My Personal Finance Journey

Personal finance observation, musing and decisions in a journey toward financial independence by 2020 with at least $3 million.


By Topics

Overall:
0. About (10)
1. My Progress (139)
2. Car & Home (107)
3. Credit (138)
4. Banking (33)
5. Saving (49)
6. Investing (308)
7. Taxes (89)
8. Spending (74)
9. Misc (97)
A. Archive (49)



MONTHLY ARCHIVE

Feb 2014 (3)
Jan 2014 (6)
Jan 2012 (1)
Apr 2011 (1)
Mar 2011 (1)
Feb 2011 (1)
Jan 2011 (1)
Dec 2010 (1)
Oct 2010 (1)
Sep 2010 (1)
Aug 2010 (1)
Jul 2010 (1)
Jun 2010 (1)
May 2010 (1)
Apr 2010 (1)
Mar 2010 (6)
Feb 2010 (2)
Jan 2010 (7)
Dec 2009 (3)
Feb 2009 (4)
Jan 2009 (8)
Dec 2008 (1)
Jun 2008 (2)
May 2008 (2)
Apr 2008 (5)
Feb 2008 (3)
Jan 2008 (15)
Dec 2007 (32)
Nov 2007 (6)
Oct 2007 (8)
Sep 2007 (9)
Aug 2007 (24)
Jul 2007 (2)
Jun 2007 (1)
May 2007 (3)
Apr 2007 (4)
Mar 2007 (4)
Feb 2007 (13)
Jan 2007 (6)
Dec 2006 (3)
Nov 2006 (7)
Oct 2006 (7)
Sep 2006 (6)
Aug 2006 (4)
Jul 2006 (10)
Jun 2006 (1)
May 2006 (3)
Apr 2006 (2)
Mar 2006 (6)
Feb 2006 (6)
Jan 2006 (3)
Dec 2005 (1)
Nov 2005 (9)
Oct 2005 (8)
Sep 2005 (13)
Aug 2005 (25)
Jul 2005 (16)
Jun 2005 (17)
May 2005 (19)
Apr 2005 (20)
Mar 2005 (24)
Feb 2005 (23)
Jan 2005 (36)
Dec 2004 (40)
Nov 2004 (34)
Oct 2004 (17)
Sep 2004 (21)
Aug 2004 (59)
Jul 2004 (37)
Jun 2004 (31)
May 2004 (29)
Apr 2004 (52)
Mar 2004 (49)
Feb 2004 (49)
Jan 2004 (31)
Dec 2003 (48)
Nov 2003 (52)
Oct 2003 (29)
Sep 2003 (8)
Aug 2003 (5)
Jul 2003 (2)
Jun 2003 (2)
May 2003 (5)
Apr 2003 (2)
Mar 2003 (2)
Feb 2003 (3)
Jan 2003 (29)



 

Monthly Review - August 2005 ($262,054, +$23,273)

Contributed by mm | September 7, 2005 10:35 AM PST

Simply put, strong income and spending control make August a truly terrific month. The monthly net worth increase of over $23,000 is, by far, the strongest showing in my complete history of personal finance tracking.

To some extent, this kind of stellar result is anticipated: most of my above-the-water stock options, and all stock awards, have a vest in this particular month, which contributes about $15,000 to my bottomline on an after-tax basis. Still, the rest of the monthly improvement comes from my regained saving mentality.

With another four months remaining in 2005, I am currently $13,000 away from my net worth goal for 2005 (and $21,000 to the stretch goal); the attainment of the annual (stretch) goal is almost a given. While I am not going to adjust the goal upwards -- setting a short-sighted goal for the next four months does not make much sense to me -- I'm all about beating the original goals by miles if it is all possible.

BALANCE SHEET RESULTS

(Please refer to definition of balance sheet line items.)

  1 Yr Ago 2-Mo Ago Last Month This Month Monthly Monthly
  Aug-04 Jun-05 Jul-05 Aug-05 Change Change %
Cash & Equivalent  $         4,508  $         5,712  $         2,341  $         1,611  $           (730) -31.2%
Saving  $       11,999  $       34,097  $       43,493  $       46,648  $         3,155 7.3%
Brokerage  $       15,866  $       13,418  $       13,604  $       14,625  $         1,021 7.5%
Roth IRA  $       15,481  $       17,019  $       16,891  $       16,941  $             50 0.3%
401(k)  $       20,675  $       57,103  $       61,273  $       64,505  $         3,231 5.3%
Stock Option  $         7,869  $       11,686  $       15,188  $       28,720  $       13,533 89.1%
ESPP  $         3,391  $         5,842  $         1,766  $         2,438  $            671 38.0%
Home Equity  $       72,374  $       80,891  $       81,724  $       82,609  $            884 1.1%
Other Assets  $       16,072  $       30,100  $       29,675  $       29,250  $           (425) -1.4%
Receivable (Payable)  $       15,193  $         3,423  $         4,809  $         4,514  $           (295) -6.1%
Reserve Funds  $        (4,021)  $        (6,642)  $        (7,018)  $        (7,429)  $           (411) 5.9%
Loans  $        (7,467)  $      (15,429)  $      (18,341)  $      (13,821)  $         4,520 -24.6%
Tax Liability  $        (3,083)  $        (6,101)  $        (6,624)  $        (8,556)  $        (1,933) 29.2%
Net Worth  $     168,857  $     231,119  $     238,781  $     262,054  $       23,273 9.7%
Liquidation Value  $     139,648  $     193,456  $     199,605  $     219,547  $       19,942 10.0%
IMPORTANT BALANCE SHEET MOVEMENT DISCUSSION

Cash and Savings: The $2,400+ monthly increase is mainly helped by the proceeds from my employee stock award (i.e. outright stock share grant from employer) and regular savings -- both also went to pay off some credit card debts from summer spendings (before they incur any interest).

401(k): Most of the $3,200-some increase is from my wife's payroll contribution -- it is the last major contribution for the year now that my wife has left the job. For the rest of the year, this line will fluctuate mostly due to investment gains except for the $300/month for the next few months from employer match to my contributions earlier this year.

Stock Option: With the newly vested options (mainly from a 2003 grant), value of my outstanding stock options almost doubled in the month. It is taking more than 10% of my net worth now, but given the fact that none of these stock options will expire until 2011, and I will very likely stay with the company in the foreseeable future, I will not take any proactive actions to deal with the options.

Loans: We paid off a lot of credit card balance during the month and the current balance includes about $13,000 in two 0% APR balance transfer deals.

Tax Liability: The monthly growth is tied to the increase in the stock option account, thanks to my accounting practice of recognizing future tax liabilities even before I cash out the options.


BRIEF DISCUSSION OF EXPENSES

The month of August also brought another record: our monthly household spending of $5,436 is the lowest for the trailing 12 months. After some serious cash burning in June and July (attributable to summer vacation and dentist bills), we finally got back to our normal spending level.


IMPORTANT PERSONAL FINANCE ISSUES IN MONTHS AHEAD

• The annual performance bonus from my employer will be paid out in mid September. Since I accrue some of the bonuses, it should not cause a spike in my net worth in September. Still, my bonus is exceeding my expectation, so that will definitely help somehow.

• My package for the overseas assignment is almost finalized. It is time to make some hard decisions and work on some yard cleaning (I mean it more than literally).

• I expect to finish my research on best tax strategy for sideline incomes, and take actions accordingly.

• I will make the donation to hurricane victims during the month.

• As usual, I will cash out my ESPP shares in the next few days to pocket the gains.

More PFBlog Articles You Might Find Interesting ...


This Post Has Received 3 Comments. Share Your Opinions Too.


Flexo Commented on September 7, 2005

Looks excellent, MM. Keep up the good work. It's good to hear stories of people appreciated by their employer.


The Dividend Guy Commented on September 8, 2005

Congratulations on your progress. Good motivation for me...


Jessy Commented on September 10, 2005

Yes, it's really good to hear stories of people appreciated by their employer. You can give good example and motivation to people! Congratulations and keep it up to date!



Read More ... 139 Posts In The Same Category










This page was last rebuilt at January 27, 2014 07:39 AM PST.
 

RSS FEED





PERSONAL FINANCE BLOGS I READ

Consumerism Commentary
Get Rich Slowly
My Money Blog
All Financial Matters
The Simple Dollar






.

Error 500 - Internal server error

Error 500 - Internal server error

An internal server error has occured!
Please try again later.



Copyright 2003-2014, PFBlog.com. All Rights Reserved. (Privacy Policy)