September 2007 Net Worth Review (+1.24%)

September was a good month for the stock market. The S&P 500 index rose +3.58% from 1,473.99 to 1,526.75 — thanks to the boost from Federal Reserve interest rate cut by half a point on the 18th. However, consider that the U.S. Dollar lost about -2.26% against the global currencies [1], most Americans are actually less wealthy than they were a month ago.

After I entered all my information into NetworthIQ, the result was +1.24% net worth improvement. My liquid assets went up by +5.72% from 22.33% to 23.61% of $1 million goal.

Here are key activities for September:

• I didn’t make any change in August, except for reducing 401k contribution down to 19%. I was over-contributing and this should put me back on the $15,000 target for the year.
• My retirement portfolio grew by +4.57%, or +3.83% if I discount new money contributed during September.
  • This slightly better than market performance is due to strong performance by my REIT investments like (SSREX) and international investments like (JAOSX) and (PIEQX).
• My estimated home value dropped by another -0.72% (how I estimated my house value).

A couple of concerns:

• Weakening U.S. Dollar is an overall concern, but I am not ready to increase my international allocation beyond 30%, nor am I willing to get into the more speculative foreign exchange market.
• The house renovation is done, but we are in dispute due to certain surprise charges.

[1] U.S. Dollar relative value compared to British Pound, Japanese Yen, and the Euro. The calculation was based on data from FXHistory: historical currency exchange rates.