A lot of us tend to make financial resolutions such as: I want to make/save more money than I have last year.

I read somewhere that this is ineffective as there is no solid target. Make a resolution such as I want to increase my net worth by 1% per month. Then make records every month and track your progress.

I've been doing this since last year and it's really fun and informative. It gives a perspective of seeing your debts decrease while your assets increase. It's achievable enough yet rewarding. 1% per month translates to about 12.6% a year.

I'm trying to stay on track this year but getting a car since last year makes it difficult.

Great insights there. Thanks.

My only long term debt is the car. However, the loan is insured in case of my inability to repay. It sure is an illogical purchase, but dang it's worth every cent.

60% of my assets are also liquid or at least easily liquidated (stocks).

Age: 28

Assets:

Car: EUR 26k (value to be linearly amortized over 5 years)
Cash: EUR 7k + RM 10k
Stocks/funds/bonds/options/money market: EUR 33k + RM 50k

Liabilities:
Loan: EUR 20k

Net: EUR46k + RM60k

You forgot to add your car value as an asset. However, the value should be amortized, unless your car has current value of zero.

If you are writing it off, then that's fine. It's always better to be conservative.

I still have my car on my assets, but amortized linearly over 5 years because I paid it in cash.

When wet market aunties are talking about shares, then the market is peaking.

FYI to beginners in stock investing, cheap doesn't mean the price itself is low. Learn about market cap, P/E ratios etc before evaluating a company on it's price alone.

Would you invest in a stock at a price of RM10 and P/E of 10 or a stock at RM20 and P/E of 5, considering both companies sell the same product with each having market share of 50%?

It depends, if done due diligence, could be an investment. I cashed out my Baidu shares in 2010 after they announced their stock split. I made some money due to the increased liquidity of the stock. It was a pure speculative play contrary to my value investing principles. My research shown Baidu was market leader in China, so risk was low. However, I don't trust much on China companies anymore nowadays.

Of course PE is not everything, but if you consider 2 stocks with the same risks, wouldn't you buy the one with lower PE?

I'm currently looking at the Osram spin off.

That's why I never trust analysts, Malaysia's stock market and KLSE.

I'm not saying other countries are problem/scandal free. I'm saying I don't trust the regulation authorities in Malaysia, the low volume of shares traded in KLSE and how manipulation-prone they are.

Just to stay on topic, how do you guys track your net worth performance?

I have a simple spreadsheet. It's nice to see the growth on a graph. I'm averaging 2% every month.

2% is a 12month moving average. There are peaks and valleys of course, e.g. when I bought my car when I turned 28 or when my company paid compensation to me.

Overall since 2010 when I started to keep records my net worth grew by 267% not including my funds in Msia.

It will be tougher to keep my target of 2% a month due to law or large numbers. I'll be re-evaluating this goal middle of this year when my wife starts to move in with me. I foresee modest 1% growth per month is sustainable.

Currently my monthly spend is less than 30% of my nett pay, investments yield a modest avg 10% per annum according to last 4 yrs. My monthly savings will most likely stay the same once my wife moves in, offset by lower taxes. One off expenditure will increase however, as I need to pay for travel and holidays. I need to reduce that impact by eating more at home and savings from cooking and buying for 2.

This post has been edited by kelvinlym: Apr 12 2013, 03:52 PM

Update as of 15 Aug 2013

Age: 30

Car: 13.5k (real value 22k appraised by dealer)
Cash: EUR 6k + ~RM10k
Stocks/funds/bonds/options/money market: EUR 75k + RM 52k

Liabilities:
Loan: EUR 8.5k

Net: EUR 86k + ~RM60k

Just married (sorry ladies) and started looking into real estate. My goal is to reach EUR 100k by year end (realistic but tough).