Net Worth Growth - analyzing my numbers for the past three years

In response to a comment earlier this week, I decided to analyze my net worth changes from March 2004 (the first month I entered in Net Worth IQ) to March 2007. Here is what I found:

• Retirement
  Growth from $30,000 to $41,100 is due to investment gains. No additional contributions were made.
• Personal Property
  No change at $14,500.
• Cars
  Depreciation from $6,500 to $4,500.
• Cash
  Gain from $44,500 to $80,000 due to retained consulting earnings
• Home Equity
  Gain from $0 to $204,500. Second largest source of increase. I bought and sold one house for a large profit and then bought a second house. I have increased its book value to what my tax assessment showed, but that is below market so this number is conservative.
• Stocks
  Gain from $0 to $228,200. Largest source of growth. This is broken down into $170,00o in contributions (retained earnings from consulting revenue) and $58,200 of investment growth.
• Other
  This is where I track my receivables. Increase from $21,000 to $36,000 due to increase in business activity.
• Credit Cards
  Increase in liability from ($1,500) to ($2,000). I put a good portion of my monthly expenses through my credit card. This probably shows higher spending habits but one month is insufficient to tell.

TOTAL: Increase from $114,500 to $621,700

So in summary, I made money in the real estate market, I saved a lot of the money I earned, and my investments did well. Basically a story of everything going right.

I was pleased to see that real estate luck wasn't the entire story here. The fact that my savings and investing beat out my real estate gains makes me feel fairly balanced. And I am fully aware that I will not ever experience such wild growth in my net worth again. My forward-looking forecasts are far more modest.

It is also important to note that these were a very busy three years for me professionally. I hope that I never am that busy again. But fortunately, when you are independent you see the rewards of putting in your time.