Hi All,

Finally, some good personal finance news! This morning we sat down added up our net worth. In a nutshell, we’ve increased our bottom line from $313,000 to $358,000. This is a growth of 14% in three months. We are glad we have been able to build our wealth as we have!

This is exciting news! Its especially gratifying after last years stock market and real estate declines. It also means that we’ve started to make up for some of the lost ground. Since we are focusing on our goal of achieving $4,000,000 in net worth by retirement, this is welcome progress!

Okay, so what caused the gain?

In a word: stocks.

All of our stock holdings are up – nearly 57% of our networth is in stocks. US equity markets have been on a tear since last year, which has impacted the prices of our mutual funds and individual securities. No complaints there.

Alternative assets. We’ve continued to buy savings bonds, bits of gold and silver. This has contributed somewhat to the bottom line, but nowhere near as much as stocks.

Real estate. Real estate prices are flat locally in DC. We’ve continued to chip away at the mortgage on our apartment, but flattening prices mean the bottom line hasn’t really been driven by real estate prices.

Blogging. Blogging has become a side business for us – there is a whole commercial and trade aspects that goes on behind the scenes. To make a long story short, the $600 plus bucks a month of extra blogging money helps to increase the amount of cash available for investing.

Here is the nitty gritty, by category.

MANAGE YOUR MONEY TOGETHER

Here are some simple guidelines for DINKS to build wealth:

1) Collaborate: Meet regularly to talk about money, set goals together, track and monitor them.

2) Understand and respect your partner. Take time to understand your partners values about money.

3) Watch the numbers. Get a budget, monitor your spending and track your net worth.

4) Max your retirement. Maximize contributions to your tax deferred retirement accounts.

5) Invest in stock. Stocks perform better than bonds or cash.

6) Avoid high interest debt. Credit cards and title loans are financial cancer.

7) Diversify. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Couples Finance

Blogs You Should Read

Companies Supporting The DINKS

Please consider visiting our gracious supporters:

Get an education with the Online Certificate Programs at Washington Tech