Mar 2020 Investment & Site Income Report

I've dreaded writing this post.  Its never fun to report terrible results.  As an accounting and finance professional, I know that sometimes you have to report losses. Credibility and transparency go hand in hand, and that's why I'm writing this post.  I want my readers to know that I'm committed to always delivering the truth.

The CARES Act PPP Loan

In addition to my terrible investment results, my day job has also been a source of stress.  As a healthcare executive in a smaller company, I am still going to work every day.  I had to navigate the terms of the PPP Loan, as my company employs around 250 people who we want to be able to keep paying for the next 8 weeks.

I'm pleased that we were able to secure the funds we needed to be able to do that.  It was a huge win for our employees.  For once I felt like my job mattered, and that my efforts directly and positively affected a large number of people.  It is a silver lining on this dark cloud of the Covid-19 pandemic.

March Results

March 2020 investment income was a train wreck.

So far I've made $0 in affiliate marketing.

Beyond Pennies is now 9 weeks old (as of the writing of this post), and although traffic numbers are climbing steadily, there is still much to do.  The site's Alexa rank is now at 137k and dropping daily (a lower number is better).  I'm not sure if that's an accurate number because I've seen blogs that have been around alot longer with much higher Alexa rankings.  If you have the Alexa extension installed and can check my score for me, I'd love to hear from you and see if its consistent with what I'm seeing.

I've done zero work on the e-course so far, but I did write quite a few posts in March.  I also joined a couple of affiliate networks.  I'm still fine-tuning my site's identity and niche.  I'm trying to add value with unique content, while avoiding sounding like every other personal finance blog on the net.  Its a struggle.  I continue to focus on using my own experiences and corporate FP&A knowledge to find areas where I have something of value to share.  Its a work in progress.

Investment Losses for March

Without further ado, here are my investment losses for March 2020:

The silver lining is that we have an IRS refund check on the way, as well as an economic impact check.  These two will help to subsidize the loss in net worth.

Net Worth and Other Notes

As of today, our net worth is $103,526, according to the Personal Capital app.

As a note, my investment gains and losses above do not include 401k, as I don't track those monthly.  In fact, I haven't looked at my 401k once since the Coronavirus pandemic started.  I know the market goes up over time, and I won't use those funds until I'm 65.  That gives me another 20 for years for the market to appreciate.

The retail brokerage account, however, holds funds that we will use when its time to quit the corporate day job and sail away.  The timeline on that plan is much shorter than 20 years.

FinCon2020

One exciting thing I did last night is sign up for FinCon2020, a conference held in Long Beach, CA in late September. The purpose of FinCon is to help financial influencers and brands create better content, reach their audience, and make more money.  Being able to book a future trip has been therapeutic for me right now, in this crazy time where most of the population is sheltering in place, with a lack of normal human interaction.  We should have been in Florida on a sailing trip this week.  I try not to think about it too much.

Time to binge watch some Friday Night Lights.  Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

How did you fare in the market this month?