2012 returns of your investments

[Alan]

On me my friend.

Delicious, thanks

 

[painterbill]

2.9% for 2012 , I panicked once during the year and moved all my TSP portion to the G fund. I need to remember (and stick to) asset allocation.

 

[Moemg]

Note my sig line.

Since retiring in mid 2005 and moving to a very conservative AA (40/55/5) I've used a different ruler to measure my annual investment returns. Rather than a percentage, I track my portfolio to see if it is larger or smaller (after withdrawals) than it was the previous Dec 31. My results:

2005 - Yes
2006 - Yes
2007 - No
2008 - Oh No!
2009 - Yes!
2010 - Yes
2011 - Yes
2012 - Yes

I like that system except 2008 was Oh crap I might have to return to work !

 

[veremchuka]

I checked earlier today and was quite pleased to see it was 9.8%.

37% equities 63% fixed income.

My WR was 0%.

Since I did not take any distributions or make any contributions (retired no earned income) I took the balance on (12/31/2012 - 12/31/2011) / 12/31/2011 * 100. This seems this is accurate since the only changes would be due to growth or loss in investments.

I excluded my cash at Ally Bank as it isn't much. Now that I'm collecting SS including Ally Bank in the calculation pushed the return to 10.2% but that's erroneous cuz with SS I'm really banking a lot of money for the last few months.

 

[scrabbler1]

As an early retiree, I generally view my AAs and rates of return separately between my taxable account (which is more income oriented) and my IRA (which is more growth oriented).

My taxable account is 31/69 (stock/bond; cash portion is about 1%) and its overall return was 9.1%. It is about 2/3 of my total portfolio.

My IRA is 55/45 (stock/bond; cash portion is about 1%) and its overall return was 9.2%. It is about 1/3 of my total portfolio.

Amazing how close they were, huh?

 

[Bikerdude]

Delicious, thanks

Surely you meant this beer mug.

 

[foxfirev5]

10.6 % - 45% equity / 42% bond / 13% cash. Full disclosure- most of the cash is a stable value fund, 10% of the bonds are VG Junk Fund , equities are TSM funds TISM, REITs and Global REITS.
However the only two days that count are the day you buy and the day you sell. This gets me through the tough times and tempers my enthusiasm during the market highs.

 

[NW-Bound]

Doing the year end analysis because it is 12/31/2012

Performance of Benchmarks in 2012

DJIA 7.3%
S&P 500 13.4%
NASDAQ 15.9%
FTSE 100 5.84%
Barclays bonds 5.66%

How did your investment do against the indices?

Equity (70% of portfolio - 40% domestic, 30% international): Up 16.1%
Bonds (5% of portfolio): Up 11.8%
Cash (25% of portfolio - I-bond, money market, stable value funds): Up 2.9%

Total Portfolio gain: 12.2%

========================================

The equivalent thread last year was this: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/how-has-your-portfolio-done-in-2011-a-59117.html.

Quite a few reported losses last year, and many with gains of just a couple of percents above the 3% inflation. This year's inflation is less than 2%, and most people have reported greater than 10% gain nominal.

 

[yakers]

Note my sig line.

Since retiring in mid 2005 and moving to a very conservative AA (40/55/5) I've used a different ruler to measure my annual investment returns. Rather than a percentage, I track my portfolio to see if it is larger or smaller (after withdrawals) than it was the previous Dec 31. My results:

2005 - Yes
2006 - Yes
2007 - No
2008 - Oh No!
2009 - Yes!
2010 - Yes
2011 - Yes
2012 - Yes

Retired in March 08, not a good time. I keep my annual figures in numbers rather than a naritive but pretty much the same message:
2008 -18.8%
2009 18%
2010 11.2%
2011 3.8%
2012 11.7%
Retiring in 08 and wathching the portfolio destruct was frightening. Fortunately I 'stayed the course' and the recovery has worked things out a bit. Would be nice if 2013 returns are anywhere the rates for 2012 without significant inflation.

 

[ejman]

I was curious to see what my returns have been since early retirement at the end of 2002:

2003 - 22.4%

2004 - 12.2%

2005 - 7.6%

2006 - 13.9%

2007 - 6.8%

2008 - (21.7)%

2009 - 18.9%

2010 - 12.0%

2011 - 3.4%

2012 - 11.2%

Amazing the impact of that negative 2008 - it brings the overall annual return average percentage since ER to 7.9%. Still, considering what the world has been like since ER I ain't complaining... The remarkable thing (to me) is how similar many of our returns are. A lot of us at this forum obviously drink from the same cool-aid

 

[BTravlin]

11.0% gain on a 60/40 AA

Replay please!

 

[FIREd]

We have been lucky so far. We started working/investing in 2000 so we were not terribly impacted by the bursting of the tech bubble. And while our portfolio suffered greatly in 2008/2009, those were also some of our peak earning years. So we were able to save a lot and take advantage of the market's blue light specials which primed us for spectacular gains in 2009 and 2010. All in all, we have averaged 12.3% per year since 2000.

 

[martyb]

2.9% for 2012 , I panicked once during the year and moved all my TSP portion to the G fund. I need to remember (and stick to) asset allocation.

Hey pb, how'd you do the math to come up with your number? I have been all in the G fund for the last couple of weeks now. Might be time to move back into C & S but just curious about now to do the math to get the figure for YTD. Thanks.

 

[painterbill]

I had a 401k at a previous employer and an IRA that did pretty well for the year, I just did combined them into the TSP in Mid Dec that actually lifted the G fund up to the 2.9%. I took the changes from the Jan 1, 2012 balances from the 401k, IRA and TSP(along with the monthly disbursements) and the balances from 12/31/12 TSP (all monies now in TSP), then divided that into yesterdays TSP amount. Probably not the most accurate math to determine year end yield, I for the most part broke even on the year, took out all of my gains in monthly disbursements. I am about ready to change to 50% in C&S and 50% in G&F.

 

[Free To Canoe]

12.4%

 

[2035]

401(k) MFs (3) - 9.80-13.10%:

Roth - 14.41%

 

[audreyh1]

The equivalent thread last year was this: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/how-has-your-portfolio-done-in-2011-a-59117.html.

Quite a few reported losses last year, and many with gains of just a couple of percents above the 3% inflation. This year's inflation is less than 2%, and most people have reported greater than 10% gain nominal.

Thanks for the blast from the past. I read the thread again, and had to add a new chapter to this conversation at the start of 2012:

Audrey , I always admire your knowledge so may I ask " Why are you buying international stocks while Europe is so shaky " ? I have been shying away from them due to the instability .

And who'da thunk. But it turned out that my international funds were the top performers in 2012. Especially OAKIX, which had the most exposure in Europe and Japan and blew away all the other funds with a 29%+ 2012 return.

Actually, OAKIX wasn't my best performing fund in 2012. TAREX, a REIT with mostly international holdings managed a 36%+ return for 2012.

Funny how things often turn out that way.....[although sometimes it takes a few years for a turnaround].

 

[CyclingInvestor]

17.5%, 100% equities

 

[martyb]

I had a 401k at a previous employer and an IRA that did pretty well for the year, I just did combined them into the TSP in Mid Dec that actually lifted the G fund up to the 2.9%. I took the changes from the Jan 1, 2012 balances from the 401k, IRA and TSP(along with the monthly disbursements) and the balances from 12/31/12 TSP (all monies now in TSP), then divided that into yesterdays TSP amount. Probably not the most accurate math to determine year end yield, I for the most part broke even on the year, took out all of my gains in monthly disbursements. I am about ready to change to 50% in C&S and 50% in G&F.

Painterbill, what does the TSP Personal Performance tool show you for the year? It's right below where your balance is shown on the TSP site. It has been updated as of 12/31/12. Mine shows 28.35% for the year, but of course I know that's inclusive of my contributions.

 

[painterbill]

Your Personal Investment Performance (PIP) for the past 12 months ending 12/31/2012 is 1.48%.

A study case for not messing with asset allocation

 

[martyb]

Don't feel too bad, I had a pretty good year in 2012, but last year(2011), while pretty good for most people on this board, wasn't so good for me. Last year, I did what you described, basically moving my stuff around, no idea what I was doing, therefore doing it mostly at the wrong time.

Have you ever taken a look at the Yahoo TSP Strategy Group? No cost but membership in the group is required. Nobody's going to tell you how to invest your money, but there's a lot of good discussion. For most of the year, I stuck pretty close to the group's unofficial allocations. It doesn't change very much, but they do tend to be fairly risky. However, I also wandered off on my on a few times, and luckily I mostly made the right calls.

Market timing is generally not a good idea, but I won't lie, this year a little of it did pay off for me. Going forward, I expect to be less aggressive. I'm too close to actually starting withdrawals. I need my money to last....

UPDATE: Just looked, I was -6.9% for 2011!

 

[bondi688]

I looked back at 2011. Did not realize it was such a bad year for investment.Wow ! I did not notice at that time because I was busy working and making decent money at the job. Hope the bad years of 2008 to 2011 are behind us, now that I am ERed.

 

[tulak]

16.63% with an 80/20 AA.

 

[FUEGO]

20.25%.

Not a bad year although I wish the markets did not go up in value so quickly (still accumulating investments).

Almost 100% equities.

41% return on my international REIT allocation definitely helped a bit (only 5% of my permanent portfolio). Investing is incredibly simple - even a caveman could do it.

What a strange year though - I don't think any of the nine different asset classes I own produced less than 15% return, and almost all were in the 15-20% return range. Fairly good bit of correlation between the slice and dice asset classes (excepting international REIT).

 

[Cheesehead]

We did 6.5% and are ecstatic! We can sleep at night. In 2008 at 55 years old we lost 40% of the nest egg and it took four years to get it back so those were lost years. We no longer trust Wall Street yet need to keep a toe in, we're too close to retirement (2 years) to let those thieves and their high speed trading computers rob us again. Presently:

21% Stock Index Funds (U.S., Int, REIT, Small Cap)
43% Bonds (Total, TIPS, Ginnie Mae, I Bonds, Short Term Treasury)
36% Cash (ladder CDs)

If you all can stomach the loss while in, or so close to, retirement, more power to you. We learned our lesson...