How We Use Money While the March Market Take Hits

March investment madness concluded; money is losing value quickly.

The big lesson—your cash flow needs to stay. competitive. It’s expensive out here plus taxes and tips. Eating out is for the wealthy now. In the District of Columbia (DC), expect to pay 10% sales taxes with a minimum 15% tip. As the world deals with Trumpflation, tariffs, and trade wars, brace yourself for a bumpy 6-9 months. Other costs of goods and services are going up. The pandemic era is over, we are now in Trump 2.0 territory.

It’s more critical now to know your net worth (Assets – Liabilities). The last time the market went down in 2020, some Americans road the wave back up to million-dollar status. Most of that was due to crafting a budget, remaining disciplined, and earning as much as you can from investments. How much did you earn and then spend in 2019-2024? Are you doing the work to build wealth or are you just saying “generation wealth” as a hashtag?

Inflation wrecked countries like Venezuela. Argentina has been doing the work to crawl back. India saw an opportunity to purchase cheap Russian oil. While Europe wrestles with its conscience to support Ukraine, China is making inroads in Africa. The world is changing and it’s not going to be cheaper.

When prices won’t go down, the next best thing is to 1. cut back on spending, 2. increase your income, 3. decrease your use of credit, and 4. invest for the long term. Unfortunately, most households are doing the exact opposite.

Mindset—We have to agree that the world is changing, it’s time to change with it.

March Inflation Madness. The Trump and Musk Dynasty.

This March welcomed the Depressed Bear Market

The net worth of households and nonprofit organizations increased by $0.2 trillion to $169.4 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2024. The value of Americans’ equity holdings rose by nearly $264 billion. This represents an overall gain that was restrained by real estate values.

The first quarter of 2025 has had significant economic, geopolitical, and market turbulence. Slowing economic data, rising global tensions, and increasing policy uncertainty contributed to increased market volatility and U.S. equity market corrections. The uncertainty kept the Federal Reserve on the sidelines.

Household debt balances grew by $93 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024. This brings the total to $18.04 trillion. Mortgage balances increased by $11 billion in Q4 2024, reaching $12.61 trillion. It accounts for 70% of overall household debt. Consumer credit growth bounced back as expected to meet holiday demands. We are stuck between a robust economy that doesn’t work for everyone and a hard-credit place.

Suffice it to say, it was an eventful Trump March! The worst was yet to come (aka Liberation Day, Tariffs, and Trade Wars).

All about Inflation Madness and the Cost-of-Living Crisis Pot of Gold

This is our TNFG monthly Net Worth Breakdown for March 2025.

Every month, we share our numbers to see if we can make cents for all the nonsense. Additionally, I drop gold nuggets and hints to improve your financial understanding. The goal of sharing monthly is to disprove others; It’s not impossible to grow wealthy. Building wealth works, even when the world seems to be in a dire place.

In the end, consistency matters so put in the time. You will find that the journey is one of self-discovery and change. It’s not the money at the end of the rainbow; you will come to realize that it was always about your time. Furthermore, try not to get too hammered down about situations that you have no control over.

March 2025 – Inflation, Prices of Goods and Gas are going up; everything else not so much.

Our next household financial goal is to hit $2M Net Worth (of which, $1.5M is in our total investment portfolio) by February 2026.

Unanticipated costs are coming out of the woodwork to make this difficult, but we will manage. The 2023 car (at 5.04 percent to pay off in 72 months) added $1,100 net cash outflow per month. Luckily, we offset the expenses with my new monthly Veterans’ Assistance benefits of $1,524. The best part is that the cash is tax-free.

With our plans set for retirement at the end of 2032, we have to clear our consumer debts by 2027. Our travel costs for the year were estimated way too low. Switzerland is extremely expensive and Brazil is becoming a tourism superzone for New Year’s. Prices are up nearly 300% and the trade wars won’t help.

Like a lot of Americans, we are feeling squeezed. However, unlike others, we know that any financial crisis comes in waves. It’s best to prepare and stay the course.

See our ending Net Worth as of March 31, 2025 (below)

Investments caved in due to Trump Shenanigans

Wall Street ended the quarter worse than I thought. Investors panicked which drove stocks down in the first quarter of 2025. Inflation fears are back in full swing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.3%, the S&P 500 slipped 4.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 10.4%.

Our portfolio is down 9.61% for the quarter. Yet, it’s still way too early to cry. It can get worse. At this rate, I don’t anticipate a rebound until Q4 if at all. This might be a 2022 down year.

Damn Market is Decent in the Final Minutes

Sometimes the finish line is better than the race. Our first goal was to knock down credit card debt. We dropped it by $3.7k.

This year has less Passive Income but the Mrs. received a 10% raise. Well, it’s better than nothing. I’m also adding roughly 10%.

We had to dig into our savings to avoid interest fees. We are opting for an active cash flow management approach. This includes a robust Acid Emergency strategy.

In the end, our wealth dropped by -2.15% (a dollar value of $34,104).

Our Household Expenses for March 2025

Gone are the months of +2k net passive income support.

Instead, we are paying the $2k for the new car and the associated car insurance. While not massive in March, travel purchases are coming in early. We spent more than February because of the wedding and the Federal back-to-office mandate.

Income was robust for the month and we are happy about the bonus. The after-tax version always hurts the soul. It’s all about the net version. With the income at $20k and the expenses at $15k, we were left with enough money to move around.

Cash flow management is the key to building wealth effectively.

While I see a lot of people pushing the Debt Free Journey or the FIRE movement, I’m just sitting on the side with the Net Max Financial plan and doing both. Why? Because that’s the opportunity that an effective cash flow management strategy offers. We netted +$5,392 over the last month (see cashflow below).

Beating March Madness, Looking Toward the Intersection of Money and Trumpflation

Although we didn’t beat the buzzer, we got each other. I really couldn’t do this journey alone.

Beyond that here are our overarching goals for 2025:

1. Back Load our ROTH IRAs to invest in the Sinister Six. Adding to our long-term strategy to retire early with north of $3M.
2. Investing $1,250 per month in M1 Finance Brokerage focused on Growth and Dividend Income that generates at least $1,000 in passive income in 2026.
   • Check out the portfolio in real-time.
   • If you like the platform and want to start investing, I have the $10 for $10 referral if you need it – https://m1.finance/SYdqDJ2SyADC.
3. Shooting for a sustained investment rate with the push for a $1,00,000 net worth.
   • To help monitor your savings, cash flow, net worth, investments, and retirement; use the Empower App (formally “Personal Capital”) Sign up with my link & get a $20 Amazon gift card. *Terms apply. https://pcap.rocks/lawrencegonz
4. Prepare for an Epic Financial Literacy Month: (2) Workshops, (2) Podcast Interviews, and (4) Blog Posts. Pushing to build a $1,000,000 investment portfolio.
   • After April 2025, I should be leaning toward more Personal Finances content specifically for Federal Employees.

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