Cash: $189
Kiva: $566
Vanguard Mutual Fund: $24442
Hesta Super Fund: $3336
Woodside Petroleum Shares: $1057
Car: $5825
Net Worth: $35,415
Losses in the share market reduced my net worth this month, as did a $1000 car engine repair bill. My Hesta fund seems to always have a constant balance, which is suspicious.
In spite of the losses, I made an income of approximately $2000 this month, so my overall net worth has only dropped a bit.
Showing posts with label reports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reports. Show all posts
01 October 2008
02 September 2008
Net Worth Report for August 2008
Cash: $136
Mutual Funds: $25,683
Superannuation Funds: $3,335
Car: $5,825
Kiva: $528
Net Worth: $35,507
Comments:
My net worth has increased by over $2200 this month, but I think this is misleading. My car has just suffered from a massive oil leak that has ruined the engine. The mechanic gave me two options: sell it and buy another car or fix everything for $1100. After talking with many people, I decided to fix the car because selling it would see me lose a lot of money because the buyers will factor in the stuffed engine. Add transaction costs like stamp duty and insurance and I will definitely be worse off. In order to get enough cash to pay my mechanic (he only deals with cash) I had to get a loan from my brother.
Mutual Funds: $25,683
Superannuation Funds: $3,335
Car: $5,825
Kiva: $528
Net Worth: $35,507
Comments:
My net worth has increased by over $2200 this month, but I think this is misleading. My car has just suffered from a massive oil leak that has ruined the engine. The mechanic gave me two options: sell it and buy another car or fix everything for $1100. After talking with many people, I decided to fix the car because selling it would see me lose a lot of money because the buyers will factor in the stuffed engine. Add transaction costs like stamp duty and insurance and I will definitely be worse off. In order to get enough cash to pay my mechanic (he only deals with cash) I had to get a loan from my brother.
01 August 2008
Net Worth Report for July 2008
Cash: $91
Mutual Fund: $23,448
Super Fund: $3,491
Car: $5,825
Kiva: $431
Net Worth: $33,286
Comments:
Not only do I have a normal streamline account with the Commonwealth Bank but I also have a cash management account with Commsec. This will allow me to purchase stocks. I also have a Paypal account and an Ebay account, which I used to buy $11 speakers for my Mp3 player because I want to be able to listen to my mp3s in my car without using headphones.
I increased the number of loans I make to Kiva, which meant my Australian dollars were converted to US dollars. Luckily, at this moment one Australian dollar buys 93 US cents, down from 98 US cents about a fortnight ago, which meant the Australian dollar has depreciated against the US currency, which means the value of my microloans have increased in terms of Australian dollars. I always tell people that even if you don't get any interest, you can achieve currency diversification with Kiva if you live outside the US.
My mutual fund balance went up, but don't be fooled. The stock market has been doing down and the only reason why there was an increase in value was because I worked longer hours and because I received half-yearly distributions of $1067 re-invested into the fund on 1 July 2008. This year I have made a capital loss.
My super fund is increasing even though the market is going down, which I suspect may be because it is actively managed. It could also be because I am working slightly more. The last time I checked my HESTA fund they were charging me contributions tax as well as insurance premiums. I am definitely going to try see if I can get a better deal at another super fund. I start my new job next year so it'll be interesting to see what kind of super fund my new employer gives me.
My grandma and co-workers are all telling me to buy a house as if it's something I've got to do. I've given up trying to convince them otherwise because I think it makes me sound arrogant or rebellious.
I am yet to fill out my tax papers. I am still waiting for my tax statement from Vanguard. Given that I've made capital losses on investments as well as donations to charities, I hope to get something from the ATO this year.
Mutual Fund: $23,448
Super Fund: $3,491
Car: $5,825
Kiva: $431
Net Worth: $33,286
Comments:
Not only do I have a normal streamline account with the Commonwealth Bank but I also have a cash management account with Commsec. This will allow me to purchase stocks. I also have a Paypal account and an Ebay account, which I used to buy $11 speakers for my Mp3 player because I want to be able to listen to my mp3s in my car without using headphones.
I increased the number of loans I make to Kiva, which meant my Australian dollars were converted to US dollars. Luckily, at this moment one Australian dollar buys 93 US cents, down from 98 US cents about a fortnight ago, which meant the Australian dollar has depreciated against the US currency, which means the value of my microloans have increased in terms of Australian dollars. I always tell people that even if you don't get any interest, you can achieve currency diversification with Kiva if you live outside the US.
My mutual fund balance went up, but don't be fooled. The stock market has been doing down and the only reason why there was an increase in value was because I worked longer hours and because I received half-yearly distributions of $1067 re-invested into the fund on 1 July 2008. This year I have made a capital loss.
My super fund is increasing even though the market is going down, which I suspect may be because it is actively managed. It could also be because I am working slightly more. The last time I checked my HESTA fund they were charging me contributions tax as well as insurance premiums. I am definitely going to try see if I can get a better deal at another super fund. I start my new job next year so it'll be interesting to see what kind of super fund my new employer gives me.
My grandma and co-workers are all telling me to buy a house as if it's something I've got to do. I've given up trying to convince them otherwise because I think it makes me sound arrogant or rebellious.
I am yet to fill out my tax papers. I am still waiting for my tax statement from Vanguard. Given that I've made capital losses on investments as well as donations to charities, I hope to get something from the ATO this year.
01 July 2008
Net Worth Report for June 2008
Age: 24
Cash: $155
Managed Funds: $22,852
Super Funds: $3,254
Car: $5,825
Kiva: $313
Net Worth: $32,399
Comments:
My net worth dropped by 2.26 per cent from last month. In dollar terms my net worth decreased by $753. There has been poor share market performance all over the world and especially in Australia. Now that the financial year is over, it is revealed that this year that had just past has been the worst for the Australian share market since the mid '80s.
I am surprised that my super fund is able to get positive returns this month. When I logged in to check my super fund balance I noticed that some funds seem to have negative balances (e.g. -$20) and this got me worried about what sort of fee structure my super fund manager has imposed on me. I have sent an e-mail to them asking about what is going on.
Cash: $155
Managed Funds: $22,852
Super Funds: $3,254
Car: $5,825
Kiva: $313
Net Worth: $32,399
Comments:
My net worth dropped by 2.26 per cent from last month. In dollar terms my net worth decreased by $753. There has been poor share market performance all over the world and especially in Australia. Now that the financial year is over, it is revealed that this year that had just past has been the worst for the Australian share market since the mid '80s.
I am surprised that my super fund is able to get positive returns this month. When I logged in to check my super fund balance I noticed that some funds seem to have negative balances (e.g. -$20) and this got me worried about what sort of fee structure my super fund manager has imposed on me. I have sent an e-mail to them asking about what is going on.
01 June 2008
Net Worth Report for May 2008
Age: 24
Assets
Cash: $313
Managed Fund: $23,993
Super Fund: $3,216
Car: $5,825
Kiva: $105
Liabilities
Credit Card: $300
Net Worth: $33,152
Comments
I put in $200 in my mutual fund a few days ago and it is not showing up in my managed fund. This is normal. Sometimes when I send the money to the fund manager it goes in the day after and other times it sometimes takes a week. This is why market timing using a traditional mutual fund is futile. If you want to time the market, consider using ETFs.
The larger-than-normal credit card debt comes from a dental checkup during which I had my teeth cleaned and x-rayed. The x-ray was painful because they made me bite on a piece of plastic. I have no idea why they did this. I also used credit card to pay for petrol. Petrol is about $1.60 per liter now, which is an all-time high. I hate it when people say that high petrol prices don't bother them because they can "afford it." I can afford it too but I just don't like to pay more. One of my friends said, "I wish petrol was higher. There are too many cars on the road. If you can't afford to drive, walk. By the way, I drive a V8." Instead of deterring people from driving large cars, high petrol prices seem to be attracting some types of people to large cars because of the exclusivity of driving a gas guzzler during times of high petrol prices.
A few weeks ago the All Ords was reaching for 6000 but then all of a sudden it went back down again. It is now at 5700 or so. When the All Ords was at 6000 I had about $24,000 in my managed fund. Now I have only $23,000. I notice that the downturn seems to have hit the Australian market more severely than it did the non-Australian (e.g. American) markets.
Assets
Cash: $313
Managed Fund: $23,993
Super Fund: $3,216
Car: $5,825
Kiva: $105
Liabilities
Credit Card: $300
Net Worth: $33,152
Comments
I put in $200 in my mutual fund a few days ago and it is not showing up in my managed fund. This is normal. Sometimes when I send the money to the fund manager it goes in the day after and other times it sometimes takes a week. This is why market timing using a traditional mutual fund is futile. If you want to time the market, consider using ETFs.
The larger-than-normal credit card debt comes from a dental checkup during which I had my teeth cleaned and x-rayed. The x-ray was painful because they made me bite on a piece of plastic. I have no idea why they did this. I also used credit card to pay for petrol. Petrol is about $1.60 per liter now, which is an all-time high. I hate it when people say that high petrol prices don't bother them because they can "afford it." I can afford it too but I just don't like to pay more. One of my friends said, "I wish petrol was higher. There are too many cars on the road. If you can't afford to drive, walk. By the way, I drive a V8." Instead of deterring people from driving large cars, high petrol prices seem to be attracting some types of people to large cars because of the exclusivity of driving a gas guzzler during times of high petrol prices.
A few weeks ago the All Ords was reaching for 6000 but then all of a sudden it went back down again. It is now at 5700 or so. When the All Ords was at 6000 I had about $24,000 in my managed fund. Now I have only $23,000. I notice that the downturn seems to have hit the Australian market more severely than it did the non-Australian (e.g. American) markets.
02 May 2008
Net Worth Report for April 2008
I am now reporting my net worth at the 1st of each month instead of, say, the 15th, which is what I used to do. As a result, the increase for this month may seem smaller. This is all artificial.
Cash: $717
Stocks: $22,967
Retirement: $3,130
Cars: $5,825
Kiva: $107
Net Worth: $32,746
This is looking good because my goal for this month was $31,560, and I am beating that comfortably!
My aim is to have a net worth of $40,000 by the end of this year. In 2009, I plan to get a second job and then increase my savings rate from $500 per fortnight to $2,300 per fortnight.
The recent good performance mainly comes from what looks like a rebound in the global stock market. I should say that in the bad moments I lost up to $2,000 in the stock market. Last year in November the All Ords, which measures the performance of the Australian stock market, was at highs of 6600. It dropped to about 5200 at the beginning of this year and now it seems to be rebounding to 5700.
The performance of my stocks depends mostly on the Australian stock market but it is also affected by other stock markets around the world. Nevertheless, the world's stock markets seem to move roughly in tandem in the short-term.
When I say I lost $2,000 in the stock market, that can be misleading. What I mean is that the value of my stocks went down by $2,000. However, I never sold any stocks or mutual fund units and over time it went back up again, so I have recovered some of those losses. Did I really lose the money then? Some people argue that I did because I could have sold stocks or units before the downturn and then purchased them when prices bottomed. This assumes that I have the psychic abilities to actually pick when prices will peak and bottom. If I had these psychic abilities, why not play the lottery and win million of dollars instantly. If we use the argument that I could have picked the right times to get out and into the stock market, why can't this ability be used to say that all of us are losing millions every second because we could have chosen the right numbers for the lottery?
This little thought experiment shows that it's best to not be fussed when the mutual fund statement report says your investment performance for the last financial year is negative. There is nothing wrong with this.
17 April 2008
Net Worth Report for March 2008
Assets
Cash $654
Stocks $21,844
Super $3,130
Car $5825
Kiva.org $107
Liabilities
None
Net Worth
$31,560
Comments
Many people are taking advantage of high-interest rate savings accounts (e.g. BankWest offers 9 per cent). Nevertheless, even during these volatile times I still put my money in my mutual fund for investment mainly in stocks. I worry that if the markets recover and all my money is in a savings account then I will miss out.
Cash $654
Stocks $21,844
Super $3,130
Car $5825
Kiva.org $107
Liabilities
None
Net Worth
$31,560
Comments
Many people are taking advantage of high-interest rate savings accounts (e.g. BankWest offers 9 per cent). Nevertheless, even during these volatile times I still put my money in my mutual fund for investment mainly in stocks. I worry that if the markets recover and all my money is in a savings account then I will miss out.
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