How did you do in the Year of the Pandemic, money-wise?

[use2betrix]

Last year I went from $294k-$544k in saving and investments. This year I went from $544k-$790k so far. Pretty similar.

I spent a ton more this year, but also made a decent chunk more. I also think I’m making more in the market this year. I had a huge emergency fund and I dropped around $80k into VTSAX in March/April and then continued to dump in another $12k/mo for the next 4-5 months.

Pandemic aside, this has been a great and enjoyable year for me. I’m 32 and nearly every year I look back and reflect and usually find that each year has been better than the last. I’m sure some day that will change, hopefully not soon.

[ChpBstrd]

Side question: Does the fact that the federal reserve pumped up the stock market and our net worths leave you with a feeling that 2020 was a good year overall?

Looking beyond the stock market, tens of millions lost their jobs and the US suffered as many preventable Covid deaths as would have happened if a nuclear weapon annihilated one of our cities. Many people were killed in riots and protests, while the lack of government leadership shook people's faith in democracy. The national debt hit $218k per taxpayer. Personally, I get the sense that I earned a small amount of money while my society slipped closer to collapse, like getting an insurance settlement from the fires in Nero's Rome.

[Queen Frugal]

I am self employed. My gross for 2020 will be less than for 2019. 2021 will be awful because there is a big lag time on when I get paid. My pipeline of work is slim right now and I am mostly a homeschooling parent with limited ability to work anyway.

Having said that, I was able to take advantage of the paycheck protection program this year. It looks like I'll also get some tax breaks due to COVID-related quarantines. Overall, the government helped me out a ton. That put me on par with my income for 2019. But still... 2021 will be awful.

On the other hand, I feel very privileged to be able to stay at home with my child and homeschool right now. I have enough cushion to ride out whatever comes in 2021. I have spent extra time this year perfecting contributions to my retirement account, taking advantage of tax breaks, refinancing my mortgage to get rid of PMI. I am overall very happy with my progress this year.

[MudPuppy]

Side question: Does the fact that the federal reserve pumped up the stock market and our net worths leave you with a feeling that 2020 was a good year overall?

Looking beyond the stock market, tens of millions lost their jobs and the US suffered as many preventable Covid deaths as would have happened if a nuclear weapon annihilated one of our cities. Many people were killed in riots and protests, while the lack of government leadership shook people's faith in democracy. The national debt hit $218k per taxpayer. Personally, I get the sense that I earned a small amount of money while my society slipped closer to collapse, like getting an insurance settlement from the fires in Nero's Rome.

I don’t feel any particular way about the stock market being “pumped up.” It isn’t jokingly called the rich people feelings index for nothing.

About the second paragraph... yeah. I wish I could disagree, but yeah.

[NotJen]

Side question: Does the fact that the federal reserve pumped up the stock market and our net worths leave you with a feeling that 2020 was a good year overall?

Looking beyond the stock market, tens of millions lost their jobs and the US suffered as many preventable Covid deaths as would have happened if a nuclear weapon annihilated one of our cities. Many people were killed in riots and protests, while the lack of government leadership shook people's faith in democracy. The national debt hit $218k per taxpayer. Personally, I get the sense that I earned a small amount of money while my society slipped closer to collapse, like getting an insurance settlement from the fires in Nero's Rome.

I mean, if everything collapses next year from the market being propped up, or other consequences, then I'll report "2021 significantly worse than 2020" on next year's money-wise poll.

Emotionally, 2020 was a terrible year for me.  That doesn't change the financial reality of my situation for this year.

[TheFrenchCat]

Savings wise we did quite a bit better, mostly because we had a ton of health care expenses last year that we didn't have this year.  And because we didn't pay for full time preschool for several months due to it being shut down.  I don't really track how our investment accounts change on a yearly basis, but I think they're higher than this time last year. 

Of course, I'd rather my uncles and so may other people didn't die alone the way they did.  But I've done what I can to control that (distancing, masks, etc.) so I try not to feel too guilty about it.  I don't know.  This was probably the most externally depressing year of my life.

[the_fixer]

Slightly worse but still grateful...

Our NW has gone up due to housing price’s, market returns and our continued investing.

Still have our jobs but several things have had an impact on our ability to make our goals this year.

- No raise this year and already told no raises next year at my job

- No OT. I typically average about 12% overtime paid at 1 3/4 so that is a big hit

- lost out on paid food while traveling and at work. Typically 3 days a week they buy my breakfast and lunch while traveling. Other days I can vulture food that is left over from training classes for lunch so I am spending more on food

- power and water bills have gone up significantly due to working from home and being here 24x7

- We are spending more on groceries since I do not shop the sales as much I just typically buy what we need when it is available. I have also been splurging on more treats thinking that it will help distract from the pandemic drudgery

- washing machine and dish washer both broke at the beginning of pandemic so that was a big expense

- transportation costs are up. Wife used to take the buss for free or ride her bike to work almost exclusively now she has to drive to work so she can eat her lunch in the car. I am not driving my company car so spending more on gas.

- I have purchased food for my mom and uncle at the beginning of the pandemic when her work was shutdown and I was trying to keep them out of the stores.

- we have given more stuff to random people this year in need

We have saved money in other areas such as not taking a big trip, eat out as much and etc but it looks like I will miss our savings goals by about 3k this year.

With that said we are so incredibly blessed and joyful that we have a place to live,  jobs that we have been able to keep and less stress due to being FI.


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[MissPeach]

I kept my job and kept putting money away as before but did buy a house this year so that was a huge cost. On the plus side I was heavily invested in NASDAQ for years before I found MMM and didn't want to take the tax hit in my taxable account. I needed it for the down payment when it was peaking so that worked out well for me.

I would say my spending initially was down for everything except food. I do better being able to buy small amounts at a time but with all the lines for stores where I live it doesn't make any sense to spend hours grocery shopping per week. Later in the week home improvement expenses crept up as there were a lot of little things that needed to be worked on when I moved in which happens with a new house.

[Sandi_k]

Money-wise, we did well enough.

- Investments are up more than 10% for the year. Our planning assumptions are 5% increases in investments, year-over-year, so we've essentially gained two years of expectations this year.

We're now at 17x of what we want for our annual income from investments. This time last year, we were at 15x.

- Net worth is up ~ 8%.

No relatives or close friends have died of Covid, but we have people in our extended network who have died. Several friends/family got the virus, but none were hospitalized.

I haven't lost my job, but I'm working from home 80% now. Merits are frozen for this year, and next year as well, I suspect. Furloughs are starting for calendar year 2021, and I am expecting a 4% salary cut for the year.

Very, very lucky thus far.

[Tigerpine]

I was furloughed for 3 weeks this spring and early summer.  No raise this year, either.  But on the flipside, DW and I have been WFH since March.  So we saved a lot in commuting costs.  Also, our 401(k) policies were left unchanged.

Overall, we did quite well financially this year.  We had a couple of big ticket expenses, but we ultimately were able to pay for them through cashflow and planning ahead.  Thanks to last month's returns, we've met and slightly exceeded our goals for the year.

Compared to 2019, we'll probably do better this year in absolute terms.  However, we're basically on track for our pre-Covid goals, so in that sense we did about the same as last year.  We're trying to prepare for 2021 now.  Hopefully we can stay on track.

[MrThatsDifferent]

I did...well. Very lucky and hope things stay that way until I hit my goals.

[JSMustachian]

2019 was a perfect year for us in terms of finances. Huge savings rate, crazy stock market returns, and $190,000 NW increase.

Even with the market crash 2020 appears to be even better. $200,000 NW increase in 11 months. That was even with us doing a new roof ($6000). We dumped everything we could into the market when everything tanked.

We are 3.5 years into our FIRE journey and it seems to get easier every year. We feel very fortunate to make it through COVID with minimal impact on our finances.

[Kepler]

Suspect I also misinterpreted this - I answered "a bit worse", meaning "my wealth increased by more in 2019 than it did in 2020", but my net worth in 2020 is still higher than my net worth in 2019 - it's only that the rate of increase slowed down a bit (and for reasons unrelated to COVID - I took a lower-paying job deliberately, knowing it would reduce our savings rate).

[OtherJen]

Side question: Does the fact that the federal reserve pumped up the stock market and our net worths leave you with a feeling that 2020 was a good year overall?

Looking beyond the stock market, tens of millions lost their jobs and the US suffered as many preventable Covid deaths as would have happened if a nuclear weapon annihilated one of our cities. Many people were killed in riots and protests, while the lack of government leadership shook people's faith in democracy. The national debt hit $218k per taxpayer. Personally, I get the sense that I earned a small amount of money while my society slipped closer to collapse, like getting an insurance settlement from the fires in Nero's Rome.

No. This was a terrible year both for society and personally. I’ve lost three relatives and a pet since April. My dad was diagnosed with cancer in January. We’re worried about all the people and small businesses struggling in our community, the hospital workers facing a thankless battle, and the election officials whose lives are being threatened.

But husband’s job is more secure than ever, with opportunities for overtime, and I’ve had two promotions with pay bumps. We’d be doing much better financially this year than last year even if we had no money in the stock market. (And in fact, we haven’t made the investment returns that others are describing because we sank a lot of cash into the emergency fund, as we fully expected husband to be unemployed and for me to still be freelancing and having work dry up at this point. We’re shocked as hell that the opposite has happened.)

[lutorm]

NW appears to have gone up about 67% so far, so ridiculously well.

[SaucyAussie]

2019 I had a 140K increase in NW and 2020 is looking like a 170K increase so I said "Significantly Better".

The Pandemic caused me to cancel some major travel which allowed me to exceed my savings goal.  But the majority of the increase is thanks to the strong market (so luck).

[BZB]

I'm doing much better financially because I started a new job in January that was a significant pay increase and is work from home. The increased savings plus money from an inheritance is putting me within reach of a future home purchase I did not think I would ever be able to do last year. My expenses are generally lower because of working from home, cooking all meals from scratch, and no socializing. Even my electric bill is lower this year because the landlord put new siding on the place last year.
Psychologically, it's been rough, but this question was about money.

[Omy]

I picked the middle option because our net worth is just a bit above this time last year. However, it's super hard to compare years since we FIREd in August 2019. The fire hose of cash stopped, our expenses have been way less than projected, our tenants have been able to pay every month. If we were comparing apples to apples and still had big paychecks coming in, I probably would have picked the 2nd option.

[Rosy]

2020 we did well financially - exceeded our goals. We feel lucky.
My stimulus payment went to help family and we doubled our usual contributions to local charities.
Mr. R's job is secure and we will receive a profit-sharing check around Christmas.

My mom died and I couldn't go be with her or fly there for the funeral due to covid restrictions both here and in Germany. It made handling her funeral arrangements difficult and made me live on Euro time for three weeks, but saved on travel expenses.
I also benefitted from an unexpected occurrence which saved me $8K. 
The garden is what kept me sane staying at home for months on end.

Expenses overall were the same but due to covid, we spent differently, in different places.
All our appliances failed this year so we spent money on (overdue) replacements which were partially covered by a bonus and our bloated EF so it didn't really impact our budget any.

[Tester]

Not a lot of decrease in spending.


But, my 401k is killing it, 17% rate of return....
My individual trading account even more, around 80%.

Good signs:
401k total value, 178k, started putting money in this in 2015.
Contributions this year: 19148 personal, 3079 employer match.
Change in market value, 25800.... More than the contributions, really nice to see this, it is the first sign I am finally doing the right thing.

Personal:
Total value
12300, up 5500 over the last year :-):-):-).
No trading, just buying plug power for several years...
Looking to rebalance more towards vti and iwn.


I was joking that I only need a few years at this rate of return.

Other things, around 140k equity in the house, bought this year.
Got an 30k theoretical increase in value since bought, but contributed to "losing" around 100k usd in rsus as I sold some for the downpayment and then they got up by around 50%.

Other than that, managed to not sell as many rsus as last years which means I will get to around 90k in vested shares in 20 days.

All in all, the work started in 2015 (first time putting money to work while sleeping) starts to pay off.
If I can keep it at relatively the same rate (440k net worth increase in the last 6 years) I should get to the 7 figures net worth in the next 6 years.

Even better if I manage to reduce spending...

For now I am relstively close to increase my income by around 20%, if I get my mojo back to perform well for 4 more years I should be able to take the dreamed sabbatical...

Enough ranting, I  still stressed that I don't have enough to secure things yet, although in theory I could almost coast FIRE now?

400 starting stash for 23 years looks relatively fine for retiring at 65....
Still dreaming of being able to at least get to part time in 4-5 years, my son will be 13 then...

[RetirementDreaming]

Up $200k+ for 2020. 2019 was better.

Same for me.

[seattlecyclone]

Everything is great from a financial perspective. I FIREd in mid-2019. Our net worth is up a six-figure amount from the beginning of 2020, but it's a smaller increase than we had last year. Our income is way down as well, as was always the plan. So...total stash is up, but the magnitude of the increase and amount of income are both down. I answered "a bit worse" though I could easily argue that "a bit better" is also accurate.

[Tempname23]

2019 I was up 5.5%
2020 to December I'm up 17%.
 I'll be withdrawing money from retirement accounts soon to cover next years expenses.
 That will be about $77K, I have a big tuition payment.  That will put me back to 12% NW increase after I fund next years expenses..
 I still have 27.5% of the expense money I started 2020 with, and only December to go, so expenses were lower than planned for.
 Financially, I'm thrilled with 2020, but will be glad when Covid is over

[achvfi]

2019 I was up 5.5%

Thats very interesting. What were you invested in 2019 vs 2020?

[StarBright]

Suspect I also misinterpreted this - I answered "a bit worse", meaning "my wealth increased by more in 2019 than it did in 2020", but my net worth in 2020 is still higher than my net worth in 2019 - it's only that the rate of increase slowed down a bit (and for reasons unrelated to COVID - I took a lower-paying job deliberately, knowing it would reduce our savings rate).

^ me too.

But ugh - what a year. And financial growth at what cost? As my husband said, we'd give away our entire year's worth of gains to see a national covid plan (could have supplied N95s to everyone in the country!), and to see the separated children reunited with their families.

[freedomfightergal]

Side question: Does the fact that the federal reserve pumped up the stock market and our net worths leave you with a feeling that 2020 was a good year overall?

Looking beyond the stock market, tens of millions lost their jobs and the US suffered as many preventable Covid deaths as would have happened if a nuclear weapon annihilated one of our cities. Many people were killed in riots and protests, while the lack of government leadership shook people's faith in democracy. The national debt hit $218k per taxpayer. Personally, I get the sense that I earned a small amount of money while my society slipped closer to collapse, like getting an insurance settlement from the fires in Nero's Rome.

I saw this post & thought - YES EXACTLY!!  And realized you're the same person that I did this on another post!!  lol. great to read I'm not the  only one thinking the way I do ;)

[Loretta]

I went with a bit better.  I have paid more toward my car note and my mortgage than the minimum dues the last few months of 2020.   I think my TSP balance is better today but my nerves can’t stand to check it too frequently.  I will attempt to take advantage of my HSA more in 2021 vice using it for immediate reimbursements like an FSA. 

[Laserjet3051]

Substantially better. Got a higher paying job, moved from a VHCOL to a LCOL area thus reducing expenses dramatically, went from renter to homeowner and am now building equity, plus investments have done well thus far, especially my health care sector tilt. I did not panic sell, focused buying in the lows of March/April seems to have worked thus far. Being an experienced professional in late stage drug development was key to this story. Had I been a restauranteur, this would have ended very differently.

[frugalnacho]

I did better.  From Dec 2018 to Dec 2019 my net worth increased $117k.  From Dec 2019 to Dec 2020 my net worth increased $175k.   My net worth is $292k higher than 2 years ago.   $49k of that is my home, the other $243k is investments. 

[YK-Phil]

2019 ended on a sour note after my truck and my camper were stolen in Calgary, a few days before our departure for Central America...Despite some insurance coverage for the theft, overall I lost about $20K...Like everyone else, I thought 2020 would be better, oh my were we all wrong LOL

Financially, my investments took a plunge in May like we all experienced, but went progressively up during the summer and are now at their highest ever. Career-wise, I finally decided to call it quits on October 1. Despite a very exciting career and a few side gigs that I really loved and that I actually miss, it was the right time to get ready for our next adventure, a multi-year road trip down the Panamericana which will obviously be on the ice -literally as it is -14C right now in Calgary, until the COVID-19 situation is under control. Luckily, I have enough cash savings to last me until 2022 so I can sit and watch my investments go up...or down LOL

[WGH]

Financially this year was great. Working from home allowed me to ditch the after school care I was paying $450/month for (2 kids) and I dropped the $90/month YMCA membership, my student loans have been on deferment since March which has saved me thousands and since I am on PSLF I am still getting credit towards my 120 payments, kids breakfasts and lunches at school have been free all year as the Federal Govt provided some funding to our school district, GF has become an accomplished barber and now we all get at home haircuts and cut that expense, gas, tolls, oil changes, maintenance are way down on my car since I haven't been driving near as much.

I also got a promotion and am very close to maxing out my 457 as I just put all of my new increase into it.

Considering I didn't lose my job or lose a loved one like so many others this year has been great. I am very fortunate and thankful.

[Poundwise]

We did very well this year because my husband is probably near the peak of his earning years, he's got a white collar job so he didn't get laid off, we did well on investments (we poured money into the market March-May), and we spent less than usual despite eating takeout much more often than usual, because we took no vacations and the kids did no activities. The value of our house leapt upward, though that is simply going to mean higher taxes next year since we're not going anywhere.

On the other hand, I launched my new business on March 15 (nice timing) and several clients I had lined up had to take a break because they were worried about cash flow. So I'm not certain how it all stacked up against what could have been.

We are thankful that we thrived, but it is an internal struggle between anxiety, which wants to save and clutch on to what is ours, and compassion, which tells us we need to increase our charitable giving by an order of magnitude. 

[Jack0Life]

S&P returns in 2019 were about 30%, bouncing back from negative returns in 2018. Its surprising to see majority of poll responses have done better or much better in 2020 than 2019.

Good point !!
I answered much better in 2020 only I put more money into the market this year.
I'll wait in a couple of days, Dec 18th before posting my result.

[the_fixer]

I have very little control over market returns so I do not use that as a measure of success and base it off my savings goals.

In my view you could spend like a madman and still have a positive outcome when the market is doing great or be the most frugal person putting away more money than expected when the economy is doing horrible and look like you failed.

So while my net worth went up substantially I did not meet my savings goals so it was a failure.

Obviously once I retire and no longer add money I will have a different measure of success but in the accumulation stage it is about meeting my savings goals and controlling spending.


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[wenchsenior]

Big increase this year...became first a net-worth millionaire, then a cash-assets-only millionaire.

[dandarc]

Big increase this year...became first a net-worth millionaire, then a cash-assets-only millionaire.

Same for us. November 12th and December 17th respectively.

[hops]

We did phenomenally well this year, even with SO's pay cut when her hospital had to halt elective procedures. We'd eagerly give back every cent of those gains (and then some) if it would bring back our loved one, or anyone else's who was lost to COVID.

[Fish Sweet]

Slight overall gain to NW, thanks only to investments.  I left my FT job at the beginning of the year expecting to go back to school... and that certainly didn't happen. My side-gig turned-full-time-business isn't enough to cover my expenses yet, but I expect that to change next year.  Most of my EF has been depleted for family & friend emergencies, living expenses, charitable giving, and just plain spending money that I normally would have saved because spreading my money around feels better than hoarding it all to myself, but money-wise... I'm doing shockingly fine.

Everything else about this year has been an absolute tire fire though.

[spaghetti1awk]

I did far better in 2020 than all previous years, including getting a new job position with much greater financial security (TT position at my University). Nonetheless most of my NW increase came from an inheritance, and the concomitant grandparent death. So, while I'm so grateful to be doing well, I also have many friends not doing so well financially or physically, and I've been trying to find concrete ways to support others in my community with all I've been given this year!

[StarBright]

I did far better in 2020 than all previous years, including getting a new job position with much greater financial security (TT position at my University). Nonetheless most of my NW increase came from an inheritance, and the concomitant grandparent death. So, while I'm so grateful to be doing well, I also have many friends not doing so well financially or physically, and I've been trying to find concrete ways to support others in my community with all I've been given this year!

Congrats on the TT position!! Those were rarer than unicorns this year. I'm sorry about your grandparent.

[ender]

Way better than I deserved.

[spaghetti1awk]

Congrats on the TT position!! Those were rarer than unicorns this year. I'm sorry about your grandparent.

Thanks, @StarBright, for both sentiments!

[poetdereves]

We did better in 2020 for sure. Luckily for DW and I, things went really well. She already worked from home as a project manager in the medical field and I am an ICU nurse, so I was considered essential throughout all the tough times. Both of us received raises while others were in the middle of a panic from losing their jobs, so we consider ourselves very lucky and are very thankful.

[habanero]

Numbers are in for last year and computer says NW up just south of 25%, not counting any increased equity in home. Some returns, some saving of extra money, some pension contributions from job and a little due to lower expenses as there wasn't that much to spend money on and holidays came in way cheaper than assumes as international travel was cancelled.

[RWD]

Up $200k+ for 2020. 2019 was better.

Same for me.

Ditto.