As writing 2016 becomes the norm (don’t pretend you didn’t write 2015 by accident all January), so does the 2016 Savings Challenge. Although the markets aren’t helping out too much, it seems that we are finding our feet nicely!

 

 

What’s been going on in February?

Nothing huge for me. We’re settling nicely into our new house, and I’m settling nicely into the new business that I co-founded at the start of the year. We’re starting to get some good traction with that and I’m thoroughly enjoying creating something big in the field that I am trained.

Financially, I’m already progressing pretty well against my goals, especially given the expenditure related to the new house.

We are also renting our old apartment out on Airbnb which is going very well and we’re earning many 5 star reviews for the property which bodes well for the future.

Here are my own personal results for the month:

February Net Worth Goal Pro-Rata (Total) = 5.0% (30%)
February Net Worth Result = 9.6%

February Savings Rate Goal = 40%
February Savings Rate Result = 31%

 

 

How did the markets do in Feb 2016?

Before I run through your results in Feb 2016, let’s have a quick look at the backdrop of the global financial markets. The following are the results from February (with YTD in brackets):

• FTSE 100 (UK): +0.2% (-2.3%)
• FTSE 250 (UK): +0.7% (-4.7%)
• S&P 500 (US): -0.4% (-5.5%)
• Nasdaq (US): -1.2% (-9.0%)
• Shanghai Comp (CHINA): -1.8% (-24.1%)
• Nikkei 225 (JAPAN): -8.5% (-15.8%)
• TSX (CANADA): +0.3% (-1.1%)
• IBOVESPA (SPAIN): +5.9% (–1.2%)
• BSE SENSEX (INDIA): -7.5% (-11.9%)

So, as investors in UK & US markets, a bit of a mixture, but generally nothing to scream about either way. However, as is often the case, investors in Asia were subject to a bit more variance (and not the good kind), whereas other areas of Europe were divided.

So, with the markets not impacting our investments too much in the month, our results should be much more aligned to how much of our income we’ve been saving versus spending!

 

 

Moneystepper Savings Challenge – February 2016 Summary

In February, the average (mean) for everyone who submitted their results was:

Net Worth Improvement: +4.7% (vs avg. Goal: 4.5%)
Savings Rate: 43.4% (vs avg. Goal: 42.7%)

I’d say that is a good place to be at this stage in the year. We’re slightly ahead in both our savings rates and net worth improvement. That is particularly impressive given the sea of red in the YTD figures for the global markets that we can see above.

Right, onto the detail…

 

 

Moneystepper Savings Challenge – February 2016 Results Detail

Below you will find the results for everyone, ordered by their net worth achievement against their net worth goal:

Did Not Submit – I don’t think that I received the submissions from the following. Let me know if I was mistaken:

• Nigel W
• Lynx
• C
• Elle
• Michael S
• Kylie
• Ben S
• Mr Captain Cash

Please get in touch with your results guys, and my apologies if I’ve missed your submissions in some way.

Great work guys. Keep up the good work, and if you have any questions or suggestions, that don’t hesitate to get in touch.