Watching Our Wealth Grow Over $1,000,000 in 2023

For starters, The Neighborhood Finance Guy writes about financial literacy topics such as How to Grow Your Wealth, Budgeting, Investment Strategies, Retirement tips, and more. The goal is to help you make effective decisions and set S.M.A.R.T+E.R. goals with your money.

The information is FREE but the struggle is not sold separately.

Table of Contents

Welcome back TNFG fans and any Newcomers

Hope you are having a wonderful day and an even better year. Budgeting and net worth tracking isn’t the norm but being normal leads to being broke. In contrast, you were not born unique only to die a copy.

Be bold and invest the difference

As for our household, my wife and I are starting the year with some much-needed introspection and a load of excitement. Since January 2020, we have been able to add +$200,000 annually. The Santa Clause rally and consumer spending in December 2021, pushed us over +$200,000 (again).

2022 was a massive reversal of fortunes. Delayed Post-Pandemic issues, supply chain, a war overseas, and record high inflation. The stock market fell 20%.

Our Net Worth growth capped out at less than $100k. Which is still better than zero or negative. Even with the not-a-recession language, this new Bear Market is on par with 2008. As such, our household had to re-calibrate our expectations for 2023. This will require that we invest as much as $90,000. It’s bold and challenging but what’s life without pushing the envelope?

We are definitely on our way to becoming millionaires. Just not as quickly as we thought. Let’s say mid-2025 to be safe. Feel free to check out the recap for December 2022, “You Can’t Build Wealth Without $15k Losses in December.”

Our Estimated Net Worth at Year-End

*Slow Growth Year Anticipated. Brace Yourself

Our Household Expenses For 2023

With Medical Emergencies, Repairs, and Travel, Our Total Costs Should Level Out. Compared to 2022

I’m all about Work Smarter, Not Harder to Grow Wealth

Since 2012, my wife and I have been on a mission to revolutionize our lives. So much so, that we documented the entire process on The Neighborhood Finance Guy website.

Building Wealth While Spending too much — Total $$$ Spent in 2022

I strongly believe that with the Net Max Financial plan, Americans can cut down the number of years required to work and become millionaires in less than 20 years. Turns out, we are doing it in less than 10 years.

As bold as that sounds, understanding how money works can help you generate more wealth than your 9-5 ever could. It’s all about working smarter and not harder. Even if some doors close, just focus on the doors that you can open.

At this stage, I’m more concerned with netting +7% to keep up with inflation. Expenses are slated to increase by 30% in 2040, the struggling season is just beginning if people stay under-prepared. That’s what worked for us.

We are sticking with the long-term wealth approach. Social media is replete with get-rich schemes and zero-risk returns; the truth is, that wealth takes time to build. You might not even see the fruits of it. This is why I strongly advocate wellness in association with building wealth.

Every new dollar is not as dreamy if you are sick, depressed, or both. Find financial stability and you will find freedom.

If you need more information on how to process wealth building, check out the Money Guy Show video below.

Building a Million-dollar Investment Strategy Grow your wealth

We experienced our first super big investment drop of $50,000 in March 2020.

We stuck in through and found that long-term investments favor wealth. Once you establish your financial foundation and stability, the next part is just having fun. And once you master that, rebalance annually or semiannually.

If you do nothing else, just invest in an ETF stock like $VTI or $VOO. I found it to be more beneficial for people to be in the game versus waiting for the right time to jump in. These are all ways to grow your wealth. This might be the last great chance to buy great companies at a discount and to ride the wave to 2025.

Don’t get cute with trying to stockpick or cryptocurrency your way to financial stability. It doesn’t work. Try my patterned tips for increasing your household’s investment potential by 111%.

Invest in a SMARTER Strategy to Grow Fearless Wealth

Unfortunately, Dave Ramsey would disapprove. In 2023, we will likely spend $22,500 on travel via credit cards.

While packing credit card debt is generally a bad idea, if you can manage it well it might be a reward card. Let me repeat, if you can MANAGE it.

As such, we aren’t passing up on 150,000 credit card reward points for travel in 2024. Because of this, we will be tracking to be credit card debt-free by March 2023. With any luck and no emergencies. We are very strategic with how we spend and invest to make up the difference.

Our goal is to reach wealth velocity while avalanching our way up. Inflation and high prices are hitting but here we are. Wealth is (Contribution x Rate of Return) to the power of time.

This is why time is money. Your efforts today will compound tomorrow. Either positive or negative.

Net Worth Month-to-Month Tracking

	Net Worth	Growth/Loss in Dollar Value	Growth/Loss as a Percentage
January 2023	$807,932	+$52,754	+6.53%
February 2023	$805,525	-$2,407	-0.30%
March 2023	$831,904	+$26,379	+3.17%
April 2023	$819,205	-$12,699	-1.55%
May 2023	$845,979	+$26,774	+3.16%
^June 2023	$902,339	+$56,361	+6.25%
July 2023	$967,407	+$65,068	+7.21%
August 2023	$1,050,076	+$82,669	+7.87%
September 2023	$1,022,737	-$27,340	-2.67%
October 2023	$1,017,589	-$5,139	-0.51%
November 2023	$1,082,378	+$64,790	+5.99%
December 2023	$1,116,137	+$33,759	+3.12%
Total Change as of 1.6.24		+$360,959	+47.80%

^Bank Timing adjustment
*Travel Season Starts – June, August, and December 2023
**Low Estimates for 2022 ($815k) and High Estimates ($925k)
Inflation Hit All-Time Highs Over 40 Years

Goldman Sachs Economic Estimates for 2023

Here are a few ways to Grow Your Wealth Like Us:

Boost Bank Savings to $15,000 and keep 10% dividend cash reserves in investments to buying opportunities in 2024.
To begin with, Invest an Average of $1,500 per month in M1 Finance Brokerage focused on Growth and Dividend Income that generates at least $1,000 in passive income in 2024.
- Check out my portfolio in real time for pointers. If you like the platform and want to start investing, I have the $10 for $10 referral for added motivation – https://m1.finance/SYdqDJ2SyADC.
- Some deals for $30 or $50 match drop sporadically.
Shooting for a sustained investment rate with the push for a $900,000 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 a $20 Amazon gift card. *Terms apply. https://pcap.rocks/lawrencegonz
Work on blog consistency while adding eBooks and eCommerce. Pushing to build out for the next 3 years until we hit a $1,000,000 net worth valuation.
- It’s all about doing the right things the right way.

One sure fire say to boost your wealth, Investing — Blog posts detailing how to invest are coming soon in 2024-2025

Disclosure:

This post is brought to you by the Neighborhood Finance Guy. We highlight financial literacy information, resources, and more on your way to money management goals and personal wealth. Our goal is to help you make S.M.A.R.T.+E.R. decisions with our money. We do not give investment advice or encourage you to adopt a certain investment strategy. Your personal finance is up to you. If you take action based on one of our recommendations, we haven’t earned a dime as of 5.2022. We operate independently.

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