I guess I'm pleased with how my portfolio has held up this year

[Turn_the_Page]

Co-worker complained to me this week that his 401k is down 3% for the year. I asked him what his equity% is. He has no idea, which is a whole different subject.

Anyway, I checked mine and while I've lost some money, I'm only down ~0.5%. The bonds are doing their job in the portfolio, reducing volatility and actually making some money. TIPS are up a bit and my REIT fund is also in positive territory.

I'm ~50% equity. 40 bonds, 10 cash. Will retire later this year.

 

[ziggy29]

Co-worker complained to me this week that his 401k is down 3% for the year. ....

... and probably didn't "complain" when it was up 20-30% last year, right?

 

[Spanky]

Co-worker complained to me this week that his 401k is down 3% for the year. I asked him what his equity% is. He has no idea, which is a whole different subject.

Probably 90% equity.

 

[Fermion]

Co-worker complained to me this week that his 401k is down 3% for the year. I asked him what his equity% is. He has no idea, which is a whole different subject.

Anyway, I checked mine and while I've lost some money, I'm only down ~0.5%. The bonds are doing their job in the portfolio, reducing volatility and actually making some money. TIPS are up a bit and my REIT fund is also in positive territory.

I'm ~50% equity. 40 bonds, 10 cash. Will retire later this year.

The 50% equity should be down 4% (more if you have emerging markets). The 10% cash should be neutral.

.5 x -4% + .4 x X = -.5%

Solve X = +3.75%

Are bonds really up that much in one month?

 

[jebmke]

I started out around 43/57 - down about 4.3% for the month but I am tilted pretty heavily to small/mid cap. So the 3.75% makes sense to me as an order of magnitude. Certainly .5% does not.

 

[tuixiu]

... and probably didn't "complain" when it was up 20-30% last year, right?

Just last week I had a coworker comment to me that he's glad he's not "in the 401k" because the stock markets had tanked.

Up 30%, then lose 5% of it = fail?

 

[ducky911]

I am down 1.6%.....40 % bonds/cash
............................15% international
.............................45% stocks

 

[Gumby]

Down about 2% YTD. About 65/35 allocation.

 

[brewer12345]

I am down 1.3% since the start of the year with about 65% equities. Individual stock picks in the portfolio have buoyed performance rather than bonds, since I don't have much traditional bond fund exposure. This sort of thing makes me question my choice to move to more index exposure, but I still think it makes me less likely to blow myself up with a big, bad bet.

 

[MichaelB]

A bit early to be looking at performance, isn't it? Our portfolio is off 1.3%, same for the benchmark.

 

[Lsbcal]

You've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

"Yes sir, I feel a bit lucky", he said with his hands high in the air and wobbly legs and a hesitating voice.

A question for the unbelievers: the SP500 was down 3.6% in January 2010 but how did it do for all of 2010?

hint: up double digits

 

[tmm99]

My current 401K - Down 2.27%
69/31

 

[W2R]

I am down less than 1% so far this year, but then my portfolio is pretty conservative. (I have retained the same AA that got me through 2008-2009 without selling low.)

 

[Spanky]

"Yes sir, I feel a bit lucky", he said with his hands high in the air and wobbly legs and a hesitating voice.

A question for the unbelievers: the SP500 was down 3.6% in January 2010 but how did it do for all of 2010?

hint: up double digits

Double digits? awesome!

 

[Rustward]

Down 1.5%, but how significant is one month?

 

[Lsbcal]

Down 1.5%, but how significant is one month?

Finally a question we can answer with authority. It is 1/12th of an annual return and 1/120 of a decade's return.

 

[karluk]

I don't normally participate in these "how's your portfolio doing" threads, but going into retirement I tried to put together as close to a crash-proof portfolio as I was able to assemble. The recent dip that happens to coincide with easily available year end statements allows me to measure how well I'm holding up in a down market. It turns out that overall I'm down 0.38% YTD. So I've absorbed only about a tenth the decline I would be seeing with a 100% stock portfolio.

This is definitely not intended as boasting. If I measured from the start of 2013 instead of the start of 2014, practically everyone on this board would be doing better than me. But having a bond-heavy portfolio does have its advantages in a down market.

 

[Ready]

Quicken tells me I'm down 1.62% on a 60/40 AA, but it does not consider my CDs to be part of my investment portfolio, so it's really not measuring my total allocation.

Looking at what my highest net worth was compared to now, it looks like my total has dropped 1.85%. Still not anything significant after such a big run up in 2013. But as Rustward pointed out, how significant is one month anyway? Means nothing in the long run.

 

[Walt34]

But as Rustward pointed out, how significant is one month anyway? Means nothing in the long run.

Exactly. Which is why I don't concern myself with it.

 

[foxfirev5]

Never thought to look until I saw this post. Right now I'm down a whopping 1.03%. More reason to stick to my 45/35/20 allocation. The 20% cash/SV is my FIRE cushion for a few years when the j*b is gone. No idea when that will be, however the number one priority is to avoid delaying retirement due to market conditions.

 

[FIRE'd@51]

Solve X = +3.75%

Are bonds really up that much in one month?

Vanguard LT Investment Grade (VWETX) is up 4.2% for the month including the interest payment.

 

[panacea]

No idea how my portfolio is doing for the year but every day the stock market drops significantly I can't help but move some more $$ into stock funds... makes me feel better!

 

[pb4uski]

Down 2.7% YTD. 60/40 target but currently pretty much out of bonds.

 

[Spanky]

Down .47% YTD.

 

[Andre1969]

I just ran some quick numbers, and I'm down about 1.8% for the year. When I look at the dollar amount, it seems worse, simply because I had such a big run up in 2012 and 2013, that 1.8% is going to be a bigger $ amount than it used to be. So, I just try to focus on the percent.

However, during January, I did have a nice little run up in the earlier part of the month, and that number sticks in my mind more than the EOY 2013 figure. Off that January high, I'm down more like 3%. Still, nothing to lose sleep over.