Welcome to my seventh net-worth update for the year 2018.
A short intro for new readers
If you are not new here, then you can simply skip to the next section.
For those new to my finance journey, this net-worth update is a simple report I publish every month, which tracks the progress of my journey to reach my financial goals.
My ultimate financial goal is to become a self-made millionaire by December 2024 (10 years plan). I have a strong belief that I can achieve this goal by saving and investing in high-quality dividend-paying blue-chip companies. I am also a strong believer of ‘compounding’ power, and I believe if I can push myself now and build a decent net-worth, then the ‘ compounding effect’ will give a heavy lifting in my later part of this journey.
I am posting all my financial information on this website because I love to inspire and motivate people to start their own journey to reach their financial freedom. You could learn from my successes and failures (experience) and improve your financial knowledge.
Along the way, I make financial mistakes and will share my experience here with you. So, you could learn something, avoid those mistakes and save money.
Also, I like to publicly track my progress and get feedback from like-minded people.
My net-worth
My net-worth continues to moving higher month after month, thanks to the recent performance of my dividend portfolio.
At beginning of the year, my portfolio was struggling due to the rising bond yield. The bad start brought me an opportunity to build my assets at a lower cost.
A couple of my favorite stocks were trading at attractive prices, especially in rate sensitive sectors. I took the opportunity and purchased some stocks using dividends, my saving and also using some loans.
Now, things are getting improved, and the stocks I purchased started to move higher. My strategy works once again.
My investment strategy is very simple. Buy good dividend growth companies at an attractive price, hold them for a longer time, and collect growing dividend.
Based on the past history, high-quality companies take hit along with the market, but they eventually come back and move higher once the storm is over.
I noticed again this year. Some of my top holdings took a hit early this year, now they are trading at record high prices.
I don’t them buy at a high valuation. So, I stopped adding new capitals and started to focus on improving my buying power.
In this way, I can buy more stocks at a cheaper price if the market turns south for the “End of the world” events.
There will be no shortages of bad news, and investors sentiments change from time to time.
Therefore, we always get some opportunities to buy our favorite stocks at discounted prices.
From my experience, patience and long-term approach are the keys to building wealth.
Let’s see all the details in numbers
Net worth update as of July 31, 2018 ()
Assets: $535 600 ( )
- Cash: $800 (no changed)
- Home: $280 500 (no changed) – Yearly adjustment with average inflation rate of 2%
- Canadian Stocks: : $193 000 ( )
- U.S. Stocks: $41 500 ( )
- Employer’s Pension Plan: $19 800( )
Please note that my financial situations and risk tolerance will be much different than yours. We all are unique by nature. As I always say, please do your own research or discuss with a qualified financial advisors before make any financial decisions.
Liabilities: $326 300 ( )
- Mortgage : $174 200 ( )
- Student loan: $20 100 ( )
- Margin loan: $65 500 ( )
- Credit card 1: $9200 ( ) (low interest credit card – 1.99% special rate for 8 months – will be expired in January 2019)
- Credit card 2: $21 700 (no changed) (low interest credit card – 2.99% special rate for 12 months – will be expired in January 2019)
- Credit card 3: $5700 ( ) (low interest credit card – 0.99% special rate for 12 months – will be expired in December 2018)
- Line of Credit 4: $0 (paid-off)
- Credit card 5: $3800 ( ) – (low interest credit card – 1.99% special rate for 10 months – will be expired in October 2018)
- Credit card 6: $5900 ( ) – (low interest credit card – 2.99% special rate for 8 months – will be expired in August 2018)
- Credit card 7:$900 ( ) – (regular expenses)- high interest rate of 19.99%.
- Line of Credit 1 :$19 300 ( ) – (low interest credit card – 2.99% special rate for 12 months – will be expired in December 2018)
- HELOC: $0
Net worth :$209 300 ( ) as of July 31, 2018
My net worth was up by since my last update.
Note
- all amounts are rounded to the nearest $100;
- all numbers are in CAD; and
- Conversion rate 1.00 USD = 1.3019 CAD
I have a huge credit card debts because I take advantage of low balance transfer promotion rate and invest in high quality dividend stocks. Learn, earn, save,invest and leverage your skills are the keys to become wealth.
Thank you so much for following my finance journey and for your great support.
Hello! I love your blog, it’s a big motivation for me.
I am a beginner, can you please explain how do you establish an “attractive price” and a high valuation?
What’s your process to decide whether now it’s a good price to buy the stock?
Thank you in advance and wishing you the best of luck 🙂
Hello DD,
Thank you for stopping by,
I check companies fundamentals first. I like the wide moat stocks with strong business models. If I like a company, then I will start doing research and check the following (not limited)
– price/free-cash-flow ratio
– dividend yields (I don’t buy non-dividend stocks)
– dividend growth rate
– dividend payout ratio (based on free-cash-flow)
– price to book value
– Return on invested capital (ROIC)
– debts, leverage ratio, etc..
Also, compare the numbers with other stocks from the same industry and set a price for entry. Once the stock comes into my entry target, I slowly add them (a few stocks at a time).
Approaches vary with sectors to sectors. Based on your financial goals and risk tolerance, you could establish your own approaches and strategies to build your wealth.
Wish you all the best as well 🙂
Cheers,
What is the nature of your margin loan? Is that with questrade? What kind of financing rates do they have?
Hi,
I keep my margin loan with Interactive Broker (IB), with current rates of 2.755% (BM + 1.5%).
Cheers,
Hi. You have a good blog going on right here. Just a quick question. How do you track your net worth?
Do you use the current value of the stock? or the value when you bought it?
Thank you in advance for your reply.
Hello Rolan,
Thank you for stopping by,
I use current value of the stocks to track my net-worth. Most of the stocks I purchased a while ago for very lower cost than now, and they are the big contributors to my net-worth growth.
Best Regards,
A good networth gain in a single month. I like your leverage investing approach, but I don’t have the guts to do like you. I receive special low rate offers from two of my credit cards, but I’ve never touched them.
Looking forward to see your success.
Hello Jose,
Thank you for stopping by,
Leverage investing always carries with above average risk. If you don’t know how to use it, then please stay away from it because it is NOT the only way to build wealth.
Cheers,
Net worth up over 6k this month… that’s fantastic. You do a really nice job laying out all of your expenses here. However, that debt is no joke. It looks like you are leveraging your credit hard so you can invest more. As I’m sure you are aware, you need to be careful with that! I look forward to following your journey!
Hello Dividend Pig,
Thank you for stopping by,
I wish I could get similar gains every month 🙂
I am very careful with my debts, I always have a backup plan to handle any uncertainties
Cheers,