Someone Has Questions

Frugalcoconut stopped by and had some questions for me. How exciting, I write this journal mostly for myself and Mr. Sam (and a few other friends and family that like to keep up to date) so I'm thrilled that someone else had found something of interest here.

FC said - I just read your entire blog backwards ... in sequence from newest to
oldest. I would love to hear more about your background as far as being
able to attain such a high net worth ... it seems like you both earn a
relatively high income from your jobs/careers but also what else goes into it.
I'm hoping that you can provide advice on landlording ... including how long
you've owned the properties, how far apart you bought them, how did financing
investment properties differ from financing primary home, what were some
positive things that you've done versus some things that you would have done
differently now that you are wiser, is it ever overwhelming having so much
mortgage debt as a liability, how is the actual cash flow now versus a year or
two ago versus what you initially planned/expected?

I will take a few of these at a time over the next few days.

Background - FC is correct, together Mr. Sam and I earn a good income from our careers. We both have advanced degrees. I think education can be a great way to increase one's earning potential, but education is also expensive. Mr. Sam completed his MBA part time so he was not away from his job and did not lose out on his salary during that time. But, Mr. Sam's MBA student loan debt, $27,000, was our biggest debt when we worked our 2007 Dave Ramsey Debt Snowball. I also incurred student loan debt for my advanced degree and I was out of the work force, attended full time, so I lost out on salary during those years. I had my student loans paid off in five years (the term was 10 years) by not upgrading my lifestyle to professional grade. While I did buy a house right out of professional school I did not make any other large purchases or change my lifestyle.

Fourth of July Numbers

(1) Max out 401ks - $33,000
(2) Max out 2009 IRAs - $10,000
(3) House project and furniture - $10,000
(4) Add to baby fund - $5,000
(5) Lasik surgery for Mr. Sam - $5,000
(6) Add to emergency fund - $10,000
Total - $73,000

(1) $17,684 (54%)
(2) $10,000 (100%)
(3) $815 (8%)
(4) $276 (6%) ($5,276 in our ING baby account)
(5) $0
(6) $1,333 (13%) ($23,214 in our ING e/r account)
Total - $30,109 (41%)

Happy Fourth of July!! We are at the half way point for our 2009 savings goals and we are about $6,300 behind. I would chalk the slower progress to (1) refinancing costs for our primary home (yay 4.7 interest rate) (2) costs related to car accident (boo!) and (3) failure to focus by both me and Mr. Sam (we are just not trying hard enough). Regarding our failure to focus, we have not had one financial family meeting in the last 5 months and our spending plan needs to be updated. I have resolved to update our spending plan and revisit our 2009 saving goals this month (they might need to be tweaked, stay tuned) and Mr. Sam and I have agreed to a family finance meeting and to refocus once we have the numbers in front of us.

What a Difference a Year Makes

Looking back at out NetworthIQ numbers its painful to see, that even though we hae been doing everything right with our finances, we are down $70,000 from our high number of $987,000 net worth.

A year ago, I figured we would hit the One Million net worth number by the close of 2008 but then the economy fell apart, my 401K dropped by $70,000, our South Florida real estate holdings are worth less, Mr. Sam's 401K dropped as well.

Presently our 401K numbers have stabalized and we continue to invest both in our 401Ks and our IRAs. Our South Florida real estate investments will likely drop some more in value ( we will know more in the fall) with the hope that our real estate taxes will also come down at least a bit. We continue to put money aside in our emergency fund and save for other goals. We are debt free except for our mortgage(s).

30 Day Rule

Yesterday evening, I arrived home after 7:00 p.m. after putting in 12 hours at the office. Mr. Sam and I were scheduled to head out for a run (our goal is to train Sunday-Thursday), but he was working on another project and declined to go running with me. I sat down on the sofa, clicked on Seinfeld and relaxed for a couple of minutes. Snarfle the Dog hovered near me as he had not yet been fed by Mr. Sam. I easily could have just continued sitting on the sofa or made myself a spot to eat or finished laundry; but I got myself up, changed into my running clothes, fed the dog and headed out for a two mile session.

I am a big believer in the 30 day rule - it takes 30 days (why do you think rehab is 28 days) or a month for a new habit to become just a habit. We are five weeks into our training program and I credit the 30 day rule for getting me up and going yesterday. Training has become a habit.

Think about using the 30 day rule for a goal that you are working on, financial, fitness or otherwise.

June Numbers

(1) Max out 401ks - $33,000
(2) Max out 2009 IRAs - $10,000
(3) House project and furniture - $10,000
(4) Add to baby fund - $5,000
(5) Lasik surgery for Mr. Sam - $5,000
(6) Add to emergency fund - $10,000
Total - $73,000

(1) $14,467 (44%)
(2) $10,000 (100%) Completed
(3) $714 (7%)
(4) $170 (3%)
(5) $0
(6) $0 ($21,177 in our ING e/r account)**
Total - $25,353 (35%)

As we close in on the mid-year mark, we are still behind on our 2009 savings goals by about $7,600. But, we are just $700 away from refunding our emergency fund which will help us as any money above $21,881 will count towards our 2009 saving goal. We are also pleased that we refinanced our primary home mortgage when we did, as those rates have moved higher since we completed our REFI.

** At the close of 2008, we had $21,881 in our emergency fund. We continue to add to our emergency fund but we are not counting the progress until it hits $21,881.

Snarfle

Snarfle was back at the vet this morning for a second round of treatment for a skin infection. We have also started him on arthritis medication as he has been favoring his back right hip the last month or so.

Our old dog is starting to show signs of being an old dog.

Training Progress

We were out of town visiting relatives the week of Memorial Day. We tried to train every day during our week of vacation and as a result I am now up to a mile and a half of jogging with no walk breaks.