Copper Cotton
Happy fourth quarter!
I’ve spent the last two days crunching numbers to make sure that I’m on target to reach my year-end financial goals. If you’ve been reading this blog, then you know I’m on track to reach the elusive $100,000 net worth by the end of this year.
When I first started on this financial journey, my goal was to just get out of debt. But then something exciting happened. The more I learned about the game of personal finance, the better I wanted to be at it.
I began reading and rereading everything I could on money. And I came across a quote by Charlie Munger, who said, “The first $100,000 is a bitch, but you gotta do it. I don’t care what you have to do—if it means walking everywhere and not eating anything that wasn’t purchased with a coupon, find a way to get your hands on $100,000. After that, you can ease off the gas a little bit.”
Charlie was right about the walking, I walk a lot these days to save on commuting costs, which has been a benefit to both my health and bottom line so I’m not complaining.
Fun facts about having a $100,000 net worth: Only 436 million in the entire world have a net worth of $100,000. Depending on how much you’re able to save, on average it will take someone five to seven years to save their first $100,000.
Why is this number so important? According to the experts, this is when the compounding really gets rolling. And with all that compounding on your side, it means you will reach your next $100,000 in half the time it took you to reach the first. And it just keeps getting easier, which means you will quickly be on cruise control to your first million.
So, get moving on that first G, $100K, $200k or one million. We have three months left to really step on the gas. I would love to hear what you’re working on. (you can hit me up on Twitter).
Okay, time for my net worth update.
September 2019 Net Worth Update
Assets
Cash Accounts
Checking $ 500.00 (no change)
Savings $ 4,250.00 (+$2)
Business $ 6,038.00 (+$741)
MM/E Fund $ 14,070.00 (+$471)
Taxable Investment Accounts
Ally Brokerage $ 13,925.00 (+$1,1387)
Investing MM $ 439.00 (-200)
Vanguard $ 789.00 (+$91)
Acorns $ 560 (+81)
Tax Advantage/Retirement
Bonds $ 16,259.00 (+$228)
SEP IRA $ 12,006.00 (+$567)
Traditional IRA $ 20,473.00 (+$891)
$89,309.00
Liabilities:
Credit Card: $853.00
- Checking: All savings/bills are automatically deducted from this account. Any money left over after deductions is sent to Acorns and the emergency fund.
- Savings (P to P): This account is back to the highest it has ever been. No big changes here.
- SEP IRA: The stock market went on a tear the last week of September. I had big gains across all of my investment accounts.
- Traditional IRA: Added three new dividend stocks to the IRA, working to create a solid income stream from this account
- Business Account: This account is growing nicely and will eventually be used to purchase an income-producing asset sometime next year.
- The E/Fund: Haven’t had any reason to hit up the emergency fund. It continues to grow at a modest pace.
- Stocks (taxable): Purchased a few shares of ENB, IRM and added a new stock, GPC. I plan to add one more new stock to the portfolio in 2019.
- Bonds: As you know, the interest rate on I-bonds was lowered to 1.98%. This is still way above what most major banks are offering.
- Ally Investment money: Still chasing year-end dividend goals.
There you have it. I need $10,691 to put this goal in the rearview mirror. I’m close, but I’m still going to need to hustle all the way to the end.
If you don’t know how to get started on your journey, start with figuring out your net worth. Knowing my net worth has made all the difference. My goal is to make certain that it goes up every single month. This is something that I’ve managed to do for more than two years. The tool I use and recommend for calculating your net worth is Personal Capital.
It is a fight to build wealth no matter where you are in the process. Everything around us conspires to take money out of our hands. But you must fight the good fight. Continue to save, invest, and grow your net worth even when it seems impossible. Save your pennies (copper) until they become dollars (cotton).
