MaRch 2022 – Net Worth Update – the rebound

March net worth Update... the rebound

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By MeTheMillennial

March, 2022 – Monthly Net Worth Update

Well guys and gals, 3 months into 2022 and it’s that time of the month again.

Time for another instalment of my net worth update series.

This month is a bit of a milestone. It is officially 12 months into sharing my financial freedom journey to FIRE (financial independence, retire early) by the age of 35.

Always celebrate the small things, so as I write this in my local coffee shop, Pallet Coffee Roasters in Vancouver, I’ve just ordered an almond croissant to celebrate!

Okay, short intro – let’s get into it.

*As always, I am not an expert or financial advisor, so nothing on this website should be considered financial advice. These are just my opinions, everyone is different. Always do your own research and have your own independent thought process.

Life Update: March 2022

After turning 31 in February, this month I kept up the celebration theme and went all out and bought a brand new car!

You may be questioning, what on earth I was thinking of buying a new car when everyone knows how fast it depreciates, especially for someone who is on the journey to FIRE.

After researching this for months before taking the plunge I came to find in certain situations it may actually make sense to buy new versus used.

If you need further convincing check out my latest post on whether to buy Used versus New.

The other unexpected thing I found was, it felt really good to treat myself after working and saving so hard for so long.

If anything it’s now given me a renewed push to achieve my goals.

So my advice for you, make sure to reward yourself every now and again, it really helps with motivation and you should be enjoying your life too. 

It doesn’t have to be a new car, it could be a chill evening dinner out or a new pair of shoes.

It doesn’t really matter what it is, but it’s important to keep yourself motivated as you look to become financially independent. 

There is no quick route there, and you need to make sure to enjoy the journey along the way….and you don’t have to be homeless to do it! 

Okay enough preaching.

Other than this major purchase, March was a quieter month with a couple of setbacks outside of the financial world.

I pulled a hamstring in training which kept me out of Rugby for a few weeks, but on the flip side it finally gave me a reason to jump back into the swimming pool.

One of the goals I set at the start of the year was to complete a triathlon in 2022.

So I signed up to the Vancouver triathlon (the sprint version!) earlier this year.

This involves a 750m ocean swim, which to many people may not be that far. 

But for me, a newbie to swimming, it feels like I’m crossing the Atlantic!

I’m feeling a bit apprehensive about this, but the injury from rugby gave me the push to sign up for swimming lessons. I had my first of ten lessons last week and loved it. I feel like after one session my swimming, particularly my front stroke breathing, has improved a lot.

It’s never too late to start, there were people in their 50’s, 60’s and 70’s in the class too…age is just a number!  

Okay as usual in these net worth updates, I’m starting to waffle.

If you like hearing more about my life/these topics – let me know in the comments. 

So let’s dive into the numbers.

Net Worth Update (March, 2022)

Well after a disastrous start to 2022, where in last months update my net worth dropped by over 10% in just one month to $310k.

March has been the month of rebounding, as of March 31st my net worth is now $347k. Which is a new all time high! 

Wooohoo, maybe time for another almond croissant!

This is a huge rebound in just one month. The reason why?

I redirected capital from index funds into single stocks that I believe were massively oversold over the last 6 months.

The likes of Paypal (PYPL), JD.com (JD), Shopify (SHOP), Unity Software (U) and why I bought the dip on Facebook.

The good news, these have started to rebound. JD alone is up over 40% since I bought!

I believe the others listed will massively rebound over the next 12 months, with upside of more than 50%. I remember in May 2021, when Tesla shares were down in the $500’s I decided not to take the plunge as I was still fearful of single stocks. I regret that decision, I researched the company and believed in the fundamentals but still chose not to invest, the stock is now over $1000. 

I learned from this mistake, and feel Paypal, META and the others mentioned above are hugely undervalued.

But then again, I could be wrong – the war in Ukraine could worsen and expand, inflation could continue to soar and there could be the beginnings of a recession. 

This approach is not without risk, but it’s a risk level I can tolerate given my age and responsibilities (e.g., no children, mortgage etc.).

I agree with the well known phrase that you can’t time the market.

But from following and investing for many years now, there are opportunities like this that come up now and again that make sense to take.

In 12 – 24 months time I will look to get out of these single stock positions and move back into index funds.

As you can see below, I made additional contributions this month totalling ~$5k across my brokerage account and pension. 

So in essence my portfolio increased by over $30k since last month stripping out the contributions. In % terms that’s ~12% in just one month.

Pretty big swings, but it’s a volatile market at the moment, combined with single stocks making up a bigger % of my portfolio.

Read on for a breakdown by category, and also what I spent for the month of March.

– Checking: $1.9k;  Cash is still trash as always.

– Brokerage: $293.5k (-$32.5k); Increase of over $32k this month, with contributions of $4k.

I made some additional targeted investments in single tech stocks, which  I believe are oversold namely Shopify and Unity Software, to add to my positions in Facebook, Paypal and JD as mentioned earlier. 

My brokerage is now made up of the following (approximate % allocations):

  • Index Funds – 25%
  • REITS – 8% 
  • Individual Stocks – 60%,
  • Gold Stocks – 7%

Regarding the above allocation, it constantly changes. But in 12-24 months time I want to reallocate my single stocks into Index Funds – my favourite Index/ETF funds are here.

– RRSP (Pension)  $58.1k (+$3.8k);  Big jump this month in my pension. As mentioned last month given my age I opted for a mutual fund that is 100% US equities. Given the rebound over the last month, this big of an increase is fairly unusual.

– Car loan (bank) $5k  (-$0.5k); As mentioned in last months update, I recently bought a brand new car – this represents the financing portion left. I don’t record my car as an asset in my net worth, even though I probably should. Do you include your car in your net worth? Let me know in the comments. 

– Rent, insurance and credit card $1.7k; I managed to get a reduction in my monthly rent as mentioned last month.

March 2022, I am now worth, financially at least ~$347k.

Which is a increase of of approx $37k (12%) since last month’s update.

25% of the way there to my $1.5m goal by age 35.

The experience from now doing this for many years, gives me the mental strength to not panic during a down day or week. This is how I cope with losing money in the stock market, especially important for beginners or those investing in college or in your twenties.

How was your March?

Hope you’re taking the opportunity to pick up some deals in a market which has been down recently. Let me know below of any deals you’ve picked up.

As Buffett always says, when others are fearful that is the time to be greedy!

If you haven’t already make sure to subscribe, and like and share this post below. This helps me out hugely. 

Thanks and have a lovely week everyone! 🙂 

MeTheMillennial

4 thoughts on “MaRch 2022 – Net Worth Update – the rebound”

    1. Hi Nate,

      Pretty big impact on my portfolio too – I am definitely not immune, check out my June Net Worth update for a full breakdown.
      How are you finding it?

      MeTheMillennial

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