2015 YTD investment performance thread

[calmloki]

Last night I went on Vanguard and printed out the monthly balances over time. Took the amount we came into the year with, subtracted the amount we contributed during the year, and double checked against the 12/2015 cumulative returns. Rocked a staggering 0.7085% (yes, under 1%) for the year. Given that about 1/3 of the investments were in double tax free munis paying about 3% I think we'll be showing a loss to the taxman.

This morning I added up the bonus amounts credited this year from new credit cards and savings/checking accounts and most of the credit card cash back on purchase amounts. Didn't include normal bank interest or CD earnings or some of the cards that give Amazon credits or the hotel card that we've racked up 5-6 free stays on in 2015. Was pretty shocked to find we made about 20% more on the credit card/bank games I've been playing than we made in the market.

1. I wouldn't want to try and live on either our stock earnings or our card/bank special deal earnings - or both!
2. My hat is off to those of you who sail those piratical wall street seas.

3. Glad there are other lucrative things I do well - keeps the cat fed.

 

[tmm99]

Surprisingly, mine is still holding onto 1.77% gain. I moved some money from an old 401K (last July when my numbers were up) to an IRA rollover and picked all new funds and it looks like that helped offset the negatives on other accounts.

 

[Mulligan]

Up almost 9%. 6.5% was preferred dividends, all 13 issues up from purchase price too. A lucky bet 3 months ago on EDE that jumped 40% after I bought it also helped. A small CD and small amount of Total Stock Index dragged down my total a bit. It was a perfect case scenario for preferred stocks this year. Im really just investing for the safe yields so ultimately stock values don't matter. In fact I would be better off if they dropped as I invest all dividends and my yield would increase in that scenario.


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[ejman]

Quicken says I'm up .87% for the YTD. All things considered, no complaints.

 

[GTFan]

This morning I added up the bonus amounts credited this year from new credit cards and savings/checking accounts and most of the credit card cash back on purchase amounts. Didn't include normal bank interest or CD earnings or some of the cards that give Amazon credits or the hotel card that we've racked up 5-6 free stays on in 2015. Was pretty shocked to find we made about 20% more on the credit card/bank games I've been playing than we made in the market.

It's amazing how much cheaper you can live playing the CC and bank bonus games, we haven't paid anything other than gas/food/car rental for travel in a few years now. And the car rentals are usually super cheap.

 

[ownyourfuture]

Taxable brokerage account +2.02%
IRA -0.32%

 

[Fedup]

Up 4.15% for taxable account. I have not looked on the other non- taxable account yet.


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[FIREd]

We are barely positive for the year.

 

[mathjak107]

up 1.50%

 

[karen1972]

Non Taxed, down just a hair -0.12%, and up 2.5% in taxable.

 

[ChicagoGal]

Down about 3.4%. Most numbers were relatively flat, other than my company stock which had a bad year (darn that Canadian economy!). I was holding too much through our ESPP (18% of portfolio), so have started to sell off and will continue to do so.

 

[trixs]

Overall my portfolio is down 2.48% -

VANGUARD BD INDEX FD INC TOTAL BD					BND	1-Jan-15	20.00%
VANGUARD INTL EQUITY INDEX FDS MSC EMERGING					VWO	1-Jan-15	12.00%
VANGUARD INTL EQUITY INDEX FDS MSCI PAC					VPL	1-Jan-15	12.00%
VANGUARD INTL EQUITY INDEX FDS MSCI EUROPE					VGK	1-Jan-15	12.00%
VANGUARD INDEX FDS VANGUARD REIT					VNQ	1-Jan-15	8.00%
VANGUARD INDEX FDS VANGUARD SMALL CAP					VBR	1-Jan-15	12.00%
VANGUARD INDEX FDS VANGUARD LARGE CAP					VV	1-Jan-15	12.00%
VANGUARD INDEX FDS VANGUARD VALUE					VTV	1-Jan-15	12.00%
CORE ACCOUNT - CASH					CASH	1-Jan-15	0.00%

 

[Happyras]

My DW and I are up 1.54% total net of deposits. We had a strong 1st 1/2 that offset a hard fall since July 1. We moved from an aggressive managed portfolio of funds in June, to a Modern Portfolio style with a new adviser at a small investment trust bank on July 1, and as the Bloomberg article points out, it was not a good year for this style of management. The Year Nothing Worked: Stocks, Bonds, Cash Go Nowhere
Bloomberg Business. Our problem was worsened by the manager fee of 0.45% on assets under management, plus fund expenses averaging >0.85%.

We moved 75% of our IRA assets into Wellington and Wellessley VG funds in late December and are going to self manage from here out as I finally retire in January!!!!! (Actually, taking one for the team layoff) Had we done this in July, we would have lost a lot less since July 1. The balance of our accounts are in VG indexed stock funds.

I am trying to evaluate the bond risk on these two balanced funds going forward, as maturities average >9 years. I would be interested to know if those who held these funds as primary investments this year are holding, or increasing diversity with shorter term bond ladders etc. to reduce market rate risk, and adding a little more indexed foreign exposure? Perhaps the subject of another thread.

 

[John Galt III]

Up 1.43% YTD.

 

[ejman]

My DW and I are up 1.54% total net of deposits. We had a strong 1st 1/2 that offset a hard fall since July 1. We moved from an aggressive managed portfolio of funds in June, to a Modern Portfolio style with a new adviser at a small investment trust bank on July 1, and as the Bloomberg article points out, it was not a good year for this style of management. The Year Nothing Worked: Stocks, Bonds, Cash Go Nowhere
Bloomberg Business. Our problem was worsened by the manager fee of 0.45% on assets under management, plus fund expenses averaging >0.85%.

We moved 75% of our IRA assets into Wellington and Wellessley VG funds in late December and are going to self manage from here out as I finally retire in January!!!!! (Actually, taking one for the team layoff) Had we done this in July, we would have lost a lot less since July 1. The balance of our accounts are in VG indexed stock funds.

I am trying to evaluate the bond risk on these two balanced funds going forward, as maturities average >9 years. I would be interested to know if those who held these funds as primary investments this year are holding, or increasing diversity with shorter term bond ladders etc. to reduce market rate risk, and adding a little more indexed foreign exposure? Perhaps the subject of another thread.

I have about 40% of our liquid NW in Wellesley/Wellington (The majority in Wellesley) and have been retired for 12 years + now living off my investments. As you have probably seen in Vanguards line up, those two funds regularly outperform the equivalent allocation Vanguard balanced index funds and also outperform a roll your own combination of index funds that are weighted similarly to W/W. The W/W combination has certainly experienced the same market conditions with the widely anticipated Fed increase in interest rates this year as the other comparable index funds yet have outperformed YTD, 3,5,and 10 years.

I have no clue what explains this + performance on the part of these actively managed funds but I've certainly enjoyed the benefits during my retirement. At this stage after all these years I'm inclined to allow W/W management to continue to do what they seem to do better than equivalent index funds ( i.e. pick the right stocks and the right quality and duration bonds). Any guarantees this will continue in the future? Of course not - don't be silly.

 

[HadEnuff]

Down 0.55%

20% Vang. short term bond fund
20% Vang. intermed. term bond fund

the other 60% allocated in various Vanguard indexed funds (the typical stuff...S&P, REIT, International ....)

I'm not quite completely retired, DW is still working, so I'm not in a "distribution" mode, although I soon will be....

 

[HFWR]

In positive territory, barely...

 

[Fermion]

We are about flat for the year, mostly due to some bonds I have in a IRA which have gone down to 20% of par value (I bought a wee bit early at 40% of par ).

It is quite funny since they pay 12.5% of face and so are paying a 62.5% yield on the current book price. A bit more than a CD.

I just need one more payment and they will be free. Company has $200m in cash $800m in debt and makes about enough per year at current metal prices to service the debt and pay wages with the first redemption date Jan 2018. Hopefully they can't file chapter 11 before they run out of money

Or copper will go back up maybe.

 

[Mulligan]

We are about flat for the year, mostly due to some bonds I have in a IRA which have gone down to 20% of par value (I bought a wee bit early at 40% of par ).

It is quite funny since they pay 12.5% of face and so are paying a 62.5% yield on the current book price. A bit more than a CD.

I just need one more payment and they will be free. Company has $200m in cash $800m in debt and makes about enough per year at current metal prices to service the debt and pay wages with the first redemption date Jan 2018. Hopefully they can't file chapter 11 before they run out of money

Or copper will go back up maybe.

And I thought I was stretching for yield recently by purchasing a 7.5% yielding preferred stock last week. That was child's play compared to yours, Fermion!


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[NW-Bound]

Yikes!

I have done a bit of bottom fishing in the past, but nothing compared to Fermion. He is fishing at the Mariana Trench!

 

[Fermion]

And I thought I was stretching for yield recently by purchasing a 7.5% yielding preferred stock last week. That was child's play compared to yours, Fermion!

Well these are far from the security of a utility like you purchase. Still, I think they were sold off from some junk bond funds liquidating willy nilly because of redemptions. That is about the only explanation I can come up with for someone selling a 12.5% bond for 20% of par...as long as the company can keep paying the coupon, which it seems they can for at least a couple more years.

 

[Mulligan]

Yikes!



I have done a bit of bottom fishing in the past, but nothing compared to Fermion. He is fishing at the Mariana Trench!

I bet if Fermion started a new thread "list all your bond trades you have bought at 20% or less of par", it wouldn't have many participants.


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[Fermion]

Yikes!

I have done a bit of bottom fishing in the past, but nothing compared to Fermion. He is fishing at the Mariana Trench!

I just hope I don't sink. Still, I did just get a payment in November and I expect another in May 2016. In November 2016 the bond payment will make me whole and the 62.5% return will just be bonus.

Imagine though compounding that 62.5% return for four years (these are 2019 bonds). I probably don't have the guts to do that.

Imagine if you bought $1,000,000 face of this bond ($2,000,000 face was sold at 20% of par, so that volume is available). Your six month payment on your $200,000 investment would be $62,500, more than the budget of a lot of ER people. The annual payment would be $125,000!

A new thread...how to retire on $200,000.

 

[NW-Bound]

If you drop your hook in the abyss, you may reel up some creatures like this.

 

[Mulligan]

If you drop your hook in the abyss, you may reel up some creatures like this.

If I went fishing in that hole, my hook (wallet) would be swallowed up by that and nothing but a hookless line would be left from that fishing expedition...


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