A dramatic 2020 has finally drawn to a close and it’s the first day of the new year.
This means it’s time for another update on my net worth series.
As a reminder, I’m documenting my progress towards trying to reach two goals: a $1 million net worth and a $30,000 annual passive income.
But first, let’s take a look back at how things went in the last year (with a specific focus on my YouTube channel!).
My First Year on YouTube
Today also marks the one year anniversary of me posting the first video on my YouTube channel.
I’ve really enjoyed the process of building a channel. While a bit of a grind at times, it’s been a rewarding experience.
At the end of 2020, I had just over 600 subscribers.
I actually was able to make a little bit of money through my YouTube channel last year, even though I’m not monetized through google ads yet.
Thanks to affiliate links, which I use in the description of all of my YouTube videos, I made just over $200 directly from YouTube this year (which was mostly through M1 Finance).
Guess I’m 0.02% closer towards that $1 million net worth mark.
Otherwise, I made a little bit of money through Amazon affiliate links, as well. This was mostly for my own book, The One Property Retirement.
It was a big year in my content journey. I’m excited to see consistent progress with the channel, and it’s been a great way to test and solidify particular ideas.
I definitely don’t plan on stopping. We’ll see what 2023 brings.
With that said, let’s get into this month’s numbers.
January 2021 Net Worth Numbers
As a reminder, last month we were at $76,707.72 in net worth.
Assets – January 2021
I did make a couple of significant changes within my assets this month.
For one, I completely sold out of my taxable Vanguard index funds (i.e. outside of my IRA).
The funds were moved into my M1 Finance portfolio to invest in some other opportunities.
I am increasingly skeptical of a lot of passive index funds right now.
Things seem quite expensive generally speaking, and I’d rather move that money into things that appear to have slightly lower risk with higher upside potential.
I’m increasingly adopting the “value investing” school of thought, where I aim to buy individual companies for less than their “intrinsic” values. It fits very well with my general approach to real estate, too, so I’ve been phasing out of index funds in the meantime for my taxable holdings.
Our cash position remains about the same. Though I always have the ability to draw on a lot of my M1 Finance money via a margin loan.
On top of that, I added our stimulus checks. Helicopter money is fun! I’m not sure what we will do with them quite yet, but we’ll probably pay down some debt or sock it away for a future real estate investment.
That’s pretty much it on the asset front. That leaves us with a total of $390,218.37.
Liabilities – January 2021
We were hit with some more student loans. As you can see, we’re now at $109,193.99 balance.
EmilyAnn will finish her graduate program in the next year or so. We’ll be dual [full-time] income soon and the loans will stop piling up. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.
I used a small amount of margin on M1 Finance to make a purchase recently, and I’ll be paying that off promptly.
Otherwise, things remain about the same. We can still pull about $50,000 from HELOC, which we can use in a pinch if we want to cover a down payment or make some sort of investment.
In total, that leaves us with $318,730.75 in liabilities.
My Net Worth – January 2021
Our net worth has decreased back down to $71,487.62.
That’s a loss of $5,220.10 over the month.
Our debt ratio is now at 81.68%.
And our passive income remains around $350 a month.
What’s Next
In the meantime, we’re still able to take advantage of potential real estate deals if they come up. As a matter of fact, I just made offers on a couple of properties last week. We could be getting under contract sometime soon if all goes well.
A good real estate deal would increase our passive income. In the next month or two, I’m aiming to find one of those coveted “good deals.” That would become our second rental property.
I’ll be starting at a law firm in March after I finish the bar exam, so I am definitely excited to start bringing in a significant amount of income. We’ll be able to pay off a good amount of debt and put ourselves in much a better cash flow position.
The ultimate point is patience. I know I’ll be able to make a lot more money this year compared to last year.
So investing might get that much more exciting, and much less stressful.
This website, and any communication stemming from it, while hopefully informative, should not be taken as financial or legal advice. Assume all links are affiliate links. I am an Amazon affiliate.