Q1 Net Worth, Tax Loss Harvesting, Financial Psychology

"<div data-block="broadcast-blocks.markdown-email"><div style="">\n <h2 style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:24px; font-weight:600; margin:0 0 16px; color:#000; text-align:center;"><strong style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#000; font-weight:bold;">Q1 Net Worth Check</strong></h2>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">Every 3 months, I spend ~5 minutes updating my net worth and it\u2019s one of the highest-leverage habits in personal finance.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">With Q1 2026 ending today, this is your reminder.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">If you\u2019ve never done it, it\u2019s simple:</p>\n<ul style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; margin:0 0 16px; padding-left:20px;">\n<li style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; margin-bottom:8px;">Log into each account and record your balances</li>\n<li style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; margin-bottom:8px;">Add up everything you own \u2192 Total Assets</li>\n<li style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; margin-bottom:8px;">Add up everything you owe \u2192 Total Liabilities</li>\n<li style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; margin-bottom:8px;">Total Assets \u2013 Total Liabilities = Net Worth</li>\n</ul>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">That\u2019s it.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">Do this quarterly and you\u2019ll start to <em style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; font-style:italic;">see</em> your path to FI unfold.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">Important note: The S&P 500 is down ~7% YTD in 2026, so your net worth may be lower than last quarter. That\u2019s normal.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">Zoom out. You\u2019re investing on a 20\u201360+ year timeline and one quarter is just noise.</p>\n<hr / style="border:0; border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6; margin:24px 0;" />\n </div>\n \n </div><div data-block="broadcast-blocks.markdown-email"><div style="">\n <h2 style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:24px; font-weight:600; margin:0 0 16px; color:#000; text-align:center;"><strong style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#000; font-weight:bold;">Tax Loss Harvesting Opportunity</strong></h2>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">With the market down, there may be an opportunity to harvest tax losses by locking in capital losses that can offset gains on your tax return.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">Cody Garrett shared this a few days ago:</p>\n<blockquote style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; border-left:4px solid #1c7ff2; padding:0 15px; color:#666; line-height:1.5;">\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">\u201cWe don't seem to have this opportunity very often, but tax loss harvesting is gaining popularity this month.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cft7dLLP7_U" style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; font-weight:500; color:#1c7ff2; text-decoration:none; border-bottom:2px solid #1c7ff2; padding-bottom:2px;"> Here's a video I recorded showing how</u></a> I locked in realized capital losses for tax purposes and immediately reinvested (in other securities) to avoid timing the market.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">This is an example of how it's done at Fidelity, but other custodians (Vanguard, Schwab, etc.) have similar processes.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">This is <strong style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#000; font-weight:bold;">NOT investment or tax advice for you</strong>, but rather an educational tutorial.\u201d</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">Tax Loss Harvesting (Quick Refresher)</u></p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">Tax loss harvesting is where you sell an investment at a loss (realized capital loss) to offset capital gains and reduce your tax bill.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">Most brokerages make this easy with \u201cspecific identification.\u201d The one rule to know: <strong style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#000; font-weight:bold;">the wash-sale rule.</strong> You can\u2019t buy a \u201csubstantially identical\u201d investment within 30 days before or after the sale, or the loss is disallowed.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">The goal, then, is to stay invested while avoiding that rule by swapping into a similar (but not identical) fund.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">Example: sell a Total Stock Market fund and buy an S&P 500 fund instead.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">Do your own research, but the principle is simple: capture the loss, stay in the market, and avoid the wash-sale.</p>\n<hr / style="border:0; border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6; margin:24px 0;" />\n </div>\n \n </div><div data-block="broadcast-blocks.markdown-email"><div style="">\n <h2 style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:24px; font-weight:600; margin:0 0 16px; color:#000; text-align:center;"><strong style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#000; font-weight:bold;">Financial Psychology Survey</strong></h2>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">Frank Vasquez, host of <em style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; font-style:italic;">Risk Parity Radio</em> and one of the most valuable contributors in our community, just created a short, 12-question assessment to help you identify your financial archetype.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">It explores your emotional baseline, strategic preferences, and execution style and how those shape your approach to money.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;"><strong style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#000; font-weight:bold;">Take \u201c<a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJI7-_Gp_84RE6xBlcs1IPaMfoRft5907oUITKlg3PMoGnfA/viewform" style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; font-weight:500; color:#1c7ff2; text-decoration:none; border-bottom:2px solid #1c7ff2; padding-bottom:2px;">The Unified Financial Psychology Assessment\u201d here</u></a></strong></p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">It takes about 2 minutes, so it\u2019s an easy win.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">I\u2019m especially excited to see what we learn when Frank compiles the anonymous, aggregate results. How does the FI mindset in theory compare to real-world behavior? And how do the \u201cBig Five\u201d personality traits show up in our financial decisions? I\u2019ll share those insights here as soon as they\u2019re available.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;"><strong style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#000; font-weight:bold;">A couple quick notes:</strong></p>\n<ul style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; margin:0 0 16px; padding-left:20px;">\n<li style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; margin-bottom:8px;">This is purely an academic exercise\u2014no business purpose, no spam (Frank\u2019s words, not mine).</li>\n<li style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; margin-bottom:8px;">Google limits how many responses can go out each day, so if your results take a little while to arrive, don\u2019t worry\u2014they\u2019re coming.</li>\n</ul>\n<hr / style="border:0; border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6; margin:24px 0;" />\n </div>\n \n </div><div data-block="broadcast-blocks.markdown-email"><div style="">\n <h2 style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:24px; font-weight:600; margin:0 0 16px; color:#000; text-align:center;">ChooseFI Updates</h2>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;"><strong style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#000; font-weight:bold;">ChooseFI Local Group Events:</strong> Take 30 seconds and <a href="https://local.choosefi.com/groups?utm_source=fi-weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fi-weekly-mar-31-2026" style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; font-weight:500; color:#1c7ff2; text-decoration:none; border-bottom:2px solid #1c7ff2; padding-bottom:2px;">sign up for your local group</a>. Then sit back and get email notifications of the local events in your area. This is a complete <strong style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#000; font-weight:bold;">game change</strong>r and you'll never miss knowing about an event again.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;"><strong style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#000; font-weight:bold;">Episode Discussion</strong>: You can now join the discussion and give us your thoughts on each podcast episode. <a href="https://local.choosefi.com/member/episode/592?utm_source=fi-weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fi-weekly-mar-31-2026" style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; font-weight:500; color:#1c7ff2; text-decoration:none; border-bottom:2px solid #1c7ff2; padding-bottom:2px;">Here's the link to Episode 592</a> which Jonathan and I did as the first Value Matrix Case Study on the 'leaky budget' community member.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;"><strong style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#000; font-weight:bold;">Travel Rewards Credit Cards</strong>: I keep my <a href="https://choosefi.com/top-recommended-travel-cards?utm_source=fi-weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fi-weekly-mar-31-2026" style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; font-weight:500; color:#1c7ff2; text-decoration:none; border-bottom:2px solid #1c7ff2; padding-bottom:2px;">Top Ten Recommended Travel Rewards Cards page</a> constantly updated, so it should always be your first source for travel rewards cards.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">(<strong style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#000; font-weight:bold;">Note:</strong> If you sign up for a credit card using our links, we earn a commission. That support allows us to keep the podcast and newsletter free from ads. Thank you for making that possible.)</p>\n<hr / style="border:0; border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6; margin:24px 0;" />\n<h2 style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:24px; font-weight:600; margin:0 0 16px; color:#000; text-align:center;">ChooseFI Community Taking Action This Week</h2>\n </div>\n \n </div><div data-block="broadcast-blocks.community-spotlight"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%; margin: 16px 0">\n \n <td\n style="\n border-left: 4px solid #3b82f6;\n background-color: #eff6ff;\n border-radius: 0 8px 8px 0;\n padding: 20px;\n font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif;\n "\n >\n <p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">I just passed 10 years of investing. In the beginning I literally didn\u2019t know what I was doing. But I started. I remember going to the Bogleheads forum within the first month because the market dropped 1-2%, freaking out, asking if I should flee to bonds.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">I had to build my tolerance and learn what the market was all about. I didn\u2019t follow through, never sold, rode the roller coaster, and learned so much over the past 10 years. I learned and surprised myself about how much discipline I have, and how that seems to be most important in investing.</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">I\u2019m glad I \u201cjust started, and learned as I went along\u201d. 10 years later, I am shocked at the numbers I see and can\u2019t believe it\u2019s real.</p>\n <p style="margin: 12px 0 0; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 600; color: #1e40af">\n — Tim\n </p>\n </td>\n </tr>\n </table>\n\n</div><div data-block="broadcast-blocks.community-spotlight"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%; margin: 16px 0">\n \n <td\n style="\n border-left: 4px solid #3b82f6;\n background-color: #eff6ff;\n border-radius: 0 8px 8px 0;\n padding: 20px;\n font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif;\n "\n >\n <p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">I went to the choose fi local Meetup in Pasadena this past weekend where we\nhad a wonderful presentation by one of the leaders of the group on how she\nlives on 30k a year in the high cost of living area of Los Angeles. The bonus was Alan and Katie Donegan attended the Meetup as well!</p>\n<p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">Everyone got to meet them and I spent a few minutes talking with each of them, sharing how much their content has helped me and my family in our journey. So big thank you to the FI community and all the podcasts including yours where we get to hear people like Alan and Katie share their wisdom and knowledge. I\nhope to meet many more of the people I hear on the podcast at future events!</p>\n <p style="margin: 12px 0 0; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 600; color: #1e40af">\n — Monica\n </p>\n </td>\n </tr>\n </table>\n\n</div><div data-block="broadcast-blocks.community-spotlight"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%; margin: 16px 0">\n \n <td\n style="\n border-left: 4px solid #3b82f6;\n background-color: #eff6ff;\n border-radius: 0 8px 8px 0;\n padding: 20px;\n font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif;\n "\n >\n <p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">Roughly 8 years ago or so I had $200 or something on the unclaimed site so\nI've made it a habit to consistently check every 6 months or so. Well, it took ~3 months to get my most recent check but I had $5500 from when we sold our last house and moved in 2021. It just came in this week!</p>\n <p style="margin: 12px 0 0; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 600; color: #1e40af">\n — Jeff\n </p>\n </td>\n </tr>\n </table>\n\n</div><div data-block="broadcast-blocks.community-spotlight"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%; margin: 16px 0">\n \n <td\n style="\n border-left: 4px solid #3b82f6;\n background-color: #eff6ff;\n border-radius: 0 8px 8px 0;\n padding: 20px;\n font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif;\n "\n >\n <p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">My 1% this week involved moving my accounts from a financial planner (who basically parked my money and didn't do much else except charge a monthly fee) to Fidelity.\u00a0 This move saves me .9% in fees every month, which was starting to add up!\u00a0 It feels great to take action!</p>\n <p style="margin: 12px 0 0; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 600; color: #1e40af">\n — Heather\n </p>\n </td>\n </tr>\n </table>\n\n</div><div data-block="broadcast-blocks.community-spotlight"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%; margin: 16px 0">\n \n <td\n style="\n border-left: 4px solid #3b82f6;\n background-color: #eff6ff;\n border-radius: 0 8px 8px 0;\n padding: 20px;\n font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif;\n "\n >\n <p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">My 1% better this week is finally switching phone plans from att to visible after 20 years the service where we moved was sub par and Verizon\u2019s network was best out here. I was able to sign up for their promotion refer my wife and use credit card offers to get cash back for both of us. All in all we\u2019re going from $135 a month to $50 now. Kicking my self for not doing this a while ago.</p>\n <p style="margin: 12px 0 0; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 600; color: #1e40af">\n — Keo \n </p>\n </td>\n </tr>\n </table>\n\n</div><div data-block="broadcast-blocks.community-spotlight"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%; margin: 16px 0">\n \n <td\n style="\n border-left: 4px solid #3b82f6;\n background-color: #eff6ff;\n border-radius: 0 8px 8px 0;\n padding: 20px;\n font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif;\n "\n >\n <p style="font-family:-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#3d3d3d; font-weight:400; line-height:1.5;">My 1% win of the week was selling some of my daughters' old clothes on Vinted and using the money I made to purchase them bigger clothes / my baby son new clothes, also second hand, which they all needed. A wonderful win financially and also for the environment in this circular economy. It has been completely free (bar my time) and I have de-cluttered in the process.</p>\n <p style="margin: 12px 0 0; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 600; color: #1e40af">\n — Charlotte\n </p>\n </td>\n </tr>\n </table>\n\n</div>"