Laura here from Financielle!

Every month my husband and I log our net worth on the Financielle app. Usually around the 3rd of the month, once bills are paid and investments made, I holla to him and say “net worth time!”.

Sometimes we’re in bed on a lazy Sunday, sometimes we’re out on a walk, sometimes we’re shouting figures to each other in between work calls.

We log our asset totals, so cash balances across high yield savings accounts, value of stocks and shares ISAs and pensions. Generally we keep property values conservative and only update them twice a year.  We then update our decreasing mortgage total to reflect our monthly mortgage payment and any overpayments also.

Et Voila – we have our net worth total!  

This month, we’re a little late to the net worth party and this past couple of weeks, there have been significant tensions in the Middle East that has driven volatility across the equities market globally, negatively impacting many stocks and shares portfolios.

So you can imagine my initial reaction to this little graph showing the past three months’ net worth progress:

Generally on a month on month basis, our net worth increases. We don’t have consumer debt, we’re paying down our mortgage, we have savings in high yield savings accounts and we regularly contribute to investments.

This graph was a little upsetting!

BUT.

Then I took a breath and remembered what is oh so easy to forget. This is about the long term. The ups can become downs and it’s very easy to stress when you see your net worth crashing down.

I then changed the Financielle Report in the app to show the past year…

Much better. Breathe a sigh of relief.  

Just like with a rollercoaster, drops can come with uncomfortable feelings in our tummies, as well as a sense of danger.  But with a wider perspective, our nerves can be calmed.

The crash, when I zoomed out, was still way higher than a year ago. If in doubt – zoom out.

So what do we need to bear in mind?

✅ Investing for the long term involves patience and perspective

✅ Time is the most valuable asset an investor possesses – compounding returns allow even modest gains to accumulate when reinvested consistently over many years.

✅ Attempting to time the market introduces a risk of missing the strongest periods of growth.

My husband and I have over 5 years of data in the Financielle app; our net worth has increased 55% in that time.  

I’m so glad we’ve been tracking it all this time – it tells the story of our patience and resilience during tough markets, different times of our life where we invested more, or invested less (hello parenthood!)

So whilst no one likes to see a dip, it’s also prudent to not prematurely celebrate a market rally.  It’s better to remind ourselves of the discipline and patience needed with long-term investing.  

This on top of solid money habits, a good expense to income ratio meaning you have breathing space in your budget and healthy emergency funds, means drops can be easier to handle.

Check out our Financielle Guide to tracking your net worth here and start tracking yours in the Financielle app now – start building 5 years of your money story now.

If you’re feeling inspired…

…and want to kick start your investing journey – check out our Lazy Girl’s Guide To Investing.

This is not financial advice.  Do your own research and speak to a regulated professional about what may be best for you and your situation.