February 2010 Net Worth: More Growth

Another month in the books and another positive growth- 4.68% Not quite as good as last month but still growing. Last February my net worth was $35,410.64 that is a growth of around 65% or so. That is real encouraging to me! This is why I add these number every month, to see how my wealth is growing.

I started my taxes and it looks like I will be owing uncle sam this year with the new Making Work Pay Tax Credit. I will not go their because we are happy, but it will effect a lot of people not expecting to owe the government this year. So, the next couple of months might not be as good to us as these last few. I am also hoping that we do not see another downturn in the economy which could start to kick in later this year.
Lets break it down:

Cash & Savings: This category jumped this month and I actually thought I would have saved a little more than I did. I did have one of our vehicles worked on for around $400.00 which would have been nice to add. For the most part, this money grows from money directly transferred from paycheck to my money market. I do not see this money unless I have a big emergency. It is the money that we are saving for a downpayment on a house.

This bracket holds the funds for my down payment on house(which is pushed back until after the wedding), insurance, auto maintenance, Roth IRA(before I max it out), and vacation. This is why it can be a little deceiving, it also holds my monthly budget in it. It has about 13-15k sitting around as savings the rest are funds that are going to be used at some point over the year. The rest is used on a daily bases for covering expenses, rent, food, auto, etc...

Stocks/Brokerage: Stocks have been slowly growing over the past few months. I have bought some stocks I've been watching along with with some hedging. I bought some Exxon(XOM) and Chevron(CVX) stocks as a hedge for crude oil prices, which I see going up (I expect 100 a barrel in 2010). I drive around 40 miles to work everyday so gas is a big expense. I bought the stock while crude oil was around 76 a barrel. If crude oil goes down the stock goes down, but if it raises, my stocks hopefully will raise with it. I also have gold/silver and mining stocks and couple other random ones - (GLD)(SLV)(EGO)(AUY)(FAZ)(ZQK) I have also added on to my watch list (AVARF - Avalon Rare Metals Inc.)

As you can see I am heavy in commodities in my brokerage account. This is all based on my thought that over the next decade the best investments are going to actually be in hard assets. My Roth/IRA/401k are in pretty common index funds and mutual funds so I figure I can go more risky with brokerage. I believe these will out perform equities in the next decade and if nothing else I feel more comfortable with my portfolio diverse. I am bearish on the US Dollar and US Economy, I believe that trillion dollar deficits are not going bode well for us, citizens of the USA.

Retirement 401k: This braket is just me adding money to my 401k every month. Saw a nice little jump this month with the stock market. I'm not really checking on this bracket(daily/weekly) as it really long term and I just keep pumping money into it every paycheck.

Retirement IRA's: Not much growth here this month - I still have a big chunk of cash sitting on the sidelines which will hopefully be maxed out before April 15th. If I still think the market is going to correct itself I will keep it on the sidelines and just try and max out my fiancés and my Roth's next year. I am currently still waiting with cash on the sidelines - In this bracket I have all Vanguard Funds (VTSMX, VGSTX, VEIEX)

Debts and Liabilities - Vehicle under 10K!! Credit Cards done...

Credit Cards: This is just a car maintenance that I put on credit, it will be paid off before I am charged - I pay off any Credit Card debt monthly.

Car Loan: I am paying 4% APR on it so I am paying a little, but not a ton. Still looking to pay it off early-will probably be a goal this or next ear. I ended paying near $458.00 dollars in interest last year, but still just contemplating paying off early. We are still saving up for a house so not sure its in our best interest to get rid of our cash sitting to be debt free on my vehicle.

February was another great month considering how bearish I am on the economy, sovereign debt, and our government. Next few months are going to be a little crazy with all the wedding stuff with time and money so we will see how everything goes, would love to keep having months like this one.