According to my Integrity Policy, I want to let you know that this post contains Personal Capital referral links.  Personal Capital is a free service.  They are looking for high-net worth individuals as possible customers for their financial advisory services, but the expense tracking and retirement planning tools that I recommend are free of charge.

It’s all about the Benjamins. And Jacksons. And Lincolns. And Washingtons.

A couple of big developments on the home front this month led to our net worth shooting upwards! This meant hitting some major milestones!

Between the March and April 2016 financial statement, our net worth increased 9.85%!

Despite some large expenses this month, our net worth is now over $250,000!  A quarter of a million dollars!  Considering when I started this blog less than a year ago, our net worth was about $86,000, that’s astonishing progress. Our net worth will most likely be under a million dollars when we retire (due to a majority of our income coming from rental properties), so this really makes our progress feel fast!

We’re also just shy of another big goal: $1,000 in safe income every month in retirement. In celebration of that goal, stay tuned this week for a new article in my Retire Abroad on $xxx a Month series showcasing five more great retirement locales where you can live an amazing life on a tiny (by US standards) budget.

This month’s big expense was putting down a deposit on our wedding venue. We got a fantastic deal for our venue and reception. Our entire facility rental was free of charge, because we agreed to get married this year, on a Friday, on a day the venue was unable to sell in August. Still, we had to put a sizable deposit down for the reception, bar, decor, and other stuff like that, with the remainder due in a couple of months. We also spent a fair amount on some investments in our health: a Crossfit membership for us both for the next six months (we’ve been running for years, but wanted something new to change it up and motivate us to get wedding fit), and some medical items for me.

I continue to work towards getting my new rental duplex fully occupied and operational. I completed the eviction of the awful tenant I inherited, and she left the unit she lived in horrifyingly filthy. After a clean-out, I decided to use the vacancy as an opportunity to replace the carpets, repaint every surface, and perform some other basic enhancements (like replacing appliances and adding a shower) to attract a better class of tenant. With any luck, that rehab will be complete sometime this month and there’s a chance I can get the unit occupied for June first. That will mean a major leap up in rental income, and we’ll suddenly be at almost $1,400 per month in retirement income!

Despite the occasional bump in the road, I still love rental properties as a vehicle to early retirement. We live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and all of our properties are a minimum of 2500 miles away.  It’s really not as daunting as it sounds, once you learn some basics.  If you’d like to learn more about my real estate investment journey, check out my book on out of state and long-distance real estate investment! You can also find it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble Nook, and iBooks.

This coming month will see a much more modest increase in net worth, but I’m still really happy. With a little luck, I can start thinking about my next rental purchase by sometime in July.  The goal had been to hit $2,000 in monthly rental and market income by the end of the year, but I may fall a little short of that.  Much will depend on how the rest of the year goes.  I’m considering using a little money from my taxable investment account to get back on track and complete the three property purchases I was aiming for this year, but I haven’t decided for sure yet.

Blog Income

As I mentioned in my Integrity Policy, I want to make sure I share any and all professional relationships and compensation I make as a part of this blog.

In April, I earned the following:

• $9.68 in Google Ad Income

Thus, my total income for the month from the blog was $9.68! Hey, a bit more modest in terms of blog income than some months, but as always, the goal of the blog is first and foremost to keep me on track and motivated. Any money earned is just an unexpected bonus. Thank you to anyone who has been kind enough to use one of the affiliate or ad links.

If you’re looking to start your own blog or web site, please consider using my referral link for BlueHost.  I’ll get a little cash to help pay hosting expenses, and you’ll get a great hosting provider (the same one I use) starting at about $3.95 per month.

Retirement Update

Our net worth is up $23,009.46 this month. I made a large contribution to my Individual 401(k) this month, which was the primary factor behind the increase in our safe withdrawal rate.

With equity and bond accounts totaling $143,894.62 at the end of April, a 4% Safe Withdrawal Rate would allow us to take out $479.65 per month.  Our rental properties, after all expenses, vacancies, and short and long term maintenance are considered, produce $514.00 of safe cash flow every month.

Safe Monthly Income: $993.65 (+50.50 to Last Month)

% to Goal: 19.87% (+1.01% to Last Month)

Want to Know How to Track Your Expenses?

It’s really easy.  Sign up for a Personal Capital account, which is completely free.  It’s how I track my balances across time, and allows me to project all my retirement progress without doing any work at all.  As a disclaimer, if you sign up with Personal Capital, this site may get a referral fee depending on the size of your portfolio.