How far from your all-time high are you?

[David1961]

How much did your net worth drop during this recession and where are you now? Thought it’d be interesting to compare notes. Here’s mine:
High – November 2007
Lowest point since then – Feb 2009 (down 30% from Nov 2007 high)
Now – Mar 2010 – down 6.5 from Nov 2007 high
Note: I’m still working, so my net worth includes my savings from my paycheck.

 

[kaudrey]

I keep track quarterly or so, and then roll it up to annually, but approximately:

High - 12/31/07
Low - 12/31/08 - down (22% from 12/31/07)
Now - 3/31/09 - up 4.5% from 12/31/07

I probably crossed the line of getting back to where I was at the high sometime in February. I, too, am still working and saving, and these numbers are all inclusive.

I've been thinking that I want to try to figure out what I would have if the DOW and other indices were back at their highs - I figure I had X dollars when it was at 14,000+, and I have more than X dollars with the DOW at 10,800+ etc...I have lots more shares of mutual funds through 2+ years of buying, so if/when we return to that level, my net worth will rebound nicely....now only if it would do that!

 

[IBWino]

We're currently at our all-time high. Our net-worth lost about 20% by early March '09, but because I was shifting cash/bond assets into equities on the way down, we pretty much recoverd everything we had lost by the end of 2009. In January this year, I rebalanced back to our normal target AA. Also, since I'm still working, continuing contributions helped.

 

[IndependentlyPoor]

We are within spitting distance of our all time high. At some point I stopped including my emergency fund of iBonds in my portfolio net, and I am too lazy to go back and adjust for that. It is only like 4% anyway.

We are retired and making regular monthly withdrawals.

Our portfolio is a plain-vanilla index-fund 45/45/10 stock/bond/cash allocation.

I can't claim to have rebalanced on the way down. I was not nearly so brave. Downright lily-levered in fact. Didn't rebalance until the summer market had already regained much of its losses.

Actually, I have since rationalized my inaction and made it part of my written plan. I now have a lower limit on absolute bond holdings and will not execute a rebalance that takes me below that mark. This keeps the income stream more stable and at a point where we could live off of it if we had to.

 

[Gone4Good]

Peak May 2008
Low Feb 2009. Down 30.2% from May '08 (the true low was sometime mid March, but I don't have that exact number)
Now, up 11% from the May 2008 peak.

 

[IBWino]

I can't claim to have rebalanced on the way down. I was not nearly so brave. Downright lily-levered in fact. Didn't rebalance until the summer market had already regained much of its losses.

Still, it sounds like you've recovered well. I myself wouldn't have been that bold either if I were already retired. Having a few more working years ahead allowed for a bit of risk taking.

 

[FUEGO]

I track quarterly. And I include debt (like student loans and mortgage) and other non-portfolio assets (like house and cars) in my net worth.

June 30, 2008 was the previous high water mark. Net worth bottomed out 22% lower on March 31, 2009. Since March 31, 2009 net worth is up 106%. From the previous high point in June 2008, we are currently up 60%. The investment portfolio is at a point that would roughly fund 1/2 our desired ER spending at 4% SWR.

Still working and adding a lot to savings/investments, and constantly repaying debt. But 37% returns last year and 6% returns 1Q 2010 helped immensely (good results partially due to rebalancing into some risky stuff at the market bottoms in Nov 08 and Mar 09).

Here's a beautiful picture. Check out that awesome yellow line that represents our net worth (sorry folks, scale on the y axis is not included!). As I suspected at the time (and posted here frequently), the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009 ended up looking more like a blip than a Great Recession for my personal net worth. Unlike most ER's, I still have an income stream from working that lets me get a little more cocky...

 

[plex]

Low: January 31, 2009 (Down 43%)
High: Now (Up 18% from all-time high)

These are just investment returns, the actual amount is higher with contributions factored in, but it skews the numbers too much.

 

[Meadbh]

My all time high is now.

 

[REWahoo]

My all time high was a little over 40 years ago.

 

[bbbamI]

My all time high is now.

Mine was in 1978...there was this concert and I....

Our all time high is now as well.

 

[Uncle Drew]

Here's a beautiful picture. Check out that awesome yellow line that represents our net worth (sorry folks, scale on the y axis is not included!). As I suspected at the time (and posted here frequently), the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009 ended up looking more like a blip than a Great Recession for my personal net worth. Unlike most ER's, I still have an income stream from working that lets me get a little more cocky...

We track our networth monthly. We also have had (what I feel) is an impressive run in our networth since the bottom of 2/2009. Our networth is much higher now that it was prior to the market's downtown.

Our top line hasn't grown much over the last 3.5 years, as we have sold some investments both before the major dip and also on the way out of the trough. These funds were used to pay down our liabilities.

 

[Sue J]

We have been in emergency savings mode for about 2 years. DH expected to lose his job and it finally happened at the end of Jan. We're at our all time high of net worth, all in cash.

We didn't lose anything in the recession because we didn't have anything in the market. He's officially retiring on June 1, 2010. If things work out as planned we'll have monthly income and a small nest egg. I'd like to learn some investing basics and give it a try. It's always looked too much like gambling and I was afraid of losses.

 

[unclemick]

Lead sled dog - Target Retirement 2015. Been in ER so long, I forgot:

Am I supposed to look - or even care?

Folks! - you do know that Saints finally won their first Superbowl. There are things important in life.

heh heh heh - ok ok so I peak a little . After 16 yrs of ER you gotta spend some money cause I hear ya can't take it with you.

 

[easysurfer]

When I read about all in cash, my first reaction was "you must be brave to have it all in cash and none in the market." I remember back in Black Monday, October 1987. I had only started working a few years and didn't do any investing (had all my money in checking, savings and credit union accounts). During Black Monday several of the co-workers licking their wounds. They asked me, did I lose any in the market and I said, nope, don't own anything there.

 

[scrabbler1]

My all time high is now.

Same here.

I once kept track of my 401(k) every quarter and my taxable accounts every month. This meant that my combined holdings were kept track of every quarter. After I cleaned out my 401(k) and rolled it into a TIRA, I kept track of it every month because I received a statement every month. However, I continued to keep track of my combined holdings every quarter.

My high point of combined holdings was in September, 2007, before I surpassed it last month. This is despite paying out a chunk of money in taxes in 2009 when cashed in about $300k in company stock after I retired in 2008.

 

[ziggy29]

My all time high was a little over 40 years ago.

But enough about Woodstock...

 

[MichaelB]

My all time high was a little over 40 years ago.

If you can remember it, it couldn't have been that high

 

[freebird5825]

May 07 - Peak
Mar 09 - Trough

I'm still accumulating and I am too lazy to do the math to subtract the ongoing DCA and reinvested cap gains and dividends.
The good news is I am slowly creeping up on the May 07 peak value...just a little bit more.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

High was November 2007. I think I am about 10 percent off of the high with my stock funds. With the real estate(in PA and FL), who knows? I am not selling either home, so I it is not of any real concern to me at present. I still work, my salary is up so it doesn't keep me awake at night.

 

[Dawg52]

Including some inheritance money, I'm at an all time high. But backing that out, I'm down roughly 5% or so from 11/07. Not too bad considering I was going through a lot of med's in early 2009.

 

[W2R]

My all time high was in January, 2010, just before I bought my Toyota Venza. Had I not bought it, my current portfolio value (including bank account, Vanguard, and TSP) would be my all time high. Still, it's very close and gaining all the time.

What a wonderful upwards surge in the market we have seen during the past year!

 

[chinaco]

I have not calculated the exact amount in the last month... We have shoveled more $ into the pot over the last couple of years so I would need to back those $ out. But I roughly estimate that we are still off from the peak about about 15% (from Oct 2007 when we peaked).

 

[Lakedog]

Currently at an all time high - almost 15% above the value when I retired just over two years ago.

 

[donheff]

A hair short of the high but some of it was moved into real estate (paid off a $165K mortgage).

Edit: But we were adding to the pot until this year and still are not all the way back. Bottom line we took a hit!