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a new milestone for me!
Old 10-13-2010, 05:44 PM   #1
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a new milestone for me!

with the market closing higher today, I did a quick rundown of my accounts, I think I've just passed the $200k sound barrier!

Our IRA's, my 401k, checking acct, and taxable investments (about $194k) +
$2k tax refund(yr 2009) which I'll be getting in a couple weeks +
tomorrow's pay check +
$30 in my wallet
= $199090.

wait, got another $1k in my mortgage impound escrow acct, that's $90 over $200k,

This number seemed so far away a couple years ago and now I'm finally here. It's kind of a mix of emotions; part of me feel joy and proud but at the same time I'm kicking myself for chickening out and scaling back during 2009. well, hindsight is always 20/20. I think I really need to
stop paying too much attention to what the market is doing and just keep DCAing.

look foward to $250k and a big thanks to this group.
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Old 10-13-2010, 05:46 PM   #2
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Congratulations ER_hopeful.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ER_Hopeful View Post
with the market closing higher today, I did a quick rundown of my accounts, I think I've just passed the $200k sound barrier!
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Old 10-13-2010, 05:47 PM   #3
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Good for you, you'll get there.
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Old 10-13-2010, 06:16 PM   #4
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You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away and know when to run
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealing's done

It is very dangerous to confuse the underlying asset with the current market value
Assets whether stock , bonds , gold coins , houses or antique cans of white cloverine brand salve cannot be reliably priced until you sell them.

All that being said you are doing the right thing
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Old 10-13-2010, 06:31 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by ER_Hopeful View Post
wait, got another $1k in my mortgage impound escrow acct, that's $90 over $200k,
Shoot....I used to count the change that had fallen inside the couch cushions...

uh oh....here comes giddy............Congratulations.....
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Old 10-13-2010, 06:35 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Emeritus View Post
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away and know when to run
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealing's done

It is very dangerous to confuse the underlying asset with the current market value
Assets whether stock , bonds , gold coins , houses or antique cans of white cloverine brand salve cannot be reliably priced until you sell them.

All that being said you are doing the right thing
Danger In a Young Dreamer tracking progress and trends in his basket of market-priced assets to keep a score? Nonsense, in my view.

Congrats, ER_Hopeful - with no qualifiers.
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Old 10-13-2010, 09:54 PM   #7
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Danger In a Young Dreamer tracking progress and trends in his basket of market-priced assets to keep a score? Nonsense, in my view.

Congrats, ER_Hopeful - with no qualifiers.
IMHO you are not able "keep score" , since you havn't scored yet.

I fully agree that you can own a house a car or gold coin or 100 shares of microsoft. That is your "score". Saying what they are worth is a much more difficult exercise and is not a score. Market value is not like a touchdown where you keep score and once you have it you cant lose it.

I make the point because far too many peope think an item is really "worth" whatever its its higher sale price was at some time in the past. But if you didn't sell the item that number is just a fantasy, not a score.

I said and I agree that the poster is doing the exact right thing. I simply know far too many people who thought of the net worth number as permanent and an accomplishment.
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Old 10-13-2010, 10:05 PM   #8
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Congratulations on that stupendous accomplishment, ER_H! I'm very impressed. If you have a home, technically you can add any equity to the net worth, too. And grocery coupons--got any $1 off toilet paper, for instance? Throw them in the net worth basket, too
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Old 10-13-2010, 10:14 PM   #9
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Once again, ER_Hopeful, I offer my congratulations.

Best of luck in reaching your next goal, however you choose to measure it.
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Old 10-13-2010, 10:30 PM   #10
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I said and I agree that the poster is doing the exact right thing. I simply know far too many people who thought of the net worth number as permanent and an accomplishment.
Anybody who has lived through the economic turmoil of the last couple of years probably has a sense of the variability of their net worth, no?
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Old 10-13-2010, 11:20 PM   #11
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IMHO you are not able "keep score" , since you havn't scored yet.

I fully agree that you can own a house a car or gold coin or 100 shares of microsoft. That is your "score". Saying what they are worth is a much more difficult exercise and is not a score. Market value is not like a touchdown where you keep score and once you have it you cant lose it.

I make the point because far too many peope think an item is really "worth" whatever its its higher sale price was at some time in the past. But if you didn't sell the item that number is just a fantasy, not a score.

I said and I agree that the poster is doing the exact right thing. I simply know far too many people who thought of the net worth number as permanent and an accomplishment.
yeah, I know the number from today is simply a snap of my networth at this moment in time, it could very well drop back down to 190, 180 ... when the sell off kicks in tomorrow, next week or next month... I fully expect it to cross this line couple times before it stabilizes. Having been thru the ups/downs of the past 3 years, I've learned a bit more about myself(my risk tolerance particularly) and my conclusion is to just keep DCAing while enjoying life.
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Old 10-13-2010, 11:31 PM   #12
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I fully agree that you can own a house a car or gold coin or 100 shares of microsoft. That is your "score". Saying what they are worth is a much more difficult exercise and is not a score. Market value is not like a touchdown where you keep score and once you have it you cant lose it.
I don't understand why you don't like market value. Yes the price can change overnight and might drop several percent in a day, but it's not a bad approximation. And in fact I would argue that it's the best approximation.

If you don't use market value, how else can you plan? You can always add a safety factor to adjust for fluctuations.
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Old 10-13-2010, 11:38 PM   #13
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Congratulations! That's a major accomplishment! Pretty soon you'll be a quarter millionaire.

Unless you're all cash, your net worth will always be fluctuating. Even if you are all cash, there is inflation and currency concerns. Enjoy the high while you can!
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Old 10-14-2010, 07:13 AM   #14
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yeah, I know the number from today is simply a snap of my networth at this moment in time, it could very well drop back down to 190, 180 ... when the sell off kicks in tomorrow, next week or next month... I fully expect it to cross this line couple times before it stabilizes. Having been thru the ups/downs of the past 3 years, I've learned a bit more about myself(my risk tolerance particularly) and my conclusion is to just keep DCAing while enjoying life.
I hear you. I barely hit the $1M milestone back in late April but then the market took a downturn in May and I did not return to the $1M mark until early September. With the continued rise in the market, I am now pretty safely over $1M but another big downturn could put that in jeopardy again.

Expect a bumpy ride, as you indicated, but barring a huge downturn like we had 2 years ago, it will stabilize enough for you to remain at or above your milestone.
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Old 10-14-2010, 07:18 AM   #15
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Congrats with your $200K...BTW, what ages (spouse and you?) and do you have kids?
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Old 10-14-2010, 07:21 AM   #16
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Did you check the couch for change? just joking!

congrats ER_hopeful!
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Old 10-14-2010, 08:45 AM   #17
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I don't understand why you don't like market value. Yes the price can change overnight and might drop several percent in a day, but it's not a bad approximation. And in fact I would argue that it's the best approximation.

If you don't use market value, how else can you plan? You can always add a safety factor to adjust for fluctuations.

1) I strongly believe in "mark to market" for businesses pension funds etc.
2) If you want to say "gross financial assets" for an individual I also have no problem
3) The problem with doing a net worth analysis for individuals
Net worth is assets minus liabilities including contingent liabilities.

Net worth is a statement about the individual not the assets.
A plan is a statement about the individual not the assets.

It's the Individual's contingencies that are the problem.
We don't routinely do a risk component in the net worth.

You use the term "safety factor", which is a related and useful concept but is normally only applied to the assets themselves.

Consider the home owner with full replacement insurance and one without. They don't have the same net worth
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Old 10-14-2010, 09:06 AM   #18
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Congrats to you, ER Hopeful!
The rest of us are thrilled with your milestone and join in your jubilation!
Please kindly ignore the sayer of nayes!
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Old 10-14-2010, 09:19 AM   #19
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It's the Individual's contingencies that are the problem.
We don't routinely do a risk component in the net worth.
I certainly don't disagree with you that this is an important calculation that everyone should make and factor into their plans.

However, for the purposes of using net worth as a metric to compare savings between people, I'd prefer using hard financial assets & liabilities as it is unambiguous. Incorporating risk and expected losses is far too open to differing assumptions (and manipulation) in which case making comparisons is difficult.

Thanks for clarifying, your points make a lot of sense.
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Old 10-14-2010, 09:38 AM   #20
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Congratulations on a great milestone ! Also thanks bestwifeever , I checked my coupons and it increased my net worth by $35.
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