March 2017 Financial Statement

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.

February 2016 Financial Statement

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

This income report covers the first quarter of 2017. Some unexpected costs slowed down our journey a bit, but most things are still in the green column, so all is generally well!

AccountLast ReportBalanceChange
Personal Checking$11,593.95$12,385.74$791.79
Business Checking$1,220.26$1,372.21151.95
Real Estate Operating Account$2,770.47$2,683.78-$86.69
Real Estate Cash Flow Account$1,160.81$2,122.16$961.35
Credit Cards-$8,409.71-$8,568.67-$158.96
Retirement - HSA$3,516.42$4,589.93$1,073.51
Retirement - After Tax$50,226.93$47,140.60-$3,086.33
Retirement - 401(k)$126,549.28$146,090.19$19,540.91
Retirement - Roth IRA$9,513.55$10,076.91$563.36
Asset - Home$500,000.00$500,000.00$0.00
Asset - Rental 1$46,597.00$46,097.00-$500.00
Asset - Rental 2$66,240.00$66,240.00$0.00
Asset - Rental 3$90,852.00$93,730.00$2,878.00
Mortgage - Home$380,139.00$379,354.96$784.04
Mortgage - Rental 1-$44,018.18-$43,833.76$184.42
Mortgage - Rental 2-$47,649.74-$47,447.99$201.75
Mortgage - Rental 3-$57,455.41-$57,228.06$227.35
Student Loan 1-$21,256.32-$20,822.24$434.08
Student Loan 2-$13,213.47-$12,943.62$269.85
Student Loan 3-$3,918.82-$3,623.44$295.38
Net Worth$334,179.55$358,705.31$24,525.76

In our March 2017 financial statement, our net worth increased by 7.33% (this covers three months)!

On average, this means that our net worth increased about $8,000 per month since January. While I’m not embarrassed by this number, it’s a fair amount slower than things have been increasing over the past few years.

The biggest single factor in the slower growth is the fact that I wrecked my car, replaced it with a new-to-me used car, then ended up buying my first car back from the mechanic for my wife to drive.  All told, this was about a $14,000 setback. The good news is that we hopefully won’t have to worry too much about cars for a long while.

My wife and I also went on our honeymoon to Australia at the end of February. We travel hacked our way there, so our total airfare costs (in business class, no less) were $214. However, we ended up spending a good amount on activities, food, and other fun. I tracked my expenses, but didn’t bother to add up the overall costs, which are surely in the thousands for a two week honeymoon.

Blog Income

As I mention 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.

Between January 1st and March 31st, I earned the following:

The blog made $316.75 this quarter. That’s not bad at all, considering the minimal cost of operation and my relatively low post output this year so far. I’m trying to improve my post rate again, though, so there should be some interesting stuff coming!

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 $24,525.76 over the past three months. I have an informal goal to hit a $450,000 net worth by the end of the year, which is a bit of a stretch, but still possible.  We’ll see how property prices behave, and whether any other big expenses come up.

With equity and bond accounts totaling $207,897.63 at the end of March, a 4% Safe Withdrawal Rate would allow us to take out $692.99 per month. Our rental properties, after all expenses, vacancies, and short and long term maintenance are considered, produce $986.00 of safe cash flow every month.

Safe Monthly Income:  $1,678.99 (+60.31 since Last Report)

% to Goal: 33.57% (+1.2% since Last Report)

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.

2 thoughts on “March 2017 Financial Statement

    1. The Vagabond Post author

      Hamiltons too 😉

      I’m self-employed, running my business through an LLC w/ S-Corp taxation. I contribute to a Solo 401(k) as both the employer and the employee, effectively contributing up to $53K per year pre-tax. A Solo 401(k) is the most amazing tool I know of for tax-advantaged FIRE saving.

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