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Archive for February, 2013

January 2013 - As January Goes So Goes the Year?

February 9th, 2013 at 05:53 am

Cash & Savings: $71,804 => $83,933 (18.08%)
Foreign Currency: $35,948 => $36,006 (0.16%)
Domestic Brokerage: $167,737 => $180,015 (7.32%)
International Brokerage: $208,875 => $211,800 (1.40%)
401(k): $94,394 => $95,527 (1.20%)
IRA: $34,633 => $35,670 (2.99%)
Roth IRA: $80,986 => $83,305 (2.86%)
Total Assets: $69,357 => $726,256 (4.70%)

The big jump in cash position is due to the business traveling I’ve been doing. Flying to San Francisco weekly does cost a lot of money, and a lot of time as well. Regardless, due to the strong equity market in the US there’s a 7% jump on my domestic holdings. ‘As January goes, so goes the year’, I’m having high hopes of this year. =)

How I did in 2012 - what a pleasant surprise!

February 5th, 2013 at 07:02 am

Cash & Savings: $87,256 => $71,804 (-18.53%)
Foreign Currency: $33,995 => $35,948 (5.74%)
Domestic Brokerage: $163,531 => $167,737 (2.57%)
International Brokerage: $85,873 => $208,875 (143.24%)
401(k): $71,751 => $94,394 (31.56%)
IRA: $87,489 => $34,633 (-60.41%)
Roth IRA: $21,802 => $80,986 (271.46%)
Total Assets: $551,697 => $693,657 (25.73%)

My total assets increased more than a quarter last year and certainly more than my take home income so bulk of the gain came from my investment. The biggest gain is a $123,002 in my international brokerage account, which reflects solid returns from several investment vehicles, including currency trading.

The other big gain came from my 401k account of $22,643. Since one can only contribute $15,000 per year $7,000 came from the strong US market.

Between my rollover IRA and Roth IRA the gain is about $7,000 so that's not a lot. To be more specific the return on my roller IRA account is quite good but because I lose so much money on Roth IRA and I had to take a lot of money earlier this year due to my previous account's mistake it diluted my overall return.

When you report your return on a monthly basis you tend to lose focus on the bigger picture so this exercise really helps me to understand I did quite well last year, whether I can repeat the same performance this year I don't know. In the best case scenario I can only make slightly more than what I make last year due to a change in compensation formula so any major gain has to come from my investment. We shall see...