Fiscal Update August 2014 – Growing Economy

It’s the first day month of Autumn 🙂 It’s hard to believe another month has gone by already. The U.S. economy grew at a brisk 4.2% in the second quarter of 2014, and Canada’s increased to 3.1%, which is the fastest pace since 2011. Consumers are spending more, exports are up, and stock markets are reaching all times highs! But for many people it still feels like a struggle to get out of a recession because their real wages have stagnated since 2008 yet the real cost of food, shelter, and other goods are higher. Grinding away at a job, saving some money, and relying on the government have always placed people at a disadvantage.

Those who want to actually get ahead economically have to make the right decisions with their money. Thankfully this is not hard to do. All investors who use a simple indexing strategy have seen the fruits of this recovering economy. Strong GDP growth usually means more discretionary spending, more profits for businesses, and more expensive houses. It’s hard to lose money in the markets when stocks, real estate, and bonds have all gone up over the last few years.

*Side Income:

  • Part-Time Work = $1,200
  • Dividends = $400
*Discretionary Spending:
  • Eating Out = $100
  • Others = $200

*Net Worth: (MoM)

  • Assets: = $839,900 total (+1,600)
  • Cash = $2200 (+200)
  • Stocks CDN =$94,000 (+1400)
  • Stocks US = $53,200 (+500)
  • RRSP = $48,500 (-500)
  • MICs = $15,000 (same)
  • Home = $254,000 (same)
  • Farms = $373,000 (same)
  • Debts: = $531,000 total (-3,700)
  • Mortgage = $197,300 (-400)
  • Farm Loans = $205,200 (-400)
  • Margin Loan CDN = $29,700 (-700)
  • Margin Loan US = $24,200 (+300)
  • TD Line of Credit = $32,000  (-200)
  • CIBC Line of Credit = $12,000 (-700)
  • HELOC = $18,600 (-100)
  • RRSP Loans = $12,000 (-1,500)

*Total Net Worth = $308,900 (+1.75%)
All numbers above are in $CDN. Conversion rate used: 1.00 USD = 1.09 CAD

That’s about $5K increase from the previous month. Not bad 🙂 I had 3 pay periods at my part time job which is rare but always nice. The Canadian stock market set a new record high, partially due to Tim Hortons shares shooting up 27% in August 😀 I have about $2K of cash in my RRSP account. I might invest in some media companies in September.

Besides the regular side income sources I’ve listed above I also made $186 from selling stock options in August 🙂 At the beginning of this year I didn’t really understand what options were. But I learned about them, experimented with them, explained how writing options work, and now I plan to trade options on a regular basis and make $1000 to $1500 from option premiums every year. This would certainly help increase my net worth over time 😉  Writing options can be less risky than trading stocks, but it’s guaranteed to make a premium every single time. So far my options have never been exercised before.

14-08-augoptions

Earning extra income is literally as simple as learning a new skill, trying it out, and becoming comfortable enough with it to turn it into a habit. The hard part is building up the confidence to trust your own judgement. And there’s only one way to do that; by doing 😉

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Random Useless Fact:
Dwarf hamsters are prone to diabetes so avoid feeding them sweet treats and fruit. 

14-09-hamster-diet

 

 

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Financial Underdog
Financial Underdog
09/01/2014 3:27 pm

OMG some hamster is more successful at weight management than I am! That’s sad.

ND Chic
ND Chic
09/01/2014 5:03 pm

Nice increase! Will you get cash rent from the farm this fall?

Investing Pursuits
09/01/2014 6:55 pm

Nice increase on your net worth. It is good to see you made two more options trades in which you get paid up front. The good thing about selling a put option is that it ties up a lot less capital. It is roughly 20% of your break even whereas a stock ties up about 50%.

PC
PC
09/01/2014 7:43 pm

Ugh, autumn doesnt start till Sept 21st btw!! You are announcing it too early. I am learning options as well.. I think its a great way to collect premiums on writing puts. I’ve written contracts far in advance and collected around $1250 in premiums just last month! Of course it’s a waiting game and I hope them to expire worthless. I just opened Interactive Brokers so I can trade more options at lower commission cost.

Clarisse @ Make Money Your Way
09/02/2014 12:03 am

Wow, $5K increase from the previous month was really an impressive one! Time flies so fast and I’m excited for the holiday season! 🙂

Phil
Phil
09/02/2014 9:13 am

Chugga, chugg
a, chooo, choooo…Isn’t compounding just awesome! Outta curiosity, So how do taxes work on the options and the farms for that matter? Given the farms are for investment and in another province? – Cheers my friend to yet another uptick >U<

Pauline
09/02/2014 9:17 am

That NW chart has a pretty impressive curve up lately, well done!

My Road to Wealth and Freedom
09/02/2014 10:46 am

Great job on the 5k increase in NW…You’re really on a tear this year! I’ll be crunching my NW numbers this week too and I hope for another big increase.

Cheers!

Steve
Steve
09/02/2014 12:09 pm

Awesome dude – you’re over $300,000 net worth!

M@PennyThots
09/02/2014 4:50 pm

Great job! I love the hamster useless fact 🙂
I could take some advice from him/her. He is obviously doing something right!

No More Waffles
09/03/2014 10:15 am

Awesome! Your personal chart only knows up-up-up from here on out!

Well done on the part-time job, should find myself something like that too some day. Currently most of my time is spent working on my blog – which is a lot more ‘work’ than anticipated. 🙂

Keep it up, Liquid!

Messy Money
09/09/2014 3:20 pm

Sadly – I wrote some calls against one of my long positions this year – thought I was safe but got called. Still took a profit but would have taken a better profit if I was still holding. Sigh. You win some you lose some.
Nice gain on the net worth.