It’s been 39 months since we set a goal to pay off the mortgage (on our condo) and to have a net worth of at least $1M by 2020. This is the 39th update on the progress of the goal. If you’re wondering why we set this goal, click here.
It feels good to have sold off the condo. The market was definitely a seller’s market at the time, and I got lucky with the timing on both of my listings going active mid-March. Now, it feels like the market has slowed down a little bit in a typically active month (May), but I believe it will pick up a little in the fall. Houses that were flying off the market at above list price just a couple months ago are surprisingly going through price reductions. At the same time, mortgage rates have dropped again, making this a decent time to be a buyer, at least in the northern Virginia (NoVA) market.
When we sold the condo, we got a wire for the equity in the condo minus fees. It turned out to be just over $250k. Most of it is now in a taxable account (individual brokerage account), and some of it was used to pay off a HELOC (unexpected kitchen remodel due to burst pipe) and a TSP loan (taken out to avoid PMI on our primary residence). I’ve deployed some of it in the stock market, but I am holding a larger emergency fund and holding some of it in a money market account. I think it will be good to have an opportunity fund in the next few years, either to invest in the stock market or in real estate or any solid investment opportunity. Vanguard Money Market Fund (VMFXX) pays 2.34% essentially risk-free.
I finished the first of seven courses in the UVA CFP program this month. I will be starting my second course this coming Wednesday. It’s on investments, which I am excited to learn more about. I’ve already read about 1/3 of the textbook, partly because I enjoy the material, but also as a time management measure as it looks like it will be a busy summer in real estate for me.
We also started sleep training our daughter a few days ago. We didn’t sleep train our son, so this will be interesting. I was against it before, but after talking to some people and researching it a little more, I decided I’ll try it out.
Here’s this month’s update:
Net worth calculation:
Total Assets: $1,072,036.35
Primary residence: $550,000
Cash and cash equivalents: $52,925.70
Investments (including retirement): $469,110.65
Total Liabilities: $365,440.46
Mortgage on Primary Residence: $365,440.46
Net worth = $1,072,036.35 – $365,440.46 = $706,595.89
All of our debt is mortgage debt on a 30-yr fixed 3.25% mortgage on our primary residence.
Net worth progress:
Tracking your net worth is a good way to assess your financial health and see how you’re doing each month. I use Personal Capital to help me track my net worth. I highly recommend it.
Net worth = assets – liabilities, or everything we own minus everything we owe. I’m not including our cars here, which are both paid off, to keep the calculation a little simpler. I am including an estimate of home equity.
I am using my knowledge as a realtor to provide estimates of value for our real estate.
Our net worth increased by $1,982.04 to $706,595.89.
| Date | Home equity | Investments | Cash | Net Worth |
| 2/19/2016 | $140,695 | $149,076 | $21,813 | $311,584 |
| 3/19/2016 | $145,519 | $164,791 | $23,512 | $333,822 |
| 4/18/2016 | $150,007 | $171,697 | $17,457 | $339,161 |
| 5/17/2016 | $153,000 | $171,305 | $21,672 | $345,978 |
| 6/20/2016 | $160,100 | $174,881 | $23,094 | $358,075 |
| 7/19/2016 | $162,000 | $185,621 | $27,689 | $375,311 |
| 8/22/2016 | $163,000 | $192,479 | $24,437 | $379,916 |
| 9/20/2016 | $261,403 | $144,694 | $3,657 | $409,754 |
| 10/27/2016 | $261,806 | $151,425 | $5,735 | $418,966 |
| 11/21/2016 | $262,855 | $155,877 | $10,364 | $429,096 |
| 12/19/2016 | $264,290 | $162,281 | $11,432 | $438,004 |
| 1/19/2017 | $285,534 | $172,862 | $8,751 | $467,147 |
| 2/17/2017 | $286,865 | $178,666 | $12,980 | $478,511 |
| 3/17/2017 | $286,718 | $181,893 | $18,413 | $487,023 |
| 4/19/2017 | $290,196 | $184,580 | $16,472 | $491,247 |
| 5/15/2017 | $290,941 | $189,092 | $11,453 | $491,487 |
| 6/19/2017 | $293,950 | $187,627 | $21,135 | $502,712 |
| 7/17/2017 | $301,391 | $196,288 | $19,292 | $516,971 |
| 8/17/2017 | $312,523 | $195,913 | $21,981 | $530,417 |
| 9/19/2017 | $320,769 | $200,956 | $16,914 | $538,639 |
| 10/19/2017 | $326,848 | $204,144 | $10,283 | $541,275 |
| 11/20/2017 | $328,010 | $210,841 | $11,490 | $550,340 |
| 12/19/2017 | $334,171 | $213,215 | $8,695 | $556,081 |
| 1/18/2018 | $335,335 | $216,656 | $8,074 | $560,064 |
| 2/20/2018 | $336,502 | $218,847 | $12,813 | $568,162 |
| 3/20/2018 | $337,672 | $223,416 | $16,135 | $577,223 |
| 4/19/2018 | $339,365 | $229,208 | $26,035 | $594,608 |
| 5/16/2018 | $346,063 | $235,332 | $22,790 | $604,185 |
| 6/19/2018 | $349,393 | $247,582 | $24,915 | $621,889 |
| 7/19/2018 | $355,604 | $251,277 | $25,325 | $632,207 |
| 8/20/2018 | $358,819 | $248,135 | $21,200 | $628,155 |
| 9/19/2018 | $366,555 | $247,659 | $17,269 | $631,483 |
| 10/19/2018 | $367,799 | $249,039 | $18,821 | $635,660 |
| 11/19/2018 | $370,187 | $252,190 | $20,452 | $642,829 |
| 12/19/2018 | $371,441 | $247,785 | $22,951 | $642,177 |
| 1/18/2019 | $372,698 | $261,805 | $15,612 | $650,115 |
| 2/19/2019 | $381,959 | $269,694 | $12,227 | $663,881 |
| 3/19/2019 | $415,207 | $272,318 | $4,209 | $691,734 |
| 4/22/2019 | $180,686 | $407,082 | $116,846 | $704,614 |
| 5/17/2019 | $184,560 | $469,911 | $52,925 | $706,596 |
Graphic: Canva / Jenny Hwang