Net Worth MAR 2026

Chart updated to end of MAR in sidebar.

Who would have guessed that possibly starting WWIII and creating a 1970s style oil shock to cause a global recession/Greater Depression could be bad for everyone's finances :) Apparently everyone except POTUS and MAGA voters it seems.... Ah well, now for the exciting March performance data:

Stocks/cash decreased -$10,502 (-2.19%) to $469,277. This was actually better than one would expect, due to about $300K of this figure being cash sitting in my mortgage offset account. 

Retirement savings (SMSF etc.) decreased by +$97,668 (+4.18%) to $2,240,942. No contributions made this month.

The real estate figures are unchanged, as the source data has not been updated for March. The federal Labor government is floating ideas about limiting negatively geared properties to a maximum of two, and/or reducing the capital gains tax 'discount' (which was actually just a simplified method to avoid taxing the effect of inflation -- they replaced the cost base indexing method with the 50% 'discount' method, as at the time the inflation rate and typical holding period meant about 50% of realized capital gains were simply due to inflation) to 1/3 or 1/4. These changes are likely to make property investing less attractive, and the decreased demand is likely to cause a slump in property prices. It won't actually help renters who want to buy their first home however, as the last time Keating fiddled with negative gearing (simply delaying deductions to EOFY rather than being able to seek a PAYG variation) it resulted in a property slump, shortage of renting housing (due to fewer new constructions), and then a hike in rental costs (which makes it much harder for renters to save the required deposit to obtain a home loan). We'll see what actually gets announced in the budget, and then how the expected and unexpected impacts wash out during the following year or two.

Other assets (my online depository bullion account at Perth Mint, and the bullion value of my gold and silver proof coin collection) decreased by -$14,523 (-13.89%) to $90,035. I am currently still adding $200 worth of gold to my Perth Mint online depository account each month. In theory a price dip is good while using DCA to accumulate an asset over time. Every cloud has a silver (or gold) lining I suppose.

Overall, NW decreased by -$122,693 (-2.27%) to $5,291,426 during Mar. NW needs to increase by about 0.2% per month on average to keep pace with inflation (I.e. maintain real value), so the decrease during March was about +2.4% in real value.

It would be nice to think that April won't be as bad as March was, but the economic impacts of Trump's war will take several months to become fully apparent, and the war could still escalate further.

I got a quote for adding a 'granny flat' to my holiday home property (around $235K), but in the current global situation I think it would be prudent to the leave the money sitting in my loan offset account, rather than spend it on a property improvement. Although the cost is likely to rise substantially in a year or two, I think putting this expense off for the time being is a wise move.

Subscribe to Enough Wealth. Copyright 2006-2026

GenLife Investment Bond Update

I finally got around to updating my sharesight portfolio tracker with my latest quarterly Investment Bond contribution transactions (processed on 17 Feb). Currently the quarterly contribution is around $1,825 each quarter, and I will continue to increase this by 125% annually until it reaches $50Kpa (which is approximately what my 'surplus' tax-free self-funded pension income will be). In the meantime I will store any 'surplus' pension income in my investment property mortgage offset account.

So far the annual ROI (after the ~30% tax paid by IB) is 8.57%pa, which seems OK. The investment allocation is fairly boring:

35% iShares Wholesale International Equity Index Fund

25% Vanguard High Growth Portfolio

20% Perpetual Geared Australian Share Fund

20% Dimensional World 70/30 Fund

I have automatic annual rebalancing in place, and the overall asset mix as at 31 Dec was:

Cash	0.19%
Australian fixed interest	0.76%
International fixed interest	7.72%
Australian shares	28.34%
International shares	62.99%
Australian property	0.00%
International property	0.00%

Subscribe to Enough Wealth. Copyright 2006-2026

Net Worth FEB 2026

Chart updated to end of FEB in sidebar.

Stocks/cash decreased -$7,981 (-1.64%) to $479,779. 

Retirement savings (SMSF etc.) increased by +$33,292 (+1.44%) to $2,338,610. No contributions made this month.

Est. valuation of our home (my half) increased by +$23,320 (+1.83%) to $1,295,556. The estimated value of the 'Other real estate' (my 'lake house' and the investment apartment) increased by +$9,837 (+0.45%) to $2,187,607.

Other assets (my online depository bullion account at Perth Mint, and the bullion value of my gold and silver proof coin collection) increased by +$6,196 (+6.30%) to $104,588. I am currently still adding $200 worth of gold to my Perth Mint online depository account each month.

Overall, NW increased by +$64,664 (+1.21%) to $5,414,119 during Feb. NW needs to increase by about 0.2% per month on average to keep pace with inflation (I.e. maintain real value), so the increase during February was about +1.0% in real value.

Subscribe to Enough Wealth. Copyright 2006-2026

IBKR increased margin loan limit for individual AU accounts

When I logged in to check my monthly EOM IBKR account position, I was notified that there was an offer to increase individual account margin loan limit from $50K to $150K. I decided to accept the increased limit as I plan on eventually using this account (when I am 67) to invest 'cheap' money I get loaned by the Australian government via the Home Equity Access Scheme (HEAS) - which which will lend up to 150% of the Age Pension amount to Australian property owners at a very attractive interest rate (currently 3.95%pa.

I initially setup my IBKR account with a deposit of $50K and initially purchased about $67K of VVLU and VDAL on 1/7/2025 using about $16K of margin loan. This was an approximation of what my annual investment plan will be once I start adding an annual amount using a HEAS loan from age 67 onwards. [I then bought a small amount of PLTR stock (10 shares) on margin for fun]. Total current holdings value is currently $75,619 with an outstanding margin loan balance of about $19,142.

Currently 'buying power' is $52K (if I bought more srocks entirely on margin -- not a good idea), and the 'available funds' is $7,816 (max cash I could withdraw from the account without getting a margin call).

I don't plan on making any further trades in my IBKR account until I can start adding the HEAS loan cash to make additional investments from age 67. So far the total margin loan interest charged was $701.57 (capitalized to the loan balance) while the dividends received was $834.41. So the dividend income is just about matching the loan interest (so 'neutrally geared' overall) and the LVR is a fairly conservative 25.32% (at the current market valuation). So minimal net taxable income (if any) and likely no need to add cash (barring a major market crash).

The increased margin loan limit of $150K will be very useful when I want to start investing the annual 150% of Age Pension (currently $46K pa) and continue to use a modest level of gearing (about 25%). This should mean adding about $10K pa to the margin loan balance. Under the previous $50K loam cap this would have meant hitting the loan cap after only a few years, Under the new cap I should be able to invest my HEAS annual loan with 25% gearing for a decade or more.

Of course using borrowed funds to invest is risky. And then using 'double gearing' by also using a margin loan is especially risky. But overall the strategy seems quite attractive -- I will be investing a total of around $56K pa (of 'OPM" - Other People's Money) in VDAL and VVLU. While the VDAL ETF is new, the relevant benchmark performance for past 10 years in 12.03%pa. And VVLU 5-year performance is 14.32%. So over a 10-year or more holding period a 10%pa ROI seems plausible (but no guarantees...)

With an annual investment (using HEAS + ML) of $56K the interest costs should be around:

$46,000 @ 3.95% = $1,817

$10,000 @ 6.105% = $610.50

total interest            $2427.50 = avg 4.34%

So I'm hopeful that over a 10-20 year investment period the ROI is quite likely to exceed the borrowing costs. I any case, the maximum debt (HEAS + ML) after ten years would be around $600K, with most of it a 'non-recourse' loan secured against existing real estate holdings, not repayable until my death, and with a 'no negative equity' guarantee. If things work out I would likely start to sell off some of the investment in my 90s to initially pay off the margin loan, and then pay down the HEAS balance. My taxable income is likely to be quite low, so CGT on annual tranche sales would likely be minimal.

Subscribe to Enough Wealth. Copyright 2006-2026