A journey to become a self-made millionaire.
This is my last net worth updates report for the year 2015. For those new to my finance journey, a net worth update is a simple report I post 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 in 10 years by saving and investing in stable dividend paying blue-chip companies.
I was little bit disappointed with the year end stock market performance. As widely expected by market experts, there was no Santa Claus rally in 2015.
The uncertainties in global economy (specially in China market) and declines in energy sector dragged down entire market. My dividend portfolios didn’t escape from the drop.
Also, we spent over $1500 during the holiday session for gifts and parties.
Luckily I received 3 paycheques from my work in December which helped me to maintain my net worth above six figures from huge market drop. Everybody who works for full-time and gets bi-weekly salary will get 3 paycheques at least twice a year 😀 .
Also, I received $707.73 dividend income during the period.
Now, let’s look at my net worth changes in numbers.
Last month, my net worth decreased by $1800 or 1.63% from my last update.
Net worth update as of December 31, 2015 ()
Assets:$426 400 ()
- Cash: $1000 ()
- Home: $265 000 (no change)
- Canadian Stocks: :$123 100 ( ) – Recent purchases
- U.S. Stocks:$34 500 ()
- Employer’s Pension Plan: $2800()
Liabilities:$318 100 ()
- Mortgage :$188 900 ()
- Student loan: $26 600 ()
- Margin loan:$54850 ()
- Credit card 1:$7400 () (low interest credit card – 0.99% special rate for 15 months – will be expired in September 2016)
- Credit card 2: $9500 () (low interest credit card – 0.99% special rate for 15 months – will be expired in March 2016)
- Credit card 3: $0 (no change) (Paid-off)
- Credit card 4:$0 (no change) (paid-off)
- Credit card 5: $0 (no change)
- Credit card 6: $4700 () (low interest credit card – 1.99% special rate for 6 months – will be expired in April 2016)
- Credit card 7:$14 100 () (low interest rate of 1.99% on balance transfer for 6 months – will be expired in March 2016).
- Credit card 8:$1700 () – (regular expenses) – high interest rate of 19.99%.
- HELOC : $10 300() -(low interest – 3.35% – primte + 0.5%)
Net worth :108 300 () as of December 31, 2015
My net worth down 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 = 1.40 CAD
I have a huge credit card debts because I took advantage of low balance transfer promotion rate and invested in high quality dividend stocks. Taking modest risk and leveraging are the keys to become wealth.
My net worth increased from $83 000 in December 2014 to $108 300 to December 2015, which is 30.48% higher – average increased of $2108 per month.
Thank you so much for being in my finance journey and for your support.
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Hi FJ
(hope you don’t mind addressing you like this),
This is an inspiring blog. Many times I looked around for simple people who like to share their experience and aspirations…
I am into the same kind of journey, trying to get around 500k in stock investments in the next 10-15 years just to be able to retire earlier and be able to spent a better life with my family.
Some of your investments I have in my portfolio too.
There are a few tips and topics which I would like to share on your website and maybe these will help people like us to make better decisions.
Recently I invested in 2 promotions of preferred shares at 6% for 5 and 5.5 years. Does anybody have experience with this? Is it better to sell them before maturity or wait for redemption?
In my portfolio I reserve 5-10% for more risky investments… these days I was thinking of buying some Bombardier and PotashCorp shares… i really think that these companies have some chances to get a bust in the price. Any thoughts?
Cheers,
Cris
Hi Cris,
Thank you for your kind feedback and sharing your tips with us. I have invested in preferred shares via two ETFs (CPD and ZPR). I don’t really watch them as long as I receive my monthly payments. Other than that, I don’t follow any preferred shares. If you could share the name of the companies, then we could have a deep look.
I avoid risky investments because if we lose money, then it will take a long time to recover. I like PotashCorp too, but nowadays I avoid commodity stocks because their share prices are highly volatility.
Cheers,
nice man, im still following your journey. always enjoy it. i agree kinda sucks being canadian and not being able to buy us stocks without the 30%+ loss in conversion. my portfolio is all canadian stocks atm. just bought a bunch of riocan and enbridge for their high dividend. what are your thoughts on russell metals
its a huge dividend which surprisingly they have been still paying and i bought just below 15 a stock so im doing great on that one. i love this mini crash sure it messes with your head a bit but buying at these lower prices is great.
anyways keep it up man and congrats on your 100k+ net worth
Hello Hutz,
Thank you for stopping by,
It seems like Canadian dollar is improving recently. I am still waiting for more improvement. As you know, I own RioCan and Enbridge. Currently, Enbridge is my largest holding (as of March 2016). Honestly, I don’t follow mines stocks as they more depend on supply-demand cycle. Thus, I have no idea about Russel metals stock.
Happy Investing 😀
Cheers,
I’ve been sort of following the same path…interesting..
Keep on it..
Hi J Tang,
Thank you for stopping by. Glad that you like this blog. Good luck in your journey.
Cheers,
I guess you have that many credit cards for leveraging purposes? Does it make sense to close some of them for less tracking purposes?
Hello Tawcan,
Thank you for stopping by,
Yes, I take advantage of low interest promotion rate for leverage purpose. I have no idea to close them now. I may start to pay down debts once my passive yearly income is above $9000 (or $750 per month).
Best Regards,
Dude, very impressive finance journey that resonates closely with mine. Quick question: read that you were using questrade, what about their ecn? Do you always do market orders?
K
Hello KK,
Thank you for stopping by,
Yes, I use both Questrade and TD direct investing.
No, I don’t use market orders. Actually their ECN fee is negligible when you compare with trading commission with online stock brokerages. Questrade ECN fee is $0.0035 per share which mean when you buy 25 shares you pay only $4.95 trading fee + $0.09 ECN . Total will be $5.04.
Cheers,
Hi,
I found your site when I was searching about credit card debts. Are you able to sleep at night with all the debts in your credit cards? And do you have any plan to pay them down instead of investing?
Looking forward your response!
Thanks
-Carol
Hello Carol,
Thank you for stopping by!
Actually, I am sleeping like a baby at night 😀 . I know I am taking bit of risk by buying assets using borrowed money. But, I am using very low interest loan to buy high quality stocks with a decent dividend yields. It is not a recommended approach for everyone. It works well for me.
I have a plan to pay my loans, but not anytime soon 😀 .
Cheers,
Not to worry for negative gain in 2015. We (investors) all are in the same boat. Just Cheer up!
Hello Kevin,
Thank you for stopping by,
I am not worrying about the bear market. Actually it is an opportunity to buy some high quality assets at discount price 😀 .
Cheers,