Update on House Value

Another house in our development recently sold at auction. The price has just gone online. It sold for $A850k. The original sale price when new was $A735k. Our house originally sold for $A650k. Using the same percentage increase our house would be worth $A752k. We paid $A740k. But I have been valuing it at $A785k based on the valuation we got prior to buying. Not sure if I should lower the carrying value to $A750k?

Moom's Taxes 2014-15 Edition

I have now completed my tax return. Looks like I need to pay $590 in extra tax. My salary is flat on last year but my taxable income is up by 5%. Gross cash income is before tax income ignoring franking and other tax credits and adding in net undiscounted capital gains (not deleting losses from previous years). Dividends, franking credits, and foreign source income are all up steeply, but so are most forms of deductions. As a result tax is only up 4%. But because tax withholding is only up 1% this year I owe tax, whereas last year I got a refund.

Previous years:

2013-14
2012-13
2011-12
2010-11
2009-10
2008-9
2007-8

Moominvalley September 2015 Report

A volatile month, but in the end not as bad as last month. The ASX 200 fell 2.96%, the MSCI World Index fell 3.51%, and the S&P 500 fell 2.47%. The Australian Dollar fell more slowly from $US0.71 to $US0.702. We lost 1.7% in Australian Dollar terms and 2.81% in US Dollar terms. So this time we outperformed both the international and Australian markets. US stocks were our worst performing asset class and commodities the best with private equity and hedge funds also having positive returns. Winton Global Alpha Fund was the best individual performer in dollar terms, with good returns from Cadence Capital, Ocean Capital Partners, CFS Developing Companies, and Medibank. Platinum Capital, CFS Developing Companies, TIAA Real Estate,  and Cadence are all at all time highs in terms of profits.

Net worth fell $A9k including housing equity ($US18k) to $1.457 million ($US1.023 million). The monthly accounts (in AUD) follow:

Salary and retirement contributions were fairly normal. We spent $5.3k not including mortgage payments and $4.7k without business expenses. Again, a relatively low monthly spend. And that includes spending $929 on health insurance for Snork Maiden's mother who will be visiting us... Soon there will be new expenses including relandscaping our garden and lots of baby expenses...

So, we also saved quite a lot: $5.9k on the current account and $3.2k in retirement accounts, and $1.3k in housing equity. We paid $1,845 in mortgage interest, saving $412 in interest due to cash in our offset account.

Moominvalley Report August 2015

My main reaction when doing the accounts this month was: "Could have been worse!" Markets were down strongly, especially in Australia. The ASX 200 fell 7.79%, the MSCI World Index fell 6.81%, and the S&P 500 fell 6.03%. The Australian Dollar continued to fall from $US0.7331 to $US0.71. We lost 5.2% in Australian Dollar terms but 8.19% in US Dollar terms. So yet again we underperformed the international markets but outperformed the Australian market. All asset classes fell but the fall in small cap Australian shares was small and the CFS Developing Companies fund rose. Also at record high profits for us are Platinum Capital and TIAA Real Estate.

Net worth fell $A53k including housing equity ($US73k) to $1.465 million ($US1.041 million). The monthly accounts (in AUD) follow:


Salary and retirement contributions were fairly normal. We spent $5.4k not including mortgage payments. This is now a relatively low monthly spend. So, we also saved quite a lot: $5.3k on the current account and $3.2k in retirement accounts, and $1.3k in housing equity. We paid $1,868 in mortgage interest, saving $391 in interest due to cash in our offset account.

Becoming Moominpapa

I'm in the process of metamorphosing into Moominpapa and Snork Maiden into Moominmama. If you were wondering what all the large medical expenses over the last year were that was IVF. We've now done a bunch of ultrasounds and genetic tests and everything seems to be OK and healthy with the developing baby and looks like it will be a baby Moomin and not a Snork Maiden. This is what things will hopefully look like here early next year:

Moominvalley July 2015 Report

A milestone this month as we went over $A 1.5 million net worth for the first time. $1.518 million to be precise ($US1.13 million).

Markets were up, especially in Australia. The ASX 200 rose 4.4%, the MSCI World Index rose 0.9%, and the S&P 500 rose 2.1%. The Australian Dollar fell steeply from $US0.7703 to $US0.7331. We gained 5.8% in Australian Dollar terms but only 0.7% in US Dollar terms. So we again underperformed the international markets but outperformed the Australian market. All asset classes rose except private equity. Large cap Australian shares did best. There was a total $71.5k investment gain.

Net worth rose $A85k including housing equity but only $US9k. The monthly accounts (in AUD) follow:

This was a three paycheck month and so salaries and refunds came to $21.9k. Retirement contributions were also higher than normal at $4.9k. We spent $5.8k not including mortgage payments and $5.1k not including business expenses. This is now a relatively low monthly spend. So, we also saved a lot compared to recent months - $11k on the current account and $2.9k in housing equity. We paid $1,842 in mortgage interest, saving $373 in interest due to cash in our offset account. Transfer to housing adds that nominal saving, which we count as an investment return, to the actual mortgage payment to balance the accounts.

Snork Maiden's Taxes 2014-15 Edition

I've done the calculations for Snork Maiden's tax return for this tax year. The tax year runs from 1st July to 30th June in Australia. The figures ignore employer and employee contributions to superannuation (retirement account) which amount to a lot of extra income. Everything is in Australian Dollars of course.


Looks like she needs to pay extra tax :( Compared to last year the Medicare Levy has increased by 0.5%, which means an extra $450 of tax before anything else So, despite income being up only by 3% taxes are up by 5%. Salary is unchanged because the current Enterprise Agreement has expired and the union hasn't agreed a new deal with the employer. Investment income is up as are tax credits derived from investment income (by more than 50% in the latter case). Deductions are steeply down because there was no unreimbursed work related travel this year. Gifts and donations are up 1100%. Snork Maiden started donating $40 per month to Save the Children a month before the end of the last tax year.

The average tax rate on taxable income is 24.94%. Gross income before deductions and tax credits is not a lot higher than taxable income and so the tax rate on "gross cash income" is only slightly lower. The difference will be much bigger on my own income.

Here are the reports on Snork Maiden's taxes for all previous years:

2013-14
2012-13
2012-13
2011-12
2010-11
2009-10
2008-9
2007-8