Mid-Year Review

It's time for a mid-year review of our financial situation.

See our January 2010 diagnosis

As of the end of the second quarter, we've increased our overall net worth by 3.5%, which is not on pace with our year-end goal by a long shot.

The shortcoming is primarily due to the overall condition of the stock market, as most of our net worth is in my 401(k) and ETrade account.

Again, we're sitting on a modest increase YTD, even though the S&P 500 was down 6.5% through the second quarter.

Had the market simply broke even through June, our personal net worth would be in a great place. But, that is what comes with riding the market long-term -- ups and downs (historically more ups than downs).

Our Asset Allocation
23% Foreign
19% US Bonds
18% US large cap
14% US small cap
13% cash
10% REITs
2% commodities
1% Prosper loans


From the cash flow side of it, we went way overboard on our vacations this year. We are over budget by about 200%.

But, our justification for the cost was that it was Mel's birthday. Besides, we had a blast, and when viewed as a percentage of net worth, the cost was minuscule.

As Brad said in Key West, "You can't put a price on a good time."

True that.

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The Chairman of the Republican National Committee is a Clown

"Trust me, after taxes, a million dollars is not a lot of money," Steele said. read more

Maybe he wouldn't mind giving me "not a lot of money".

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2010 State of the Union

I've always considered New Year's resolutions to be as corny as the Hallmark Holidays. However, there is merit to setting goals, and one of the tools to help achieve those goals is to write them down or tell other people about them; It's an accountability thing.

We are in a good place as far as our net worth goes. I have our annual net worth goals mapped out up to $1 million, which I'm forecasting we will achieve 14 years from now. After taking a hard hit in 2008, we recovered those losses and then some in 2009, exceeding our net worth goal by 2.2% for the year.

Barring another down year in the stock market, we should meet or exceed our 2010 net worth goal. I increased my 401(k) withholding to 3% pre-tax and 5% after tax. I contribute after tax dollars because you can only withdraw pre-tax 401(k) money after age 59.5 without paying a 10% early withdrawal penalty. Since I plan to retire much sooner than that, I make after tax contributions, which are not taxed at withdrawal, and have far fewer restrictions if withdrawn before age 59.5. Separate from our net worth situation, we need to significantly increase our cash reserves in 2010. We have one vacation already paid for (New York), and one still to plan (Key West, FL for Mel's 30th birthday).

Given our penchant for travel and the age of our roof, deck, driveway, and back yard fence, it's going to be challenging to build up enough cash savings this year.

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Bank of America

18 Sept 2009

Anybody remember this?

30 April 2009

I locked in a new interest rate and completed an application for a mortgage refinance today. We're going to save $363 per month with the new rate.

Ka-ching!

Well, we're finally closing on the loan today after what, five months?

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Stock Market

16 Sept 2009

I'm ready for the great ride when the stock market rebounds... back to breaking all the conventional rules, like checking my account balances every hour. Ahh, the good ol' days.

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