Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Networth Update

[Update: I have corrected my car and car loan values, as well as my networth]

2007 is at a close and so this networth update will be the last one in what I have been personally considering my "transitional" period from college life to the "real world". Starting this year, some of the fiscal irresponsibilities such spending too much on alcohol and "fun" stuff will instead become budgeted items. Gifts and other such discretionary items will also be properly allocated. And, I will be carrying forward my excess budget balance from last year to ensure I will be fiscally balanced.

Now onto my end of December '07 networth update:

I am almost embarrassed with networth update this month. Everything that could go wrong has. My poker fund is very low. My Roth IRA account took a huge hit. Christmas came and required gifts. And, I paid for my March cruise.

So, compared with last month's networth update, I have seen a 0.43% decrease in my networth, or a decrease of $4,154.08.

As always, I am looking forward to my tax refund as that should provide a very useful addition to my networth.

Overall, this brings my networth to -$9,363.68 or -0.93% of my goal.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Finance Guy,

I noticed that the balance of your Roth IRA took a major hit this month. Were you able to use these funds to cover recent expenditures? If so, I did not realize that was allowed and also, is that really wise?

Thanks,

Mark

Finance Guy said...

Mark,

Roth IRAs can be deducted the amount you put into them with no penalties. However, you are right that it is a bad idea.

But, the real reason it took a huge hit is because I invest my Roth IRA into risky options and last month was not a great time for high risk betting.

Anonymous said...

You forgot to decrease the car value this month. It's the same as November.

Anonymous said...

Also - If it isn't too personal a question...

What are you invested in with your Roth IRA that lost so much this month? What type of options? Do you plan on keeping this level of risk?

Finance Guy said...

Good catch anonymous. This actually increased my networth, since I had also forgotten to decrease my car loan, making about a $300 difference.

In terms of my Roth IRA, I buy options in the assets that I blog about daily.

In my mind, the younger you are, the more risk you can accept since the investments you make are of smaller sizes and you can stomach such high risk.

At the same time, I am hedged by my 401(k), which I have invested in a very diversified and long-term way.