INSIDE: We finally made millionaire status!!! Here’s how the last month went and what the future holds for these Net Worth Reports.
And there it is!
11 years and 139 reports later, we’re officially members of the Double Comma Club! We have made millionaire status. Wow!
It’s pretty hard to believe since I’m still that same 25 year old party boy in my mind scraping by for beer money, haha, but I guess it just goes to show that when you put your energy towards something, good things happen :) Even when you can’t connect the dots at the time.
But check out these dots!! They tell a good story when you take a step back and look:
Lots of ups and downs there, along with some leveling off in the middle which wasn’t the most exciting, but as you can see the longer we kept with it the higher it eventually grew. And of course it’s not stopping there!
I don’t know what we’re doing with this influx of $200,000 cash yet (what was left of the sale more or less after paying out taxes and my silent partners), but it’ll probably be invested somewhere once I’m done staring at it ;)
Which is rule #1 when you come into a ton of money – JUST LET IT BE AND ENJOY!!!! No need to rush and put it right to use, just soak it in and appreciate it for a bit!
What Does Millionaire Status Mean in the Future?
So that’s all I’m doing at the present moment – really stepping back to enjoy the WHOLE journey up to this point, and what it means to both me and my family and the future goals we have. It’ll be interesting to see how it speeds things up over time, but for now we hit pause and just *appreciate*!
[Here’s a deeper dive into *how* exactly we got to this spot over the years FYI,
for those newer to the site: 7 things we did to grow our money]
But while all this is so incredible and I’m beyond proud to hit such the millionaire status milestone, it’s also a very sad day for me today – and the future of this blog, really – because it comes with a caveat that’s been brewing for quite a while…
And that’s the fact that these net worth reports have increasingly made my loved ones nervous with each passing month it grows :( Who now request I respect their wishes and finally stop making them public – something I’ve pushed back on for years since it’s the whole foundation of our site here (transparency and numbers!!!) but which I can’t selfishly continue any longer, now that these numbers have grown to what they are.
So as much as it PAINS me to say this right now, and it really does pain me, this will be our last official net worth report shared on this site :(
139 months in a row and now that I’ve made millionaire status, it comes to an end, ugh…
I’m trying to console myself in that this is yet another step towards being a Better Human Being, but so far it hasn’t helped much… And only adds to the big moves this year that I wouldn’t have done otherwise.
Oh well. More money more problems, right? And it’s not like I can’t find a *different* way to share our progress here every month, though I’m still at a loss as to how since I’m not one for subtlety ;) Any ideas you might have for me?!
It really IS a good day here though so I won’t stew on it too much, just wanted to keep you in the know as I always have and we’ll figure it out as we go…
In the meantime, we did it!! Now to party like true millionaires however true millionaires party! Haha…
I literally haven’t done a thing yet to commemorate it, so I’ll take all ideas you might have for that too ;)
Here’s the breakdown of how August’s money went:
[As part of our Net Worth Series, where we share our real life #’s in hopes it motivates YOU to track yours as well – no matter how awesome or scary it is! What counts most is consistency and letting *time* do its thing. As evidence of this exact report today :) Hope it helps!]
CASH SAVINGS: $254,516.97 (+$205,388.77) — BOOM! You don’t see that every day! Or at least I don’t! And is the result of getting acquired last month after accounting for taxes (an insane amount) as well as paying out my silent partners from a few years back who owned a minority share of the blog. It doesn’t look nearly as exciting as the actual *sales price* I got, haha… but $200,000 is still $200,000, and the plan is to put it to work of course so it feels like I got multiples more for the blog ;) So time to scout for opportunities!! Especially as the recession hits!
BROKERAGE: $0.00 (n/a) — A fat goose egg for now, but may just be where those opportunities lie in the coming years… And you can guess what fund it’ll probably go into, unless the Mrs. convinces me paying down the mortgage is a smarter play – what would you do?!
THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN (TSP): $22,652.97 (+$450.04) — Keeps going up when things are automated!! (And when you don’t have too much in there yet to be trounced by market swings! ;)). This year marks the 3rd year the Mrs. has been fully employed after getting her PHD, which has contributed significantly to our finances as well as the lifestyle we’ve crafted for ourselves. So as much as I/we may forget, there’s really TWO OF US here in these net worth reports vs just me! Something to keep in mind when you’re comparing your own journeys!
ROTH IRAs: $165,677.51 (-$3,206.93) — Nothing too exciting with this guy – just the markets doing their thing last month without any contributions on our end (yet). If we’re allowed to contribute to it this year (i.e. don’t go over the income limits) we certainly will! One of the best things we’ve continued to do with our money!!
SEP IRA: $608,750.85 (-$12,493.65) — Same with this area too… No new changes, but will be filling ‘er on up at the end of the year once we get our taxes straight (and know exactly *how much* we’re allowed to contribute too, since it fluctuates with my self-employment income).
Here’s a quick look in the meantime of how our investments have gone since moving over to Vanguard a few years back… All in VTSAX still:
HOME VALUE: $337,000.00 (n/a) — Keeping it as-is until 6 months have gone by, and will then hit my realtor for a good estimation as I like to do. Which always comes out a lot more reliable than following the Zillows and what not! Though of course you only TRULY know what a house is worth on the day it goes to sell ;) I.E. the amount someone is willing to pay you for it at the time!
CAR VALUES: $9,035.00 (+$58.00) — Month two of our cars gaining value as if they’re side hustlers, lol… Though at one point we DID actually have a good car hustler!!! Remember my dearest, Frankencaddy?? How I miss that girl, *tear*… Would love to be rollin’ around in her again :(
Here are the values per KBB of our two current cars… Still haven’t gotten that minivan I promised my wife yet, but it’s on the radar.
- 2008 Lexus RX350: $6,783.00 (+$15.00)
- 2005 Toyota Corolla: $2,252.00 (+$43.00)
MORTGAGE: $266,032.27 (-$992.74) — Another cool $1,000 right off the debt! We continue to pad each month’s payment as if we were still paying our old rent money, so we really don’t notice much difference at all… And reminded every month just how much a difference it is moving to a lower cost of living area too! Which proved to be both a financial and a lifestyle upgrade! Something I don’t recommend without the latter, btw… Saving money is fun, but not at the expense of your happiness. If you love where you live then stay put!! ;) You can find ways to cut back in other areas.
And that’s our last detailed net worth report, wahhh…..
Total change in net worth this month: +$191,188.97
Gonna have to screen shot this one as it’ll probably be the most I’ll ever see in my lifetime ;) But still a great accomplishment! Even though it felt excruciatingly slow at times!
Here’s a look at the last 12 months as well, which by and large held steady outside of the latest boost:
Pretty wild delta though! A difference of $350,000 from top to bottom over the year! And hopefully stays that way for a while ;)
And then lastly, our latest kids’ net worth reports...
That maybe I can keep sharing instead since they’re not old enough to tell me no? ;) That’ll be a challenge going for a million again! Haha…
And there it is folks…
From $58,769.65 in January, 2008 to $1,131,601.03 in August, 2019. It’s been a helluva adventure, and I’m so glad to have shared it with you!!!
Thank you for always supporting this series and not throwing shade when others have misconstrued the intention (I swear I only share them to inspire others, not feed my ego!! Haha…), and I truly do hope they’ve helped you in some small way over the years.
This stuff doesn’t happen overnight, but it DOES happen when you constantly make moves every day! You just have to stand back and see what a beautiful picture you’ve been painting! :) And hopefully I’ll be back to painting with you some more as soon as I can figure out a better way to do so…
In the meantime, keep on going and tracking that money so that you can also see your millionaire status!!
One of the best things I’ve ever done for mine, and I’ll continue to do so until the day my fingers fall off…
Thank you for all your support over the years, and we’ll be back tomorrow for another – much less dramatic! – blog post, haha… I swear I’m clean out of these now! ;)
Yours in money,
PS: If you’re just getting started in your journey, here are a few good resources to help track your money. Doesn’t matter which route you go, just that it ends up sticking!
- The "Budget/Net Worth" spreadsheet - the colorful Excel template I personally use.
- The "Money Snapshot" spreadsheet - a simple Excel template I created for my former $$$ clients
If you're not a spreadsheet guy like me and prefer something more automated (which is fine, whatever gets you to take action!), you can try your hand with a free Empower account instead (formerly Personal Capital)
Empower is a cool tool that connects with your bank & investment accounts to give you an automated way to track your net worth. You'll get a crystal clear picture of how your spending and investments affect your financial goals (early retirement?), and it's super easy to use.
It only takes a couple minutes to set up and you can grab your free account here. They also do a lot of other cool stuff as well which my early retired friend Justin covers in our full review of Empower - check it out here: Why I Use Empower Almost Every Single Day.
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Congrats! What a fabulous final report!
Thanks Kate!!
Congrats again J, sorry I didn’t get chance to chat with you at FINCON. Millionaires celebrate by going out and using that buy one get one free card they have laying around for whatever restaurant. Live it up!!
Haha…
I do have one of those somewhere – will dust it off!! :)
Absolutely they do! But seriously great job JM!
I love these net worth reports.
Excellent news!!!!
Miriam
Sorry to hear this is the last report. For me, the reports were a pillar of the site. It was fun hiking the two comma club mountain with you. But now you are taking a separate trail. Hopefully we will see each other at the next campsite. This is a big bummer… but understandable. I’m surprised we got a post Blog sale report. Good luck.
I’m sharing everything I’m legally able to! There would be a lot more if I fully had my way, but as I’m learning here recently it’s no longer the J$ show – both in business and in my persona life apparently, haha… But I’m doing my best to adapt ;)
Way to go!. Big milestone.
Is there a coin you’ve been looking to get for your collection that you could treat yourself to?
On the plus side, it would be getting something that is going to still have some value (even if it does go down) as opposed to just blowing it.
Congratulations!
If it were me, I would consider stashing the cash in a money-market for a while. You could get a really good rate coming in with that much dough. Should be able to meet or beat inflation while you wait to see how the whole trade war/Brexit/nuclear arms crisis thing all works out.
But I read your blog, so I would put a small wager that the vast majority will be in VTSMX inside of a month. :)
You’d probably end up winning that wager too, haha…
And there is a rare book I’ve actually been eying lately – maybe I can pick up that and then every time I go to read it I’ll be reminded of the milestone?! and since it’ll probably take me a year to finish since I’m SO SLOWWW – esp with old-timey text! – it’ll be the gift that keeps on giving, haha…
Congrats!! It’s been great to watch the progress and to see you reach this milestone. I always enjoy the net worth reports but I can totally understand your decision.
Thanks, Marc!
Hopefully we come up with a new way to share that’s still somewhat juicy without being overly juicy!
Congrats on the Double Comma club! While just another number it is a nifty milestone. Good for your family!!
I am kinda bummed that you will be halting the financial updates. I find those, along with the comments, to be interesting.
Yeah, this blog would be nothing without y’all stopping to comment! Y’all breathe life into it!
Nice work!!
This is a HUGE milestone. You’ll now see (ideally) how much quicker it is to get from 1M to 1.5M (and so on). I’m still looking ahead to “and so on”…
And of course I’m now reading your Sept. 6 post. Holy cow! Sold eh?? Nice work there too!! This inspires me to see if time and effort could turn Abandoned into something asset-like.
Excited for your new Motley project – sounds like a winner, J. :-)
If you ever want an intro to them, just let me know and I’ll make it happen! :)
Congrats! Your blog and monthly net worth tracking have inspired me so much! I have tracked my own net worth for the last year and have watched it grow! Are there other bloggers who track their own net worth on a monthly basis we can follow? I’ll miss these updates!
Here’s an old Net Worth Tracker I built that will point you in the right direction:
https://directory.rockstarfinance.com/blogger-net-worth-tracker
It’s SUPER outdated and the site might go down at any time (I no longer own it), but will give you a good look at who out there discloses it… Over 700 of the 2,200 total blogs we used to follow! A pretty good percentage!
For celebration I’d suggest hi-fiving your wife everytime you pass each other.
Congrats on the double comma club!
Done and done, haha…
Congratulations! I agree with not posting your net worth as much as it will suck. You couldn’t have gotten to where you have so much it’s time to stop posting without your wife so I it’s the right thing to do.
Eventually we’ll hit a real rough spot where we are all white knuckling it down the drop in the market, and maybe you can share percentages with an example of what that looks like in one of your accounts so you can freak out with us/assure us it’ll all be ok?
I’ve got a house going on the market this week and will have a similar uptick in my income so I’m eager to see what you’ll do with your lump o’ cash. I’m really not sure what I’m doing so I was going to dump it in a higher interest online savings account until I figure it out. Maybe finally get 529s for the kids? Our eldest is 13 and we have nothing saved so far and our state will give us a state tax deduction up to a certain amount.
Love the idea of starting out a 529! In fact, maybe I’ll make a point to pump some into ours too, hmm…
And YES on the market crashing stuff! Haha… happy to share all my losses to reassure people it happens to everyone and a part of the game :)
Good luck w/ the sale!! Hope it goes smoothly!
That’s awesome man! Congrats!
Thanks dude!
Congratulations J. Money! We’ve been following you guys for years now and have enjoyed all the monthly updates (especially your reactions to every update). Thank you for keeping up with these every month. It’s been fun to read as well as motivation for us to save more. Your blog was among the first that gave us inspiration to climb the mountain. I hope the view at the top is awesome. Where do we go from here?!? Haha. Cheers!
We continue to help others reach it so we’re not lonely up there!! :)
So I’ll be waiting for you!
Congrats J.
Great advice as to when you come into larger sums. Sleep on it, take time, no rush to deploy and make good decisions.
Mr GT.
You know it, brother.
Great work!
Thanks Erik!
Congratulations! That extra comma is wicked pisser (just had to say : ) ) , but I agree with your wife, it puts a little too much out there, and with all the shit going on in the world, some things you need to play a little more close to the chest. Time to become part of the stealthy wealthy my friend. Then again, I’ll miss your Net Worth Statements. They keep me motivated to do my own which has helped me grow.
Stealth wealth is pretty fun :) I love people not having a clue in my real life when I probably look like a vagabond to them, haha…
What a way to go out. Its like an NFL star retiring after winning the super bowl. We were all waiting for this day. Congrats!!!
HAH! I’ll take it!!
I can totally see you doing a more private version of your net worth report about passive income. Like “$ I made while asleep” or “$ I made while I watched a bird poop on the neighbor’s car.” If anything you can keep up your creativity by thinking of funny titles.
Hahhaahahhaa..
Okay, you win for comment of the day!!
dying over here!!! DYING!
boomshakala. I knew it’d be this month!!
Congrats J ;)
Thanks man :)
Much easier to hit when you offload one of your properties, haha…
Congrats on your membership to the Double comma club!! really saddened to see this series end, but totally get it. You and this series inspired me to start tracking my net worth back in 2016 and it has been an amazing experience. Thanks for the inspiration!!
Nice!!!
Don’t stop doing it!!!
I’ll continue too, even if just in the lonely cold dark every month :(
You’ve been sharing updates and hard numbers for YEARS. Now’s as good a time as any to shift the paradigm a bit, especially if it promotes harmony at home. Congratulations on not just breaking but SHATTERING that seven-figure target! It’s gotta be nice to see your hard work literally pay off :)
Thanks man – it does feel good :)
Surreal, but good!
Hope your $$$ is growing too!
This is incredible!
All of the hard work over the years and then the big sale of your “baby” leads to some great things.
Congrats on adding the extra zero!
-Chris
Thanks Chris :)
Congratulations!! You did it and joined the million dollar club!! Been following along since 2009 and even added that widget you made to my old blog :) sad about the NW updates but totally understandable. Besides they aren’t as fun to share once you reach your goal I would think. MIllion dollar journey started sharing passive income goals instead, that might be something.
Haha yeah – not many more exciting milestones after a milly :)
So cool you’ve been reading for that long — we’re both a decade older now!!!
(and good call on the passive income side… def. a possible option)
Boom! J you did it and joined the double comma club! This is a great way to end the net worth update for sure. Congrats man!
Thanks man! Always nice seeing you in person too! :)
Congratulations! I am so sad to see this series end, but at least it ends with a double comma club update! I have been tracking my net worth since 2013, and these posts have been very inspirational to me since running across the site. Whenever I would get impatient with my progress because the markets weren’t really moving I could read the latest report and see that it wasn’t just me. And whenever the markets were going well I could see from that month’s report how your short and long-term progress was going and have hope that my own could do so in time, as well. We’ve all heard the pitch and seen the hypothetical graphs showing portfolio growth over 10/20/30yrs, but they never really seem real until you see actual results play out in your own portfolio or in someone else’s portfolio. (And as an accountant I tend to pick apart the model assumptions as being overly positive) But I also understand your family’s point of view. I don’t share my net worth with people in my own family for very good reason. Congratulations again! :-)
Thanks Jen :) Been a helluva ride!
Thats great. I don’t blame you one bit. Kinda sad though after seeing what happened to Rockstar Finance. I guess this will just be a shell of random articles and ads. Well, as they say on the office, see ya on the flip-flop!
I pray not!!!
I’m not going anywhere anytime soon – just these net worth reports ;)
Congrats!!
I suspect I know where that money will be going …
My own readers vetoed sharing hard numbers years ago you may recall, so I show a rolling 12 month progress chart each month. I would prefer a historical view going back to 2006 but I lost a couple years’ worth of records so that would look really funny
It’s not nearly as exciting as real numbers can feel but apparently it’s what the people in my neighborhood prefer and it seems to work! Not that I have the same type or size of readership but I am pretty sure that your very loyal and enthusiastic readers will appreciate what you do continue to share.
I’m usually one of those “all or nothing” type of guys, but i’ll def. have too figure out *something* here since I can’t have the “all” haha… It just may be some sort of % or savings rate or passive income route, we’ll see :)
Congratulations on the double comma club! We reached it about 6 months ago. It was you who inspired me to do monthly net worth calculations. My husband and I enjoy each one. I am going to miss yours, but I understand why you need to stop. I don’t think I would want to lay it all out for the world to see. I kinda like the stealth wealth situation we are in.
Heyyyy Congrats on your entry to the club too!!! Go us!! :)
Congrats and what a way to go out! Very inspirational :)
I do hope the site doesn’t change to much! Your way of giving information is very helpful and fun for your readers.
Well I’m glad you feel that way as I’ll still be here sharing away ;)
Congratulations Mr. Millionaire! Keep us updated on the next projects. I think you’ll have a ton of fun. Enjoy it!
Always!
You can always use % change without the actual numbers to report monthly. No one needs to know the specifics, although it’s fun to see and an encouragement. The progress is the driver though (positive or negative) of any financial journey.
True true…
WE FEAR CHANGE.
But I’m sure we will flex and learn in other ways. Congrats on your double commas!
Haha, thanks Sarah :)
WOO HOO! I’m so happy for you and your family! How awesome that you stuck with your goal for so long and never gave up on it. You deserve it!
Have you ever thought of starting to invest in real estate? (Other than your house, obviously?) Just as a way to diversify your different revenues of income?
I’ve thought about it many times and NOPE!!! Real estate and I don’t mix! Haha… I don’t even want the house, but such is life :)
That’s fantastic – congrats, J!!!! Here’s to the next million!!!
— Jim
Thank you twin!!
Missed you last week!
Joyful happy dance for you and all the JMoney family. Thank you for finding so many creative and REAL ways to help me on my path. Unlike some other blogs, your ability to present cold hard money facts with a dose of humor and reality checks has kept me making progress (albeit sometimes itty bitty growth) as I strive to improve my own financial status. Whatever you do to replace the Progress Report, keep it simple so we can all continue to relate to your journey. Some of y’all are big financial gurus but for the rest of us, straight-forward and real-life scenarios keep us going!
Totally! I’m still a normal every day guy here – couldn’t even pretend I’m a “guru” even if I wanted to, haha… I just have a larger than normal audience here that makes me look smarter than I actually am ;)
Congrats, J! I stopped sharing net worth updates publicly when I got married. I do hope that for your own personal sake, you will consider still writing these updates for you and your wife to review each month/quarter! I write up a big quarterly report and my husband reviews it (…eventually, I might add), which is really great for talking about the money together.
Have you considered increasing your wife’s TSP contributions with that influx of cash you guys got recently? That could help with taxes as well. And a Solo 401(k) might also allow you to contribute more than a SEP IRA!
Best wishes to your net worth, J!!!
Thank you Leigh!!
All good ideas!!
And 100% on continuing to track it! Will never give that one up :)
I’m so happy for you J$! I’ve been following your journey mostly as a lurker for so long, and it feels amazing to see you hit that milestone AND to have met you quickly throughout this past FinCon :). I’m so excited to see what the future holds for you and your adorable family!
The experience from those 5 days at the conference has had me reflecting on sharing our numbers going forward as well, therefore I completely understand your decision. I’ve discovered the beauty of participating in this community in person and there are some obstacles in doing so from an anonymous blogger position which, for me at least, mostly stems from the transparency in numbers that I present on my blog.
While I love showing all our numbers to inspire others & be transparent, others in my family not so much plus there are also some security issues to keep in mind… that being said, as long as I keep this blog name, people knowing we have some $ is probably going to be a thing . It’s not an easy dilemma! I have no suggestions but I’m interested to see what you decide as a *different* way to show progress (or not?) going forward :).
Haha, thanks Ms. Mod – I’m curious what it’ll turn into too! :)
But 100% on meeting you!! Makes all this SO MUCH more fun in real life than online all the time – hope we’ll meet again in Cali next year!! Good luck with your anonymity/numbers dilemma! Maybe your family will force you one way or the other like me ;)
CONGRATULATIONS, J! This was an awesome report and I’m so happy for you. Enjoy staring at that influx of cash ;)
Thanks Chels! Nice running into you last week, even for just a bit!
This is a very serious question … why would you count the value of your home towards your NW?
Because it’s the biggest thing I own :) And would also not paint as clear a picture unless I took the *mortgage* out of the equation too, which def. wouldn’t make sense in a net worth report… At least to me.
I decided not to include my home in my monthly net worth table. I live in the midst of a real estate bubble down here in Australia, so my house is already worth 1M.
I feel that including it is cheating…
haha!
Besides, I have to live somewhere, so I just leave it out of my net worth calcs and just think of it as my old ladies home admission if/when I need it, in some dark and misty future.
Do you omit your mortgage(s) too?
Would just seem so lopsided to me! :)
I have read a lot of your net worth reports and I have reached out to you numerous times with questions (all of which you have answered in detail). I am sad to see the end of an era, but ecstatic for you and your growth. It’s nice to see a great person have great results.
Thanks man :) And I’ll still be here doing my thing! It’s only the net worth reports that are going away…
I followed your journey since you were at R494k net worth. You did it! Congrats and so happy for you.
Heyyy very cool! That was pretty much the peak of my confidence around $$! It’s only incrementally gotten more exciting from there, though of course I also won’t complain having more :) Thanks for following along so much! Hope your money has grown exponentially too!
Congratulations! You inspired me to start my page and also my networth journey! Thanks for the inspiration men!
Wonderful!!! Hope it continues to motivate you as it does for me!
Wow man! Congrats. I don’t really even know what to say so I’ll just say PARTY TIME!!!!!!
I shall take that PARTY TIME and put it in my pocket, good sir!
This is incredible! So happy for you. You’re rockin’ it!
Here’s a thought . . . why don’t you continue to do them every month, just leave out the dollar figures when you post it here. You could just include the percentages (+ or -) and their dollar amounts, that way it wouldn’t be quite so personal. :) Perhaps that could be a compromise that’d work for everyone.
It is a possibility, but would it be as exciting?! I can never tell what it fully means seeing it on other blogs, but then again I’ve never been good w/ understanding %s so who knows ;)
Way to go! You must celebrate! I never have given my net worth in my blog, the most specific I’ve ever been is to admit to being a multi millionaire, which you will be soon I predict. I bet you’ll find keeping your exact wealth secret will not lessen your positive impact on so many of us who are your fans! You’ll just join the ranks of stealth millionaires.
I’m hoping!!
On both those accounts! ;)
Wahoo totally called it!! Big congrats and well deserved! It’s been quite the journey and amazing to see how far you have come!
It’s a bummer to see these go, but it’s been incredibly useful and motivating to follow along, and the principles behind the rise are still there!
Was great seeing you at FinCon and enjoy the official celebration (whatever you decide to do ;))
Thank youuuuuuuuu
Welcome to the club!
Oooh la la – are you a member too?? :) When did you join?
Been following you for years I’m so happy for you JMoney !! Congrats
Thanks, Bo!
Congrats J Money!
An inspiration to us all!
Matt
Thanks, man! Trying! :)
Something poetic about the last one being the one that is over seven figures!
How I have shared my situation is providing updates with regard to losses and gains from the month before. In your particular situation that may be tough since everyone knows your starting number, but at some point it would be a lot of work to figure out where you stand
yeah, and I want to keep up all the previous posts too for future people so it’s def. tricky…
no way i was going to stop these without hitting that milestone ;)
Welcome to the club!
I don’t share net worth on my blog… I understand where your loved ones are coming from… but it’s a weird, almost disbelieving feeling the first time you update your net worth and there’s a couple of commas.
Well done and good luck with the next chapter!
Thanks!!!
They didn’t care too much when it was super low :)
Awesome, J! I love this! Congratulations again and good luck with the next financial goal, whatever it may be.
Thanks brother!
It’s almost as cool as your name :)
Kaboom baby!!
Awesome month and great to finally meet you at my first (but not last) FinCon.
Early ideas about where the money will go??
A little fun (newer car)? + some travel + a huge chunk into VTI ;)
Cheers and congrats!!
Mark
Yeah man – you too!
Haven’t even thought about the cash yet – just allowing myself to enjoy and soak things in :)
It’ll def. wont’ get blown though, haha…
I’ve never posted here – but thought now might be a great time. I’ve been following along since 2008 (what!?!?) and I must say – CONGRATS!!! I have vivid memories of reading your early posts on Google Reader at my first-job-after-college desk. Because of this blog, I set up a Mint account a decade ago and lived off of $30K a year in San Francisco. Since then, alongside you, we have had kids, moved, bought a house, become adults (maybe?)etc. It has been so fun to track alongside.
I’ll be sad to see these posts go – transparency is amazing and so helpful to others, but understand the decision (my hubby doesnt let me share real $s either). This is so encouraging! We really started tracking in 2013, so hopefully we’re only 5 years behind you! You did it!!!!!
AHHH So cool!!!
2008, wow!!! We’re so old now! Haha…
Really glad you stopped by today – appreciate it so much, thank you :)
And here’s to your next 5 years!!
While I am sad about the sale, changes and last net worth update for my own personal reasons…I am super happy for you and all that you have built. In the the few years I have been following you it’s been great to see that you are so involved and respond and interact with your members. This is what makes this site so amazing and an awesome little community. I hope that it continues…but honestly I fear the corporate america takeover. You have made finance attainable and easy for those of us who are not finance people and helped a lot of people get where we need to be including myself. The transparency has been amazing and really fueled the growth and following that you have built. Enjoy this new chapter in your life!
Thanks Jenny. My goal is to keep the community going here, whether I’m the face of the blog still or not later, so we won’t go down with a fight I can promise you that :) Part of my consulting role with them is to help show *the right* way to manage blogs, and so far they’ve been attentively listening!
Congratulations!!!! You rock!!!
Thanks Michelle!
Hey J
Just wanted to say congrats on the official double comma club! I’m really sad to see the net worth’s come to an end. I’ve been following along since 2014 and you have helped inspire me in tracking my own net worth and in my confidence to grow my net worth. I’m just over a 1/3 of the way to the club now! Woot woot!
That first 1/3 is the hardest!! It’ll only snowball from here! :)
That’s awesome! Congratulations!!! :)
Thanks!
Loving your blog name, haha…. Gonna have to poke over and check that out ;)
Congratulations! I’ve been waiting for this :) Be assured that you have inspired many of us with your promotion of small ways (and not-so-small ways) to build wealth patiently and steadily. I respect your decision not to report anymore out of consideration for your family. While my husband was OK (barely) with me sharing our debt numbers, he never wanted me to share our income or asset numbers. I would use percentages some times to give a picture of income or assets. Is that something you could use? In any case, well done! You have set yourselves up for a future of choice and freedom!
Hi friend!!!
Just saw you stopped blogging – dang! Big changes for both of us!!
I hope you’ll still stay in contact for many more moons to come?
Have always loved interacting with you over the years :) Big congrats on your (debt) freedom over there too!
Congratulations! I appreciate you sharing your journey, the good and the bad, as it has always been a great motivation for our family! Thankful for the financial impact you have made on our family!
Thanks Brad :)
Woohoo Congrats J. Money!
It was the simple idea of visualizing net worth and assets like you do that got me started about my personal finance. I have ways to go before I join the club but all your updates til now makes that journey seem relatable and less intimidating for me. Thank you :)
Yayyyy! Keep going! Future You will love you so much for it! :)
Congrats!!!!!
Thanks Meesch! Cool name!
Congrats! That takes determination.
Or stubbornness ;)
Congratulations! Hell of an achievement. We’ll get there some day- your an inspiration. It can be achieve, it just takes time.
You know it!
Time is compounding’s best friend! ;)
Thank you so much for posting your net worth for as long as you did. Thank you for being so transparent and showing us all your setbacks and missteps as well. Your journey has inspired me a great deal. I suspect you have inspired countless others as well. I completely understand why you need to change course, and I shall continue to be a regular (and generally quiet) reader and fan. I just wanted to take a moment to express my appreciation. Congratulations on this milestone!
I’m glad you’ll still be here following along :) Thanks for popping in real quick!
Congrats on hitting the double comma level!!! That’s amazing!! Sorry this will be the last update though :( I haven’t started tracking my full net worth but this was always my monthly reminder to just check out my retirement accounts to see how they are doing.
Maybe it’s your turn to take the torch from me and carry it on?? :)
Congratulations. Your hard work paid off. You serve as a positive example at what can be done when an individual is focused. I am thrilled.
Thanks so much, Linda :)
Huge congratulations to you! I am sad to see these reports go away, but 100% understand and respect the decision. It has been a lot of fun following along on your net worth journey the past 3 or so years. These reports have been super inspiring, with this one being the culmination of all that inspiration. So gratifying to see all the hard work, month in and month out, pay off. Congrats, again. I am over here celebrating with you!
Thanks Cody :) Hoping to come up with another juicy route to go in the future!! Send over positive – creative – vibes please! Haha…
All good things must come to an end. Congrats on the milestone and the exciting times ahead!
-PoF
Appreciate it, sir!
Well, J Money, you finally did it! What a ride to watch! I just have to tip my hat to you and thank you for all of the net worth posts over the years. At least for me, I took them in the way you intended. They were motivational! I started tracking mine years ago having been inspired by your blog. I hate to see the net worth posts go, but you have to do what is best for your family.
The loss of your net worth posts will be tough to take. However, I learned, over time, to come to grips with missing out on your “Baby Tracker” series. (Still the best idea I have ever seen on the internet). If I can get over that loss, I can get over this.
Mega congratulations on crossing the million mark. You should be very proud. You have accomplished something really big!
Hahahaha….
You HAVE been reading for a while! Hilarious!
I wonder what it would be today – now after having three of them! Could have probably paid off my entire house – in cash ;)
Thanks so much for taking the time to write today – means a lot.
Amazing!!!! Congrats, congrats, and congrats again!!!! What a crazy big bump to put you over the top and officially in millionaire status!!!!!
Thank youuuuu Christine! Hope your money is growing healthily too!
Wow, congratulations! Please don’t stop the net worth update. I want to see the third comma. May sound unrealistic, but who knows what the future brings?
I’ll tell you what – if I ever hit the third comma I’ll bring it back for a special edition ;)
Congratulations to you and your family!!!
Thanks Elizabeth!
Hope your $$$ and family is nice and healthy too! :)
I read the part about this being your last update and that makes me really sad. I totally understand why, but for the last two years every month on the FIRST OF THE MONTH I would come to your site to check if you had updated your numbers. Congrats on the huge milestone though! Your journey is an inspiration. I am 24 years old and hit $125k NW last month!!
Nice!!!
You have about $124,000 more than I did at that age :)
Keep hustling!
CONGRATULATIONS!!! It feels kismet to end this blog segment when you finally reach that millionaire status. My net worth continues to fluctuate along the negative thanks to student loans and market fluctuations, but it is improving every month, and your reports have inspired me to keep going at it!
Well the *improvement* part is what counts!!! Soon enough you’ll be out and that much closer to millionaire status yourself :) I’m rooting for you!
J$, congratulations to you and your family!
I understand wanting to stop sharing official net worth reports. I doubt I could do it even once–my anxiety would be through the roof :P
Thanks for all the education + inspiration you provide. I started on my personal finance journey a bit late (late 20’s). Some days I wish I had started sooner, but I guess it’s better than not getting started at all!
Hey – you started at the exact same time as I did! I was 27 when I finally had my epiphany! And can tell you that from 11 years of blogging I see many more in their 40s, 50s and even 70s sometimes! just getting started… So believe me – it’s a blessing we caught on when we did :)
Ah, this news really made me smile. Many congratulations, after following along for a long time I know how hard you’ve worked for it. A real inspiration!
Thanks Claire!
Hope everything is well with you too! :)
Congratulation my friend. If this gives you the freedom that you want, I’m all for it! Plus, now you’ll have even MORE time to change diapers. My offer still stands to send mine over. What’s one more boy in the pack? ;) Oh and I have a shirt for you. I’ll shoot you an e-mail to see where to send it.
Haha, thanks friend! On both accounts!! ;)
I know I’m late to the party in reading this, but congrats anyway. It’s such a great accomplishment.
You asked about tracking something else other than net worth. I’ve really done well with tracking monthly alternative/passive income over the last couple of years. It doesn’t reveal your net worth, but it shows how much “passive-ish” cashflow you earn each month.
Here’s the last month’s example: https://www.lazymanandmoney.com/alternative-income-update-july-2019-9297-84/
Ahhh that’s such a good way to do it!!
Love that you’ve incorporated your life/kids into it too :)
Glad you’re calling it alternative/passive since we all know that blogging is NOT very passive, haha…
$10k/mo though – killing it! Well done, sir!
Congratulations on your amazing accomplishments! I wholeheartedly agree with NOT sharing. I think it is very personal and opens ourselves to a lot of potential unneeded grief. It sounds like you have an amazing family and support system who are leading you down the right path! All the best in your future endeavors.
Thanks Crissy!
Hope your $$$ is growing nicely as well! :)
Thanks for sharing your time in putting all this together for 11 yrs. I have enjoyed reading your monthly reports. It has nothing to do with $$$ but the discipline and work that goes into these things. Good luck for you and your family!
Thanks SB – appreciate that :)
A QUICK ONE TIME LARGE EXTRA PRINCIPLE PAYMENT will have a tremendous ROI (the earlier in the life of the loan, the better this works).
House mortgages come with Amortization Tables that FRONTLOAD the interest, so if you are EVER going to make payments towards paying offthe house, the QUICKER you do it, the MORE interest money you save!
If you wait till further in the loan, the ROI is much lower as each payment is way more principle than interest. Make a one time *principle payment* as QUICK as you can in the life of the loan, and save 5-10 times that in interest you’ll NEVER have to pay! Hooray!
NOTE: be sure you designate the payment as ‘principle payment’ or they’ll just pay you forward, saving you nothing :(
You’re not wrong on that!
Huge congrats! This is such an awesome post because it represents the endgame that all of us are trying to achieve – and you’re there!
Stoked to dig into more of your content as I push forward on my journey. Have you noticed any cons to publishing income/net worth reports over the last 139 months other than the nervousness from your family?
It’s felt a bit icky at times to share the higher it gets, and sometimes it’s embarrassing when things don’t go as good (there was a 2-3 year stretch when I was leaking a lot of cash!), but outside of that no :) You get used to it over time and it’s great for accountability!
congratulations, J! That must be so exciting for you. I can’t wait until I join the club but might not be for a few years, sadly… it would be great to follow what happens during the downturn, I know someone’s already suggested it up here somewhere, too. I’m very helpful for you and the fam! Keep up the great work :)
Thanks G!
I started my journey towards the beginning of the last downturn, so shouldn’t be anything too out of the ordinary for the next one :) Lots of good opportunities to be had if you’re poised to take advantage!
How did you make your graph??? I absolutely love it!
Google sheets for the win! ;)
When estimating the value of your house, you should discount it by the amount you’d expect to pay in RE commissions should you sell it. A $337k is really only worth about $316k after the real estate agents take their cut.
True true, if you end up *selling* it that is :)
I only like to count the things that are accurate *today* since I never really know what the future will hold, but I’ve seen others adjust things like that to be more on the conservative side. Really just depends on your personality and what you’re trying to get out of it all.
There are some other things along those lines that I don’t include in my net worth either that I’ve seen others do, such as stock options or pensions or any other future income streams/investments. I figure they’ll be incorporated just fine whenever the day comes when they start hitting the bank account, and for those that don’t end up panning out, well, I was never counting on them anyways! Hard to tell exactly what the future will bring…