May 17, 2010 @ 07:58 am by EMS
Once again, we trailed our index investment comparison tool of VTI by more than 1%. In April, we gained 1.03% over the month, while VTI gained 2.15%, meaning we trailed the index by 1.12%. This number is nearly identical to our March performance of trailing VTI by 1.16%.
In June, I suspect that we’ll begin contributing to our Roth IRA again, which means that we need to take a good look at our investment performance. I believe that we’ll start out by investing in several shares of Berkshire Hathaway, which is fund that I’ve been very interested in joining for years, but haven’t been able to until their split. Over the past 5 months, Berkshire Hathaway has significantly outperformed VTI, and I’m hoping that trend continues. Following the old creed of “If you can’t beat them, join them”, I may also put some money in VTI directly.
Mar 02, 2009 @ 11:51 am by EMS
Given the market’s performance in February, one might look at my $719 loss for the month and think that I dodged a bullet. However, once you account that this number includes about $3,500 that I received as a tax rebate, then the picture doesn’t look so rosy.
I did have some out of the ordinary expenses this week, including a $700 hot water heater and a $300 Panasonic Video Camera. While the hot water heater was not an emergency purchase, it had been something I wanted to install to increase our home’s energy efficiency. The camera was something we’ve been thinking about getting for several years and the rebate check made it a possibility.
So, where did the rest of the rebate check go?
- $1,500 went into savings for a new vehicle.
- $1,000 went into a Roth IRA and bought PFE, which of course has lost some value already.
- The balance went into kids college savings.
In March, I expect to pay off at least $4,000 worth of credit card debt which has been riding on a 0% interest deal for the past 10-11 months. Additionally, March will be the month in which one of our vehicles becomes 99.99% paid for. We’re looking forward to going car payment free for at least 12 months!
