Excluding material assets, my net worth is just over $25k. I’ll do a monthly net worth review of all my accounts as part of my financial goals for this year. I have a plan to retire before I hit 40* so this is as good a time as any to start tracking my progress.
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| In 4 months in China, I’ve managed to save what took two years in London. |
It’s actually only 2 months ago I decided to take my own finances very seriously. I’ve read through 5 books on personal finance and countless blog posts. You can see that I was quite financially illiterate by the fact that I have $0 in TFSA and RRSP accounts at the end of my London job. The plan to retire before I hit 40 was also formed during this period.
I regret how loose I was with my finances while I was in London but I don’t regret any of the experiences I got out of my two years there. I had such a blast and without it, I don’t think I would be who I am today. The choice to work in London vs. immediately applying for a job in China was also a tradeoff I was willing to make at that point. I would never be as unburdened with financial concerns as I was when I freshly graduated and I gave myself two years to experience having my own money.
I have accounts with four institutions
- Lloyds: the bank I used while I was in the UK. I’ve kept money in there because the exchange rate back to Canadian was crap so I’m just gonna wait until it goes back up a bit. This account makes up my emergency fund so I can afford to be patient. 50% of the reason I chose this bank was legit because it had the same color scheme as TD.
- TD Bank: it’s what my parents used and I like their customer service. It works for whatever my needs are right now. I keep the bare minimum in it to avoid fees.
- Questrade: this is where I hold my TFSA and RRSP accounts for investing because they don’t charge fees on purchasing stock. I DIY my own investments and don’t go through another company like Tangerine or WealthSimple. Not that they’re bad, this is just the lowest fee option and I was willing to teach myself investing.
- Bank of China: I only keep $2k in here and don’t count it as my net worth because this is what I’ll use as the remainder of my living expenses for the rest of this school year.
Methodology
- The incredibly exciting Excel. I open up all my accounts and just input them into the sheet.
- I exclude material possessions such as laptops, cameras etc. to make for easier calculations.
- Numbers are calculated at the end of the month after currencies have been exchanged, accounts funded, and investments purchased.
- Cost of living in China is incredibly low.
- I plan on keeping liabilities at $0. No credit card debt that I don’t pay off at the end of every month and won’t ever buy anything that I can’t immediately pay off in cash.
- Owning fewer things really frees up mental space. I don’t need to keep track of stuff and there are also fewer maintenance costs.
- I’m so incredibly thankful to have no debts or other liabilities.
*I actually plan on retiring by 35 but it may change depending on where I want to work and if I want to achieve 100% financial independence vs just enough to take a couple of years off to pursue other goals. And of course, how the market decides to behave as I near 35.