This is my tenth net-worth updates report for the year 2017. For those new to my finance journey, 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 by December 2024 (10 year plan) by saving and investing in stable dividend paying blue-chip companies.
I am posting all my financial information in 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 IQ.
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 publickly track my progress and get valuable advice from like-minded people.
In October 2017, my net worth increased by $6200 or 3.43% from my last month updates.
Last month, my assets value increased by $6600 to $516 200 and debts also increased by $400 to $329 200.
Currently, I am trying my best control my debts growth. Actually, I am not comfortable owning more than $300K debts with my current income.
I let it grow over $300K in 2015 and early 2016 in order to take advantage of the Canadian bear market and purchased some high quality assets at discount price. At the time, I didn’t have enough money in my hand. Thus, I borrowed from multiple sources and accumulated assets.
It turned out well.
Most of the stocks I purchased during the last bear market are currently trading near all-time high.
Now time to bring my debts to below $300K, so I could use it if I see any opportunities in the future. Thus, debt reduction will be one of my goals for year 2018.
I won’t completely eliminate my debts anytime soon. I just needed to bring it down to $300K level.
Last month we tried Amazon Prime 30 days free trials and purchased some holiday gifts without paying a dime for shipping fee. And at the end of the 30 days (after we made our purchases), we cancelled our membership. There was no question asked for cancellation. Simply login to Amazon and select Cancel.
It is absolutely free for 30 days. You could try if you are planning to buy something from Amazon, but ensure cancel before the 30 days trials period if you don’t want to pay for the membership fee.
Also, I purchased a laptop for myself. It cost me around $600. I had been using a 7 years old Window Vista, and I decided to upgrade window 10 now.
I would have reduced by debts a bit if I didn’t have these expenses; however, I feel these are unavoidable stuffs.
Now let’s talk about my net worth and finacial details in numbers
Last month, my net worth increased by $6200 or 3.43% from my last update.
Net worth update as of October 31, 2017 ()
Assets: $516 200 ()
- Cash: $1000 ()
- Home: $275 000 (no change) – Yearly adjustment with average inflation rate of 2%
- Canadian Stocks: :$184 700 ( )
- U.S. Stocks: $40 800 ()
- Employer’s Pension Plan: $14 700()
Liabilities:$329 200 ()
- Mortgage : $178 800 ()
- Student loan: $22 400 ()
- Margin loan: $57000 ()
- Credit card 1:$6300 ()
- Credit card 2:$18 000 () (low interest credit card – 1.99% special rate for 12 months – will be expired in March 2018)
- Credit card 2:$11 100 () (low interest credit card – 0.99% special rate for 12 months – will be expired in March 2018)
- Line of Credit 3: $4600 () (low interest credit card – 0% special rate for 12 months – will be expired in June 2018)
- Credit card 5: $6000 (no change) – (low interest credit card – 1.99% special rate for 10 months – will be expired in February 2018)
- Credit card 6:$200 ( ) – (regular expenses)- high interest rate of 19.99%.
- Line of Credit 1 :$13 900 () – (low interest credit card – 2.99% special rate for 12 months – will be expired in February 2018)
- HELOC: $10 900 (no change) – (low interest of 3.45% – primte + 0.5%)
Net worth :$187 000 () as of October 31, 2017
My net worth 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 = 1.272 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 being in my finance journey and for your support.
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How could you find so many credit card 1.99% promo…….
Hello hl
Thank you for stopping by,
I think I am using credit cards a lot and I have a really good credit history/score. I have been getting these types of low rate offer almost every month from few different financial institutions.
I really don’t know how I am getting it, but I am getting the offers 🙂
Cheers,
Hi,
Good morning. I saw your website yesterday and quite impressed with your openness in sharing and thanks for the same. In fact for starters like me your website is very useful.
For a starter starting with $30000 ( Canadian), how many stocks you recommend to start with both Canadian and U.S.
I do not hold you responsible for your comments at all. That is my word. Because buying lots of stocks initially costs lot of money. Hence this question.
Best regards,
Ramesh
Hi Ramesh,
Thank you for stopping by,
Please understand that I am not a licensed financial adviser, and I would recommend you discussed with a qualified financial adviser before make any financial decision.
If I am starting with $30 000, then I would open an online brokerage account with low trading commission. Due to the unfavorable exchange rate (CAD to USD), I would invest at least 75% of the money into high quality Canadian stocks. Majority of the Canadian stocks are doing business in U.S and around the world.
Then I would select minimum 30 different stocks in 10 sectors (finance, realesate, utilities, telecom, transportation, consumer stables, infrastructure/industrial, health care, technolgies, etc) and watch them for a while. Once I find a right price, I would start deploy capitals to accumulate them. I love dividend growth stocks. You better select your own investment style and stick with it in bad & good time.
When Canadian dollar trading around par value to US dollar, I would consider moving little more money into US and international market and accumulate more stocks.
If you are more conservative investor, then consider allocate a portion of portfolio to bonds. Selecting individual bonds is little tricky, I would consider adding bond ETF.
I hope this help,
Best Regards,
1) you added a new credit card 1 with a 6300 balance. Did you add a new credit card because of a special promotion? Maybe you could add that, as I am curious how that one compares to your other cards.
2) you said you wanted to focus on reducing your debt level in 2018. does that mean you simply plan to sell some stocks and use the money to pay off some of your credit cards or do you have a different plan? After all, you aim to reduce your debt by around 30000, which is a lot for one year.
Hello Andre,
Thank you for stopping by,
No, I didn’t add new card. I received a special offer from my bank for one of the credit card, so I used the money to pay-down some high interest margin loans. My credit score is really good and I am using all my cards regularly, thus, I am keeping getting special offers from my banks.
Yes, I wanted to reducing my debt level. As I said, I am not too comfortable having over $300 000 debts, especially in risking rate environment. To be honest I don’t have any special plan for now 🙂 .. Usually I set goals and start moving towards the goals (at least try to reach the goals).
Cheers,