It was bound to happen… how to get three slaps in one month, and end up in the minus with our net worth. I’ll tell you all about it in this March report dear voyeur :)
If you are new to the blog, I recommend reading the article that introduced this series about my net worth (including my lucky number, as well as the rules of the game).
March: One last restaurant, pediatric appointments, a solo evening with MP Kid #2, and the stock exchange falling down with the coronavirus crisis…
CASH FLOW AND SAVINGS (+CHF 10'481.06): It was a pretty typical month in terms of expenses, and a good month in terms of cash flow.
Regarding non-ordinary expenses:
- A request for solvency check of the company behind my new real estate investment (more about that in a future article)
- One last restaurant imposed by Mrs. MP before the end of the world, who in the end was right, because the week after everything closed!
- Annual license of YNAB (for me it’s the software with the best ROI when I see where it took me — the half a million is fast approaching)
- Again medical expenses for toddlers (pediatrician, dentist) — they cost us a lot! ;D
- New spring/summer shoes for MP Kid #2!
- A solo evening between Dad and MP Kid #2 (thermal baths + restaurant!), it was great and it was good to spend time with only one of the children as it strengthened our bonds
- Workshop to perfect one of Mrs. MP’s passions (which she monetizes ;))
Otherwise in terms of income, apart from our two salaries and the blog affiliation, we had a good month of March:
- Almost CHF 200 in dividends
- Several private coaching sessions with some of you who didn’t want to miss out on the stock market sales, but wanted personalized coaching so that you wouldn’t have to go alone
- The kickstarter of my book (thanks again to those who believe in my project — chapter 3 is coming up next week)
- A recurring client of Mrs. MP’s side gig
STOCK MARKET INVESTMENTS (-CHF 17'950.30): Unsurprisingly, the stock market continues its freefall due to the coronavirus crisis. We had already started this bear market in February, but now we’ve been there for real.
I took the opportunity to buy many value investments on sale, mainly in Japan where stocks are being slaughtered … Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I was limited with funds to bring in because I was committed to my famous real estate project at a rate of return of 55% so I had to keep these savings in reserve.
Anyway, I didn’t sell anything, like I planned. I simply continued to buy even more than usual (see my passive stock market strategy as a Swiss investor). This proves to me that I can get through a stock market crash without cracking. Now I’m just waiting to see what happens next — i.e. how long it will take to recover ;)
We took advantage of the beautiful spring weather to go and admire the sunrise from the Jura at 6.30 am, while enjoying a family breakfast prepared by Mrs MP <3
P2P INVESTMENTS (-CHF 27.18): I have decided to call a halt to these alternative P2P investments.
Iban Wallet
Iban Wallet is not a serious business in my opinion. They’ve been saying loud and clear that they’re going to put more information about who’s behind this company on their site for months, but nothing comes. I can’t figure out their strategy (unless it’s a big scam).
Anyway, I don’t have a kopeck with them anymore. And I removed all my affiliate links because I don’t want to have anything to do with them.
Mintos
I know I owe you a detailed report of why I got out after I dug, it’s still planned.
In the meantime I’m testing the cash out of my 1'000€ from the “Invest & Access” program. And what can I say… it’s more like “Invest very quickly & Access very slowly”. Basically, I started to cash out my 1'000€ at the end of March, and 1.5 weeks later I only had 15% in cash. And so far, one month after clicking on “Cash out”, I could only withdraw half of my euros. So yes we can access them, but it takes time.
The fact that I still have a few hundred CHF invested allows me to see how P2P reacts to the crisis, and I will document this in a future article.
But for me it’s over with P2P.
And it’s the same as for Iban Wallet, no more Mintos affiliate links on this blog.
CRYPTOCURRENCIES SPECULATION (n/a): I re-installed my dual authentication app a few weeks ago and lost my Coinbase info in the process (I got in touch with support and everything is back to normal today). So, no update this month (but don’t worry, it’s still moving in an unpredictable way, as planned :D).
MP’S 2ND PILLAR (+CHF 602.85): Filling my second pillar as usual.
MRS.’ MP 2ND PILLAR (+CHF 352.20): Filling Mrs. MP’s second pillar as usual.
MP’S 3RD PILLAR (-CHF 5'321.06): The second slap after the coronavirus… my damn 3a linked to an insurance policy (due to our mortgage) is still fluctuating “strangely”. The explanation being known: we pay the death and disability insurance during the first years of contribution. So here I am, resigning to telling myself what my insurer advises me: “Mr. MP, think of it as part of your rent, since this 3a serves as a guarantee and a future pay off of your mortgage.”
MRS’ MP 3RD PILLAR (-CHF 1'350.26): And here comes the third slap, this one predictable too with this COVID-19 crisis that brought down the stock market.
We’ll only recover stronger, as they say!
APARTMENT AND MORTGAGE IN SWITZERLAND (n/a): Nothing to report, we still do not repay anything as mortgage rates are so low, and we have not made a revaluation of our property so we do not speculate with its value (i.e. we keep the amount of our initial 20% down payment that we had to pay when we bought our home).
RENTAL BUILDING IN FRANCE (n/a): Same as for our apartment in Switzerland, no speculation on the price of our rental property. We will wait until we want to sell it to make an evaluation.
MORTGAGE LOAN IN FRANCE (+CHF 699.39): The magic of real estate investment: the loan repays itself “on its own” thanks to the rents.
SCI (SOCIÉTÉ CIVILE IMMOBILIÈRE, REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT COMPANY IN ENGLISH) IN FRANCE (+CHF 858.90): Cash flow continues to be positive pending taxes. I’m still waiting for my accesses to make my tax return online, but hey, we’re talking about the French government :D
In terms of financial independence, we are at 19% of our objective of CHF 2'156'000 with our net worth of CHF 414'809.02.
Which visually gives us this:
Savings rate for March
In the end, we finished with a savings rate of 67% for March 2020. So apart from the stock market, we’re on a pretty good track right now. We control what we can control (i.e. our expenses and income) and let the rest do its thing (i.e. the stock market).
And you, what was your net worth and savings rate in March?
PS 1: if you also want to have access to bonuses such as the screenshot revealing the amount of each of my assets (I post it every month when this net worth update’s article is published online), then you just have to become a patron of the blog via Patreon.
PS 2: I’ve added a new “bonus” for the blog’s patrons. Since last month, I publish a live notification of my buy/sell on the stock market and other investments (translated into three languages like the blog — i.e. EN, DE, and FR). Just to be clear, I follow a rather passive investment methodology with ETFs disclosed on my blog, so you won’t learn anything transcendental. But if it can motivate you to invest regularly and in a disciplined way, then I will have succeeded in my wager.
PS 3: I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the three new patrons of the blog Georgi, Zik, and Titus. A big thank you for your support !
