So on my never-ending quest to make bank and retire early, I check my net worth monthly. Here’s my net worth update for October 2014. Sorry about skipping the end-of-month one last month. Just didn’t seem worth it, calculating it two weeks after my initial update!

  • Taxable portfolios (includes cash in money market accounts): $61,217.95
  • Tax-deferred portfolios (my IRA; includes cash in money market accounts): $41,739.15
  • 401(k) (includes employer match): $10,968.12
  • Hard assets/commodities: $2,618.00
    • Listed at purchase price, not appraised value
  • Cash and cash equivalents: $9,174.46
  • Debt: – $0.00

Total Net Worth: $126,257.68

This is a 9.53% increase from the last time I calculated my net worth, which was $115,274.34 on 09/25/2014.

My thoughts:

Wow, this was a great month for me! I’m not really sure how it happened. Had a small increase in my cash balance, and the pop in my 401(k) came mostly from my contributions to it. But my biggest gains appear to be from my taxable brokerage accounts. My recent purchases of JNJ and CMI added a decent amount. But the rest are gains. I find that really interesting, since we had that little correction a week or two ago. I’m definitely not complaining though! I got really lucky with my JNJ purchase at $95 and change. Now it’s at $108! That’s one heck of a gain in a little under three weeks. The one sore spot for me is my IRA, which dropped about $1,000 this month. I blame that solely on my former position in ARCP, which I sold as soon as the accounting fraud was announced. Glad I did, as the stock later plummeted further when the FBI got involved. Oh well, shit happens. I guess that’s one more benefit to having a diversified portfolio, as the problems with one stock didn’t hurt me too much. I learned quite a bit from it too: stick to high-quality companies that pass my criteria, or have a damn good reason why I should make an exception. So even though it wasn’t a good experience financially, it was a great one in making me a better investor. All in all, a good month!

How’s the month been for you, in terms of net worth? 

Disclosure: Long JNJ, CMI.

 

13 Comments

  1. Nick November 4, 2014 at 2:21 PM

    Wow great October! Congratulations on being debt free by the way, quite an accomplishment compared to most people these days. I’m curious what you are considering under “hard assest/commodities”?
    Nick recently posted…What Does Net Worth Say About Your Life’s Story?My Profile

     
    • DividendDeveloper November 4, 2014 at 3:29 PM

      Thanks! Mostly, that’s my emerald collection, which I talked a bit about in my investment plan. I consider them to be an asset, as I have very strict criteria in buying them. They’re all definitely investment grade.

       
  2. Henry @ Living At Home November 4, 2014 at 3:56 PM

    Wow, very impressive! Congrats on a great month! Do you get to choose what investments to invest in with your 401k, IRA, and other retirement accounts?
    Henry @ Living At Home recently posted…Weekly Memoir – November 2, 2014My Profile

     
    • DividendDeveloper November 4, 2014 at 6:04 PM

      Thanks! For the 401(k), to an extent. There’s a decent-sized list of mutual funds we can select. There’s also a brokerage option (I don’t know the proper name for it) where we can buy individual stocks and any other fund we want, still in the 401(k). I just stick with Vanguard index funds, no brokerage, to make life simple. The IRA is under my full control, and I choose individual stocks; my holdings are in one of the tabs of my portfolio page.

       
  3. Roadmap2Retire November 4, 2014 at 7:41 PM

    Wow! Great month for you. A 9.5% increase in one month is nothing to sneeze at. Congrats on a fantastic month and keep up the great work

    cheers
    R2R
    Roadmap2Retire recently posted…Bank of Montreal Dividend Stock AnalysisMy Profile

     
    • DividendDeveloper November 4, 2014 at 9:28 PM

      Thanks!

       
  4. QuitYourDayJob101 November 4, 2014 at 9:06 PM

    Hi DD,

    wow, you have a great net worth already.

    I missed the JNJ 95$ entry point and I’m a little mad about it. I was waiting for such an entry point for a long time. It didn’t last long…

    Thanks for sharing this with us
    QuitYourDayJob101 recently posted…Do the riches want to keep the middle and lower class down? Of course!My Profile

     
    • DividendDeveloper November 4, 2014 at 9:30 PM

      Yeah, I got really lucky. JNJ wasn’t supposed to even be my purchase then; think it was supposed to be UNH. Just had the funds available at the right time; couldn’t resist that dip! Hope we get more appealing entry points again soon!

       
  5. Dividend Mantra November 4, 2014 at 10:53 PM

    DD,

    Looks like a great month for you. Even though you lost a bit on ARCP, you still saw quite a pop in your total net worth. I think that speaks for the need for diversification and the value of it. :)

    Great job there on JNJ. I thought for a second about adding more, but it’s already such a large position for me at over 6% of the portfolio. But maybe I’ll end up regretting that.

    Keep up the great work!

    Best regards.
    Dividend Mantra recently posted…Dividend Income Update – October 2014My Profile

     
    • DividendDeveloper November 5, 2014 at 7:54 AM

      Thanks! I did get lucky on JNJ, but I also have a much smaller position than you do. Made a bit more sense for me to add than for you. Oh well, you had a lot of other good purchases as well!

       
  6. Tawcan November 5, 2014 at 5:01 PM

    That’s a great month for you. 9.5% increase is pretty awesome. Good job on selling ARCP right away.
    Tawcan recently posted…October dividend updateMy Profile

     
    • DividendDeveloper November 5, 2014 at 5:58 PM

      Thanks!

       
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