Net worth increase 2022 (i.e. the 'present' you give yourself)

[Chaplin]

Up 24% for 2014. Quite a disappointment compared to 2013's 51%, but pretty great nevertheless.

I don't know if this is the case for you, but the longer you go the more your YOY returns will look like the overall market's since your contributions get swamped by your returns (an excellent problem to have).

[sidfinch]

First post on the boards for a long time lurker. This post finally inspired me to jump into the commenting game.

Net worth in 2013  26.4K
Net worth in 2014  60.3K

Taking baby steps, but I finished grad school in 2013, and based on the extreme student loans law students carry, was stoked to end in the positive. This year only included working full time for me from mid-march, so our goal for next year is 100k.

[Cecil]

End of year net worth figures:

2006: $20k
2007: $44k
2008: $68k
2009: $97k
2010: $126k
2011: $158k
2012: $202k
2013: $310k
2014: $419k

[vrichard]

I've been keeping track for quite a few years - I'm an accountant but still calculate this my own way!  Here's mine:

8/18/03   380K
8/17/04   480K
8/17/05   574K
8/17/06   644K
8/19/07   772K
8/18/08   810K
8/19/09   882K
8/19/10   1034K
8/19/11   1152K
8/18/12   1250K
8/18/13   1580K
8/18/14   1851K
12/31/14   1971K

I am 48, but have a 12 children (lots of dependents).  I hope to help them through college, etc. (though I recognize this is debatable within this community).  I enjoy work and think I will keep at it for many years, but I would feel much less stress having the children raised and on their own and being FI.

[HappierAtHome]

Roughly 70k, which is almost as much as my take home pay. Hopefully in 2015 my net worth increase will be greater than my take home pay!

[NICE!]

8/18/03   380K
8/17/04   480K
8/17/05   574K
8/17/06   644K
8/19/07   772K
8/18/08   810K
8/19/09   882K
8/19/10   1034K
8/19/11   1152K
8/18/12   1250K
8/18/13   1580K
8/18/14   1851K
12/31/14   1971K

I am 48, but have a 12 children (lots of dependents).  I hope to help them through college, etc. (though I recognize this is debatable within this community).  I enjoy work and think I will keep at it for many years, but I would feel much less stress having the children raised and on their own and being FI.

Wow. I'm impressed by these numbers, assuming you don't rake in an absurd salary!

[vrichard]

About $250k per year - probably not all that impressive.  Just try to maximize the employer match in 401k.  Been trying to put more into Roth 401k.

[NICE!]

About $250k per year - probably not all that impressive.  Just try to maximize the employer match in 401k.  Been trying to put more into Roth 401k.

Well, you're still saving despite having the runaway compounding train barrel down the tracks, so good for you. Also, 12 kids? That has to be pricey.

[clifp]

It was crazy good year for me.  Overall net worth increased by 14.95% even though I'm retired.  Schwab says my portfolio was up 14.5% My largest individual stock holding are Berkshire Hathaway and Intel which were up 28/43% respectfully. I had double digit increase in my house and rental properties.  I also have been invested in small company (aka Angel Investing). A couple companies have gone broke, several are on life support,and the jury is out on the rest. But fortunately the one I in invested the most in also did the best.  Paying out a dividend this year which exceeded the investment amount, and the initial shares I bought are up 400%.

[ToeInTheWater]

our net worth rose ~240k (~17%), part from investment gains, part from increased savings / mtg payoff.

b

[londonbanker]

12/31/2011 - $212k
12/31/2012 - $337k
12/31/2013 - $984k
12/31/2014 - $1,621k

I have benefited from the stupid RE appreciation of central London over the past 2years, being very / very leveraged, and spending slightly over $150k in renovation work. The rest is a combination of saving rate (great salaries) and being very lucky on both our companies stock options and RSU's

I dont anticipate this rate to continue. I'd be happy with a $200k increase per year going forward (75% of which from savings, 25% from investment appreciation)

[TheNorwegianGuy]

Dec 2011: - $6.700 (-46K NOK) (Still a student)
Dec 2012:   $2.400 (17K NOK) (Started working august)
Dec 2013:   $18.000 (128K NOK)
Dec 2014:   $55.000 (390K NOK)

[chuckaluck]

From Dec 2013 to Dec 2014, net worth increased by 180000.00. 

Would have been more, but I semi-retired in Dec 2012, and had huge expenses the past several years (private college for 2 sons, major renovations, promised European vacation to wife (1st ever), etc. 

[ioseftavi]

12/31/2012: $23,402   
12/31/2013: $123,484 
12/31/2014: $246,979

2015 will be a pretty cool year - first full year we have no SL debt.  Lots of goals set for ourselves!

[mochila]

Up 24% for 2014. Quite a disappointment compared to 2013's 51%, but pretty great nevertheless.

I don't know if this is the case for you, but the longer you go the more your YOY returns will look like the overall market's since your contributions get swamped by your returns (an excellent problem to have).

Aren't you right about that! I'm so tickled to see the posts with >100% gains. They remind me of mine when I first wised up about money. Good times. As is now.

[Scrooge]

I'm starting to cry when I see your results. 7th year in the making, having started with a very meager salary I'm only now beginning to pick up noticeable pace. Increase in income has been the biggest factor. Investments haven't contributed too much in this endeavour yet. Then again, I'm living in a country where taxation is unbelievably high.

Increase from last year, about 24,5% with a savings rate of 62%

12/31/2013: $114,000
12/31/2014: $142,000
Expected 12/31/2015: $175,000

[rob in cal]

Scrooge, just be patient.  Even starting with a smaller income than most on this forum your capital will start to take on a life of its own.  Thats whats happening to me.  I'm actually working about 7 hours a week less than I did 10 years ago, and my real hourly wage is probably 10-20% less per hour than it was 10 years ago (less deliveries per hour due to a more and more spread out delivery area, and more and more traffic), and yet due to passive income from previous savings, I'm making more and more per year due to this passive income explosion.

[Scrooge]

Scrooge, just be patient.  Even starting with a smaller income than most on this forum your capital will start to take on a life of its own.  Thats whats happening to me.  I'm actually working about 7 hours a week less than I did 10 years ago, and my real hourly wage is probably 10-20% less per hour than it was 10 years ago (less deliveries per hour due to a more and more spread out delivery area, and more and more traffic), and yet due to passive income from previous savings, I'm making more and more per year due to this passive income explosion.

Yep. Patience indeed is the key in this game. It's just incredible to see the differences in income between different countries combined with some rather low living costs. It's not putting me off of course. It's pretty hard to choose where one is born :) All is well, and getting better. I know that 2021 is the year (will be 40 then) when I can officially retire at the latest, even if the investments would do poorly. In the next three years my passive income will make about 40-50% of my living costs, so I'm certainly not doing bad in any objective sense. I guess, looking at your figures peeps, I'm just feeling "relatively poor" ;)

[cam513143]

Numbers are small but I've got plenty of time!  I started tracking in 2010 (senior year of high school, woohoo for starting early!)
2010:  $11,895.00
2011:  $28,960.71
2012:  $23,531.05
2013:  $15,533.54
2014:  $19,645.85

^I know that looks ridiculously volatile, but my income fluctuates drastically depending on when I'm in school/when I'm working.  Most of the savings in 2011/2012 were from working my ass off, unfortunately I wasn't able to start investing much until somewhat recently, due to needing cash elsewhere.  Long story short, wanted to share some small numbers!  Still positive gain this year, even though I'm a full time student so I'm happy.

More importantly, my net worth might not be high, but I'm still proud of some other things:
1)  Never paid a dime in credit card interest.
2)  Same for student loans, and will graduating debt free in August.
3)  Have a Roth IRA, 401k, IBA, and a college fund for my son. :)

Might not have the cash, but priorities and determination are just as important!  Also, commence face punches if I should have different/additional retirement accounts.  Still learning!

[Davids]

12/31/2011 - $212k
12/31/2012 - $337k
12/31/2013 - $984k
12/31/2014 - $1,621k

I have benefited from the stupid RE appreciation of central London over the past 2years, being very / very leveraged, and spending slightly over $150k in renovation work. The rest is a combination of saving rate (great salaries) and being very lucky on both our companies stock options and RSU's

I dont anticipate this rate to continue. I'd be happy with a $200k increase per year going forward (75% of which from savings, 25% from investment appreciation)

Damn, that is impressive.

[2Birds1Stone]

Didn't do too well this year. Mainly due to poor investment choices before discovering MMM and a pay cut at the old job.

1/2010 - $15,000
1/2011 - $30,000
1/2012 - $45,000
1/2013 - $65,000
1/2014 - $90,000
1/2015 - $105,500

[Emilyngh]

I thought I'd chime in too with my less-impressive-than-many-others' posted net worth increase in case it helps to encourage others who may feel like their numbers aren't stacking up:

2014: $157,000
2015:$177,000

So, only about a 13% increase.   About half of that is from investment gains and about half from contributions. 

*But* we are currently in a stage where we're only saving about 25% of our net income b/c DH is SAH with our your DD, we're living off of my income, and we're in the last year of paying CS for my step daughter.   Our savings will ramp up starting in the next year or two when CS ends (even with helping with college) and DH will probably start working at least PT.   

So, on one hand, I see the crazy gains here and feel like we're crawling along.   On the other hand, our net worth increase is almost half of my take-home pay for the year, even with DH SAH, which is pretty darn mind-blowing when I think about it.

[brooklynmoney]

Just did the #s today. Increase of about 21% y-o-y. I'm happy with that. The absolute number is quite high, in the six digits.

[NW Girl]

Jan 2014:  $1.1 mil
Jan 2015: (almost) $1.3 mil 

Savings rate in 2014 was just a little more than 50%.  I'd love to get it up to 60% but it will be tough as our incomes have gone down slightly in the past few years, but our children continue to want to eat.

[NW Girl]

Oh…and our net worth is as high as it is only because of an investment property that we purchased ridiculously low just out of college (10 years ago) before we knew any better….and in a total fluke has risen like crazy.  Without the property our net worth is in the high 600s.  Kudos to everyone who is plugging along……and especially those just getting their net worth into positive territory.  It gets easier!

[Shamantha]

Wow, these amounts are mindboggling. I am from The Netherlands and do not see any chance for figures like this... The more I read this blog the more I realise the differences, and how my road to financial independence may take longer. Will get there though!

Why do you see any chance for figures like this? In the NL you can live easily without a car--no depreciation, no insurance, no gasoline which means huge savings. Also, rents are lower, I think.

The numbers you read here are what one posted described 'selection bias'--those who did poorly or even lost money aren't too likely to want to post those numbers.

Slightly off-topic I fear, but to go into a bit more detail: I feel that we have a slighly more regulated society financially with more social security but as a result a smaller proportion of our income to do with as you wish (which is confirmed by some US colleagues). Wages are lower than in the USA, and we pay up to 52% tax, with housing prices still very high despite a correction since 2008. Rent is also very expensive if you earn slightly more than the median wage, from 20% of your income on low wages to 40% for median wage. Public transport is OK in and between cities but if you live in the countryside you really need a car, and gas is a lot more expensive than in the US (but in the countryside you have a lower rent/mortgage). But cars here are efficient compared to the USA and can be found very cheap, so this is not what makes the difference.

With the high amount of mandatory income tax, social security, old age pension, healthcare etc. the income left to save from is (as I see it) lower than in the USA. Would be nice to have a bit more freedom in that, especially for the retirement options. Is there already a thread for non-USA mustachians where we can discuss further?

Back on topic: I have been paying off my mortgage with 33.000 euros per year in the past 3 years, so I count that as a 100.000 euro increase in my net worth (house value did not increase). First target is to become mortgage free in 2018. Slowly starting with investing in index trackers so that by the time I will have more money to invest I will have a bit of experience with that.

[lithy]

Our few years of serious progress started with the purchase of a house.  For the sake of my household accounting, I was counting the mortgage as a liability but not counting the value of the house as an asset.  Numbers listed are at year end.

2012 ($44,938)
2013 $1,855
2014 $50,869

We had our first child in November of 2014, so our expenses will go up, but trying to keep expenses normal, and the goal is to pass 100k by the end of 2015.

[G-dog]

End 2013: about $822000
End 2014: about $1015000
Change: about $193000

Finally did some work to update my tracking sheets I just started this year. The above does not include house in the total (the value of which is not going to change drastically).

I was pleasantly surprised with the net change for 2014!

[h2ogal]

Question for those of you who posted NO net worth decrease during the major 2008-2009 recession...how did you do that?!?


I've been tracking my personal net worth monthly since 2006.  I exclude my house, which is recently paid off because I don't consider it an income generating asset,  Here is my progress chart for December of each year:
2006 - 149892
2007 - 145100 - Changed jobs and lost $30k in uncashed options which coincidentally dipped at same time.
2008 - 102270 - market downturn - didn't sell anything...at one point during the year it got as low as 75K :-(
2009 - 158241
2010 - 194971
2011 - 219649
2012 - 288069
2013 - 397428
2014 - 511000

[JohnGalt]

My net worth increased by 4 years and 8 months of goal retirement expenses.... I like that better than an actual dollar amount.

[givemesunshine]

Smallish numbers so far -

2010 - $26,000
2011 - $39,000
2012 - $54,000
2013 - $71,500
2014 - $129,100

Happy with my progress (55% increase!) the result of better focus, better pay and MMM. Not expecting such a big jump this year (hoping for $35-40K plus interest market gains - so maybe $45-50K this year.

[Malaysia41]

Up $210k in 2014 which is about 10%.  My investment choices were sub-optimal for sure - BUT we had eggs in lots of different baskets.  On Jan 1 I generated this graph and posted in my journal - interesting to see the build up over time.

I'm really impressed with some of your numbers. 

[Badass by 41]

We just found MMM in Q1 of 2014, so we didn't get our act together until April.  Given that, here's where we netted out in 2014.

04/01/2014 - $632k
12/31/2014 - $824k

So +$192k in 2014.  Of that, $84k was cash savings and ~$108k was appreciation&ROI so ~19% return in the last 8 months of the year.

Happy New Year!

:: Edit- Typos ::
:: Edit - I thought those numbers looked off.  Recalculated based on beginning of April. ::

[Apples]

December 2013:  $43,800
December 2014:  $70,200

A $26,400 increase, up 60%, with a 40% savings rate for the year.  Hoping to keep that savings rate up this coming year, but with a lower income, so how much our NW changes will be up in the air.  Pretty proud of these numbers, my husband and I got married this year, so a lot of changes we bumped through while making steady progress.  Realistic goal of $93,000 stretch goal of nice round $100,000.

[neophyte]

I started tracking spending and savings in April, so for the last 9 months of 2014 my net worth increase was $8846 during that same time my spending was $9783.  Seeing it spelled out like that makes me feel like it was hardly worth it.

[UnleashHell]

year   Net worth   increase   notes
2000    (12,450)      moved to the states
2001    26,337     38,787    
2002    35,124     8,787    bought a house!!
2003    39,356     4,232    
2004    61,587     22,232    
2005    83,819     22,232    
2006    102,206     18,387    
2007    130,159     27,953    
2008    130,667     507    increased as the market dropped!!
2009    183,772     53,105    House at max val - started paying off consumer debt..
2010    222,549     38,776    
2011    228,475     5,926    
2012    215,030     (13,445)   only decrease - unemployed for 5 months, moved to florida. House had dropped 100k in 3 years!
2013    357,849     142,819    good investment returns. Took profit. Bought new house outright.
2014    415,417     57,568    big european vacation - and found MMM
2015    ???     100k ???     100k is a big target… but who knows.. Now at the mercy of the markets!


The average is now close to 30k per year since I started tracking it - but accelerating. A few tough years but I think thats called life.

with the stuff I've been learning on MMM I expect to be killing the last of the consumer debt and maxing out the 401k this year - the rest of the 100k target will be down to the investments in the market - and we are not off to the greatest start ever in 2015 but I keep reminding myself that this is ok as I'm still buying...

[aj_yooper]

I started tracking spending and savings in April, so for the last 9 months of 2014 my net worth increase was $8846 during that same time my spending was $9783.  Seeing it spelled out like that makes me feel like it was hardly worth it.

To me, your numbers seem good:

You spent $9783 in 9 months so your annual spend is $13044 per year with net worth increase per year of $11795 (at $8846 for 9 months).  So you banked close to your expenses this year, if your spending and saving was straight line for the year, which means you probably have a very high savings rate. 

[Imustacheyouaquestion]

$14,536 in Jan 2014 to $33,987 in Dec 2014. First full year as a Mustachian! Can't wait to see what happens in 2015!

[clutchy]

2014 was great but 2013 was better.


2014: $339,325  Change: $89,775
2013: $249,550  Change: $125,992
2012: $123,558  Change: $37,923
2011: $85,635    Change: $49,893
2010: $49,893   

The reasons for the slowdown; market was decent but not as good.
Large job transition that was pretty disruptive to our savings rate and we also bought another house.  I tend to carry the houses at cost until I start losing credibility when they appreciate significantly over how I have them valued.

expectations: Picked up 2 rentals in 2014; one earlier and one later.  I expect that to have a significant effect going forward.  Salary keeps going up, but we keep having large events that interfere.  I'm hoping 2015 will be a good standard year so we can get a firm baseline.

[Roland of Gilead]

Considering that the market is down 4% or so from the new year, everyone needs to recalculate :-)

[Glenstache]

Considering that the market is down 4% or so from the new year, everyone needs to recalculate :-)

No kidding. But, maybe a good time to buy some exxon while they are low, eh?

[mochila]

Considering that the market is down 4% or so from the new year, everyone needs to recalculate :-)

No kidding. But, maybe a good time to buy some exxon while they are low, eh?

Ah, but this thread's about 2014, now preserved in amber.

[Roland of Gilead]

Considering that the market is down 4% or so from the new year, everyone needs to recalculate :-)

No kidding. But, maybe a good time to buy some exxon while they are low, eh?

Ah, but this thread's about 2014, now preserved in amber.

Yes yes, it is just curious that 5 days can wipe out 30% of a year's gains.

[ImproveEveryday]

Jan 2014: -$25k
Jan 2015: $3K

Not as impressive as many posters here, but for me this is huge!

[Roland of Gilead]

Jan 2014: -$25k
Jan 2015: $3K

Not as impressive as many posters here, but for me this is huge!

Going from negative to positive is a huge milestone, like the extra energy needed to change 32 degree water into 32 degree ice.

edit:  Got that backward.  It takes a lot of extra energy to change ice into water but only a tiny bit of energy to raise the temperature after that.  Ok, it was a silly analogy, but grats for getting out of debt!

[eyePod]

A simple decision to move money from 2% bonds to pay off a 4% loan means our net worth dropped by $150,000?

Yes, your net worth dropped and so did your expenses.  You effectively spent part of your net worth to reduce your ongoing housing costs.

For the purposes most often discussed here, "net worth" refers to invested assets that can generate profits for you to use as living expenses.  Your house only does this if you intend to sell it, at which point you will have new housing costs.  In this way it's no different from any other cost-saving purchase, you've spent money up front to save money in the future.  But you've still spent the money today, so your net worth goes down today.

I disagree completely. The money wasn't spent. It was put into a super illiquid investment. They haven't "spent" anything.

[Roland of Gilead]

I disagree completely. The money wasn't spent. It was put into a super illiquid investment. They haven't "spent" anything.

Not really that illiquid since it is a requirement for our plans that we sell our house in 2015.  Thus every dollar we put down on the 3.625% loan was like buying a 1 year CD with a 3.625% return  (we don't itemize taxes).  It was a 100% safe investment paying off our loan since we would owe that money at closing in 2015 anyway.   I shifted more of our investment portfolio from bonds to stocks to account for the paydown of the home loan.

[eyePod]

I disagree completely. The money wasn't spent. It was put into a super illiquid investment. They haven't "spent" anything.

Not really that illiquid since it is a requirement for our plans that we sell our house in 2015.  Thus every dollar we put down on the 3.625% loan was like buying a 1 year CD with a 3.625% return  (we don't itemize taxes).  It was a 100% safe investment paying off our loan since we would owe that money at closing in 2015 anyway.   I shifted more of our investment portfolio from bonds to stocks to account for the paydown of the home loan.

I was trying to make the point that you guys didn't spend any money and that a house is an investment (with incredibly poor returns). And arguing that you should absolutely include it in your net worth. Just because something is in your NW doesn't mean it has to be income generating. You can put it in your mattress and lose it to inflation and it's still part of your NW. The other guy's argument was just stupid.  Now, if he was saying there are reasons to calculate your NW without a house to gather certain information, then that's different.

[FIPurpose]

2013: $11k  (graduated college)
2014: $68k

Wife recently got a really nice pay raise with a really nice job. I hoping to hit about $150k by the end of this year.

[Zaga]

2012 NW increase ~$51,000
2013 NW increase ~$76,000  (about our take home pay, the market was good to us this year!)
2014 NW increase ~$43,000

2014 wasn't as impressive as the previous 2 years, but it's still our third highest increase since we got married in 2007!