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Home > July 2012 - The World Moves On Without WSJ

July 2012 - The World Moves On Without WSJ

August 8th, 2012 at 01:26 am

Cash & Savings: $53,997 => $63,173 (17.99%)
Foreign Currency: $34,773 => $34,607 (-0.47%)
Domestic Brokerage: $160,598 => $167,953 (4.58%)
International Brokerage: $160,886 => $166,630 (3.58%)
401(k): $82,573 => $85,010 (2.95%)
IRA: $94,351 => $95,533 (1.25%)
Roth IRA: $20,844 => $13,507(-35.2%)
Total Assets: $608,002 => $626,954 (3.12%)

Last month my account called me and said I've been contributing too much in my Roth IRA account since 2010. Luckily she found it so at least I don't have to pay any penalty for 2011 but need to pay the 6% for 2010. I'm not too happy about this because that means my previous account didn't do his job properly and he charges a lot more than the one I'm using now. That's why my cash position suddenly goes up and my Roth IRA suddenly drops by so much. The other goods news among this bad news is that I didn't invest any of those money due to the bad economy otherwise I'll have a hard time pulling my excess contribution out.

The other thing that happened last month is that my WSJ subscription was over but guess what? The world still goes on despite all the gloomy news from Europe and slowing down of the Chinese economy that WSJ broadcast to me everyday! Granted, Europe is still in a mess as everyone said it will be last year but at least it's still crawling.

I have too many reading material so I've been reading some news magazines from last December and it's funny to compare their predictions to what actually happened 6 to 12 months later. If I have to choose, I'll pick watching the Olympics over reading WSJ any day.

The return this month has been positive on all fronts but if I look at where everything was back at the beginning of May the current posisitons are still lower. Overall not a bad finish but nothing to cheer about.

By the time I'm writing thie entry I just passed the big 4-0 milestone. Maybe I mentioned this before, but when I first started working in late 90s the economy was going really strong and I was thinking maybe by the time I turn 40 I can accumulate one million worth of asset. Well, obviously I didn't achieve that goal and a few years ago when the economy started tanking I already knew it's not going to happen. It wasn't a realistic goal anyways but it's interesting to reflect how innoncent I was, or the whole world was, back in late 90s, or even in mid 2000s, thinking the party can keep going strong - WRONG!!

2 Responses to “July 2012 - The World Moves On Without WSJ”

  1. SecretarySaving Says:
    1344389481

    I think you are doing a great job! Happy Birthday!

  2. baselle Says:
    1344391793

    Happy birthday! When I turned 40 ... yikes, 10 yrs ago ... it prompted a lot of soul searching of the type you are doing. The big thing I learned is that learning and wallowing are not the same. The second thing is that only you cares fully about you. Hands firmly on the wheel!

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