Welcome to another Dr. PayItBack monthly checkup! I use this space to remain accountable to our expenses and goals, track net worth and debt, and muse on what was done well and what can be improved.
Budget/Cash Flow
“Renting is throwing money away”, they said. Spent $3,600 on home repair and maintenance this month, in what was otherwise a fairly low-spend September. That would be two full months of rent at our old place. C’est la vie.
I made my final contribution to our crypto accounts, bringing the total to an even 10 grand. Overall down just about exactly 50%; will be interesting to see where it goes (my guess is zero).
PayItBack Progress
Since I refinanced my loans again last month, I had a float period with no payment due, hence the little bump up there. Payments will restart again in a few days, and my variable rate has already nearly doubled from the initial offer. As before, will start looking hard at paying it off early if it climbs much above 4%.
Mortgage
Zillow says that our house has appreciated by $32,000 in the four months since we bought it. On $65,000 of equity, that comes out to about 150% leveraged annualized return. Maybe renting is throwing money away.
Net Worth
We continue to get crushed by the market, like everyone else. Net worth is back down to December 2021 levels, despite all the money I’ve shoveled into investments. Kind of just want to see another 10% leg down to rip the bandaid off and start 2023 fresh (and hit the bottom with my retirement contributions). I can dream.
Financial Independence
Strangely enough our FI date hasn’t pushed out really at all. I’m not sure if it’s because this was a high-savings month with three paychecks instead of two, but something is making the graph happy. So in a month without many wins, I’ll take that one.
Financial Goals for 2022
1) Max out 403b: $20,500 of $20,500 (100% done) ✅
2) Max out backdoor Roth IRAs: $12,000 of $12,000 (100% done) ✅
3) Use taxable brokerage in addition to 1) and 2) to save $120,000 total for retirement: $100,000 of $87,500 (114.3% done) ✅
4) Max out 529s for state tax benefit: $16,000 of $16,000 (100% done) ✅
5) Continue to pay minimum on student loan as long as rate remains <4%
6) Finalize estate documents ✅
7) Purchase a house ✅
Fellow physician here with an interest in finance…how are you making Roth contributions for your children? I thought you need a W2 and taxable income to contribute to one.
You’re correct. My wife has a small photography business and uses them for her website/advertising materials. She pays them market rate and we submit W2s for them.
Awesome. It’s cool that you are able to open those accounts and contribute to them.
Fun reading your post. I’m a fellow anesthesiologist and some years older than you. Curious as to what you’re investing in with regard to the taxable account. Also, wonder if your FI number/goal will change/grow as you get closer to the current goal. You’re doing a great job hitting a critical mass with the portfolio!
Thanks for reading! Taxable account is 100% VTSAX. Rest of my asset allocation is distributed in 403b and IRAs.
Very hard to make predictions of things 10-15 years out, but certainly the thought that circumstances and goals will change always seems to be a safe bet!