April 2021 – Net Worth Update
As part of my FIRE blog I will be tracking my asset value on a monthly basis and compare it to where I want to be when I reach my FIRE number. I will also compare it to where it was sitting last month. A summary of my assets are as follows:
Explanation of each category:
Property
My net property value remained basically unchanged for the month. This is to be expected as I currently do not make any additional repayments.
Cash
My cash allocation remained relatively unchanged for the month. Although there was a change in the AUD:USD conversion rates which did negatively impact me slightly.
Shares
My biggest improvement for the month was in Shares, where some really impressive gains were made. I did deposit an additional $5,000 as part of my regular investing, but there was still a gain of almost $6,000 after taking away my deposits.
Superannuation
Similar to my shares, there was a pretty decent rise in my superannuation balance this month.
Other
Minimal change from previous month
April 2021 Budget Summary
Income – TOTAL: $9,127.15
- Normal Income: $4,084.00
- IP Income: $4,783.15
- Other Income: $260.00
Expenses – TOTAL: $4,008.95
- Normal Expenses: $2,368.23
- IP Expenses (not including Interest): $631.04
- IP Interest: $1,009.68
Savings Rate – 56.08%
My normal expenses for the month were a little bit higher than I would like, I did have a few nights out, seeing movies, buying clothes, so this did increase the amount a bit more than normal. It also did not help that I had to pay rent three times this month (I pay fortnightly and normally it is only two payments per month), so that did increase the expenses. Conversely, it helped my rental income received as I did receive an extra week of rental income from my investment properties.
Overall, I am still delighted to have a savings rate of over 56%! My current savings rate for the year is just under 55.00%, which is well above the 40.00% target I set for myself at the beginning of the year.
It is great to see that my passive income has actually surpassed my standard income. So, my money is actually working harder than me at the moment!
April Normal Income – $4,084.00
April Net IP Income – $3,142.43
April Net Shares Gain – $5,941.78
Total Passive Income – $9,084.21
So, it isn’t just slightly more, it is more than double! There will of course be bad months where shares will not go up in value, but it is still great to see that quite regularly I am achieving more income from passive streams compared to active.
Plan for May 2021
I thought I was getting really close to paying my US Tax Bill the other day, I had everything set up and I could not see a reason for it not to work. But still, unfortunately there is still some dilemma, so I have not gotten it paid yet. Fortunately, there was an automatic extension to make the payments until mid-May so at least I am not late. But I would like to just get it over and done with and the frustrations are definitely increasing.
I was meant to do this last month, but I will have to book accommodation and a rental car for my Perth trip coming up in June as well, so this will add some extra expense. Slightly concerned with recent COVID issues over there, and they seem very quick to order snap lockdowns, so hopefully I do not get stuck over there or prevented from going there.
My car also has registration due, so that will end up costing a fair bit and will most likely impact my savings for May significantly.