December 2017 Update

Happy New Year! Here we are on the first day of a new year, so that means it's time for another monthly update. It also means it's time for a year-end wrap up. Lots of financial reporting to do. I hope you're enjoying your day off from work. You better believe I am. I'm also excited to see my numbers are up, ever closer to that 100k milestone. Without further ado, let's dig in and see where I stand. My net worth at the end of December and to round out the year is...

$93,135

At the end of November, my net worth was $88,346. A difference of $4,789! The majority of that came from saving instead of market gains. Nice. While there was some market gain, we entered the New Year weekend with a market decline. Not a major decline, but still, there was some loss.

I mentioned in my last update that December is typically a low-saving month for me because I have to buy Christmas gifts. Fortunately, this year was much better because, while I still bought gifts, I only had to buy them for my daughter and wife instead of extended family. That made a huge difference. Also, I received a travel reimbursement and a bonus from work that offset some of the gift buying.

Here's how it broke down:

Income

• My bonus was approximately $1,200. I stashed it into savings.
• The travel reimbursement was approximately $230. Again, I saved all of it.
• I received a check for Christmas from my wife's uncle for $1,000. It, too, went into savings. Woo hoo!

Expenses

• I spent about $370 to buy my wife a PS4 with VR accessories.
• I pumped $1,000 into my daughter's Betterment account and handed the reins over to her.
• I paid off a furniture credit account that had a balance of about $460

If you're keeping track, it was a wash. Actually, the expenses turned out to be a little more than the income. One saving grace was the check from my wife's uncle to help mitigate that loss. However, this doesn't take into account the money I stashed from my paychecks, nor my 403b contributions. More on the 403b in a minute.

On the credit front, I managed to get an increase in my credit line on the furniture account I paid off. It was originally $3,000. They raised it to $7,500. I also got a credit increase on my Chase card, from $2,000 to $6,000. This brings my total lines of credit from $24,000 to $32,500. A difference of $8,500. Also, my credit score increased a few points this month to 756. I hope to see it go up again after I pay off the balance of one card and the agencies see my new lines of credit.

After crunching some numbers during the break, I came up with a plan to smooth my journey to FI. Here's what I'm looking at doing:

• Front load my Roth IRA. This is done. I set up the transaction today from my HYSA.
• Increase 403b contributions from 10% to 19.4% to max out my 403b this year. This, too, is done.
• Replenish my HYSAs to $6k each for a total of $12,000 as an emergency fund.
• The above frees me up to pump more money into my brokerage account.
• I've reduced my monthly rent from $1,300 to $1,000. An additional $300 to save each month.
• Hopefully reduce my car insurance by $100 each month when my daughter comes off the policy.

Some notes on the aforementioned plan: My Roth transaction was set up today, but won't actually begin transferring until tomorrow because of the holiday. During the break, I logged into my 403b plan and increased my contribution amount. Last year was only a partial year of employment, so my goal here is to max the 403b this year for both the savings and the reduced income come tax time. I'm weighing the idea of buying a New York State Tax-Exempt Bond Fund in my brokerage account to act as my emergency fund. The idea here is to buy that fund and get it up to around $12,000, then invest the money in my HYSAs into the other funds in my brokerage account, Total US Stock Mkt (VTSAX) and Total International Stocks (VGTSX). The bond fund has a higher return than the HYSAs and I could still sell and transfer in case of an emergency. I'm on the fence about that decision though.

As for my Roth contribution, I bought a High-Dividend Yield Fund (VHDYX) to help increase my dividend income. I already have a Dividend Appreciation Index Fund (VDADX) in my Roth and my Rollover IRA that are generating some fair revenue. I'd love to focus these accounts on dividend return to see how much I can get them to generate.

In my brokerage account, I'd like to focus on bringing my International Stock fund up to the same amount as my US Stock fund and then start splitting my contributions between them going forward. I've noticed that when the US market dips, the Foreign market seems to increase. This isn't always the case, but it'd be nice to have one offset the other in times when they do the opposite of one another.

So, that's how my year ended up and what I've got planned going forward. Hopefully, there will also be a raise in my salary this year, which I will bank. Time will tell how things shake out. Here's to a happy and prosperous new year!

December 2017. So close to 100k!