Cash & Savings: $81,046 => $71,804 (-12.29%)
Foreign Currency: $34,884 => $35,948 (3.05%)
Domestic Brokerage: $176,400 => $167,737 (-4.91%)
International Brokerage: $176,044 => $208,875 (18.65%)
401(k): $91,400 => $94,394 (3.28%)
IRA: $97,752 => $34,633 (-64.57%)
Roth IRA: $13,047 => $80,986 (520.73%)
Total Assets: $670,573 => $693,657 (3.44%)

I made quite a few moves in December that led to the wild swing among certain categories. The biggest move I made is moving about $65,000 from my rollover IRA to my Roth IRA. This will add $23,000 to taxes comes this April but still within the 34% tax bracket I’m in. As another reader Snafu pointed out last month, if I sell everything in my rollover IRA and taxable accounts then it will take me into the next tax bracket, which is not something I can afford (and a dumb move). I also spoke to someone at Fidelity, my main brokerage firm, and he advised me to move about $10,000 from rollover IRA to Roth IRA annually so minimize the tax impact.

I also sold some shares from my biggest holdings but it will take a few years for me to unwind all my positions so I don’t jump into a higher tax bracket.
The other big financial decision I made is buying a new car – it’s a used car, but new compare to the other car I owned since 1998. I’m calling it my midlife crisis car because it’s a convertible. Knowing I will own it for more than 3 years I decided to pay it off in cash instead of leasing it and paying interest. My cash position will drop significantly in the first quarter of 2013.

Overall, I’m glad I made those decisions because they are probably something I should have done 2-3 years ago but later better than never. The next immediate task is bringing my emergency fund to a higher level of $25,000. That would be enough to cover a year of expenses living comfortably.