Net worth tracking is fun! You know, I am pretty far from the ideal case when it comes to bloggers on personal finance. On Christmas Day in 2012, I started blogging. Oh yes, a quick mention that I love December and January – the months when there are plenty of new bloggers on the scene. Keep on writing! I would love to learn more from you!
I started late, as in “I-figured-this-out-when-I-am-much-older” kind of late. Six days after I started my blog (back then, it was on Blogger), on the last day of 2012, I was 30 years old and my net worth was a grand total of negative $25,755 to my name.
I remember thinking to myself, that wasn’t how I’m going to live my life. Yes, I had gotten married and bought my apartment. Now that the seemingly toughest parts (financially) were out of the way, it was time to claw my way out.
I didn’t have lofty goals such as $100k investment portfolio by 26, or financial freedom by 35, or CPF $1m@65 etc. You can call me a “low-achiever”, I’m OK with that.
I’m not racing with you; I’m running for myself. Get what I mean?
See previous years :
My Net Worth Is Still 6-Figure And I’m OK With It (2019)
My Net Worth Is Only 6-Figure And I’m OK With It (2018)
My Net Worth Is Only 5-Figure And I’m OK With It (2015)
And so, I improvised the use of my You Need A Budget (YNAB) subscription and started tracking everything. I stumbled along, and had my fair share of struggles and challenges.
Seven years on, I am now the guy who had Full Retirement Sum at 37 without topping up a single cent.
Net Worth Calc : Assets (Plus+)
Just a quick re-cap. Lucky me, I don’t have to spend much efforts compiling the numbers because I use YNAB everyday.
- Cash
- E-wallets e.g. Paypal, Grab, MCO
- Bank accounts
- CPF accounts – yes, CPF is my money, thank you
- Investments e.g. SSBs, CDP, robo-advisors
- Alternative assets e.g. cryptocurrency
Just as I had omitted the value of my HDB apartment in previous years, I would do the same here. Calculate using whichever method you want. At the end of the day, it is what we make of the number that truly matters.
In an earlier post, I wrote that I transferred $40,000 to my mum’s CPF-RA account. Her own $8,800 was used to purchase the annuity premium which is approximately 18% of her CPF-RA balance, post transfer. For simplicity’s sake, I would park the $40,000 under my net worth and assume an outflow of $150 per month until the amount is fully exhausted in 22 years time when I’m 60 years old – I hope that happens.
Net Worth Calc : Liabilities (Minus-)
Pretty simple list.
- Credit cards
- Personal loan – Don’t ask (it’s complicated), it would be cleared by year end
- HDB loan – I divided it by two since wife + me
Blue bars are basically the total amount I’ve added for the year. How did I do? Let’s take a look!
The final number for end-2019 is a massive $92,966 increase for the entire year, partly thanks to nice investment returns and increasing CPF interest earned. If we averaged out the progress over the last seven years, it would have been an average addition of around $45,000 annually.
Tracking of net worth is an exercise primarily for myself. The way I track it and what I chose to include/exclude is specifically meant for the way I use it. It is what we make of the number that truly matters.
Moving forward, having achieved my CPF-FRS target, the next milestone is likely to be a conservative $550,000 net worth by 2022. By then, I would be 40 years old (OMG WTF) and have secured a level of security/stability financially.
Perhaps, ready to move on to do something else with my life?
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Kevin started Turtle Investor when his net worth languished at negative $25,755. His desire to turn things around led him to build passive income from investments and side hustles that pay for his daily expenses and vacations. You can learn more about Kevin here.
Don’t bother with net worth. It is nothing but a penis measurement tool. THe only thing that matters is passive income level. Generating 8% off a 500k cash portfolio is far superior to having 1M in Singapore Savings Bonds and CPF.
Hey Ed!
Use whatever metric that floats your boat.
CPF can be a pissing contest.
Net worth can be a pissing contest.
Passive income can be a pissing contest.
I bet someone will come along and and say he retired after he 10x his portfolio in 12 months using crypto and everything else is shit.
220k by 40 is including your HDB nett worth?
Hi Bry,
My next target is $550,000 by 2022 (exclude HDB, include CPF) if I continue to be engaged in a full-time job.
That’s quite a turnaround! You should feel more than OK about that net worth, especially the fact that it’s trending in the right direction!
Hi IF,
Thank you for your kind words! Agree, sometimes we should probably take stock of our progress and give ourselves a pat on the back.
Very inspirational Kevin. I’m the same age as you and also had negative networth a few years ago. I now live overseas, but it had been a very rough past few years – from being a VP to being unemployed and slowly getting back on my feet. Through some hard FIRE savings, Airbnb, stock investments etc, I also grew from negative networth at the age of 31 to $300,000 by the age of 37. Boy, it takes a herculean amount of discipline, and I’m comforted by the fact I’m not alone in sharing the same FIRE philosophy.
Thanks Dan! Quite a handful of people around my age have been leaving me comments or emailing me. I suppose we can identify with each other, as we are facing similar situations at this part of our lives 🙂
Very thankful that you openly shared your story and on track towards financial security and independence. Discipline is everything! The FIRE community is strong, and I’ll always be around to chat – online, of course. See you around Dan!
Hey Kevin!
This is a purely Endowus query.
How were your rate of returns for your Endowus account so far and would you recommend it those who have ample CPF OA to invest in it?
Would you be able to withdraw your investment returns after some time directly back into your CPF OA, let’s say if you needed to use the amount for housing etc.?
Thanks!!
Hey Bubbles,
Endowus is currently giving me $950 gains on my $10,000 investment. However, do note that this is meaningless. Everyone’s time of investment, risk profile (affects your allocation) and time-horizon is different. At the end of the day, Endowus is largely a passive investment vehicle to mirror market returns.
I would likely be adding (maybe $10k or $20k) to my CPF-OA investment this year, but I am prudent. I have easily more than 5 years worth of HDB loans payment catered for in CPF-OA and have no immediate use for the funds inside CPF-OA.
Withdrawal can be done at any time back into CPF-OA. But remember, your investment is subjected to price movements as always. If the market tanks 30% or more due to Covid round #2 with a more infectious and deadly strain, is that something you can handle if you happen to need your CPF-OA money for housing at that point in time?
CPF-OA money is very flexible and that is both its strength and weakness.