Net Worth Update – December 2016

The year 2017 has started, which means it is time for the six monthly check of how the net worth balance book is going. Having just finished looking at how my 2016 goals went, the details are hot off the press. So to see what the last six months have provided, read on.

Given the ASX has moved from around 5310 to 5720 over the six months, it would be a fair guess that the share portion of my holdings did well. They defiantly performed better than the previous six months which was just above flat.

I have also been moving more money into assets that yield a higher rate of return than normal high interest savings accounts. As a side note ING Direct is currently the best I can find, having just increased their rate to 3%. That move makes then the only one that doesn’t have a rate that starts with a 2 (or worse, a 1). They also pay both you and me $75 if you use that link in the next month or so.

Net Worth – December 2016 – $1.28m

Initially $1.28 million looked like a large increase over the last six months; and it was! I had to double check my figures to make sure I hadn’t got something wrong in my calculations. While the last half was an increase of about $36k, this half saw things grow a massive $91k! That gives a 2016 year total of $127k. I don’t think I could have hoped for more back in Jan 2016!

This blew by 2016 goal out of the water. Looks like my two secret weapons paid off.

Asset Distribution

Onto the graphs, and first up we have the asset distribution graph.

Things keep moving in the right direction. The blue line (basically the house) is making up less and less of the total net worth. As this keeps going down I will be closer and closer to hitting my target. My target does keeps changing, and will probably only stabilise once I get closer. So at the moment, today, my target goal is something like:

• 10-20% cash
• 30-50% shares (including both super and actual shares/bonds)
• 30-40% property (this will probably vary quickly as even a deposit is normally a large amount)
• 10% X-Factor investments (this area is currently not currently tracked, but is around 3%)

Unfortunately I missed getting the green line over the 10% mark, but it will make it. My previous post had the breakdown below. It looks like things have got better:

June 2016 Targets:

• 40% property (15% over)
• 40% equities
  • 20% super (about right)
  • 20% shares & bonds (15% under)
• 20% fixed interest and cash (about right)

December 2016 Targets:

• 40% property (12% over)
• 40% equities
  • 20% super (about right, as not all is equities)
  • 20% shares & bonds (12% under)
• 20% fixed interest and cash (about right, a tad low but close enough)

Net Worth Totals

The second graph is the one with the actual numbers and net worth (the black line). They are all rounded, so don’t get too hung up over the details – we are thinking big picture here.

There is one thing I enjoy about this graph more than anything. It is akin to the idea of having multiple income streams (not that everyone likes that idea). Each of those four, and bottom three specially, lines has grown over the last six months. Each of them, has a nice gentle upwards curve to them. On their own, each doesn’t look like that much. The secret is in combining them…

A small increase in a number of areas, is equivalent to a larger increase in one area. It sounds simple, but having each of those three lines grow a little bit has given that black line a much more noticeable boost that I had expected. Over the last year I have been looking at the share purchases I have made and wondering why they always felt so small. The totals always felt like they weren’t growing fast enough. Stepping back and looking at the bigger picture gives rise to a nice surprise that was better than I had hopped for.

Well, I hope you enjoyed that update. Let me know how you are going in the comments below, and have a look at what it would mean for your potential early retirement.