It's been six months whence I last put up my numbers. The stock market lifted my retirement "yacht" and my DRP portfolio "powerboat".

$369,814 IRA/403B
$156,409 Vanguard taxable
$56,212 stock
$14,432 I-bonds
$27,886 ING
$2,071 immediate cash

$157,500 condo
-$117,063 mortgage

Used my original purchase price for the condo; Zillow estimates my condo is now worth about 188K. If I sold for that price, the equity gained will have offset what I spent on my kitchen remodel.

$667,261 total



Dec 2013 ($667,261 total, $257,010 taxable)
June 2013 ($623,978 total, $258,382)
Dec 2012 ($628,818 total, $290,180)
June 2012 ($617,902 total, $362,619)
Dec 2011 ($592,163 total, $356,567)
June 2011 ($596,791 total, $376,359)
Dec 2010 ($575,346 total, $356,542)
June 2010 ($553,023 total, $369,589)
Dec 2009 ($551,300 total, $385,771)
June 2009 ($512,054 total, $379,475)
Dec 2008 ($498,148 total, $386,021)
June 2008 ($524,261 total, $387,481)
Dec 2007 ($328,688 total, $192,747)
June 2007 ($176,422 total, $48,205)
Dec 2006 ($132,062 total, $40,329)
June 2006 ($120,261 total, $65,148)
Dec 2005 ($67,778 total, $23,740)
June 2005 ($46,115 total, $11,293)
Dec 2004 ($38,338 total, $7,558)
June 2004 ($29,050 total, $4,533)

Kitchen remodel was fun, but its time to face the music on the 6 month net worth check.

$329,092 IRA/403B
$162,373 Vanguard taxable
$49,205 stock
$14,253 I-bonds
$30,263 ING
$2,288 immediate cash

$157,500 condo
-$120,996 mortgage

$623,978 total

5K drop? I'll take it.

June 2013 ($623,978 total, $258,382 taxable)
Dec 2012 ($628,818 total, $290,180)
June 2012 ($617,902 total, $362,619)
Dec 2011 ($592,163 total, $356,567)
June 2011 ($596,791 total, $376,359)
Dec 2010 ($575,346 total, $356,542)
June 2010 ($553,023 total, $369,589)
Dec 2009 ($551,300 total, $385,771)
June 2009 ($512,054 total, $379,475)
Dec 2008 ($498,148 total, $386,021)
June 2008 ($524,261 total, $387,481)
Dec 2007 ($328,688 total, $192,747)
June 2007 ($176,422 total, $48,205)
Dec 2006 ($132,062 total, $40,329)
June 2006 ($120,261 total, $65,148)
Dec 2005 ($67,778 total, $23,740)
June 2005 ($46,115 total, $11,293)
Dec 2004 ($38,338 total, $7,558)
June 2004 ($29,050 total, $4,533)

First off, I'm taking it relatively slow on the backsplash. Got what I want to do, am planning it meticulously, did my jury stick measurements, got the tile samples (which really look GREAT and will be the icing on the cake) to do the grout study.

But the pleasant surprise was a tiny-ish refund to the tune of $174. It came from the bank - apparently they have you pay just a hair too much to provide a little extra cushion for the escrow. After about 6 months, everybody gets into a rhythm, and the cushion gets refunded and my mortgage payment dropped by about $10/payment. Helpful.

Things are settling down fiscally, so I'm getting back in the groove, in a couple of different ways. I've reactivated my tip box at work, so I'm showing that some love. FYI, I have a little decorative box at work - the "tip box" - that I throw change, small bills in. When there's an office collection, I pull from my tip box, but in general every month I deposit what's in there.

6 weeks ago I was 175 lb naked and now I'm 170. Gym bug has not caught on yet, I'm just walking and always taking the stairs up and down. Since the gym is next door to work and a branch is two blocks from my house, it does require a lot of avoidance.

Looking at my net worth it has dropped a bit to the high 500K. If I hadn't bought the condo and hadn't remodeled the kitchen I would have been 70K up. You can't think that way, though. Money is a means not an end. I'm enjoying the end point and I know I will for a good long time.

A little late with this

Well, as I wrote before I took the bull by the horns and bought a 2bd, 1.75bth Lake City condo in late October. I've included it and the mortgage in my calculations. To keep myself consistent, I'm still not including the farmette in (also because I don't have a good idea on its worth). The 20% down dropped my taxable cash position a bit, and I expect that it will drop a bit more because I do plan to bite the bullet and refresh the kitchen. However, the 401K/Roth IRA/403B accounts are doing well. According to my notes, I've been contributing the 16K/17K max in my 403B for 4 years, and have put 5K into a Roth for 6 years.

Starting in Jan 2013, I've decided to ease up on making the 403B contributions a bit - still will contribute 10K to it, but with mortgage, fees, property taxes, and other etceras I wanted to boost my paycheck a bit to compensate. (For the curious - from my credit union, I got a 15 yr fixed mortgage at 3%, for 126K. My CU appears not to be selling it to Fannie or Freddie). I've also cashed in my 1yr CD to consolidate accounts, and frankly, to get a slightly better interest rate in ING.

$305,846 IRA/403B
$162,373 Vanguard taxable
$42,488 stock
$14,061 I-bonds
0$ CDs
$68,023 ING
$3,235 immediate cash

$157,500 condo
-$124,888 mortgage

$628,818 total

December 2012 ($628,818 total, $290,180 in taxable cash accounts)
June 2012 ($617,902 total, $362,619 in taxable accounts)
December 2011 ($592,163 total, $356,567 in taxable accounts)
June 2011 ($596,791 total, $376,359)
December 2010 ($575,346 total, $356,542)
June 2010 ($553,023 total, $369,589)
December 2009 ($551,300 total, $385,771)
June 2009 ($512,054 total, $379,475)
Dec 2008 ($498,148 total, $386,021)
June 2008 ($524,261 total, $387,481)
Dec 2007 ($328,688 total, $192,747)
June 2007 ($176,422 total, $48,205)
Dec 2006 ($132,062 total, $40,329)
June 2006 ($120,261 total, $65,148)
Dec 2005 ($67,778 total, $23,740)
June 2005 ($46,115 total, $11,293)
Dec 2004 ($38,338 total, $7,558)
June 2004 ($29,050 total, $4,533)

Happy Holidays, and best of success in all your fiscal endeavors for 2013.

As for me, I'm getting back into the swing of routine. A different routine - I now can depend on me waking up at 7:45, and getting out the door at about 8:15 - 8:20, to catch any of the three downtown express buses. One (the 522) got me downtown on the 26th in 15 minutes. Man that was nice.

Done with carpet tile, just finished with the major wall painting (painting trim I'm sure is a forever project). I moved 2 full car loads of my stuff at the old place to the new condo, with the last full car load (books) perhaps will happen in the next week or two.

The next 'goal' is get set up enough to host the super Bowl party... first Sunday of February. For that, I'll break down and buy that TV, and get some seating. After that, the fridge and stove work like champs.

I have been doing lots of mini goals with the condo - got all the lighting to work, put post-its on the rooms to remind me what I need to do in them, arranged a charging station to hem in all the electronic crap in one area, am making a pile of stuff to donate/recycle (sometimes its just easier to move it, then donate it), arranged the entry way, monitored when the garbage gets picked up so I can slip a contractors bag of nasty carpet or dried paint waste when the dumpster is empty. Lawyer friend came by with his half full truck and took 15 bags - hard to tell if he will swing around again. He soon will not be a co worker - he's heading for another job at another non-profit. Hopefully we can still keep in touch...if nothing else, he's another dead pool player.

Received a box of organic produce from sister, and I've sent her a Christmas fish in return. Also sent her before and after condo pics.

Our own Spondilucks won the 2012 Dead Pool pool, so I mailed the proceeds to her. She hosted a New Year's Eve soiree which was a whole lot of fun. We had a great time comparing methodologies! Right now the 2013 pool has again 13 players - I might have 2 more and am willing to wait a day or two longer, but after that it becomes not fair to others who got their list in...especially if you are planning on playing Hugo Chavez.

Still holding out on not having Internet at home - what I might do is write posts when I can then publish them one after the other. My net worth took a dip because I put down 20%, but it is still around 600K. The 403B really perked up at the very end - it alone is at 181K.

I was doing very well as of June 2011, even broke above $600K even throughout much of July. Then August happened and I dropped quite a bit. I say that to get perspective - that I'm only 5K down is just fine. This year has been so flat and meh. The increase between December 2010 and December 2011 is literally based on the contributions I put in. (5K in the Roth, 16.5K in the 403B)

$235,596 IRA/403B
$182,365 Vanguard taxable
$35,536 stock
$13,565 I-bonds
$25,000 CDs
$98,563 ING
$1,538 immediate cash
$592,163 total

December 2011 ($592,163 total, $356,567 in taxable accounts)
June 2011 ($596,791 total, $376,359)
December 2010 ($575,346 total, $356,542)
June 2010 ($553,023 total, $369,589)
December 2009 ($551,300 total, $385,771)
June 2009 ($512,054 total, $379,475)
Dec 2008 ($498,148 total, $386,021)
June 2008 ($524,261 total, $387,481)
Dec 2007 ($328,688 total, $192,747)
June 2007 ($176,422 total, $48,205)
Dec 2006 ($132,062 total, $40,329)
June 2006 ($120,261 total, $65,148)
Dec 2005 ($67,778 total, $23,740)
June 2005 ($46,115 total, $11,293)
Dec 2004 ($38,338 total, $7,558)
June 2004 ($29,050 total, $4,533)

With all the gyrations of the stock market, I hadn't checked my all of my accounts in about a month. Tonight I did.

I am down over $27,000, or about 4.5%. I expect to be down a bit more before its all said and done. Ignorance for stretches definitely pays.

Perhaps you remember that I have some drps - stocks where I can add to my position in small amounts along with reinvesting the dividends as they come up quarterly. My bank stock had been ailing since the near-implosion in the fall of 2008. I say had because as of July 1, it had been acquired by the Bank of Montreal (BMO). I discovered that the transfer agent (the banking/ accounting entity that you buy the shares from) is the same one as my KO stock. Good news - no new weird one, and they are very prompt with the payments. It appears that I can drp in that one also, but I've asked for the prospectus. The only odd thing is that the account is kept in Canadian dollars.

Stocks went up in the last couple of weeks (though not on Friday) - my net worth broke 600K again. We'll see if it holds.

Have 5 more days til I close this year's change finding adventure. I found .21 today, and I'm at $88.23. Probably not going to hit $90 this year ... but $88 - $89 is darn good enough.

Nope, nobody had Betty Ford.

On the crafty side, I'm making progress. I have only a couple more frames to paint, and I've finished gluing the glass and tile bits into my mosaic. I also bought a bit of thinset mortar ($12 for a box), and found a notched trowel for $2 at Goodwill. Gotta love it when I can find what I need at the thrift store. I've emailed the mosaic teacher several questions. When I get the answers I'll take the plunge and get the mosaic mortared to the board. Grout awaits! will

Don't have too much time to comment - about all I can say is that I am so close to 600K that I can taste it. Hit it once several months ago, then stocks dropped again.

Oh, and yes, I got paid, so I now have a bit more than $3.

$220,432 IRA/403B
$202,421 Vanguard taxable
$34,299 stock
$13,238 I-bonds
$25,000 CDs
$100,094 ING
$1,307 immediate cash
---
$596,791 total

By comparison:
June 2011 ($596,791 total, $376,359 in taxable accounts)
December 2010 ($575,346 total, $356,542)
June 2010 ($553,023 total, $369,589)
December 2009 ($551,300 total, $385,771)
June 2009 ($512,054 total, $379,475)
Dec 2008 ($498,148 total, $386,021)
June 2008 ($524,261 total, $387,481)
Dec 2007 ($328,688 total, $192,747)
June 2007 ($176,422 total, $48,205)
Dec 2006 ($132,062 total, $40,329)
June 2006 ($120,261 total, $65,148)
Dec 2005 ($67,778 total, $23,740)
June 2005 ($46,115 total, $11,293)
Dec 2004 ($38,338 total, $7,558)
June 2004 ($29,050 total, $4,533)

Apologies that I didn't send this out last night the last night of 2010. I've been battling the flu. (Better to battle it now than battle it on vacation.)

With the exception of one CD, I folded the paypal and the CDs and savings for the farmette all into ING. Out of all the incredibly crappy interest rates out there, ING is slightly less crappy. There was a drop entirely due to vacation - plane tickets and the tour package for sister and I took quite a bite out of savings.

The three IRAs (including the 403B), broke 200K. The 403 did well this year: about 8.5% increase - mostly in the beginning of the year and at the very end. As I mentioned a few blog posts ago, I increased my 403B contributions a hair for this year. Next year (2012), if I'm still working at my job, I turn 50 and plan on participating in "catchup" if I can stand it.

The next challenge is how to invest the taxable. I'm great at not leaping in, feet first, into investments especially since it was 2008; not so good at getting back into investing now that the stock market quietly bounced back. Timing issues? I haz them.


$205,818 IRA/403B
$202,334 Vanguard taxable
$31,134 stock
$12,986 I-bonds
$25,000 CDs
$95,917 ING savings
$2,157 immediate cash
---
$575,346 total

By comparison:
December 2010 ($575,346 total, $356,542 in taxable accounts)
June 2010 ($553,023 total, $369,589)
December 2009 ($551,300 total, $385,771)
June 2009 ($512,054 total, $379,475)
Dec 2008 ($498,148 total, $386,021)
June 2008 ($524,261 total, $387,481)
Dec 2007 ($328,688 total, $192,747)
June 2007 ($176,422 total, $48,205)
Dec 2006 ($132,062 total, $40,329)
June 2006 ($120,261 total, $65,148)
Dec 2005 ($67,778 total, $23,740)
June 2005 ($46,115 total, $11,293)
Dec 2004 ($38,338 total, $7,558)
June 2004 ($29,050 total, $4,533)

Not much to say except: thank G&d my portfolio is flat. These last few weeks could have made things much, much worse.

You might have noticed that the Vanguard taxable is still a bit high. I've decided to wait a bit longer with the stock market before moving some gramma money out into it - I'm one of the few who wishes that the dow would go down a hair more. I plan on putting a bit of money in a dividend stock fund - still strictly defensive. I'll leave it to my 403B to go a hair wild.

$170,625 IRA/403B
$202,320 Vanguard taxable
$25,803 stock
$12,809 I-bonds
$112,409 CDs
$26,811 ING, paypal, farmette savings
$2,246 immediate cash
---
$553,023 total

By comparison:
June 2010 ($553,023 total, $369,589 in taxable accounts)
December 2009 ($551,300 total, $385,771)
June 2009 ($512,054 total, $379,475)
Dec 2008 ($498,148 total, $386,021)
June 2008 ($524,261 total, $387,481)
Dec 2007 ($328,688 total, $192,747)
June 2007 ($176,422 total, $48,205)
Dec 2006 ($132,062 total, $40,329)
June 2006 ($120,261 total, $65,148)
Dec 2005 ($67,778 total, $23,740)
June 2005 ($46,115 total, $11,293)
Dec 2004 ($38,338 total, $7,558)
June 2004 ($29,050 total, $4,533)

The workplace 403B (subset of the IRA/403B) has been growing especially fast - its within 700$ of 6 digits. The taxable money has stabilized a bit. The plan is to bulk up the 403B as much as possible, using the cash when necessary. The idea is that the fastest growing money is in tax-free and tax-deferred buckets.

My Drp stock portfolio was up 12% as compared to last year. Several of the stock increased their dividend slightly - it always helps when you get paid to hold something. My bank stock is still doing poorly, but less poorly than before. I still might sell it to help with taxes, but I was dissuaded from doing so because I had enough tax help.

Still could not pull the trigger to put Gramma's money in the stock market. March would have been the best time, but they don't ring a bell at the bottom.

About 10% up from last year at this time.


$165,529 IRA/403B
$202,308 Vanguard taxable
$24,931 stock
$12,561 I-bonds
$117,067 CDs
$27,161 ING, paypal, farmette savings
$1,743 immediate cash
---
$551,300 total

By comparison:
December 2009 ($551,300 total, $385,771 in taxable accounts)
June 2009 ($512,054 total, $379,475)
Dec 2008 ($498,148 total, $386,021)
June 2008 ($524,261 total, $387,481)
Dec 2007 ($328,688 total, $192,747)
June 2007 ($176,422 total, $48,205)
Dec 2006 ($132,062 total, $40,329)
June 2006 ($120,261 total, $65,148)
Dec 2005 ($67,778 total, $23,740)
June 2005 ($46,115 total, $11,293)
Dec 2004 ($38,338 total, $7,558)
June 2004 ($29,050 total, $4,533)

Sunday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $3.88 coffee, bagel +$1 peach
Found money - $0.01 (corner curb 3rd/Pike) + $0.01 (bus stop) + $0.02 (bus floor)

Pennies from heaven today, so I got a dollar's worth of change.

Monday
Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $0
Found money - $0.01 (sidewalk in front of coffeehouse)

Well, I've been relatively lucky in finding change - it only took me 19 days to find a bucks' worth, that with 4 days of no luck. I rarely find quarters at all, not to mention finding two. Its like getting paid to jog, walk, and touch my toes.

This current stock market rally is freaking me out a bit. My net worth is now above what it was June 2008, before the Great Fiscal Implosion.

The 403B went up quite a bit - I've been buying ever since October. The cash has been dropping due to my using it to pay tax, give to sister for the farmette ... and the low interest rate isn't enough to regenerate it.

I've wanted to invest the Vanguard taxable money (grandma's inheritance), and I came close, but somehow I could not pull the trigger. It is true that with stock market timing, you have to be lucky twice - know when to get out, and know when to get back in.


$132,579 IRA/403B
$202,207 Vanguard taxable
$18,351 stock
$12,444 I-bonds
$106,503 CDs
$38,281 ING, paypal, farmette savings
$1,689 immediate cash
---
$512,054 total

By comparison:
June 2009 ($512,054 total, $379,475 in taxable accounts)
Dec 2008 ($498,148 total, $386,021)
June 2008 ($524,261 total, $387,481)
Dec 2007 ($328,688 total, $192,747)
June 2007 ($176,422 total, $48,205)
Dec 2006 ($132,062 total, $40,329)
June 2006 ($120,261 total, $65,148)
Dec 2005 ($67,778 total, $23,740)
June 2005 ($46,115 total, $11,293)
Dec 2004 ($38,338 total, $7,558)
June 2004 ($29,050 total, $4,533)