2018 Review and New Goals for 2019!

2018 was overall a good year for me in terms of meeting the goals under my control, but I failed to meet my net worth goal due to the market downturn, and my overweight in foreign stocks and small cap stocks, which did poorly compared to the US stock market, also meant that I failed to beat the S&P500 index.

My total expenses in 2018 decreased significantly compared to 2017, while my savings rate surged well above 90% and dividend income grew modestly. I continued tilting toward lower dividend yield and higher growth to reduce my tax liability given my relatively high income. A summary of all my goals since inception of this blog can be found under my Goals tab.

2018 Goals Revisited
I set 6 goals at the beginning of 2018 to meet by end of the year. The first four are financial and the last two to help me stay current and maintain a sharp mind. All of these goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-based (SMART).

My Net Worth Update - End of 2018

My net worth increased from $1,174,539.92 on 12/31/17 to $1,292,823.80 on 12/31/18. In 2018, my net cash inflow (from active income less expenses) was $174,299.60. 

Organic growth = ($1,292,823.80 - $174,299.60) / $1,174,539.92 -1 = -4.77%.

Inorganic growth = $174,299.60 / $1,174,539.92 = 14.84%.

Total net worth growth = -4.77% + 14.84% = 10.07%.

Income & Expenses For December 2018 and Year End Summary

Since 2014, I have been tracking my monthly income and expenses. You can see a breakdown of every penny I earn and spend. For perspective, this budget is for a household of two in a small US city. By documenting my journey, I aim to demonstrate the feasibility of saving a significant portion of your income and provide some ideas and inspiration for your own budget.

Below are my income and expenses for December and full year 2018, as well as those of 2017 for comparison. You can see all my monthly budgets here.

Net Worth Update December 2018

Welcome to my monthly net worth update! Here is how my assets, liabilities, and net worth have changed over the past month:

	Beginning balance on 12/1/2018	+ Cash inflow /(outflow)	+ $ P/L	= Ending Balance on 12/31/2018	% P/L	% Equity
ASSETS
Current assets
Cash	23,864.69	1,794.52	0.00	25,659.21	0.00%	1.98%
Bonds	17,210.88	(311.98)	32.87	16,931.77	0.19%	1.31%
Stocks	1,055,115.53	15,735.31	(103,515.25)	967,335.59	-9.81%	74.82%
Total current assets	1,096,191.10	17,217.85	(103,482.38)	1,009,926.57	-9.44%	78.12%
Tax-deferred retirement account	198,418.42	1,999.00	(9,694.15)	190,723.27	-4.89%	14.75%
Roth IRA	86,207.96		(10,488.55)	75,719.41	-12.17%	5.86%
Home	38,505.00		(697.00)	37,808.00	-1.81%	2.92%
Gold	13,164.49		671.72	13,836.22	5.10%	1.07%
Other non-current assets	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00		0.00%
Total assets	1,432,486.97	19,216.85	(123,690.36)	1,328,013.47	-8.63%	102.72%
LIABILITIES & EQUITY
Liabilities
Current liabilities	29,537.68	(335.73)	0.00	29,201.95		2.26%
Long-term liabilities
Student loan	6,011.97	(24.25)	0.00	5,987.72		0.46%
Other non-current liabilities	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00		0.00%
Total liabilities	35,549.65	(359.98)	0.00	35,189.67		2.72%
Equity (net worth)	1,396,937.32	19,576.83	(123,690.36)	1,292,823.80	-8.85%	100.00%

Portfolio Update December 2018

The time has come for my monthly portfolio update. At the end of every month, I will update my portfolio and comment on any changes. I do that for accountability and also so you may glean some ideas on how I allocate my capital. You have the opportunity to learn from what I do well so you can do the same, as well as what I do poorly, so you will not have to repeat my mistakes.

Follow my real-time portfolio here. Below is a snapshot of my stocks and ETFs portfolio as of 12/31/18:

Options Update: December 2018

Welcome to my monthly options update!

Here, I shall write monthly options update articles to keep track of options trades in my portfolio. Each options update serves as a status report on the open options and the obligations I have. A running tally of all my options trades and income to date are found on the Options page.

Assigned Options

Unexpectedly, I got assigned early the following two options on 12/21/18: