May 2026 Net Worth Update: $2.27M — M1 Cleared, Cash Deployed
Last month I called the $235K money market position "probably the most expensive non-decision I'm making." May is where I stopped making that argument.
M1 margin loan: cleared to $0. About $71K moved out of SNSXX. Allocation targets set. Net worth: $2.27M, up $30K from April.
TL;DR:
- Total Net Worth: $2.270M (up $30K from $2.240M)
- Key Driver: Markets did ~$25.5K; new contributions were slim at ~$4.5K — ESPP capped mid-month and spending was elevated
- Spending: ~$9,041 — travel again (27%), core ran a bit high at ~$6.6K
- FI Progress: 45.4% toward $5M
The Bottom Line
| Metric | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Assets | $2.6M | +$15K |
| Liabilities | $330.6K | -$15.9K |
| Total Net Worth | $2.270M | +$30K |
Net worth $2.27M as of late May. Up $140.7K (6.61%) over the past three months.
| Month | Net Worth | Growth | New Money In | Market Did |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2025 | $1.999M | +$15.1K | $5.8K | $9.4K |
| Dec 2025 | $2.042M | +$42.5K | $6.1K | $36.4K |
| Jan 2026 | $2.080M | +$38.6K | $24.0K | $14.6K |
| Feb 2026 | $2.134M | +$53.8K | $18.2K | $35.6K |
| Mar 2026 | $2.197M | +$54.0K | $27K | $27K |
| Apr 2026 | $2.240M | +$43K | $9K | $34K |
| May 2026 | $2.270M | +$30K | $4.5K | +$25.5K |
Seven months in, markets are doing about two-thirds of the work. May's new money was the lightest of the series — ESPP capped mid-month, travel spending was up, no RSU vest. Markets still delivered ~$25K. That's the quiet shape of compounding at this NW level.
Portfolio Allocation: Putting the Cash to Work
Investable portfolio: ~$1.9M. Cash pulled down from April's elevated position after the rebalance.
April's close: the $235K money market was "probably the most expensive non-decision I'm making." The opportunity cost was real — ~4% in SNSXX versus a higher expected return in equities. I kept framing it as a hedge. In May, I moved on it.
Here's where the investable portfolio sits now:
| Asset Type | Amount | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stocks | $1,500K | 79% | 80% |
| Bonds | $189.1K | 10% | 12% |
| Cash | $184K | 10% | 7% |
| Commodities | $16.7K | 1% | ~1% |
| Crypto | $15.8K | 1% | ~1% |
| Total | ~$1.9M |
What moved: ~$71K out of SNSXX. About $16K cleared the M1 margin loan first — guaranteed return beats money market, easy call. The rest — ~$44K — went into VT (Vanguard Total World Stock ETF): about $36.5K into the taxable brokerage, $7.5K maxing the backdoor Roth IRA.
The decision doc called for $5K/month DCA. I ended up closer to lump sum once I actually committed. VT closed at $158.21 as of this writing — up about 2.6% from cost basis. Two weeks. Means nothing. The point was getting it in.
Cash is still sitting at 10%, about 3 points above the 7% target. The bond allocation is light too — 10% vs 12%. So the rebalance is underway, not finished. That's fine. The direction is right.
Assets Breakdown: $2.6M
| Asset Class | Value |
|---|---|
| Taxable Brokerage | $1.021M |
| Retirement Accounts | $708.0K |
| Real Estate & Business | $671.1K gross / $340.5K equity |
| Cash & Equivalents | $187.3K |
| Crypto | $14.7K |
Taxable brokerage crossed $1M — most of the jump from April comes from the VT purchases landing in Schwab. Retirement accounts passed $700K; the tax-free bucket (Roth accounts + HSA) alone crossed $333K.
Cash dropped from $265K to $187K. That's the deployment — SNSXX pulled down from $235K to $164K. Still a buffer, now closer to the 7% target.
Liabilities: $330.6K
Same story — except M1. Gone.
- Mortgage: $330.6K — roughly flat, payment may have hit after snapshot.
- M1 Loan: $0 — paid off. Phase 1 complete, ahead of the ~3-month estimate.
- Credit Cards: $0 — paid in full.
The liability side of the balance sheet is clean now. One number. One loan. Fixed.
The Paycheck That Doubled
Two May paychecks, same ~$9.6K gross each:
| Pay Date | ESPP Deduction | Net Take-Home |
|---|---|---|
| 05/08 | $2,275.81 (final contribution) | ~$2,280 |
| 05/22 | $0 (capped) | ~$4,650 |
The 05/22 check nearly doubled in take-home — same gross, no ESPP deduction. ESPP hit its effective $21.25K contribution ceiling after the 05/08 check. From here through December, that's ~$2.4K per paycheck — roughly $5K/month — coming back as cash instead of stock purchases. I walked through the plan in April: M1 paydown first, then DCA into taxable ETFs. Phase 1 is done. Phase 2 is running.
No RSU vest in May. Separately from payroll: maxed the backdoor Roth IRA — $7.5K into VT on 05/22.
YTD Front-Loading (through 05/22)
| Account | YTD | 2026 Limit | % Done |
|---|---|---|---|
| 401k Pre-Tax | $13.1K | $24,500 | 53% |
| Mega Backdoor Roth | $20.3K | ~$46,500 | 44% |
| HSA (Emp + Employer) | $3.7K | $8,750 | 43% |
| ESPP | $21.25K | $21,250 | capped ✓ |
401k is tracking ahead of pace — 53% done with just under 5 months elapsed. MBR at 44% is right on track. HSA has a little ground to make up in the back half.
Spending: ~$9,041
May spending: $9,041. Travel led at 27%, mortgage another 24%.
| Category | Amount | % of total |
|---|---|---|
| Travel | $2,460.20 | 27% |
| Mortgage | $2,192.80 | 24% |
| Groceries | $864.61 | 10% |
| Utilities | $696.35 | 8% |
| Everything Else | $2,826.98 | 31% |
| Total | $9,040.94 | 100% |
Strip out travel and May was ~$6.6K — above my $5K target. Mortgage and utilities are the fixed core. The rest — groceries, dining, fitness — ran a bit full but nothing alarming. No single blow-up.
The travel charge is the credit card tail from April's trip. Planned, not creep.
Reflections
-
The $235K finally moved. ~$71K out of SNSXX this month: ~$44K into VT (285 shares split across taxable and backdoor Roth IRA), ~$16K to clear the M1 loan. The decision doc said $5K/month DCA — I did it in two days once I stopped talking about it. Cash still runs about 3 points above the 7% target. More to come. The expensive non-decision era is over.
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M1 at $0. The margin loan was $15.9K heading into May. The plan said ~3 months to clear it. Done in one. Clean balance sheet on the liability side now — just the mortgage.
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The paycheck that doubled. ESPP capped on 05/08. The 05/22 check showed up as ~$4.7K take-home vs the previous $2.3K. Same job, same gross. The automation is starting to pay out — ~$5K/month through December landing in checking.
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45.4% there. Seven months of slow. Since crossing $2M last October, net worth is up ~$270K. Slow is the point.
Next up: continuing the bond leg of the rebalance, letting the Phase 2 DCA automation run, and watching whether the cash position drifts toward 7% on its own.
Your turn. When you set a target allocation, do you rebalance mechanically (drift hits a threshold, you act), or more intuitively (something feels off, you look and then decide)? I landed on targets partly through analysis and partly through gut. Curious how others think about it — drop a comment.
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