Hooray! When our year-end brokerage statement arrived I was excited to notice that the sum of our non-retirement assets (stock, mutual funds, checking and savings accounts) are within $2k of equalling the balance on our mortgage. It's just so cool to think that in theory we could cash everything in and pay off the mortgage -- not that I plan to, as I believe in letting those investments grow. So I pulled up the networth screen to enjoy the feeling, and realized I had never entered our home as an asset, only the liability of the mortgage. When I added a reasonable estimate of our home equity based on recent sales of the same model house in my neighborhood, the bottom-line networth topped $1,000,000! We're technically millionaires!
Now this may not last, as home prices have been dropping a bit lately, so I expect to dip back under the $1M mark again. But it's a great feeling while it lasts. Our networth is basically 1/3 home equity, 1/3 IRA/ROTH, and 1/3 liquid assets.
I've been doing some calculations based on The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Rich. We need to increase our savings by $200/month to hit our Target Savings Goal, which is the requirement for meeting Wealth Level One. On the other hand, last year the non-retirement funds generated 2 times the Target Savings Goal in returns, so that puts us in the middle of Wealth Level Two. My goal is to reach Wealth Level Three so that we can afford to do a lot of travelling.
We hit the million mark!
January 29th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
January 29th, 2007 at 11:41 pm 1170114062
January 30th, 2007 at 12:50 am 1170118256
January 30th, 2007 at 04:20 am 1170130856
January 30th, 2007 at 01:24 pm 1170163440
Congratulations on a job well done!! Keep going!! ...and keep sharing your methods with us who are climbing the ladder behind you!!
You guys are all inspirational to those of us who are trying to turn around a lifetime of poor financial habits.
January 30th, 2007 at 02:52 pm 1170168750
I think 90% of our wealth is home equity. But I plan to have enough money in the bank to pay the mortgage in 5-6 years when I am your age - make it more 50/50. We'll see if life likes my plan - LOL.
Our equity will definitely put us up to a million in our lifetime. The bane of such a pricey state - but it pays off if you get in early...