| Ok, I've done all sorts of things in May and June, 2013. I borrowed a further $20,000 against my house to buy shares - shares dipped dramatically over the last few weeks and interest rates have reached an all time low at 4.9%. It seemed like a good time to buy but, of course, only time will tell. I also moved $40,000 away from a low risk retirement account into shares. The purchases were high yield NZ stocks - Telecom (9% yield/PE 11), Chorus (10.5% yield/PE 9), and Warehouse (6% yield/PE 8). I also put $5K into an Australian shares fund.
I'm keeping my 15! Apple and my 400 BP (ADR) shares. I also have money invested in an aggressive alpha fund, boring Australian index funds, and very low fee mutual funds covering international shares and emerging markets.
I've borrowed a total of $131,000 to invest over the last 4.5 years. Apart from hoping to make money from the investments, the debt has really helped me constrain my spending and boost my net worth. The interest on the debt is tax deductible.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/mary-holm-on-investing/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502897&objectid=10882895
Over the next 6 months I'll only be updating the debt side of things. I'll be ignoring the markets for my own sanity and to stop me doing anything silly like borrowing more to try to make up any losses or selling in a panic or selling too early.
I'll update my assets figure in March 2014 - my networthiq 5 year anniversary.
It's really important that I get rid of the debt as soon as possible, however. Interest rates will rise sooner or later. Who knows, they could be 10% in three years. More importantly, my circumstances could change. I could lose my job and find that I need to sell my shares in a poor market and suffer loses. So I've got to devote every cent to getting rid of the debt and build a small cash buffer of $10,000.
For the first time in 20 years I don't have a car. I'm going without a car until my debt is gone. Just another incentive to go medieval on the 70K.
Below is what "Bass" said about my net worth in March 2009. He was right - my financial situation wasn't great considering my salary at the time, as much as I hated to admit it. I had been spending too much for years. 2009 was a make or break year for me.
"Thanks bobdn for stimulating. Adding to the mortgage is a Great ideal. You deserve everything. Making 90k+ and no savings. peace
Bass" March 2009 |