A bit of the old Luck of the Irish

The longest March ever.

I’m not sure about everyone else but March was wearing thin on my conscious. It’s Audit planning season and I can honestly say I’m burnt out from having three audit managers with three different management styles. Beyond that, winter was on and off brutal. But somewhere over the rainbow was a bit of the ol’ Irish pot of gold; April is here!

But as always, this is the TNFG monthly Net Worth Breakdown for March 2021. You are in the right place to see if we can make cents of all the non-sense. Additionally, I hope that there are nuggets offer some financial understanding along the way.

Finding the Pot of Gold

The goal of sharing monthly is to disprove others; It’s not impossible to grow wealthy.

It can take a long time and loads of work but you can shift from one social class to another. Here’s a real life example, I once bench pressed 500lbs.

While it might sound crazy if you see me today; however, I was in the Marines and we were trapped overseas. There was nothing to do. I read a book and some fitness magazines about building a great gym routine. I drafted a plan and put it in action. Four months later, I couldn’t touch my upper back. I didn’t set out bench 500 but I ended up doing it.

Building wealth works the same way.

Gain knowledge on how to do it well. Be consistent and put in time. At some point, you won’t be able to touch your upper back (or something – insert metaphor).

In the end, 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 you’ve always been “Valuable and Valued.”

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March 2021 and down to the Buzzard

Our monthly goal was to hit $500,000 by April 1, 2021. With a renovation payment coming for $25k, this was an absolute must or we will have to wait until June!!! So did we make it?

Nope but we got Damn Near Close!!!

Investments failed us wholesale.

I thought our investments would have done significantly better since the pandemic was fading away, however Market dynamics drove down the price of big tech and we got crushed. Lesson, the market can’t be trusted to bring you to the finish line. It chokes when you need it most. Especially you $NIO and Baidu.

The wife and I will have to work a lot harder. Second Quarter promises to be pretty sweet. Yahoo Finances estimates a 10% growth in the market, I’m here for all of it. We need to make up for lost steam in quarter 1.

Here’s the Quick Summary:

Damn Market Decent in the Final Minutes

Sometimes what we hope for doesn’t hit and that’s OK.

We made some incredible strides to paying off debt and invest in March. The stimulus $2,8000 came in handy on that occasion. Taxes have been postponed until May 17, 2021 so if you didn’t get a chance to invest in an IRA, now is a great opportunity to hit the nail.

One thing to be careful as we reopen, is the urge to spend your way back to old habits. My wife and I are structuring our imperfect finances in hopes that we can support the upcoming get back to work wave. We are rebuilding savings but we don’t plan to keep more than $2,500 at 0.01%. For us, we rather put it in the market and sell a high performer if we really needed the cash. Or better yet, I’d sell the Global Dividend slice since it has an additional $2,500.

All in all +5% is not bad. I’ll take a positive ending over a negative one any day of the week. Just thrive for being more than average.

Our Expenses for March 2021

The stimulus payment make it look like we spent almost nothing in March.

Let’s go with the positives. My wife took on an extra side gig bringing in $40,000 for the year?

It’s a ton of work so here’s hoping she hangs in there for the year. As we adjust, I will need to step up my game to make sure she is extra comfortable and happy. The stimulus came in for $1,400 per person but the wife always skims a little of the top.

It’s hard to control the household mafia. lol

Additional work brings additional stress as well as a faster burn out rate.

For me, more work tends to include more stress eating. Our food costs are insane. I seriously have no way to stop it beyond going way more vegan. Prices are inflating.

Home, Food and Health!

Health and Fitness grew again since we bought new workout clothing and some new running shoes for me. Outside is defrosting and I’m fat so time to run all over again.

Housing costs which includes 2x mortgages and 2x HOAs was reduced by $500 this month since I’m renting to a friend in Tally. Perks of keeping your finances in good order, you can work to provide opportunities for others.

We still need to consolidate our Geico insurances so that we can take full advantage of my (Marine Corp) Veterans Discount and I still need to do an extension for our taxes as we wait for the K1 from the investment group. You need to save everywhere you can. Call the credit card companies for better rates. Cut services.

Whatever you don’t need, you really don’t need.

Off the Backboard and Not Enough…  

If it wasn’t for investors’ fear of inflation or normalcy collapse, we could have hit $500,000 but alas we got to $495,000. Our net worth went up by a 5.06% – a cash value of $25,034.

While I see a lot of people pushing the Debt Free Journey or the FIRE movement, I’m just seating on the side with the Net Max Financial plan and doing both.

1. Where were the bulk of the wins?

Investments struggled but pulled through.

We continued value investing throughout that time. Total growth for the month hit $8k. If you need tips on how to set up a solid portfolio, read How to Build a Long-Term Investment Portfolio Earning 250%.

Debt Repayment in 2021 is coming along.

The total debt repayment goal is $100k in 12 months. This month was a great push for $5k improvement. While student loans are in forbearance this is the best time to work to pay off debts.

Cash holdings increased.

Wifey is doing the Herculean task while I get my but in gear. Need to start selling my consultations as much as possible as well as work on eBooks for the website. Emergency Fund (EF) is now at $1,500 but I can’t promise that I won’t use it again.

We have to get that number back to $2,500. That’s our Acid net/max EF so that we invest more than keeping money in our savings at less than 1%. The net/max financial plan hasn’t failed me yet so I’m sticking to it.

2. Where did we falter?

Monthly Expense.

Not one category hurt us this month, just need to keep living below our means to help us retire sooner than later.

3. What is the Next Step for Us?

Although we didn’t beat the buzzer, we got each other. I really couldn’t do this journey alone. I still have to beat the wife at the side hustle game.

She stays winning.

A little competition goes a long way.

Currently the wife is bringing in an extra $3,300 per month compared to my average $0 for 2021. So time to figure out what I need to do for money.

Beyond that here’s our overarching goals for 2021:

1. Investing $1,500 per month in M1 Finance Brokerage focused on Growth and Dividend Income that generates at least $1,000 in passive income in 2021. Check out the portfolio in real time. If you like the platform and want to start investing, I have the $30 for $30 referral if you need it – https://m1.finance/SYdqDJ2SyADC.
2. Shooting for a sustained investment rate with the push for $500,000 net worth. To help monitor your savings, cash flow, net worth, investments, retirement and more FREE with Personal Capital! Sign up with my link & get $20 Amazon gift card. *Terms apply. https://pcap.rocks/lawrencegonz
3. Lower Food Cost and Increase Working Out – There is an inverse correlation between your waistline and your household finances. As the grocery bill goes up with snacks, the more your wealth shrinks over time.
4. Work on blog consistency while adding eBooks and eCommerce. Pushing to build out for the next 3 years until we hit $1,000,000 net worth valuation. And, toss in some side hustles!

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