Net Worth Update: May 2022 – Market Turbulence

Welcome to my net worth update for May 2022! These numbers represent my wife and I’s net worth as of May 1st. Please check out our previous net worth update if you haven’t already!

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Dividend Income

Let’s start with the good news. Like our previous net worth update, this month we saw some amazing growth in our dividend income. Compared to the same period last year, we earned an extra $155!

If we can continue this trajectory, next year we will be earning $630 in the same month. If only we could be so lucky!

Most of this income came from our monthly dividend payers (XDG, XDIV) and a few of our quarterly payers (VCN). Based on our earnings last June, I expect we’ll see dividends come in much lower next month.

Overall, I’m super happy to receive over $300 in dividends for the second month in a row. $300 is enough to cover our grocery bill most months or cover our internet, cell phone bills, and gas.

Expenses in Depth

Last month was a relatively high-spending month for us. Much of this is due to us spending $1,350 to help some of our family with their medical bills.

Another abnormal expense is our $600 in legal fees paid to open a HELOC at TD. You can read more about this in my recent article: Starting the Smith Maneuver.

Some expenses I’m not too happy about include the $254 we spent on eating out (double what we spent last month!) and the $150 we spent on gas.

Living in Metro Vancouver, it seems like every restaurant we visit has raised its prices significantly over the past two years. On top of that, gas prices are incredibly high. As of writing this post, the gas stations near my home are all around $2.26 per litre—insane!

I expect the next few months to be quite expensive as well, as we gear up for some summer travel and camping trips. Our property tax will also be due soon, which will probably put us in the red, savings-wise, in our July net worth update.

Net Worth Change

Because of the recent market turbulence, our net worth decreased to $659,900 from $667,800 in the previous month. This is a decrease of $7,900!

This is actually our first reported net worth decrease since starting my blog. Typically, even when the markets are down, our savings rate has been able to make up the difference and give us at least a small amount of positive net worth growth.

This month, however, that wasn’t possible because our investments lost over $13,000! This is much more than we were able to save.

Now that our investment accounts have become pretty large, our net worth growth will have less to do with our ability to save income and more to do with market performance.

But despite this turbulence, I’m not discouraged. In fact, I’d prefer if we saw a protracted down market, so I can contribute even more and buy at lower prices. It would also synchronize well with my Smith Maneuver strategy to borrow and invest at least $10,000 per month.

Thanks for Reading

I recently wrote a few articles that you may be interested in. This includes my pick for the best dividend ETF in Canada and my post on the 10 best Canadian dividend stocks. Consider giving those a read if you think they’ll help you on your financial journey!

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