It’s been 12 months since we set a goal to pay off the mortgage (on our condo) and to have a net worth of at least $1M by 2020. This is the 12th update on the progress of the goal. If you’re wondering why we set this goal, click here.
Since it’s been a year, I calculated the total progress over the past year. We’re on track for the net worth goal, but we’re falling behind on the mortgage goal.
One Year Totals
Our net worth increased $166,926.27 from $311,584.35 to $478,510.62.
Our mortgage balance decreased $25,715 from -$179,304 to -$153,589.
Mortgage progress:
This month, I made the minimum payment on both of our mortgages. My wife just quit her job (I’ll post about why later), and we are trying to build up an emergency fund of around $20k as quickly as possible. We reduced the principal on our condo by $411. I’m falling pretty far behind on this goal.
| Date | Months left | Intermediate goal | Actual balance | Principal reduction |
| 2/19/2016 | 58 | $179,304 | $179,304 | – |
| 3/19/2016 | 57 | $176,700 | $174,481 | $4,823 |
| 4/18/2016 | 56 | $173,600 | $169,993 | $4,488 |
| 5/17/2016 | 55 | $170,500 | $167,000 | $2,993 |
| 6/20/2016 | 54 | $167,400 | $159,900 | $7,100 |
| 7/19/2016 | 53 | $164,300 | $158,000 | $1,900 |
| 8/22/2016 | 52 | $161,200 | $157,000 | $1,000 |
| 9/20/2016 | 51 | $158,100 | $156,597 | $403 |
| 10/27/2106 | 50 | $155,000 | $156,194 | $404 |
| 11/21/2016 | 49 | $151,900 | $155,789 | $405 |
| 12/19/2016 | 48 | $148,800 | $155,000 | $789 |
| 1/19/2017 | 47 | $145,700 | $154,000 | $1,000 |
| 2/17/2017 | 46 | $142,600 | $153,589 | $411 |
Net worth progress:
Net worth = assets – liabilities, or everything we own minus everything we owe. I’m not including our cars here, which are both paid off, to keep the calculation a little simpler. I am including an estimate of home equity.
I decided to use the estimate on Zillow (aka Zestimate) for the estimate of value instead of a static value that I set when I started this blog. As a realtor, I’m going to remind you that the Zestimate is definitely not a precise value, but it can provide a decent ballpark estimate of your home’s value, especially in areas where there is more activity. For my purposes here, the Zestimate will serve just fine for this blog and provide a dynamic value that changes along with the market.
Our net worth increased by $11,363.37 to $478,510.62 this month. As I mentioned above, we’re trying to build up our emergency fund to $20k as fast as possible.
| Date | Home equity | Investments | Cash | Net Worth |
| 2/19/2016 | $140,695 | $149,076 | $21,813 | $311,584 |
| 3/19/2016 | $145,519 | $164,791 | $23,512 | $333,822 |
| 4/18/2016 | $150,007 | $171,697 | $17,457 | $339,161 |
| 5/17/2016 | $153,000 | $171,305 | $21,672 | $345,978 |
| 6/20/2016 | $160,100 | $174,881 | $23,094 | $358,075 |
| 7/19/2016 | $162,000 | $185,621 | $27,689 | $375,311 |
| 8/22/2016 | $163,000 | $192,479 | $24,437 | $379,916 |
| 9/20/2016 | $261,403 | $144,694 | $3,657 | $409,754 |
| 10/27/2016 | $261,806 | $151,425 | $5,735 | $418,966 |
| 11/21/2016 | $262,855 | $155,877 | $10,364 | $429,096 |
| 12/19/2016 | $264,290 | $162,281 | $11,432 | $438,004 |
| 1/19/2017 | $285,534 | $172,862 | $8,751 | $467,147 |
| 2/17/2017 | $286,865 | $178,666 | $12,980 | $478,511 |
Goals for 2017
I set a bunch of non-financial goals for 2017. I have been working on some of these for some time now, but I wanted to keep a record of progress for myself. I also thought it would be interesting to keep a record of the books I’ve read somewhere.
Here’s the status of all my goals for 2017.
- Be able to do 100 pushups in 2 minutes (currently at 25 as of 12/19/16); inspired by a friend who joined the 1000 lb club at age 36 (sum of bench, squat, deadlift)
- 35 pushups (1/2/17)
- 47 pushups (1/19/17)
- 50 pushups (2/16/17)
- Be able to do 100 situps in 2 minutes
- 55 situps (1/19/17)
- 61 situps (2/17/17)
- Achieve a 1000+ rating in Table Tennis (817 as of 12/19/16)
- 904 rating (as of 1/4/17)
- 948 rating (as of 1/19/17)
- 972 rating (as of 2/16/17)
- Read 20 books (my rating and a brief synopsis beside it)
- 1. The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley – COMPLETED Dec. 2016 (9/10 – shows us that most millionaires don’t live the flashy lives portrayed in the media but are actually much more frugal than most people)
- 2. The Prodigal God by Tim Keller – COMPLETED Dec. 2016 (7/10 – a different perspective on the parable of the prodigal son where the elder brother is just as lost as the younger brother)
- 3. The Simple Path to Wealth: Your road map to financial independence and a rich, free life by J.L. Collins – COMPLETED Jan. 2017 (9/10 – details a simple way to invest and emphasizes low-cost index funds like VTSAX; lots of great information too)
- 4. Half Retire – How to Escape the Rat Race Without Waiting to Win the Lottery! by Marcus Arce – COMPLETED Jan. 2017 (5/10 – goes through different ways to avoid typical full-time employment that usually lasts until traditional retirement age)
- 5. PUSH – A Guide to Living an All Out Life: The Story of Orangetheory Fitness by Ellen Latham, MS – COMPLETED Jan. 2017 (9/10 – written by the founder of Orangetheory Fitness; goes through the journey of how she came up with the concept and the franchise; lots of excellent testimonials and inspiring stories)
- 6. I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi – COMPLETED Jan. 2017 (7/10 – covers a wide variety of concepts; would be more useful to recent grads or those new to managing finances)
- Run a 5k in under 20 minutes (6:26/mi)
- 24:22 (7:51/mi) – 2017 Celebrate Community 5k (Alexandria, VA; Jan. 15, 2017) – first race after recovering from ankle surgery. Goal here is to set my baseline for the year and improve from here.
- Run a marathon in under 4 hours
- Get my weight under 155 lbs and keep it there
- 158.0 lbs (12/19/16)
- 158.0 lbs (1/19/17)
- 159.6 lbs (2/17/17)
Photo source: Pixabay