Monday, April 1, 2019

Net Worth Update: March 2019

Our net worth increased by 1.31% to $47,396. In euros it was up 2.34% to 42,037€.

We had some expenses that were unavoidable. We had to pay our quarterly taxes in Germany, and we had to buy some new glasses for my wife. She also took a vacation to the U.S. that cost a bit of money.

The stock market was a big tease this month. In the final weeks, our portfolio experiences wild volatility. One day jumped a lot, and then the next fell a lot. Nothing to be done about it. The market feels very sensitive right now, and I wish I could say that I can resist it, but on big down days it's hard not to feel personally stung. That's especially true if the weather is bad, which it often is in Germany.

I'm noticing a trend in our early year savings rate. Usually, in the first few months of the year, there are a bunch of expenses and adjustments that eat into our ability to save. The German social security and health insurance adjust, and we have to make our new - usually - elevated tax payments.

Lastly, whatever costs for vacations and things like that tend to cluster around this time of year as we make final decisions about what we want to do with our free time in the summer.

We're going to continue having to make big spending decisions over the next few months, so I'm expecting our savings rate to be depressed for a bit. I have gotten some extra work at my job, which will help elevate my earnings, so I'm hoping that can offset some of our savings inefficiency.

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