Earlier this year, I added my investment portfolio to the group of reports I publish on Consumerism Commentary on a regular basis. Every three months, I share my investment balances and performances. I include Quicken’s calculation of the year-to-date average annual rate of return for an idea of how each investment is performing this year.
I add to my investments periodically, depending on the investment type.
I invest in my 401(k) every two weeks when I receive a paycheck. Out of the investments listed below, I only add to four investments, in equal amount: Large Cap Value, International Equity, Large Cap Growth, and Commercial Real Estate. My employer matches up to 4% of my salary. Half of the match is invested in company stock and half is invested to match my allocation rules.
At the beginning of each month, I invest $1,000 in the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSMX) at Vanguard. This automatic investment usually receives the fund price on the last day of the month, but the funds are not deducted from my linked bank account until the first day of the following month.
Those are my only automatic investments. I also invest in an IRA once a year after completing my tax return.
Here are my investment account balances and performance numbers as of September 30. [click to continue…]
Happy Independence Day to anyone celebrating today! I’m celebrating by spending time with friends later and sharing my investment portfolio with readers now.
Last month, I began sharing my investment portfolio more in-depth than I have in the past. This is part of a renewed effort to make myself more familiar with the investments I have chosen and to develop a better overall investing strategy for multiple targets and time horizons. This will also help with determining the proper asset allocation for my investments.
The last time I rebalanced was when my 401(k) was basically my only investment. At that time, I configured my account to automatically rebalance my portfolio every quarter. Now, with investments scattered in IRAs at two different companies and non-retirement investments in the mix as well, it has been more difficult to determine what I should be doing with my investments.
First, according to Quicken, here is my overall asset allocation for my investment account only. [click to continue…]
Although I post my financial reports each month to keep myself accountable for my financial decisions, I have moved to summarizing my investments rather than listing all the details. My reports now simply separate my investments between retirement and non-retirement accounts.
An important part of anyone’s finances is how investments are allocated among stocks, bonds, or other forms of investments like real estate. It’s also important to look at asset allocation at a deeper level, such as the size of the company invested (large-cap, small-cap, etc.) or the type of bonds (municipal, corporate, etc.).
Continue reading for my investment account balances by investment as of May 31, 2009. I will also explain why I have invested as I have. [click to continue…]
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