Building Wealth, Strength, and Character
I started tracking my net worth back in April 2018. With some help from Personal Capital, I can see my net worth from 4 years ago was -10,000. Since that time, I finished my Bachelor’s and Master’s and completed my first year as a Primary Care PA. In November of this year, (11/10/2022 to be […]
As of June, 1st 2022. My net worth is -19029. A 4766 increase from last month. This is how it is currently distributed. Checking: Current Value: 5037 Change from last month: -783 High Yield Savings: Current Value: 1602 Change from last month: +750 403(b): Current Value: 10069 Change from last month: +2028 ROTH IRA: Current […]
Here is where we currently stand: Total Net Worth: $784,000 Market appreciation helped us move up a bit quicker than expected, which obviously feels nice. However, this has me thinking that a downturn will temporarily feel awful. Regardless, we will stay the course. I am actively trying to think about our finances a little less. […]
Learning to save requires delayed gratification. You have money to spend, but you are intentionally choosing to put it aside. This can be very difficult, but once someone establishes the habit, delaying becomes second nature. In my own experience, the gratification part has been more difficult. Month after month, our net worth increases and, by […]
It has been several years since our last net worth update. A lot has changed in our lives, but our strategy for building wealth has remained the same. Here is where we currently stand: Total Net Worth: $756,000 This officially marks another quarter-million-dollar milestone. I’m currently setting aside money for our Roth IRA contributions, but […]
I have always gone to the gym, played hockey, and ran whenever the weather was nice. As a result, I built a decent frame and a basic level of strength. That foundation always helped in my athletic endeavors, whether it was hockey, racquetball, yard work/moving, or just being generally active. Senior year I was able […]
As the announcement of our annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) approaches, I’ve found myself thinking through the possible outcomes. It’ll likely land somewhere between 1% and 3%—already an improvement over last year, when I received 0% as a new hire. Still, with inflation averaging around 4% in recent years, it’s easy to feel like […]
I have now spent a little over a year training and competing in powerlifting. After several years of spinning my wheels without making any meaningful progress in the gym, the last year has been a breath of fresh air. I finally have a system that consistently produces results. At times, training is boring. It’s repetitive. […]
On the financial independence track, where does happiness come in? When should we slow our portfolio growth to focus on lifestyle? I don’t think there is a prescriptive answer that fits everyone. These questions require us to look at why we want financial independence and examine what we are willing to sacrifice to achieve it, […]
As we graduated and entered the workforce, a recurring piece of advice we received from friends and family was to budget. The version they were imagining involved setting aside a set amount of money each month into different buckets of expenses. Two hundred dollars for the gas bill, eight hundred dollars for groceries, two hundred […]
The latte factor is the idea that if you spend 5 dollars every day on a drive-through coffee, you are losing around 150 dollars a month. Therefore, it has become a common piece of financial advice to skip the daily latte. I can’t argue that, for many people, an extra 150 dollars a month could […]
It is the things we do every day, not necessarily the things we measure, that we excel at. Frequency matters, but so does duration. If you have had the same job for several years, you have unquestionably improved in that role. If you have ever helped onboard a new employee, you know they may be […]
