As usual, let me say that all of my credit card debt is in the form of a 0% balance transfer. Please see all three of my posts (1,2,3) on this and the (updated) best 0% offers that I have found. Interest rates on savings continue to rise, so I’m eeking out even more money every month from the bank issuers.
Not too much else to report. We got our state tax refund this month. Overall, our net worth increased $4159. A significant part of this increase is due to a recent uptick in the stock market. A better gauge of our savings rate is our non-retirement funds, which went up $2,324 (close to last month).
Edit: Trying something out.
Once the 0% runs out, I’m assuming you’ll pay off the credit cards with the money you’ve saved up. Correct?
Of course =) I always keep my 0% Balance Transfer Money in someplace liquid and accessible. You never know if somehow something will get messed up and you’ll need to pay off your balances, while in the meantime I can still manage to get 3.5%+ free money on it.
I’d just like to say that what you are doing is awesome and I wish you the best. I myself have decided that I would like to have a net worth of 1 million by the age of 30 (7 yearsish.) I have just started reading a few personal finance/motivation/real estate books and I want to learn as much as I possibly can. The details of how I am going to achieve this are currently fuzzy, but I am basically starting out with $5-10k in cash. The sky is the limit! I will definately be coming back to check on your progress and maybe ask questions if it’s ok. I don’t like the idea of slaving away for the next 40 years of my life. That doesn’t interest me in the least. Sorry, rambling. Have a great week!
Kyle- good luck. Your goal is ambitious. My suggestion is that you have a “solid” plan and a “stretch” plan.
For example, if you’re starting with 10K and have 7 years, one million is going to be hard to “save”. However, it might be quite easy for you to get to 250K. So you may want to have a solid plan that you KNOW you can achieve, and then a stretch plan that factors in some better assumptions (income growth, investment growth, etc.). Good luck.
I think you should include a deferred tax liability to come to your true networth. It is likely that you will owe tax on the gains in the brokerage and all of the pretax accounts. Now if you keep to retirement then I would expect the tax rate to be lower, but I think at least 15% is reasonable. So your true net worth is likely about $3,000 less than what you have here.
Kyle
Good luck…not sure what your profession is but to get to $1 million in 7 years will be hard on an average salary/job. My advice is be somewhat ambitious but realistic also. Work hard, save hard, be smart and think longer term.
My aim is to get to $1 million by 32, I am currently 30. I will probably miss my goal by 1 year. I have screwed up in the sense that I should have been a millionaire about 2 years ago but mucked up on a real estate deal and some share dealings…so my wealth has only been built upon working hard (I am only a computer programmer on $100k p/a), saving very hard, having an ok lifestyle and bank interest!
I see too many people who don’t take responsibility for themselves(young, old and middle aged) and see those idoits on those financial tv programs who simply live a life of luxury when they are lazy and can’t afford it…so it is great to see young ,old and middle aged people attempting to take responsibility in securing their futures – no one else will. Never too late to start improving your situation.