As of December 28, 2015. "Cash" = personal cash. "Stocks" = all non-registered equity investments, combined personal and corporate holdings (Canadian/US/International Index Funds & ETFs). "Bonds" = corporate cash (only actual cash, does not include any money in brokerage accounts). "Annuities" = Whole life policy, invested in corporate name. "Retirement" = all registered investments. "Other Assets" = TFSA account.
Well, the year end came and went, and investments have really taken a significant hit with the Canadian markets so heavily dependant on natural resources. A real lesson for me in hindsight to diversify far more broadly than I have, and that volatility in the markets is always completely and utterly unpredictable. Some of my natural resource stocks have plummeted and it is unlikely they will ever recover back to their previous values, even if I hold for a long time.
Fortunately, I have time and income-earning potential on my side. Clearly I need to reset a series of priorities and with all of the volatility I have decided to focus entirely on debt reduction for now, with a goal of eliminating the mortgage debt as quickly as possible so that the focus can once again move towards asset accmulation. Now seems like an excellent time to consider investing as well with so many of the blue chips in Canada ravaged, but investing in foreign markets is a lot tougher now with the significantly decreased value of the Canadian dollar.
I also need to set financial goals for this upcoming year. Basically being the anticipated sole provider for our family, I think that expectations are going to have to be tempered significantly in terms of asset accumulation but I want to ensure that our household budget still takes into account the need to take care of our debt responsibilities while saving into our registered savings plans at a minimum. I am going to target $2,000,000 for my personal net worth for the end of 2016, and also work to ensure we eliminate my partner's debt as well by the end of this year. |