Year End asset report

Our net worth went up 10% in 2025.

From this, I conclude

1. we are more or less spending within our income and not dipping into assets. I’m saying this without doing the tedious work of totaling up how much we actually spent this year. Why do that if I don’t have to?

2. the money we allocated for charitable giving last year, those funds coming from invested assets, barely made a dent in assets.

3. Someone making a low income ( DH) but investing early and regularly and spending conservatively can easily become a millionaire. I’m not kidding when I say DH’s highest income was $40,000 a year, and that was only a few years of good years. Sure, he had a working spouse, but his IRA is all from his own income.

4. DH is richer than I am in IRA money for the simple reason that he kept investing dividends and had investments in normal investments. Meanwhile, me for about seven years, kept money in a CD. In the year 2015 we started out he and I at having about the same amount of money. In 10 years his has doubled. mine has not :~)

My non-real-estate assets roughly doubled in 2025. Real estate up ~10%.

My daughter's assets, which I manage for her, went up ~50% in 2025, but I invest hers far more conservatively for "reasons".

That said, "millionaire" isn't what it once was.

So inspirational, IL.

I think of all of the ways I could have strayed from my values, I really blew it with saving and investing properly. There are many reasons for this (many of them you guys either know or can guess at), but I have tried to make up for it by trying to teach my kids about the value of compound interest over time. Only one has actually picked up on that lesson. He makes a very, very modest salary as a student advisor for a community college, but the school offers a good 401k matching program, and he has taken full advantage. He is amazed at how his money has grown.

In terms of late-in-life regrets, my big regret is not making my money work for me from a young age. I started out on the right track. My first paycheck out of college was $77 a week, and I would religiously save 50%. Until I didn't.

My year-end asset report has not increased--it perhaps has held steady because of the reduction in income I've experienced. However, the investments in the stock market I made when we sold our NJ house have really paid off--I increased my Vanguard index fund and also made investments in tech and energy and I've gotten fantastic returns on those. But too little too late.

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Originally Posted by bae

My non-real-estate assets roughly doubled in 2025. Real estate up ~10%.

My daughter's assets, which I manage for her, went up ~50% in 2025, but I invest hers far more conservatively for "reasons".

That said, "millionaire" isn't what it once was.

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oh I know, millionaire doesn’t mean a whole lot of especially one if counting principal residence in assets. But 1 million liquid bucks in fly over country is a nice little chunk of change. And that’s not DH’s only assets, that’s just his IRA. he has joint financial investments with me. He has a stupid farm. That other stuff adds up to quite a lot too, again, for flyover country.

Sure, it’s not all that much for West Coast tech bro money but hey, we don’t need that lifestyle.

I just went through my equity returns for the year and they averaged around 15%, mostly index funds. My home value has probably gone down over the year, but has seen significant appreciation before. Fixed income investments kept up a bit higher than inflation. It's been a long time since stocks actually went down or crashed and the same goes for real estate, but I can remember, and to a degree it's just paper until it's not. At one time I considered my small early retirement pension as an asset. It doesn't adjust for inflation and I recently had Alexa calculate it's relative present purchasing value based on inflation. It has shrunk considerably.

One of my instructors used to say, risk and return will always be intrinsically related. That probably holds a lot of the time.

As part of our asset evaluation, DH always looks up the book price of our automobiles.

Here’s a shocker: his old truck has gone up $2000 in value in a year! It is a 2010 Ford Ranger. The new Rangers are stupid.

IL: A lot of complaints are being made about recently built cars and trucks. Several friends have trucks in the garage often even when brand new. Rvs are the same. The older ones can be more reliable. There is an online expert that puts out buying guides to check which brand years are reliable over time. Older trucks with decent mileage are holding their value.

Just watched a Consumer Guide analysis about new model SUVs and it was amazing which ones were not recommended and why. Even Mercedes made the list. GMC is caught with new cars needing warranty work and cannot get the parts. Corvette was caught up in this with one dealer having two of the same model sitting with no ETA on the parts needed to fix the warranty work.

Hubby said our net worth went up around 12% this year. Our real estate is about 5% of our net worth. Would have made more but a chunk is always in cash due to age.

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Originally Posted by sweetana3

Hubby said our net worth went up around 12% this year. Our real estate is about 5% of our net worth. Would have made more but a chunk is always in cash due to age.

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see, sometimes I feel stupid about keeping so much of my own IRA money in a CD. But then I hear from you. I read lhamo over on the Mr. money mustache website who also keeps a ton of cash around. And then I don’t feel so stupid.

But with our joint assets we have a fair amount in cash and CD’s.

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

As part of our asset evaluation, DH always looks up the book price of our automobiles.

Here’s a shocker: his old truck has gone up $2000 in value in a year! It is a 2010 Ford Ranger. The new Rangers are stupid.

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I recently traded in my 13 year old Tacoma and got a very decent trade-in value. I never once had it in the shop for any repairs, but the new truck is zippy, notably smaller, and really all I need for the city anymore and will still haul a sheet of plywood. It was Motor Trend's truck of the year, and seemed to have above average reliability rating from CR. And a hybrid. I suspect in spite of it all, they don't make them like they used to. It was just time.

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Originally Posted by Rogar

I recently traded in my 13 year old Tacoma and got a very decent trade-in value. I never once had it in the shop for any repairs, but the new truck is zippy, notably smaller, and really all I need for the city anymore and will still haul a sheet of plywood. It was Motor Trend's truck of the year, and seemed to have above average reliability rating from CR. And a hybrid. I suspect in spite of it all, they don't make them like they used to. It was just time.

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by “smaller” I guess you mean the bed is not as long.

one of my garden club lady friends has a Ford Ranger the same year as ours, and it is a double cab. Those are nice for hauling along a dog in the back.

but since we have decided to preserve our Ford Ranger and drive it only when we have to, to keep miles down, it no longer really matters to us.

DH’s Ford Ranger was hit from behind about seven years ago and “totaled “by the insurance company, but we fixed it and it’s been fine ever since.

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

by “smaller” I guess you mean the bed is not as long.

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It is not a full sized pickup and is smaller all around including the height, bed length and width. It's basically an SUV with an ample bed for light work. Interestingly, the cab space is about the same as the larger pick ups. Some people require more and larger for their lifestyle. Some people have trucks just because or some sort of real man image projection. An old work truck and a city car or two would be idea some couples especially for big remodeling or trade jobs. People hold onto the old pickups just for fun or hobby sometimes, I think. There are a few in my block and maybe it harkens back to memories from one's younger years. None of them gets good gas mileage, which doesn't seem like the concern it was a few regimes ago.

I have been spending hours a day the past few trying to figure out investments - many of which have grown substantially from DH's inheritance two years ago. He has zero interest in dealing with it so I am putting together a notebook with all the accounts and their holdings etc. It helps me to see what's in what and makes me realize that he missed a lot of IRA growth by ignoring his original accounts. Mutual funds, ETFs, stocks, bonds, dividends, cap gains - I have learned a lot just trying to make sense of it. Once I do the taxes for this year, I will have a better idea of next steps to hopefully keep it growing.

That's a nice-looking truck, Rogar. What kind is it?

Whenever I look at my 401k, it says that my allocation is too aggressive. I probably need to take a closer look at that.

It's a Ford Maverick.

It's probably been a good time to be over aggressive, although my Fidelity advisor says that I'm the opposite and too conservative.

It has been a good time, but it probably won't last forever. I used to have amazing fortitude about my even more aggressive allocation when I was working. I employed the ostrich strategy of never looking at my accounts when the markets were down, and that served me well. I never panic-sold when times were bad. Now that I'm retired, I don't think I'll be able to weather downturns with the same equanimity.

I wish you many good years with your lovely new truck!

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Originally Posted by Rogar

It's a Ford Maverick.

It's probably been a good time to be over aggressive, although my Fidelity advisor says that I'm the opposite and too conservative.

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Nice looking truck!

I've recently upped my 401K contributions by an extra $400/month. I have a target date fund. Last time I looked (few months ago), I had about 70% in stocks.

Reading a book now called How Not To Invest which cites research showing that over time index funds with auto contributions end up doing better than most other investments. He states that mutual fund managers aren't really worth their expense given their track records. The old "keep it simple" tactic might be best. It is kind of fun though to "bet" on individual stocks since it mostly feels like gambling.

I just browsed throughThe Little Book of Common Sense Investing. It is a classic by John Bogle who founded Vanguard and formed the first index fund. I followed the Early Retirement forum, which is basically a bunch of Boglehead disciples, a few years before retiring. Right or wrong, it has worked out OK.

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Originally Posted by Rogar

I just browsed throughThe Little Book of Common Sense Investing. It is a classic by John Bogle who founded Vanguard and formed the first index fund. I followed the Early Retirement forum, which is basically a bunch of Boglehead disciples, a few years before retiring. Right or wrong, it has worked out OK.

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The Boglehead forums are great, and pinkytoe, take a look at JL Collins The Simple Path to Wealth.

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Originally Posted by pinkytoe

Reading a book now called How Not To Invest which cites research showing that over time index funds with auto contributions end up doing better than most other investments. He states that mutual fund managers aren't really worth their expense given their track records. The old "keep it simple" tactic might be best. It is kind of fun though to "bet" on individual stocks since it mostly feels like gambling.

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yes.

invest by dollar cost averaging your contributions into a few, no more than a handful, of index funds. sit back and let the money grow. You will be rich.

if you want to fuss with your investment, you can review your investments occasionally, but no more than twice a year.

“dollar cost averaging “is just a fancy way of saying put the same amount regularly to your investment vehicles.

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Originally Posted by Rogar

It's a Ford Maverick.

It's probably been a good time to be over aggressive, although my Fidelity advisor says that I'm the opposite and too conservative.

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yes, our close friend just got one of those, an electric version. It is still higher off the ground then DH wants.

My husband is an old man, he just wants what he wants, which is what he used to have.

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

yes, our close friend just got one of those, an electric version. It is still higher off the ground then DH wants.

My husband is an old man, he just wants what he wants, which is what he used to have.

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In a world where it would be practical to have two vehicles, I might choose a beat up old pickup as a second. I understand.

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Originally Posted by Rogar

In a world where it would be practical to have two vehicles, I might choose a beat up old pickup as a second. I understand.

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I'm watching carefully our local island sales boards to locate an appropriately-old beatup pickup truck in reasonable condition. I'd like to have something that I can trivially diagnose and repair problems with by myself, and with the machineshop/production facilities I have available on the island.

I really like my 2018 Toyota Tacoma truck, but it clearly has too much fussy electronic stuff on it to be a lifetime vehicle.

I am talking to DH to convince him to give a sizeable donation, separate from our planned charitable giving, to our nephew getting married in China. I have read that its traditionally the groom’s family that pays for the wedding. Whether or not this young couple is being “traditional “ is unknown to me, but certainly they will have wedding expenses.

I don’t see why we can’t donate $5000 towards this wedding extravaganza. DH is such a hoarder. In our accumulation phase of frugality, I liked it. Now in our spend-down phase it’s a bit irritating.

But he is always game to spend $$$ on blow out trips,, So I can’t complain there.

okay---faux(Eddie), since DH(Radar)didn't piss his money away on anything but seed packets, and now has a sizable chunk o' moolah, i would suggest that he allow himself the simple luxury of a set o' Purple Hornies to put on his ride.(see photo) But yeah---they'll hear him running up Stone Hill with them things; they're LOUD. Yup.Attachment 6693