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Net Worth Update May 2020

Well, it’s been a hot minute since my last post (my apologies, sometimes life gets in the way) so let’s jump straight in!

As the entire world is wrapped up in the recent Corona Virus pandemic, to say things have been uncertain and volatile is an understatement! Nevertheless, Mr FireBae and I have been staying the course and continuing our monthly ETF purchases. We have both kept our jobs and have even received bonus payments from our employer during this time. Some of that bonus money we have spent purchasing our cats their own lounge chairs (they are definitely “essential” purrrrchases), but mostly we have been saving or using the rest to buy more shares.

Other than that, we have just been going to and from work or staying at home and going on the occasional walk around the area. I suspect this is the same routine that most people have had also. We have been spending a little extra money per week with a “cheat meal” and getting some home food delivery. This has the dual purpose of giving ourselves something to look forward to, as well as supporting a local business through tough times. We try to order from restaurants because we feel they will be the businesses hurting the most in terms of patronage and cash flow.

I have to say it is a little disappointing to see so many people crowding shopping centres and other places simply because they “can’t be bothered” staying at home any more. I’m sure the rest of us would like to get out and about and back to “normal” soon also, I guess we just have the decency and intelligence to understand that it’s not just about us!

Moving on, let’s have a look at where I stand financially considering all that has been happening over the past few months!

Dinky Town: https://www.dinkytown.net/java/net-worth-calculator-australian.html

I use the Real Estate.com property app to get a snapshot of what our house is worth, and it seems to have skyrocketed to $515,000! Whether or not it is actually worth that is debatable but that is what I have been using so I will stick with it as a property valuation tool. Our investment portfolio has grown to over $22,000; it is difficult to get a true gauge of the stock markets right now because the situation is so volatile so we are expecting this value to fluctuate violently into the near future. Other than that we negotiated a lower home loan rate so we are now paying just over 3% interest each month (it was 3.37% before the negotiation), however we are keeping our repayments the same but our minimum payments have reduced. We did trial living off of $100 per week for groceries but then Mr FireBae started a carnivore diet and I tried the Ketogenic diet so we were eating different things. Then I moved to the all-you-can-eat diet (LOL) but now I am on some meal replacement shakes as well as calorie controlled dinners so I am spending more per week on food but I am also feeling healthy and losing weight so I am happy to trade off saving some money each week for peace of mind (and not having to cook!).

So since my last Net Worth Check In it looks like my Net Worth has risen $61,341! This will mainly be because of the dramatic fluctuation in our home value appraisal provided by Real Estate.com.

Other than that there’s not much else going on, except that I have been on the lookout for a new bicycle but every store I have tried have sold out due to more people being at home and one of the the only times they SHOULD be going out is to exercise! Ultimately I see this as a good thing because more people out exercising is good for overall health, I just hope stores are re-stocked soon so I can join in!

Keep any questions coming in or even comments! Knowing I have people tuning in is a real boost and helps keep me motivated 🙂

Until next time stay safe and stay connected to family and friends! You never know who just needs a good ol’ chinwag in times like these!

SARS-CoV-2 and Finance

Well, things have escalated very quickly, and the SARS-CoV-2 virus is being felt around the world in many shapes and forms. Many countries have effectively closed down, and 100’s of 1,000’s of people around the world are now infected; not to mention the thousands of people who have already lost their lives.

As of today, many Australian businesses are being forced to stop operating. Those businesses that are unable to operate remotely will have to shut down, and as we know from history, most of the people that work in these industries will lose their jobs. Already I have seen pictures and footage of the queues of people outside of Australian welfare agency buildings. Modern life as we have known it is coming to a grinding halt.

So, what does this mean for personal finance and the FIRE movement?

I am here to let you know what myself and my partner are planning to do.

Firstly, Mr FireBae and I are unlikely to lose our jobs as we work in supermarkets, which will remain open. Being in unprecedented times, it is unknown what will happen in the weeks and months ahead, so I cannot say categorically that we will remain employed at this stage into the future. In the unlikely scenario that we do lose our jobs, Mr FireBae has calculated his leave and entitlements and has more than 900 hours of these owing, so can survive off of any redundancy payments for a long period of time. I have not worked for the company as long, and therefore would not have as many entitlements owing. I would probably end up with around 1 month or so of regular income if I was to become redundant.

Secondly, unless our financial and employment situation changes markedly in the near future, we are still planning on making regular monthly purchases of shares within our portfolio. On the positive side, what an excellent time to purchase shares!! On a much more serious and sombre note: if you are about to lose your job and your financial situation is about to change for the worse very soon, I would suggest holding off on any unnecessary spending (including the purchase of shares). Until you can settle into a new financial situation with a relative amount of stability, keep your spending to essentials only.

Thirdly, neither myself or Mr FireBae are looking at withdrawing ANY of our superannuation funds. We see this as highly unnecessary at the present time, and would only hinder our long-term goals of becoming financially independent. Having said that, if our financial situation were to change dramatically and the options were between keeping money in superannuation and keeping food on the table, obviously we would choose to maintain our physical and mental well-being.

What else has changed? Well, I can no longer attend my regular once-a-week sports so am saving $10 a week there. We haven’t been going out to any restaurants or cafes recently, and this past week have cooked all meals at home. I haven’t been going out as much, so am saving HEAPS on fuel for my car; and the recent dramatic falls in world wide oil prices have definitely helped at the petrol pump! I’m sure there are many other things as well I just can’t think of them off the top of my head!

I have had some questions from some of my avid readers so I will try and answer those as well as I can!

Question: “My overseas trip has been cancelled and I can no longer spend my children’s inheritance as I originally intended; is there any way I can make money off this spare cash in the current share market? What are your investment strategies? I am looking to make back some money from now until the end of the year.”

Answer: “Firstly, your children should not be relying on you to die and leave them money to survive. It’s your money, so do whatever you like with it. Secondly, if you are within 5 years of retiring (as I imagine you are) I would personally just hoard this money as cash and would absolutely NOT invest in the ASX at this time, particularly as you have noted that you would only be looking to invest for a very short amount of time (approximately 9 months). The market is extremely volatile at the moment, and even traditionally ‘safe’ areas of the market (such as gold and bonds) are experiencing unprecedented and unpredictable movement. At the time of writing this post, the ASX is down 38% from its market high just a few weeks ago. Mr FireBae and I ONLY invest in long-term markets (ETFs or Exchange Traded Fund); we are looking to invest our money for the next 10 to 15 years, long enough for the current downturn to (based on historical evidence) rebound. If you are looking to make money in the shorter term, would probably be best to start day trading (if you can be bothered), however, this requires an awful lot of study into the markets, looking at trends, etc. where it appears at the moment there are no trends, and historical information is not helpful in predicting immediate future returns. If you have a mortgage offset account, that would be a great place to put some extra cash in the short-term. If you don’t have a mortgage, another option is a ‘high interest rate’ savings account. I use quotes around that because, with the current cash rate at 0.25%, you will be hard-pressed to find any savings interest rate to be very high at the moment. But anything is better than nothing! And a bank account would be a safer destination for your money than the stock market at the moment, as any amount of money in a bank account up to $250,000 is guaranteed by the government.”

Question: “Should I take money out of my superannuation account now in case of emergency? Or should I leave it where it is for the future?”

Answer: “Depending on your own financial situation, you MAY find yourself in the near future needing to access emergency funds to survive. I would VERY STRONGLY suggest waiting until that time to access superannuation. Also, please remember I am NOT a financial adviser and cannot give anyone any individual financial advice. What I share here are opinions only; if you require individual financial advice, there are many avenues where you can find this.”

Keep your questions coming and I will try my best to answer them!

In the meantime, please look after yourselves physically and mentally. These are trying and uncertain times for many people. If you need to reach out, people are only a phone call away.

I’ll be back with a net worth update at the beginning of April!

OMG! SELL! SELL! SELL!

The financial apocalypse is upon us! Sell all the stocks! Get out while you still can!

Note: I did not create this meme. It is literally all over the internet. I cannot find the initial source.

What a week to be alive! Many people have been panicking for many different reasons, but the main one affecting Australians is the Australian Stock Market (ASX).

As discussed previously, my partner and I have (so far) invested just over $17,000 since the beginning of this year into stocks (both local and international). Just from last week alone, our stocks went down over $1,000 in value.

So, am I worried? Did I have a meltdown and sell everything to preserve what little remained?

ABSOLUTELY NOT.

In fact, now is a great time to continue investing in stocks! Why, you ask?

BECAUSE NOW I CAN PURCHASE MORE FOR LESS MONEY.

The entire idea behind F.I.R.E. is that you use various forms of saving/investing over the medium to long term to build up enough money to be able to reach a point where you are Financially Independent (the F.I. in F.I.R.E.). Financial Independence is different for each person/family and the numbers need to be crunched for each individual/family based on their own circumstances. For me, personally, I would need to have around $1 Million dollars (AUD) to become Financially Independent (this number is inclusive of paying off a house mortgage, modest travel, etc. Ideally, the mortgage would be paid off by the time I fully retire).

Realistically, I am not going to be able to reach F.I. in a reasonable amount of time if I just toddled off to the ATM every pay day, withdrew a savings amount, went home and stuffed it in my mattress. Eventually, I would probably end up with a fair amount of money in there (as long as my house didn’t burn down), but the money would be sitting there for 10, 20, 30 years doing NOTHING while I slave away for the man and continue doing what I’m doing.

What you REALLY want to be doing with that money just sitting around (unless you can find some kind of long-term, high-interest savings account (I’m talking AT LEAST 6% interest rate) is investing. People choose to invest in all kinds of things to watch their money grow: stamps, vintage coins, vintage cars, property, shares, small business, etc. My partner and I have obviously invested part of our money into our Primary Place of Residence (PPOR), and we have also decided to place part of our F.I. savings money into the stock market so that the money can earn for us while we continue to work and save; therefore, shaving off time between now and “retirement”.

My partner and I have seen and heard A LOT of panic over the past week of people selling off their entire share portfolios hoping to cut their losses and “re-invest” the money in their home loan offset account. These are the kinds of people who probably shouldn’t have begun investing in the first place if they were going to watch the rise and fall of the stock market so closely (unless you are an active investor), and place SO MUCH emotion into the process. Both Warren Buffet and Peter Thornhill have spoken extensively over the years of removing the emotion associated with placing your money to work in the stock market and simply looking at it in terms of numbers. We’ve all also heard of the term “time IN the market; not TIMING the market”. By constantly waiting for that “perfect” time to invest, you miss out on important purchasing opportunities as well as periods of investment growth.

Another point to remember is that over time the stock market has inevitably improved. After the Great Depression, sure, things were bad at the time, but what happened afterwards? The share market not only recovered, it improved on what it was beforehand. The same can be said for the 90’s recession, the dot.com bubble, the GFC, etc.

So with all of that said, Mr FireBae and I are VERY excited about the downturn in the share market because it means that when we go to purchase more shares, the shares cost less, therefore meaning we can purchase more shares!

So, now that it is the beginning of March, let’s revisit my Net Worth!

Source: MoneySmart website https://moneysmart.gov.au/managing-debt/net-worth-calculator

As you can see, the property value has gone up around $50,000 since our last check in (wow!), so that has contributed greatly to my Net Worth increase for the month. Even though the amount of shares increased since my last check-in, we had actually increased the amount of shares by $2,000 (effectively, we have lost $1,000 of that value over the past week). Obviously, our mortgage amount has gone down since last time as we pay monthly. So even though the stocks have taken a hit over the past week or so, my overall Net Worth has actually increased!

I have basically finished up with the other financial project I was working on and will be writing an update about that shortly, so stay tuned!

Got a burning question? Want to comment on anything I’ve written? Don’t be shy! Comments are enabled on all my posts and I love to hear from people!

Catch-Up and Chit-Chat: Walk With Me!

Firstly, I would really like to thank and acknowledge all of the people that have taken a punt and checked out my blog. You have no idea how motivating it is for me to see people actually click on my blog and read about what I have to say.

When I first thought of writing a blog I really thought I would only get some of my family to even read it, let alone follow it and leave me comments and feedback. I really didn’t believe that anyone else would find my thoughts and writing interesting or informative; I certainly didn’t think anyone apart from my family would bother to sign up to get updates on my posts!

Thank you all so much for your support! I really appreciate it and I appreciate any feedback, tips, or anything that you can send my way! 🙂

I have not been posting as much as I would like to these past few weeks, and I would like to briefly discuss this with you all. Recently, I have been struggling with some ongoing mental health issues and I have found this to be impacting upon my everyday life. I have been finding it extremely difficult to concentrate and formulate ideas and place everything down coherently. I have also been really struggling with motivation and energy, as well as losing track of time and struggling with productivity. Unfortunately for me, these are things that I live with and have lived with to varying degrees for all of my adult life. Fortunately, I have a good support system that includes medical professionals and counselling.

I know some people find issues surrounding mental health intimidating, overwhelming, and intensely private matters. I personally believe (and have experienced) that poor mental health often has the potential to become poorer when it is hidden away and not spoken about. If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, I implore you to speak with someone, even if it is only anonymously. Here are a few links for you to check out that may be helpful:

LifeLine Australia = 13 11 14
Beyond Blue Australia = 1300 22 46 36
Kids Help Line = 1800 55 18 00 (can be used up to the age of 25)
Mensline Australia = 1300 78 99 78
SANE Australia = 1800 187 263

More resources can be found here https://mhaustralia.org/need-help

In other news, Mr FireBae and I have (finally!) begun to think about and roughly plan our wedding! We have been engaged for just over 1 year now and while we are in no rush to “tie the knot”, it is something fun and exciting to look forward to! We are looking for something non-traditional and low-key so if anyone has any ideas send them my way!

On the FIRE front, things are looking good! We managed to plop another $2,000 into our share portfolio (now around $17,000) and have been sticking to our grocery budget pretty well! I look forward to making a grocery post in the near future!

Thank you all again for your interest in my blog and I hope to be back soon with an interesting article!

Net Worth Check In #4

So, time to check-in once again with a Net Worth update.

I have decided to make these monthly check-in’s moving forward mainly due to the fact that not much changes in the space of a week in terms of my Net Worth and it will free up some time for me to explore more of the many aspects of F.I.R.E. that are out there.

Let’s jump in!

Source: MoneySmart Website https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/calculators-and-apps/your-net-worth-calculator

Looks like since our last check-in last week, my net worth has improved by around $700, which I was surprised at considering I just paid my mortgage payment at the end of the month and paid bills etc. Also, share prices were a little volatile this past week due to Coronavirus fears coming out of China (we have a 60% exposure to International markets as well as around 14% exposure to Emerging markets). This was also reflected in my Superannuation valuation, but not by much (approx. $280). This week was also pay week for me and I took some annual leave (which now has a 17.5% loading) so I technically got paid more for not being at work for 5 days.

I have quite a bit of annual leave accrued through my employment so I am planning to take between 4 to 7 days off per month for the rest of this year (so, a half a week to a week each month) just for a bit of work/life balance, but also to help cash-in on the 17.5% loading. I know it doesn’t sound like much but it all adds up and if I can get paid more for not being at work and use up some of the leave that I have already earned, then why not? Because our employer allows us to accrue leave it is based off hours worked and accrues indefinitely (however, they will “force” you to take leave once you hit around 350 to 400 hours), I end up earning on average 3 more days per month of work. So for every six months I earn roughly 18 to 20 days of annual leave (I’m pretty sure that’s right). I hardly took any annual leave last year so I have heaps left. Also, when we take annual leave, we are able to factor in our weekly RDO’s; meaning that I could take off from Thursday to Sunday and only two of those days would be counted as annual leave, the other two being RDO’s.

This is something to look into for others, particularly if you are under a workplace agreement. Read through your agreement and see ways in which you can skew things in your favour! Another example is that my employer allows Blood Donor leave of up to 2 hours pay for every 3 months. Doesn’t seem like much, but if you are a regular blood donor, why not cash in an extra 2 hours without having to work? Most employers can be flexible with arrangements so check with yours to see how you can maximise paid opportunities!

Anyway, enough rambling! Hope you enjoyed this check-in and I’ll be back with the next Net Worth check-in at the start of March. In the meantime I’ll be doing some extra F.I.R.E. research for some interesting reads!

Net Worth Check in #3 and Mr FireBae!

Wow, I have had a very busy week! But I finally have some time to sit down and flesh out another post, so here we go!

I have had a bunch of random (not so random, I just forgot about them and didn’t plan accordingly) expenses this week so was only able to save around $160 from my weekly pay this week. I have also had a few Sunday’s off from work and so I miss out on that bonus hourly rate, but it looks like I will pick up a few extras in the coming weeks. Also struggled a bit with motivation this week; this isn’t uncommon for me but I woke up today super motivated so got lots of odd-jobs done around the house so I’m feeling pretty good!

Net worth for this week as outlined below:

So, because I am in the middle of a pay week (I get paid fortnightly) my net worth has dropped due to spending on regular budgeted items (groceries, car service, phone bill, etc.). Like I said earlier, I have had to make some random (unplanned) payments this week (had to renew my driver’s licence, netball membership fees, etc.). Once I get paid again this coming Thursday, things will begin to move back up.

Some astute readers will notice that I have around $400 set into the category of “other investments”. This is a side project that I am working on at the moment and once I have it up and running properly I will write a post relating to it (so stay tuned!).

Now, for the introduction of Mr FireBae! *audience clapping*

Ok, so Mr FireBae earns more than me, which allows him to save more from his paycheck per week/fortnight than I can. He also recently received a $14,000 pay rise to ensure he is paid more than his subordinates (as they all recently received hourly rate pay rises whereas Mr FireBae is on a salary). So here is Mr FireBae’s net worth below!

As you can see, Mr FireBae has a much larger super amount than I do. Mr FireBae is also 6 years older than me and had a regular part-time job throughout his University studies and also opted out of the extra life insurance and TPD (total and permanent disability) cover that is/was usually added to your superannuation as a default option (you can now opt out of default Life and TPD cover, thanks to the royal commission into the superannuation sector). So all those extra fees and charges were instead re-invested through his superannuation portfolio and consequently accrued more income from these investments. Mr FireBae is also very intelligent and didn’t purchase new cars with finance of 13% (my bad, sorry wallet!). We sat down and figured out that Mr FireBae saves/invests around 58% of his annual income, whereas I am at around 35%. I am always looking for ways to increase my savings rate, and my savings rate doesn’t account for my pay from penalty rates or bonus payments.

So there we have it, a quick check-in for net worth and a look into Mr FireBae’s financial situation!

I’m really interested in looking into grocery shopping and ways in which I have found you can save money. I would really appreciate any tips and tricks other people have as well, so feel free to leave a comment and I’ll look into it! Until then, happy saving!

Net Worth Check-In #2 2020

Had a bit of an expensive week this week. Had some unexpected vet bills, have some medical expenses to take care of today, and also had to pay for my netball team registration. I also had to replace some well-worn clothing and get a hair cut. We almost adopted another cat yesterday, but decided against it to wait for the “right one”. Lucky, considering we ended up having to take one of our other cats to the vet later in the afternoon.

We did end up purchasing some more ETFs, and the ASX has had some good movement over the past week. We decided to place some of our investment into emerging markets, which we have only had in play for the past week. Below is a look at our ETF investments through ShareSight.

Source: ShareSight https://www.sharesight.com/au/

They say the first $100,000 is the hardest to compile through the share market, and then the subsequent $100k’s become easier and easier to amass. So we aim to invest approximately $2000 per month moving forward into our portfolio, maintaining a ratio of 60% International Shares, 30% ASX, and 10% Emerging Markets. We are currently sitting on around 54% International, 32% ASX, and 14.50% Emerging.

Moving on to my Net Worth, this week’s calculation is demonstrated below.

Source: MoneySmart Net Worth Calculator https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/calculators-and-apps/your-net-worth-calculator

Looks like Net Worth has increased since last week (yay!). I think in my calculations from last week I must have missed something (probably my car) because it was stating around $128,000, and my initial Net Worth was calculated at approximately $138,000. I will have to go back and review what I did there. Nevertheless, above is an accurate representation of my current fiscal value.

I am rostered to work the next 6 days straight so will try to come back and make a post regarding Mr FireBae’s Net Worth!

Net Worth Check In and Bushfire Crisis

Hello and welcome (back) to another instalment of the FireBae journey to…FIRE!

I have to admit, it has been difficult to concentrate much on FIRE this past week or two with the current Bushfires affecting large areas of Australia. I deliberately choose not to watch or listen to the news very much generally but found myself glued to the stories coming out regarding survival, heroism, mateship, and bravery that we have all seen. It’s very easy to feel helpless and upset over seeing and hearing of such devastation, especially knowing that the danger isn’t over and won’t be over for some time. It also brings back vivid memories of Black Saturday and listening to the radio in disbelief at how quickly fires can move and cause so much utter devastation and loss in their wake. I simply cannot imagine what it would be like to lose everything; my thoughts are with those struggling at this time.

Since I checked in with you all about my Net Worth, it has been brought to my attention by my partner that I have miscalculated some of my budget allocations. Instead of estimating or finding a yearly amount for some things (such as mortgage repayments) and dividing them by 52, I had simply calculated them over 4 weeks and then multiplied them by 12 (which leaves me with 48 weeks). I have now gone back through my budget and fixed up those areas to more accurately reflect my expenses (see below).

Source: MoneySmart Budget Calculator https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/calculators-and-apps/budget-planner

I should be looking at an absolute minimum annual saving of just over $14,000 for this year (calculated from my base rate of pay, not including penalty rates or overtime). I have also downgraded my mobile phone bill to $15 per month down from $30, and we have reduced our monthly internet plan from $100 per month to $80. We will continue to look at areas for improvement, particularly in relation to grocery spending (currently aiming for $150 per week between 2 people). Would love some feedback for grocery/food saving tips if anyone has any! Feel free to leave a comment below!

I can now go ahead and re-calculate my Net Worth for this week, including my HECS information as I can now access the ATO website.

So my Net Worth has dropped but that was to be expected due to adding in my HECS debt, which I didn’t have available on my last calculation. Still pretty good though!

This week I will be looking into ways to save on groceries and have some better planning around meals. Again, if anyone has any tips regarding savings in this area I would really love to hear about it!

Shares for thought…

Today I’ll be delving into the big, bad world of shares.

*Hears audible gasps from baby-boomer parents and high-school math teachers*

I know, I know, shares are this massive, unknown monopoly that you can’t see and touch so shouldn’t put your money in ‘coz who knows when the next Great Depression or recession will hit and you’ll lose everything. I agree with part of that sentiment, but in today’s economic environment there is huge potential for growth and prosperity (provided you are in the game for a significant amount of time).

The truth is, if you have ever had a superannuation account, you have been investing your money in various pockets of the global economy, including shares. As you would have read from my previous post regarding superannuation, most people are “invested” in their chosen fund with a “balanced” option. This balanced option (generally speaking) will usually have a split of around 60% shares and 40% in other (usually lower-risk) assets. Investing most of your superannuation in shares is the main way your account balance grows. As a younger worker (with approximately 35-odd years left until retirement) it is considered optimal to take some higher risks for higher returns on your money because if anything goes south with the stock market (a recession), you will have a longer time in which to stay invested and recoup on any losses. For people closer to retirement, however, it would be much smarter to invest in low risk areas of the economy (such as bonds and cash). Cash in Australia is backed by gold and therefore a more robust currency than others; therefore, investing in sums of Australian money is considered a very low-risk investment. Government bonds are also considered very low-risk investments because there is an extremely low risk of governments defaulting (depending on which country is borrowing).

Firstly, let’s discuss what a share actually is. A share is “an indivisible unit of capital, expressing the ownership relationship between the company and the shareholder. The denominated value of a share is its face value, and the total of the face value of issued shares represent the capital of a company” (Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Share_(finance) ). Here’s a video with more detail.

Source: YouTube “ASX”

So when you invest in shares in the stock market, you are effectively buying small parts of a business or company. The more shares you own, the more of the company you own. Once you get to 50% or more shares in one company, you are effectively the main owner of the company, and therefore receive a large balance of power in terms of how you want the company to run. Personally, I am not really interested in becoming the main shareholder in any company and am choosing to buy my shares through things called ETFs (Exchange Traded Fund).

Source: YouTube “Rask Australia”

My partner and I did a heck of a lot of research on ETFs and we decided to invest both locally in the ASX as well as internationally. To do this, we first had to find a broker who would take the money that we want to invest and buy the amount of shares in the ETFs that most closely matched the amount we wanted to spend. For example, we wanted to make our initial investment $10,000. We set up an account with an online brokerage called SelfWealth. We had to wait for the money to be transferred from our bank account into the brokerage trust. Once the money was in the trust, we then chose/told the broker how many shares we wanted to buy of each, and the broker told us how much they would cost individually and collectively. Once we were happy with the amount of shares and how much they would cost, we submitted the purchase order and they were approved. We were then the proud owners of shares in the ASX!

This is all very simplified and doesn’t include a huge amount of detail, and that is on purpose! If I was to go through the entire process of what, when, where, why, and how we would all be here for days; ain’t nobody got time for that!

We eventually settled on the ETFs VAS (Vanguard Australian Shares) that buys shares in the top 300 Australian companies on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). We also initially purchased ETF shares in VDHG (Vanguard Diversified High Growth) but soon decided that this particular ETF had too much leniency towards bonds for our interests and goals so we then changed to VGS (Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares). We are now investing around 40% in VAS and 60% VGS. We were not happy investing so much in the local stock market in Australia so decided it was best for us to invest the majority proportion of our portfolio into international stocks.

I would highly recommend doing your own research into investing in the stock exchange and deciding if it is the right way for you to go, and researching to decide what kinds of things you would like to invest in. Everyone’s personal financial circumstances are different and therefore seeking your own personal financial advice is highly recommended. This is just a rough overview of how we went about getting into the share market. If you have any questions or anything feel free to leave a comment below!

Stay tuned for my next post which will look into my Net Worth after one week of officially FIREing!

So, What Am I Worth?

Here we get into the nitty-gritty of finding out my Net Worth. I have never calculated my Net Worth before so this was an interesting and exciting exercise!

I have to admit, I was very concerned that I was super poor and would have a negative Net Worth; turns out that is not the case at all, which was a pleasant surprise! (I love pleasant surprises).

So how does one calculate one’s Net Worth? Well, it’s actually relatively simple. You first write down what all of your assets are worth (example: property, cars, expensive equipment, superannuation, etc.) and then you calculate how much money you owe (example: car loan, house loan, credit cards, etc.). Once you have those two figures, you can to subtract your owed amount from your assets amount. The result is your Net Worth.

There are also a bunch of websites out there where you can calculate your Net Worth, one of which I have used and will illustrate below.

Source:Dinky Town https://www.dinkytown.net/java/net-worth-calculator-australian.html

As you can see above, my Net Worth is calculated at $138,215. That is actually really awesome! Now, I am still trying to figure out how to project asset growth in terms of separate investments (example: increase in home valuation, increase in share valuation, savings, etc.). Like I mentioned in previous posts, mathematics is not my strong point and I am having to learn or re-learn a bunch of calculations in order to produce these numbers. I roughly calculated a rough investment return of 2% for our home as that is how much growth we have had since purchasing two years ago (based on feedback from RealEstate.com: https://www.realestate.com.au/property/ ). {Note: I calculated my annual liabilities reduction rate based on our mortgage repayments only. I took our average interest charge per month and offset that against our monthly repayments, then reduced this amount from our outstanding balance. I then calculated the difference between the two and turned that into a percentage difference. Obviously, my student loan will reduce over time also, however, I don’t have access to the ATO website right now and cannot calculate the exact amount owing and how much I generally pay off each year through tax}.

I think just posting my Net Worth per week will do for now. So my very first Net Worth check-in number is $138,215!

A little housekeeping now. I said I would update my budget to reflect my recent salary-sacrifice into Superannuation. Here is my new budget incorporating these changes.

Source: Pay Calculator https://www.paycalculator.com.au/

Source: Money Smart https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/calculators-and-apps/budget-planner

As you can see, my average savings per week has now reduced by $35.97. It’s not too bad and I am better off investing extra into my super now because in approximately 35 years time when I am able to access my Superannuation, my contributions will have had a very long time to increase in value through investments. In fact, I used a compounding interest calculator to get a sneak-peek into what my Superannuation could amount to over the next 35 years.

Source:Money Smart Compound Interest Calculator https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/calculators-and-apps/compound-interest-calculator

As you can see, I put in my initial deposit amount (which is my current Superannuation amount) and roughly calculated my regular deposits. {Note: I know my Superannuation contributions are not paid annually and are instead paid quarterly. There was no quarterly option to choose from, so I took my average fortnightly amount and revised it down a bit to accommodate for fees and charges associated with my account. I then doubled this amount to get my average monthly amount, then tripled this amount to get my quarterly amount. Then, I multiplied my quarterly amount by 4 to get the rough estimate of $4,600 per year. This is an inaccurate and conservative figure}. I then stated that my Superannuation is compounded annually (I do not know how often Super is compounded. If anyone knows, can they please let me know so I can update this forecast?). I set the number of years before I can access my Super (around 35 years) and used the average interest return on my particular Superannuation over 10 years (10.22%). These figures give me a little bit of an idea of how I can roughly expect my Superannuation to grow. Obviously, 10.22% return is not guaranteed over the life of my Super investment, it is just an average. Pretty cool though to be able to have a look forward at what could be!

Make sure to subscribe to email updates about my blog, as my next post will be all about my (and my partner’s) first purchase of shares!! YAY!