Now it's finally time to put together ane valuation of my 2004 personal finance performance. In the last couple of weeks, I had reviewed my progress against my Year 2004 Financial Objectives. Below is the verdict:

1. Net Worth:

Goal = $174,000
Result = $195,522
Grade: A

Net worth growth is certainly the highlight of the year. My year-end net worth of $195,522 represents $62,397 year-over-year growth, or 50% more than the original growth goal of $41,416 ($174,000 - $132,584). The impressive annual growth even surpassed the stretch goal of $47,416 annual growth ($180,000 - $132,584) by more than 30%.

2. Total Return on Investable Cash (TRIC)

Goal = 10% return on liquid assets
Result = -2.8%
Grade: D

TRIC ended up at -2.8% with a loss of $1,919 on an average investment cash pool of $67,799 throughout the year (started at $55,904 in January and ended at $98,608 on December 31). The performance is deterred by subpar portfolio performance (below).

3. Relative ARR
Goal = 3 percentage points more than S&P 500 performance
Result = 20 percentage points lower than S&P500 performance
Grade: F

4. Absolute ARR
Goal = 10%
Result = -11.40%
Grade: F

Admittedly, my portfolio performance in 2004 sucks. I learned my lesson and look forward to a full recovery next year.

5. Expense Saving %

Goal = 2.0% saving against $59,000 annual expense budget.
Result = $57,500 after adjustments or 2.5% savings.
Grade: B+

I considered I did a pretty good job to contain my cost structure for the year. It's a B+ instead of A or A- because I didn't achieve of the stretch goal of 5% savings.

6. CFI Saving $

Goal = $800 savings
Results = $1,545 savings
Grade: A+

Another highlight! With less than 20 hours of work, I was able to take advantage of great deals or slash some fat from my cost structure. The $1,545 saved doubles my 2003 CFI saving of $752. I believe an A+ is well deserved.

So, with one A+, one A, one B+, one D and two Fs, my grade for the year 2004 ended up at C+. Not a great year, but I can take the comfort that my net worth grew more than I anticipated, and I am still on the right track to my million dollar plan.