Comments on: Nov 2007 Net Worth Update (+0.52%)

By: My Dollar Plan

My Dollar Plan — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 21:25:10 +0000

Nice to see someone up for the month!

By: FrugalTrader

FrugalTrader — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 01:20:33 +0000

Sorry Jeff, I get A LOT of comments/emails a day and it's challenging to keep track of it all. Regarding your questions:

The quest is for combined net worth of $1 million.
I think that you guys may be right regarding the insurance liability. I think I may take it out next month. As I explained above, the reason why I include it as a liability is because I don't like seeing a big drop in savings every year as I pay lump sum
With regards to the 1 yr fixed beating the 5 yr fixed. I believe Ed is basing this statistic on a study that he's read. You can contact him directly regarding this issue on his website: edrempel.com

Jeff, if you want questions answered directly, it's best to send me an email directly through the contact tab at the top of the page.

By: Jeff English

Jeff English — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:56:32 +0000

Dude, no offense, I don’t mind you dogding, but serioulsy, answer one of the questions.

By: moneygardener

moneygardener — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 02:57:21 +0000

I agree with people’s comments here about insurance.

You look like you are making great progress 22% on a net worth of that size is pretty good for YTD.

I agree with Canadian Dollars’ comments regarding his point against a bear hedge.

By: Jeff English

Jeff English — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:53:31 +0000

Another thing I have seen pop up here on a couple of different comment sections is that a 1 year variable mortgage does better then (for example) a five year fixed. I think it was an Ed guy who made that claim. Anyways, have these studies been posted anywhere on this blog? And if they were – did they take into account the legal costs of re-registering the mortgage on a yearly basis? Which, I am speculating would cut substantially into any savings on the interest…….

Thanks, and again, great blog.

By: Jeff English

Jeff English — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:02:03 +0000

I got linked into this website through a google search for the Smith manoeuvre and I am intrigued by your quest and have spent the last hour pouring through it. Great blog – unfortunately – I didn’t know where to post this as I haven’t figured out how to navigate the blog completely.

Anyways, my question is simply this – is your quest for a million dollars for yourself or for you and your wife, because theoretically – you only own half of the assets. So should the Million Dollar Journey be more of a Journey for two – or is it really a Two Million Dollar journey?

Also – I’m not clear on the insurance issue either. If you’re paying it on a month to month or year to year basis – it is not really a liability in my opinion. A LOC would be a liability or credit card balances would be one as well – but if what I think you are saying is correct – then you should be putting your costs for groceries, heat, electricity, cable (all your regular bills) in as liabilities as well – which defeats the whole purpose of monthly balance sheet.

By: nobleea

nobleea — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:09:54 +0000

I still don’t understand the reason why you put insurance in liabilities. But if you liquidated everything tomorrow, would you have to pay the insurance? Probably not since it’s paid up front for the year. In that case, it’s not really a liability. I guess it’s just semantics. Meloche Monnex doesn’t charge to split up the payment to monthly, so that’s what I do.

I have used the HXD bear fund a couple times. Once it worked, once it did not. I think it’s best for shorter term trades.

By: FrugalTrader

FrugalTrader — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:49:30 +0000

Mike, I pay my insurance on an annual basis, so instead of getting a huge chunk taken out when that times comes, I spread it out over the months.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:34:44 +0000

Why do you include insurance in your liabilities? Is this your annual cost?

By: Canadian Dollars

Canadian Dollars — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:12:03 +0000

I considered using a Bear hedge, but decided against it for one main reason: I’m in it for the long haul as well and I don’t believe in investing in temporary hedges without definitely knowing which direction the stock market is moving. If I knew 100% (impossible I know) that November would be a lousy month, I would just sell every single holding and buy a Bear hedge. But honestly, nobody knows.
I’ll do a future post on this topic some time

check my blog for more details in the future

By: Plan Your Escape

Plan Your Escape — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:48:13 +0000

Yeah, I know I’m in it for the long run too but I can’t help feeling a ‘tad’ frustrated seeing the market value of my portfolio drop so much. I guess we’d all be millionaires if the markets always went up though! Good luck hitting your 25% in December!

Peter