Friday, December 02, 2016

Networth updates in 2016

Usually I'll do a networth update around end of the year, so with few blinks of an eye, we're here again after 1 yr. This year is a fantastic year for me, but I'll talk more about that when I reflect on the year 2016 and how grateful I am for the ups and also the downs. The last time I did my networth was back in 7th Dec, 2015, here.


There are so many ways to calculate networth, but I've always done my this way. It's assets minus liabilities. So, the assets part include:

1. Cash in my wallet
2. All the money in my various bank accounts
3. Cash holdings under mattress and milo tins at home
4. Money in my paypal account
5. All the money in the 3 accounts in my CPF
6. Money market fund account
7. Marked to market investment portfolios
8. Surrender cash value of whole life insurance plans

I do not include the value of my 5 room flat that I'm currently staying in, and also the value of the family car that I own.


Under liabilities:

1. Credit card bills
2. My portion of the HDB mortgage loan (total remaining loan amount divided by 2)

This year I finished the car loan of my previous car and paid up in full for my next car, so I do not have any existing car loans, unlike last year.




So, here are the tabulations:

2014: Assets: $226k, Liabilities: $220k, Networth: $6k
2015: Assets: $295k, Liabilities: $207k, Networth: $87k
2016: Assets: $351k, Liabilities: $188k, Networth: $163k

Compared to 2015, I increased by assets by about 56k. The increase in assets mainly comes from work. A tiny percentage comes from dividends and market returns of my portfolio. This is pretty in line with what I had planned, which is to add a minimum of 50k to my assets every year.

I had also decreased by liabilities by 19k. The bigger drop in liabilities is likely due to my car loan, which I had entirely paid up for. If only this is for my flat!

With that, my networth increased by 76k, which is slightly bigger than expected. This figure doesn't mean much for me, so it's just a number that tells me I'm on the right track. It had been a long while since my networth was nearly 0 in 2014!

The projection for 2017 is that my networth will increase by another 60-70k, so that will bring my networth to be higher than my liabilities. That means my assets will be twice that of my liabilities by next year. Since my liabilities consists mainly of my mortgage loan divided by 2, that means I can choose to cash out everything and pay off my HDB entirely if I chose to. But of course, I won't do that. It's still a thought though, haha



17 comments :

FuzzyView said...

Well done LP! So jelly of you... let's all continue owards on the road to FI!

Createwealth8888 said...

Road to debt free is wide open. :-)

Singapore Man of Leisure said...

LP,

Your story can be good benchmarking for those who prefer to be Ronin Freelancer like you ;)

No corporate medical and dental benefits, no CPF, no manager above, no staff below.

Hand stop; mouth stop.


Not everyone is suitable for the entrepreneur or corporate route.

I guess more will embark on the freelancer route due to the changing economy ;)



la papillion said...

Hi temperament,

Haha, it'll still be xx years away, so better not see it too closely, otherwise it'll be like watching water boil :)

la papillion said...

Hi Fuzzyview,

Thanks! You too :)

la papillion said...

Hi bro8888,

Yeah! You're my role model in this aspect :)

la papillion said...

Hi SMOL,

Indeed, I hope I can show others there's another way out too :) It's true more and more people will become freelance when they realised the present system just isn't working well for them.

Half expecting you to poke me on my valuation criteria for networth haha! Grasshopper gives up hope already ah? Let the butterfly do what he wants :D

Singapore Man of Leisure said...

LP,

If you want to be "conservative" in your calculation of networth, so be it!


I include property as part of my networth since I have a citizen of the world mindset.

It makes benchmarking easier if I uproot myself to another city ;)


la papillion said...

Hi SMOL,

Haha, agree to disagree :)

simplefolk said...

wow! that up 87%! envy leh! hoping to learn new tricks from you.
4. Money in my paypal account ~ are there any advantages for leaving monies in paypal? e.g transferring to oversea bank

5. All the money in the 3 accounts in my CPF
Actually I only include OA because I think SA & MA will eventually end up in CPF life FRS & Medisave Life. Am I missing anything here?

la papillion said...

Hi Simplefolk,

Haha, 87k right, not 87% :)

Regarding the money in paypal, it's just some money that some advertisers paid me. A few hundred dollars there accumulated over the years, in various currencies. Sometimes I'll use it to buy some gadgets etc. No hacks over this for me haha

The reason why I included all the money in CPF is because firstly, there isn't a lot of it. I've a lot more money outside of cpf than inside, which I think is not common esp if you're employed. I also actively contributed to the cpf, so those are really money to me (some pple think cpf is not their money lol). If I don't wish to contribute to cpf, then those money would be in my assets as cash!

I think some pple calculated the % of their networth which is liquid. Then perhaps SA and MA shouldn't be included. OA is somewhat more liquid than the other two, so it really depends on what you want to achieve in your networth computation.

yeh said...

I also have positive net worth:)

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the increasing net worth! My wife and I have taken the corporate route to building wealth but we have always wondered what's it like on the self-employed side. Great reading your blog for us to consider switching paths in the future!

la papillion said...

Hi yeh,

Aiyo, I'll be surprised if you have -ve networth! LOL!

la papillion said...

Hi TFS,

Ah, you guys is thinking about self employment? Haha, I tot you all had wonderful jobs :) But do drop me a message if you are serious about it. I can help you reduce the learning curve :)

simplefolk said...

la papillion,
haha ok :)
I'm those folks that don't consider CPF my money unless I can touch / control
For OA, yes 55 onwards but after subtracting portion for cpf life :(
For SA & MA, I can't even touch them (not even liquid!) as they will be used to fund cpf life & medisave life :(

la papillion said...

Hi simplefolk,

Haha, then you are looking more at liquid networth :) It's okay I guess, as long as it make sense to you :)