Other Liabilities Detail

On my most recent Net Worth post, I reported $6,080 of "other liabilities". These balances mainly consist of accruals for large expenses throughout the year. The accruals are tracked to avoid significant swings during the year for vacations, heating oil bills and real estate taxes. Let's explore these in more detail -

Real Estate Taxes ($1,012)
We do not escrow our real estate taxes since we can obtain a better interest rate keeping it in our own savings. Our annual tax bill is $12,144 (I know, it is painful to see the number. For those who live in other parts of the country, the Northeast is out of control when it comes to real estate taxes). I accrue $1,012 monthly and pay the bill twice a year (January and July).

Vacation ($1,553)
We estimate our annual vacation cost to be $3,000 and therefore accrue $250 / month. The balance is usually drawn down during the summer.

Heating Oil ($757)
This estimate will change annually depending on where heating oil prices are. My estimate for this year is $4 / gallon. We use about 1,200 gallons a year which brings our total expense to $4,800 or $400 per month.

Christmas ($700)
We estimate Christmas expenses at $1,200 or $100 / month. The balance is cleared in December.

Allowances ($2,058)
I will dedicate an entire post to this topic in the future. This balance is for Mr. and Mrs. MMPF monthly allowances that can be spent on anything. Currently $200 / month for each of us.

There's the detail. These balances will fluctuate monthly based on additional accruals and payments from the accounts. I like using these accounts throughout the year to track large expenses, rather then taking big hits in the month the bills are due.

July 2008 Net Worth

July was a mixed month for us. Our short term net worth grew at an average pace of just over $2,700. This included two one time payments that were made this month for car taxes ($480) and a true up of our real estate taxes for the new fiscal year ($319).

Our long term net worth continued to suffer with the stock market declines. As our retirement savings grows, our long term monthly results depend heavily on the stock market returns. For the month, we lost $606 in our long term net worth. This is the second straight month of declines.

We'll have to see what August brings. I have not had three straight LT net worth declines since mid-2002.





Checking:
All cash and checking account balances. Balances are kept to a minimum since accounts do not pay interest.

Emergency Fund:
This tracking account was recently added to separate my "emergency" balance and taxable brokerage balance. The emergency balance would currently cover 8 - 9 months of spending. However, we expect to purchase two new cars in the next couple of years. These purchases will be in cash (unless we can get VERY cheap financing). The cash will come from this account.

Taxable Brokerage:
Taxable investments in stocks and bonds. See the investments post each month for more information on this balance.

Other Receivable:
Balance includes other receivable items, such as payroll (since I am paid every two weeks rather then at month-end).

Retirement:
Retirement 401k balances. See the investments post each month for more information on this balance.

Cars:
Two 2004 cars. Each are being straight line depreciated over 60 months.

Primary Residence:
Although most of the country is seeing an extended downturn in the housing market, there is minimal impact where we live. Although no grow, houses are continuing to sell right around the same price as they sold last year. We have no plans to sell our house in the near future. Therefore, we are increasing the value of the home $1,000 per month. This equals approximately 1.7% per year, well below the long term average gains of home prices.

Credit Cards:
I use a credit card for all of my purchases. The monthly balance gets paid in full each month so no interest is incurred.

Other Liabilities:
This category includes a variety of balances including real estate taxes, heating oil, vacation and Christmas. I'll dedicate a post in the future as to how these balances are used and why.

Mortgage:
30 year fixed rate mortgage at 6.125%. I am paying an extra $276 in principal each month (which equals one extra payment per year).

Upcoming Events:

• No significant events in August are planned
• In September, Mrs. MMPF will receive her annual bonus. We are expecting approximately $7,500 pre tax. As part this, she will receive her annual merit increase which will most likely be in the 4 - 6% range.