Welcome to the April 2022 edition of our net worth tracker, where we’ll track our net worth month over month. I first started tracking our net worth at the time this blog was started, which was the beginning of September 2019. I started by creating the Net Worth Baseline report.
You can view Previous Net Worth reports HERE.
Let’s dive straight into this month’s report.
Monthly Roundup
Previously, I would go through my month, and go over the highlights. These days I’m doing it a little differently. Unless you convince me that you want to hear about my month, I’m not going to talk about it.
April 2022 Net Worth
Here’s how April compares to last month:
April Account Breakdown
Let’s take a quick look at what happened in April.
Cash (-$356.11)
Monthly Blurb: This is where our paychecks get deposited. All our income goes into this account, then gets transferred to the proper accounts as set by my budget. As usual, I do the net worth report before transferring money to the appropriate accounts.
It was a good month for us in terms of income but was bad in terms of spending. The difference in cash on hand is due mainly to the difference in monthly income.
Our spending was well above average this month thanks to car repair bills and insurance.
Investment Cash ($8,138.39 )
Monthly Blurb: All of our cash leftover at the end of the month is transferred here and is considered part of our savings rate.
This is where our leftover income went from March. It was a decent amount that we were able to put into our investment account. I wish I could say the same for next month (Our leftover money from April).
I’m still waiting for some opportunities to come up in the housing market. The interest rates went up a tick, but the housing market is still red hot. Even fixer-uppers are going above the asking price.
I did sense a little bit less competition with higher interest rates, but it’s not much.
There is low inventory and most homes are going above list price in a matter of days. It’s hard to find a rental property to buy in a market like this. Plus, as I learned in the pandemic, I’m not sure I want a rental if I can’t evict a bad tenant.
Remaining Cash Accounts (Emergency and Sinking Funds) ($1,066.43)
Nothing exciting here. Just the usual. We’re back at it again. We are just saving up for our property tax bill and HOA fees for when they are due early next year.
Retirement Accounts
This is where things get really ugly for the month of April. ….It’s all Russia’s fault, right?
401(k)s (-$12,151.66)
Last month we had a modest 6% decrease. Notice the sarcasm? On top of that, we were still contributing. This month was one of the worst! It may even be THE worst month I’ve had, dollar-wise. The markets haven’t recovered from the “little correction” earlier this year, and they are even further into correction territory headed toward a recession.
IRA (-$25,396.06)
Again, all market performance. This is about on par with what I expected.
Overall, that’s a loss of about 9% between the 401k and IRA’s. Ouch, that hurt’s just as much typing it as it does looking at it.
For reference, Inflation has been around 7-8% year-over-year. It was bad last month and got even worse in March’s report.
College Fund ($1,471.72)
The college fund is invested just like the IRAs; in mutual funds. The loss is equal to about 9%. I won’t be able to send the kids to college if this keeps up.
Net Worth (-$29,760.22)
In January, our net worth decreased by 10’s of thousands. In February, it decreased by ‘only’ a few thousand. It was followed up in March by a decent month in terms of market performance. However, it wasn’t enough to make up for the losses.
Then came April. Any gain we made last month was wiped out by our losses this month, plus a few thousand more.
I’m usually surprised at the end of the month to see how much our net worth has increased, but this month I’ll just have to be content with our net worth dropping by less than what the stock market dropped.
In total, our net worth decreased by approximately 4.5%.
Accessible Net Worth ($7,787.50)
Monthly Blurb: This is the money we are able to put away, not including the tax-advantaged retirement accounts.
Our income was good and our expenses were above average this month. Our accessible net worth increased as a result of transferring money into our investment account.
Liabilities
Status: (Other than the hospital bills.) None, as usual. They’re a burden, so I avoid them. The cars, the house, they’re all paid for. Student loans…never used them. Credit Card debt? I only use one, and it gets paid off every month, and often I’ll pay it off multiple times per month. Just depends on how many times I think about it.
Passive Income
December was a near-record month for dividend income, and 2021 was a record year. We are about a third of the way to being able to live solely off the dividend. And it’s supposed to grow exponentially, right? So, Financial Independence here we come!
February and January are very boring months for dividends. It was a record-breaking March! And then there was April… Ugh!
Last month I mentioned that I was curious about what April would look like because most of that dividend comes from one mutual fund in the biotech sector. I know it has at least paid a dividend for the last four years, which is how long I’ve had that fund. Guess how much it paid in 2022?
$0!
I feel like April has a theme going on. Maybe I should write a blues song.
On the bright side, interest rates for my savings accounts have gone up a hair. The interest rate is still super low, but not as bad as it was before. I’m okay with the Fed raising rates. Haha. My money is barely making any money sitting in that “high-yield” account now earning 0.5% APY.
Saving’s Rate
I track my savings rate in order to help keep my feet to the fire so that later I can be Gone on FIRE. As a bonus, you get a glimpse into my cash flow by looking at the income and expense rows.
A couple of years ago, I had to adjust the savings goal to 50%, which we didn’t achieve. In 2021, we barely achieved that goal, only making it in the last month! I’m setting the same goal this year.
This month we were far from the goal! We spend 75% of our take-home pay this month. Ouch!
This month we had to pay home & auto insurance, a hefty auto repair bill, and we didn’t earn as much.
In a normal month, of that 50% we are spending, Housing and Daycare alone eat up about 30%. We give 10%, so that means we are living on 10-15% for everything else.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel for daycare, but these Texas property taxes kill me. They will be the reason I move out of the state. Is that Tennessee I see in the future???
I expect moving there will at least cut property taxes in half. Daycare will decrease every year until it’s gone in about 2 or so years. Hopefully, we can get our savings rate up to 60 or 70% by then.
I wonder what other expenses will pop up once daycare is done.
Here’s how we did this month.
Income ($11,014.20)
Right now, our only source of active income is through our full-time jobs.
This is what a slightly above-average income month looks like for us. My wife works really hard and was able to pick up a bit of work this month.
Expenses ($8,350.37)
Our expenses were way above average this month. Annual insurance expenses, car repairs, and I think it’s because of inflation and the cost of oil going up. I see a lot of categories going up even though we didn’t necessarily buy more than normal.
Here is a quick breakdown:
1) Home Escrow ($1,370.84)
The normal amount we put aside every month, plus paying for house things like a gardener and cleaners.
2) Giving ($1,211.56)
The usual 10% we give every month. Plus 1% that we started to give on top of that.
3) Cost of living ($5,767.97)
Previous Months: Mar: ($2,486.92), Feb: ($3,306.12), Jan: ($3,409.65), Dec: (-$4,034.08), Nov: ($3,703.00), Oct: ($3,268.10), Sep: ($3,968.22), Aug: ($3,532.91), July ($2,394.24), June: ($4,283.01), May: ($3,726.16), Apr: ($3,857.24)
Running Average: $3,163.98
This includes all our bills (Gas, Electric, Water, Internet, Phone), transportation, food, shopping, and daycare. Home insurance is paid for out of our Home Escrow savings account. Like last year, we are going to drain our dependent care account at the end of the year in one lump sum. Doing it that way is less paperwork for us.
Our gasoline bills continue to increase. We have a pretty good idea of what it will cost each month now with my wife going back to work, and me having to go into the office. On top of that, gas prices are just going up.
I mentioned that after February, I should have a pretty good idea of what a normal month looks like. And I’ll know if a savings rate of 50% is likely.
Unfortunately, after seeing what a normal month looks like for us, I think a 50% savings rate is a little bit of a stretch for us. Sure, our income has increased slightly, but inflation is rising even faster. I’m not going to change it though, because it will be a good challenge to see if we can make it like we did last year, just barely.
April 2022 Vs March 2022 Expenses
March was an above-average month, but April was just crazy above-average. Things should settle down in May. Hopefully, we get back into our routine for the year, and things keep going great.
Goals Progress
Financial Goals
Aside from the Roth IRA contribution, most of the financial goals this year are year-long goals.
The Roth IRA contribution is done, and I have transferred the money.
Aside from the 401k, which is on automatic contributions from my paycheck, I’m still not sure how the other ones are going to turn out. Time will tell.
I have to wait till dividends start coming in to know how the passive income goal will turn out. March was good and April was bad, but who knows what the rest of the year will look like.
The savings rate goal of 50% is a stretch goal, but I still think we can do it. It was at 99% last month, and due to our expenses dropped to 87% this month. Ouch!
We’ll see if we can pull it off for the year again.
Blog Goal
For 2022, I want to create more content. My goal is at least one article a month, or 12 total in the year. I actually got a post completed this month! I now have 8 months left to write 11 more articles.
Personal Goals
I’m doing a reading goal again this year, with the same number of books. Last year I only read 2, but I know I can do 3. I’m over halfway through the first book.
And then there is my physical health. I didn’t get to where I wanted in 2021, so we’ll continue to try again this year. I want to lose fat, and part of that is going to be by eating healthier.
April 2022 Roundup
The month of April was one for the record books. …And I’m not talking about the good kind of record-breaking. Plus we had the unexpected happen (The car breaking down).
On a positive note, the Kids didn’t have any unplanned days off school, we all stayed relatively healthy, and pretty much life ran smooth.
There were a few rainy days, but the weather has been warming up and it’s been pretty nice outside.
Even after a bad money month, I continue to be excited as we progress into May, and for the rest of the year.
There’s really a lot to be thankful for.
Stay tuned for next month’s New Worth update!
FIRE Away!
REMINDERS:
- 2 big items not included in my net worth:
- House & Cars – Their value will be added to my net worth if and when I sell them.
- 2 accounts not included in the net worth total (even though they’re listed):
- 529 – This is my money for my babies. Consider it their net worth summary.
- Home Escrow – This is Uncle Sam’s money. We don’t mess around with Uncle Sam and his money.
- Total income only includes our active income, which is currently our full-time jobs.