Progress Update 3

Happy March everyone! With a new month dawning, I want take a look back at February and update you all on our portfolio value and net worth.

You can always check the latest and greatest info on the Track Our Progress page.

So, how ’bout that February?

For the first time since I’ve started this blog I had to break out the red font here.

Net Worth:  $337,556.  Down $1,945 (-0.6%)

Portfolio Balance: $249,442 Down $7,198 (-2.8%)

via GIPHY

Summing up the month in 1 word:  Ehh…

Pretty boring when its all said and done.  Which is something, because people were losing their minds during the drop in the market at the beginning of the month.  Looking at my portfolio value it looks like the dive bottomed out around $241,000, then gained a sizable chunk of what it lost back.  The performance is a little worse than it looks because you have to factor in our $1,300 or so in contributions.

Smallest Losers, Biggest Losers?

Last month this was Biggest Winners/Smallest winners because everything was up… well, flip the script this month.  Reviewing the fund performances this month is like trying to pick out my favorite linoleum… I mean, who likes linoleum, right? But sometimes you gotta pick one.

Least Disappointing:

• My wife’s Edward Jones Roth stunk the least, only down 2.62%.  This Roth is a bit different from my much-maligned EJ Roth, as it is not subject to an Assets Under Management (AUM) fee.

The Bottom of the Barrel:
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via GIPHY

• My wife’s 401k with Vanguard, which was down 6.08%.  This is a Target-date fund and is very aggressive, so again, not much of a surprise.

Musings

So, have my feelings towards my Edward Jones Roth (subject to the AUM fee) changed this month?

Not really.

In my past updates and prior research, I noticed this fund lagging the other funds by about 3%.  Conversely, when the market is dropping, shouldn’t the Roth be outperforming the other funds?

Well it didn’t.  Less than 1% separates the Roth from all of our other funds and it falls in the middle of the pack of the actively managed funds, that are not subject to the AUM fee.  So, if it doesn’t match the other performance of the other funds in a bull market, and doesn’t outperform the other funds in a downturn, when does this account show its value?  What am I buying with the AUM fee?  This performance strikes me as capping off my potential gains while not offering as much downturn protection as I would expect.  The clock is ticking on this one.

Thoughts for the Future

I think I am going to need to keep the red marker out again for March.  Not because of what I expect the stock market to do, but rather, I need to replace my vehicle.

The reasons are multiple.  I can’t fit my kids in the back seat of the truck, the gas mileage is HORRIBLE, the windshield is now cracked coast to coast (which was exciting to witness at highway speed!), I got a screw in a tire yesterday, and the transmission has been acting up.  It’s been 11 years since I’ve purchased a vehicle, and I am both excited and stressed.  I want this vehicle to be optimized for my predominant driving habits (to and from work and daycare), as opposed to the 1 trip every 2 months that requires a truck .  My goal is to acquire a vehicle with little to no financing.  Either way, our cash reserve is about to be raided.

Regarding the market, I am no Wall Street expert, that’s for sure , but I still think things are quite expensive.  It’s probably as good a time as any to address any bigger needs (like transportation, in my case).  Once the car is out of the way, it will be time to start pushing the 401k contributions as much as we can.

Here’s to a happy and hopefully greener March for everyone!