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My Networth: August 2009

Ryan A. Smith — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 04:21:44 +0000

Am I excited to calculate my networth again, since last month’s financial statement?

No!

I don’t think it will get better. As you can see, my income tax and CPP tax combined are already $52,000 as of today (not even counting the income for Sept to Dec). Is this normal??? [Compare to the national average.]

Overall

Assets: +8.5% (down from +11%)
Liabilities: +8.7% (up from +2%)
Equity: +8.4% (down from +19%)

Goals Accomplished To Date

1. My max RRSP contribution for year 2009 is reached.
2. Set aside $5000 for year 2010 TFSA.

Financial Statement

Financial goal: first million networth in 7 years
Time lapse: 2 years 4 month
Time remaining: 4 years 8 months

Assets	$161,400
RRSP (mainly GICs)	$19,600
RRSP for First HBP	$21,000
TFSA Year 2009	$5,000
TFSA Year 2010	$5,000
High Interest Savings	$89,400
Cash	$2,300
Car Worth (minus 30% depreciation rate for year 2008 & 2009)	$19,100

Liabilities	($74,800)
Income Tax & CPP Tax (estimated for tax year 2009)	($52,000)
Car Loan	($22,800)

Equity
Networth	$86,600

Others (not included above)
Money to parents each month	$5,000

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My Networth: July 2009

Ryan A. Smith — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:00:06 +0000

I got my cheque for July. After finishing my accounting, the result does NOT look very good.

Overall

Assets: +11% (down from +21% )
Liabilities: +2% (up from -1% )
Equity: +19% (down from +55% )

Being single is so hard. Aside from loneliness, it takes too long to build weath by myself. I only have one-person work force; I only have 24 hours at maximum. In contrast, married couples can have as high as 48 working hours per day in combined.

In addition, being single is not tax-friendly. I cannot claim income splitting, spouse amount, dependent amount, “pooled” medical expenses, and several other tax advantages geared toward couples and families. Even though I give $5000 to my parents each month, I’m not eligible to claim caregiver amount because I don’t live with them.

Worst comes worst. Starting this month, my income tax will increase monthly, depending on my income. By the end of this July, I already have to pay $45,200 income tax!!! That’s 3x the average household income tax!!! See this article to find out why my income tax is 3x as high. This is insane!!! I’m not very happy today.

Financial Statement

Financial goal: first million networth in 7 years
Time lapse: 2 years 3 month
Time remaining: 4 years 9 months

Assets	$148,700
RRSP (mainly GICs)	$19,600
RRSP for First HBP	$21,000
TFSA Year 2009	$5,000
TFSA Year 2010	$1,000
High Interest Savings	$80,300
Cash	$2,700
Car Worth (minus 30% depreciation rate for year 2008 & 2009)	$19,100

Liabilities	($68,800)
Income Tax & CPP Tax (estimated for tax year 2009)	($45,200)
Car Loan	($23,600)

Equity
Networth	$79,900

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My Networth: June 2009

Ryan A. Smith — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:25:52 +0000

I just got my cheque today. Let’s see what’s been changed during the month June.

Overall

Assets: +21%
Liabilities: -1%
Equity: +55%

In terms of assets, I’ve contributed my maximum RRSP limit for year 2009 which is $21,000. As such, I put the remaining money in high interest savings accounts. I don’t have any plan yet to invest in mutual funds and/or stocks, because I need to save some “liquid” cash for the down payment of my first home. I figure the first home will probably cost me around $300k-$400k range.

I still need to set aside $5000 for TFSA for year 2010—six more months to work on that. And of course, $5000 for my parents which I give every month and have deducted in the cash portion.

Financial Statement

Financial goal: first million networth in 7 years
Time lapse: 2 years 2 month
Time remaining: 4 years 10 months

Assets	$134,500
RRSP (mainly GICs)	$19,600
RRSP for First HBP	$21,000
TFSA	$5,000
High Interest Savings	$68,200
Cash	$1,600
Car minus 30% depreciation rate for year 2008 & 2009	$19,100

Liabilities	($67,600)
Income Tax & CPP Tax(estimated for tax year 2009)	($43,200)
Car Loan	($24,400)

Equity
Networth	$66,900

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My Networth: May 2009

Ryan A. Smith — Sun, 31 May 2009 00:14:35 +0000

It’s the end of May. Time to update my networth. My goal is to reach my first million dollar networth in 7 years after university study, which means I have 5 more years to accomplish it since I graduated in April, year 2007.

Like I said in my previous networth report, I want to put aside 20 grands in RRSP savings account so that I can withdraw it towards my first home purchase in the near future. I’m almost there. Just $100 more deposit which I will make in two weeks. Based on my income tax return, the notice of assessment indicates I can contribute up to $21,000 for the Year 2009 RRSP (vs the median national annual RRSP contribution for Year 2007). I’ll reach that maximum contribution room next month, so I have to start thinking where to invest my money after next month. Any suggestion?

My networth is still far from million dollar mark, because I had $160,000 education-related debts to pay after graduation two years ago. I’m glad I completely eliminated them last month. Now I can start building towards my financial growth.

Financial Statement

Financial goal: first million networth in 7 years
Time lapse: 2 years 1 month
Time remaining: 4 years 11 months

Assets	$111,500
RRSP	$19,600
RRSP for First Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP)	$19,900
TFSA	$5,000
High Interest Savings	$47,900
Car minus 30% depreciation rate for year 2008 & 2009	$19,100

Liabilities	($68,400)
Income Tax & CPP Tax (estimated for tax year 2009)	($43,200)
Car Loan	($25,200)

Equity
Networth	$43,100

What Others Are Reading…

Best Times to Buy

Ryan A. Smith — Tue, 19 May 2009 05:35:53 +0000

This article contains a brief summary for best times to buy in North America:

airplane tickets	appliances	gold	cars
gym membership	electronics	oil	real estate
designer clothing & jewelry	furniture	USD currency

Airplane Tickets

Best Time to Buy: At Least 14 Days Before Departure
Two week ahead of departure is the minimum to seize a good deal. However, even with this time frame, the quantitiy of low-priced tickets can be limited, and you may not be able to find the desired departure time. To increase your freedom of choices price-wise and schedule-wise, book your ticket as far ahead as possible. Generally, airline companies will email out discount promotions one to three months ahead, so be sure to sign up for their online newsletters. For Christams holiday season, you generally should book a ticket around mid-October. Another thing to be cautious: book tickets in advance only when you know for sure you can travel on the selected dates. Flight rescheduling and cancellation can be costly.

The above information is for causual local traveling. If you want to tour another country, you should consider “traveling packages” from your travel agent. The traveling packages consisted of flight tickets, hotel stays, and bus or car rentals generally offer better bargains than purchasing these items individually.

Gym Membership

Best Time to Buy: July, August, September
The late summer months are traditionally fire-sale season for fitness centers, which see a decline in membership when it’s warm enough to exercise outside.

Designer Clothing

Best Time to Buy: May, December
In the spring, designers are coming out one by one to showcase their fall/winter clothing; in the fall, you will see an array of clothing for next spring/summer.

Jewelry

Best Time To Buy: May, December
Jewelry is often discounted alongside clothing at department stores. As well, you can see more bargains in May and December, right before wedding seasons (July & August) and Valentine (February).

Appliances

Best Time to Buy: Holiday Weekends

Electronics

Best Time to Buy: October to December
Sales and hot deals start from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day.

Furniture

Best Time to Buy: July, January
Furniture stores offer the best prices, most convenient payment plans and sometimes free shipping during the July and January clearance sales.

USD Currency

Best Time to Buy: Wartime
When USA is at war (eg, Iraq War), there will be increasing demands in many manufactures and service industries to supply military equipment and rations to soldiers.

Oil

Best Time to Buy: Beginning of War
This is especially true whenever the war involves oil-producing countries.

Gold

Best Time to Buy: Depreciation of USD Currency
USD loses its value generally near the end of war. When this happens, investors switch to buying gold to preserve their investments, which in turn causes the price of gold to soar.

Cars

Best Time to Buy: January or February
In general, January or February is the best time to buy a car of preceding year models. Next-year models generally come out around July to September.

For example, 2010 models come out in August 2009. When January 2010 arrives, it will be best time to buy 2009 models becasue dealers will want to get rid of excess stock of 2009 models.

Additionally, drivers don’t want to put a new car through the snow and salt of winter. That means they usually wait until spring to buy, making the historically coldest winter months bargain season.

Real Estate

Best Time to Buy: October to February
Most people buy and sell homes in the spring. That means demand is down during the winter when snowfalls attract fewer buyers. Hence, it is more feasible to snap up bargains during the winter. January is known as the “Depression Month,” where a higher percentage of people get depression and anxiety because people are panicking to pay their bills after excessive spending in Christmas.

Year 2009 is a bit different. Because of the excess supply of homes across the country, spring and summer will offer real estate deals.

Reference: finance.yahoo.com