Our Net Worth – 2016 Edition

Time really flies and it’s been another year since I last updated our net worth on this blog.

Work is finally winding down with just one more student yet to finish her final year examinations. (Probably explains why I am blogging a little more frequently lately.) A year ago, our financial path appeared a little challenging after I left my job as a teacher and pursued self-employment.

Things were uncertain and I truly wondered if I was able to obtain enough students to make this transition viable within a year. Honestly, if you had offered an annual income of $30,000 for 2016, I would have taken it there and then.

So I am really glad that with two months to go (albeit it’s the lull season), I have already clocked in around $35,000 and with two weeks of reservist in November, $40,000 appears likely. I have even managed to outsource some assignments to the Mrs, who I have to admit is working really hard and is probably responsible for 75% of the net worth increase this year.

Yes, our net worth sits at $590,000, with a quite shocking $60,000 increase from last year.

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Cue one of my favourite gifs…

Here’s the breakdown:


Liquid Assets*: $170,000

Besides our two OCBC 360 Accounts which easily makes up $100k there, we also have $21,000 of FCL bonds, $15,000 of SSBs and $20,000 worth of bullion and foreign currencies.

*Just a short explanation why we consider SSBs and FCL bonds as liquid while considering stocks as illiquid. The prices of higher quality bonds tend to be less volatile than 90% of stocks and there is a very very very high probability we can cash out these assets at values we purchased them at.

Short Term Liabilities: -$33,000

$10,000 worth of student loans for the Mrs. There’s also another $23,000 that we pledge to return to our in-laws at an appropriate time. Those are the proceeds from an educational endowment plan they bought for my dear wife.

Illiquid Assets: $740,000

The flat is coming close to 4 years old and many flats around our area are close to completing their MOP. In fact, a quick check on resale flat statistics showed that three 5-room transactions had been made. 2 high-floor flats managed to sell at above $600,000 and a mid floor was sold for around $550,000.

My view is that if you are looking for a resale flat near Punggol MRT and Waterway Point, hold it off for another year. The supply is going to increase with more projects hitting the 5 year mark and one can then cherry pick and prices might come down.

Therefore, it’s prudent to continue tagging a value of $500k on the flat. Same value I used for the past two years.

 

All right, I know some financial bloggers prefer not to include the value of their homes for their net worth calculation and I totally respect that. However, in our case, I believe we are prepared to rent if it makes financial sense to do so and if someone offers me $800,000 for our house tomorrow, no matter how attached I am to the house, I would sell immediately.

I am also making a judgement call by not including our CPF SA and MA balances since these are long long long term funds and unlike the OA, unable to be used to redeem debts too.

Therefore, when we add in our stocks and our CPF Ordinary balances, we come to a figure close to three quarters of a million.

Long Term Liabilities: -$287,000

My two siblings each have about $26,000 invested in the 15 HWW bond, which provides a 5% annual coupon. I have blogged about this here previously. And obviously, there is my home loan which is hovering at $235,000 right now. It’s being chipped away very slowly with 27 years to go.


It’s really quite incredible that in a year where both of us made major transitions into lower income jobs, we still managed to add $60,000 to our net worth without much or any help from the stagnant market. 

I hope our story can inspire others who are mired in a miserable job to take a leap of faith and try out something more in line with their interest. Something more exciting. Or at the very least, something more palatable than the current status quo.

Very likely, things are going to work out in the end, as we have shown. You really don’t have to be financially independent before opting for a more satisfying lifestyle. 

 

17 Replies to “Our Net Worth – 2016 Edition”

    1. Hi Uncle CW,

      Yours is inspiring too and congrats on your retirement! Enjoy your Taiwan trip and hope to be able to meet up with you soon!

  1. Is there a typo error on the illiquid asset subtitle of $740,000? In the description below you state you are taking prudent $500,000 but your title is $740,000 or did I misread it?

    Just my two cents, I think it make more practical sense to not include the house value into net worth as if you were to dispose off the house, you still have to buy another house to stay unless you say you are ready to stay with in-laws or move back to your parent house.

    1. Hi skyler,

      I am taking the value of $500,000. Just that I am including the value of our stocks and CPF OA accounts to come up with the figure of $740,000.

      As mentioned in the post, there is always the option of renting. If renting a house only costs less than $500 a month and someone offers me $800,000 for the house, I will sell in a jiffy.

  2. ” You really don’t have to be financially independent before opting for a more satisfying lifestyle. ”
    Well said. Congrats on making the transition

  3. IF you can maintain $60000 + p/a, congratulations.

    In 10 years time (or less) you will be more than $1000,000.00 aire

    1. Hi temperament,

      Extrapolating for 10 years is rather tricky. But you are right that we should aim to maintain at $60K+. In the event of kid/s, the task would be made much harder.

  4. ” if someone offers me $800,000 for our house tomorrow, no matter how attached I am to the house, I would sell immediately.”

    15HWW,

    You would make an investment man-whore yet!

    I suspect those record breaking HDB flats were sold by home owners who just plucked a crazy dollar amount out of the air and to their surprise, the buyer said yes!?

    LOL!

    Optionality is a big edge. Some cannot “let it go”.

    To me, “home” is not bricks and mortar. Home is where the heart is 🙂

    1. Hi SMOL,

      Ah, things are never more important than people.

      As long as it’s a place with the Mrs, that’s home!

    1. Hi Sharon,

      I don’t have the exact breakdown, but I guess savings from earnings contribute about $40,000. Dividends and interest probably add up to $10,000 and we pared down our mortgage by another $6-7k. The rest was probably some capital gains from our stocks.

  5. Hi 15HWW

    well done, and congrats!
    I always have a lot of respect for anyone who’s brave and honest enough to state your full financial position for all to see.
    I think traditionally, your home equity is not included in the calculation of net worth, but sure, get your point about renting if needed.
    It takes guts to pursue self employment, so kudos for that!

    1. Hi TTI,

      Thanks for dropping by!

      I understand your position regarding home equity and I guess it’s just a matter of personal preference.

      So far, self-employment rocks! And long may it continue…

    1. Hi RNTL,

      We do plan to have kids. I am sure our expenses will go up but I certainly hope I can emulate some other financial bloggers with kids and maintain if not increase our wealth.

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