme through my employer where I buy into the companies stock every 6 months at a 15% discounted price.
This basically means an automatic 15% return on my contributions, a no brainer to take advantage of.
Rent and Credit Card:($1,130) – These are my main bills that I pay each month, I haven’t included other items such as food, internet etc. I don’t drive which is a big cost saver, I live downtown in Toronto and it’s easier to cycle.
Everything, where possible, is put on credit card to take advantage of cash back and travel points. You can earn surprisingly good returns by signing up to the right credit cards.
April 2021, I am now worth, financially at least – $251k.
Not bad for a 30 year old. ⅙ of the way towards my goal of $1.5M goal. Hitting 250k has motivated me to accelerate as much as I can to reach that target quicker and get out from the stress of Corporate life.
I will try and provide more detail in future posts, so you can track the comparison month to month and also give more insight into my brokerage breakdown and investment strategy.
Hopefully this will provide some value to you, and even help you keep you on track for your goals.
Calculate Your Own Net Worth
If you haven’t worked out your net worth before, or even if it’s just been a while since you’ve checked, do it now! Open up your accounts, and list down the key buckets of assets and liabilities (don’t sweat the small stuff to start, you can worry about this later).
The first step is having visibility into what your own financial breakdown looks like, and you can plan accordingly. Will also give you a realistic view of what you can achieve, and also what you need to cut back on to achieve your goal.
Let me know what you think of these net worth updates below. I hope you find some of these areas helpful in your own journey to whatever your goal is. For me that is having the ability to quit my corporate job in Strategy Consulting and spend my time how and where I want.
Follow along on my journey, I keep my net worth updated here.
Leave a comment or contact me if you would like to get in touch and update me on your progress towards your goals.
Have a lovely week everyone! 🙂
MeTheMillennial
Did you move any of your financials from Ireland to Canada, or are they still sitting over there?
Hi Vanessa,
Good question, I actually had very little saved before I left Ireland. I have what I did save invested sitting there yes.
Did you do the same? It’s very cheap to transfer money between now using companies like Transferwise (very low rates).
I did leave my savings in the UK but wondering if I should have done or if it’s worthwhile me moving them here. They’re just sitting there and not in the greatest funds so I may move and have everything consolidated
I moved them over Vanessa, it’s quick and easy to do. The simpler you can make your investment strategy the better. You are also protecting yourself against any currency fluctuations, sterling has been rallying lately. Especially if you plan to stay in Canada for a while.
Thank you, I think I will do that