I am just going to mix in current commentary with prior year commentary.
2019: +$105,000! Wow, what a year! My money worked harder than I did this year, for sure.
2020: +$104,000
2019: We paid down the mortgage by $9,000 and the rest was stock market contributions and gains.
2020: We paid down the mortgage by $10,000, purchased a newer vehicle, and the rest was stock market contributions and gains.
2019: Today we could pay off our mortgage and still have $340,000 cash/investments. For the first time, we could do this with only cashing out about 1/2 our ROTH IRA and all of our taxable investments. It's the first time we could leave everything else intact (emergency fund, kids' college, rest of retirement, etc.). I am not tempted yet, but honestly, if I had an additional $50k in investments, we could pay off our mortgage AND leave six figures in our ROTH IRA. At that point, I would probably be tempted. Especially with just cashing out at a peak. Taking the money and running. I've always said there is a tipping point. I just have never been so close to the tipping point. If my stocks go up $100k next year, I wouldn't rule it out.
2020: Today we could pay off our mortgage and still have $430,000 cash/investments.
My stocks did not go up $100K, and we have college to figure out. If not for college literally starting this year, and being so close to our $500K retirement goal... I don't think the tipping point will be until the mortgage is under $100K; we just aren't quite there yet.
2019: We need our net worth to continue to increase (on average) $50k per year to reach our Financial Independence goal at age 50.
Estimate Net Worth Change for 2020:
Mortgage: Paydown $7,000
Investments: Contribute $4,000
Retirement: Contribute $21,000
Investment Returns: $18,000 (would need 4% gain)
TOTAL INCREASE: $50,000
Our net worth changes never look anything like our estimate (it's rare any asset class actually has an average year). But, I go through this exercise just to make sure my goal is realistic and doable.
Estimate Net Worth Change for 2021:
Mortgage: Paydown $8,500
Retirement: Contribute $8,500
Home Appreciation: $45,000
TOTAL INCREASE: $62,000
I am confident that we will have a home appreciation adjustment in 2021. I did not adjust in 2020, because we've only had one home sell in our immediate neighborhood, at higher price. I will give it some time before I update my net worth records.
I am not going to rely on any stock market gains in 2021, to meet our goal.
Lower retirement contributions are more realistic as MM(17) starts college.
P.S. We will likely hit the $1 mil mark with our assets this year. Just $30k to go... That will be a very exciting milestone.
2020: DONE! & yes, it was very exciting! 🎈🥳🎈
Not quite there with the net worth, because have the mortgage offsetting our assets.
P.S.S. Good Riddance to 2019! I wish I was more optimistic about 2020, but it's shaping up to be very difficult. I can only hope for some space whatsoever to breathe and process anything that is happening.
2020: More of the same. Honestly, 2020 was by far the easiest year for me, of last 3 years. Phew! But... What I expected to be difficult in 2020 is dealing with our parents' mental declines. That has all kind of been put on pause during the pandemic, which means just kicking the can down the road. Which means... I expect a very high stress and challenging 2021. So, I once again leave a trying year without much hope for the upcoming year.
Back to the net worth commentary...
We have 6 years left on our "financial independence" goal. We've started out so strong, that we have 6 years left to come up with $270,000. That is $45,000 per year net worth growth that we are aiming for. I think it's nice how it has worked out. We expect to be saving less and possibly drawing down assets as we pay for college over the next 6 years. $45,000 is a lower bar than we had been aiming for initially. I expect a major push of working hard and getting college done without any debt. But... I am also feeling a lot of, "exceeded goals in recent years, so can chill as we get through the next few years." The plan is to rely on our assets to do most of the work re: retirement and longer-term future. That will be the "chill" part.
Edited to add: Need +$25,000 to hit $1 Mil net worth in 2021! Getting so close...
I will add this to my 2021 Financial Goals
January 2nd, 2021 at 09:23 pm 1609622600