a new milestone for me!

[ER_Hopeful]

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.

 

[obgyn65]

Congratulations ER_hopeful.

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

 

[73ss454]

Good for you, you'll get there.

 

[Emeritus]

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

 

[bbbamI]

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.....

 

[Htown Harry]

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.

 

[Emeritus]

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.

 

[Bestwifeever]

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

 

[Htown Harry]

Once again, ER_Hopeful, I offer my congratulations.

Best of luck in reaching your next goal, however you choose to measure it.

 

[ProspectiveBum]

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?

 

[ER_Hopeful]

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.

 

[photoguy]

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.

 

[GoodSense]

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!

 

[scrabbler1]

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.

 

[aida2003]

Congrats with your $200K...BTW, what ages (spouse and you?) and do you have kids?

 

[ronocnikral]

Did you check the couch for change? just joking!

congrats ER_hopeful!

 

[Emeritus]

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

 

[Sarah in SC]

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!

 

[photoguy]

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.

 

[Moemg]

Congratulations on a great milestone ! Also thanks bestwifeever , I checked my coupons and it increased my net worth by $35.

 

[Emeritus]

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!

Milestone is a land concept. Doesn't work in a fluid environment

You are rowing a boat and you pass a floating buoy and you say "aha" I've achieved a milestone. Lets pass the next buoy. But both you and buoy can be in a current that takes you backward.

All I am saying is that in a fluid environment you cannot pretend there are milestones. You are doing the right thing by rowing , as the poster is certainly doing the right thing and I join you in congratulations , but you don't know if you are making real progress until you hit land

 

[MuirWannabe]

Sometimes a duck is just a duck. In this case it's just a milestone that OP happens to be justifiably proud in achieving for what it represents in their journey.

Not everything has to be turned into a lecture. This is not class and you are not professor.

Congrats ER Hopeful. Great milestone on your road to FIRE.

 

[FIREd]

Congrats ER_H!

 

[ER_Hopeful]

Congrats with your $200K...BTW, what ages (spouse and you?) and do you have kids?

I'm almost 38, wife just turned 40. kids are 7 and 9, single income. I think our NW is relatively low compared to many posters of our age on this forum, this is because my career/salary didn’t take off until 5, 6 years ago(I’m making close to $100k now). Prior to that I’d been stuck at a dying software company for 4 years making less than $50k(I switched career into the dot com burst, then came 9/11, software jobs were scarce. Then the defense industry took off and that’s how I got into the DoD software industry which I’m in now); and even prior to that I was making less than $30k with my accounting degree in the late ‘90s. So a great majority of my savings really came from the past 6 years.


BTW, thanks to all the congrats and encouraging words from everyone.

 

[Retire2013]

Congratulations! Write to us when you reach $250K so we can cheer for you again. I especially like the part where you counted the $30 in your wallet.