Your best & worst financial move in 2010?

[mdm85]

Best--We had too much cash lying around in a savings account so we invested 17k in mutual funds for the first time (taxable) and they did quite well this year.

We also allocated our spending money wisely and used it to take trips to Greece, Baltimore, a combined Philadelphia/Lancaster trip, and a weekend at the Greenbrier.

Worst--We probably overspent on home improvements. We had to do an unexpected bathroom overhaul and although my husband did all the work it cost us about $3,500 (and it's a TINY bathroom). We also got a new washer/dryer that we could have waited on.

Oh, and on that trip to Baltimore we bought an antique dining room table on a whim. Now that H's company is down for the year and we haven't gotten his bonus yet (and don't know if we will), we realize we could have used that 2k better.

 

[Orchidflower]

Best decision: I left Fidelity due to high pressure selling techniques. Here's one article I found, but there are many more on the net for those of you who don't believe this happens:
www.InvestmentFraud.PRO: Fidelity Brokers Claim Sales Pressure

Worst decision: Not moving fast enough with that move.

 

[VaCollector]

.......Worst move: Filling out a FAFSA. What a waste of time.

Right there with ya....although my DD DID keep getting those annoying Gubmint loan papers that could/would saddle her for the rest of her adult life

OK...back on topic....

Best ~ didn't spend any of my stash as I was able to adjust by selling off some of my [-]way too many[/-] "things"

Worst ~ aw poop....still holding on to that [-]too big to fail[/-] stock....now hoping that Wikileaks won't put it out of business before it actually has a chance to pay decent dividends again

 

[freebird5825]

Best move: Putting in a new front picture window with some decent thermal qualities. No more drafts.

Worst move: Spending $20 on a nickel slot machine at the local casino, winning enough to get to $130, and not cashing out right then. However.......I walked out with $12.58 net (total of $32.58 less $20 initial stake) at night's end.

 

[FinanceDude]

Best move: NOT buying 99% of the stocks mentioned in the stock analysis area of this forum.

Worst Move: Selling my 6.75% Motorola bonds.............

 

[FinanceDude]

Best decision: I left Fidelity due to high pressure selling techniques. Here's one article I found, but there are many more on the net for those of you who don't believe this happens:
www.InvestmentFraud.PRO: Fidelity Brokers Claim Sales Pressure

Worst decision: Not moving fast enough with that move.

Like I have posted many times, it is EASY to blame the advisor, and NOT to look behind the mirror sometimes..........

 

[friar1610]

Best: further simplifying my portfolio. I'm now down to just 5 equity funds and 2 bond funds. And, as conditions make it sensible to do so, my ultimate goal is to get to 3 stock funds and the 2 bond funds.

Worst: can't really think of one.

 

[Midpack]

Best Move: I sold my boat today, that's a good $8K/yr in expenses alone gone (not including the cost of the boat itself). I really enjoyed sailing for 21 years, but no longer justifiable cost wise.

Worst Move: I don't know yet. Not retiring despite FI may prove to be, but not convinced yet...

 

[easysurfer]

Best Move: sticking to having a budget and tracking expenses. It's comforting to know that I haven't gone over my budgeted total for the year.

Runner-up Best Move: simplifying. I voted for investing in the Vanguard Payout Fund before voting against it. Also decided to no longer "play around" in The Lending Club. Just indexes for me...KISS strategy.

Worst move: Getting a car battery replaced at Wally World.

 

[kyounge1956]

Best: get rid of variable annuity in Roth IRA, which allowed me to cut my last ties to Ameriprise and to buy enough TIPs fund in the Roth IRA I rolled the money into that I arrived at my target AA.

Worst: I think maybe refinancing my house. I reduced my interest rate by two and a half percentage points and my monthly payment by more than $100, but since I rolled the closing costs into the new loan and I'm planning on retiring in 2013, I don't know that I really did myself any good. But I think this is the first relatively large financial decision I made (more or less) completely on my own. I didn't ask my parents what they thought about it first, and I think the info I did seek here was more "how do I do it?" than "should I do it?"

 

[DangerMouse]

Best: Deciding to let my hair go gray, I have not paid for a dye job or had my hair cut for 6 months. I hate to add up how much that would have normally cost me.

Worst: Buying a condo in Hawaii. We always knew it was more of an emotional decision than financial, however it is a price we were willing to pay.

 

[CuppaJoe]

.... I have not paid for a dye job or had my hair cut for 6 months. I hate to add up how much that would have normally cost me....

Six months: $540 but on the good spending side as part of an attempt to spend up to PF's potential. Bought an unnecessary iPhone; still using all the E-gadgets, good or bad remains to be seen on AT&T contract.

Converted a chunk of bond IRA to equity Roth.

Closed two extra checking accounts.

Aquired a free Christmas tree on Dec. 20. Decided to buy nothing new for it even when advised it could use one of those cottony stand hiders.

Switching to better food items.

All good.

 

[JDARNELL]

Best- Sold 300 shares of UCO for $12.50 that I bought for $8.00
Bought a new toaster oven at Salvation Army for $6.00
Bought another house as it was to good of a deal to pass up
Bought a 2005 Jag that was to good of a deal to pass up. I drive maybe 50 miles a month (4 cars 2 drivers)
Moved one step closer to ER (hope to be in class of 2011)
Started focusing more on my health and eating better
Continued to work on different cashflow streams
Bought 37 months into Colorado retirement system for $5280
Getting CINC house on board with budget #s close to when I retire

Worst- Bought another house as it was too good of a deal to pass up
Bought a 2005 Jag that was to good of a deal to pass up. I drive maybe 50 miles a month (4 cars 2 drivers)
Had to start focusing more on my health and eating better

I am sure the list goes on and on.

Tomcat98

Tomcat98

 

[JDARNELL]

Best- Sold 300 shares of UCO for $12.50 that I bought for $8.00
Bought a new toaster oven at Salvation Army for $6.00
Bought another house as it was to good of a deal to pass up
Bought a 2005 Jag that was to good of a deal to pass up. I drive maybe 50 miles a month (4 cars 2 drivers)
Moved one step closer to ER (hope to be in class of 2011)
Started focusing more on my health and eating better
Continued to work on different cashflow streams
Bought 37 months into Colorado retirement system for $5280
Getting CINC house on board with budget #s close to when I retire

Worst- Bought another house as it was too good of a deal to pass up
Bought a 2005 Jag that was to good of a deal to pass up. I drive maybe 50 miles a month (4 cars 2 drivers)
Had to start focusing more on my health and eating better

I am sure the list goes on and on.

Tomcat98

Tomcat98

Oh yeah switched to Net-10 on cellphone which cut monthly bill by 75%

 

[Major Tom]

Although I have a feeling I might be opening myself up for a few snarky comments by saying this, my best financial move was claiming unemployment benefits for the entire year and not only covering all my living expenses without having to dip into savings, but being able to save a few thousand too.

As for the worst financial move, I don't really have one, but would like to quote a piece from a recent interview in a British newspaper with the musician and TV presenter Jools Holland. When asked what his most extravagant purchase had been, he replied,

"It’s relative. You could buy a house for £500,000 but sell it for £2 million, which means it hasn’t been extravagant. Buying coffee at motorway services is the most extravagant thing I’ve done. It’s £2.90 and horrible and you have to make it yourself – that’s the most extravagant thing you’ll ever buy."

 

[Lisa99]

Best financial move ion 2010 - ditched Ameriprise

Worst financial move in 2010 - converted TIRA to Roth IRA without fully understanding the tax consequences; almost cost us $30k in taxes. I read a lot and thought I had it understood, turned out I didn't. Was able to reclassify back to TIRA but it taught me that asking for expert advice is not a bad thing.

 

[clifp]

Best (top 2): 1. Staying the course. Continued investing monthly. Rebalanced once at just the right time. 2. Found a new job. Haven't started yet, but it is looking to be better than the current one in most respects (financial and quality of life particularly).
.

I disagree your best financial move was not loaning money to your SIL. Pat yourself on the back for that one.

 

[DeborahB]

Best: Deciding to let my hair go gray, I have not paid for a dye job or had my hair cut for 6 months. I hate to add up how much that would have normally cost me.

Oh, I love this one! I had a haircut (chin length?) in May 2009 and then decided what the heck, if I'm going to retire what do I care about looking professional? So I've been letting it grow ever since then. It's mid-back now... I've been thinking perhaps a trim would be good. And the amount of money I saved is enormous. I am fortunate and basically not greying yet so I don't dye my hair. I like this casual retirement thing.

All my friends say I'm much more relaxed and happy - imagine that!

 

[DeborahB]

Best financial move ion 2010 - ditched Ameriprise

Worst financial move in 2010 - converted TIRA to Roth IRA without fully understanding the tax consequences; almost cost us $30k in taxes. I read a lot and thought I had it understood, turned out I didn't. Was able to reclassify back to TIRA but it taught me that asking for expert advice is not a bad thing.

Can you still convert it to Roth again? You can pay the taxes over 2 years 2011/2012 (half each year) - a special deal for 2010 Roth conversions. This is probably something you know but maybe not. I am doing that and it helped with the taxes, enormously.

 

[albundyz]

(keep in mind: when I retired 3 yrs ago, I took the lump sum, like everyone else in my company. However, everyone else hired a financial advisor to invest their money for them. These people were smart, too, most smarter than me. Anyway, I felt extra pressure since I decided to invest for myself.)

Best move: Starting to watch Jim Cramer on Mad Money. I know a lot of people criticize him. I find him funny and entertaining. I ignore about 90% of his pontifications, but I have picked up several good ideas and for that I am grateful. The most significant thing I learned from him was to invest in dividend producing stocks. While most of my retirement money IS in Vanguard Tot Stock Market, I had a CD mature and I did not want to put that money back into a CD at 1%. So, instead, I started investing that money in dividend producing stocks and I've done real well. Thanks Jim!

Worst move: Ignoring all those people who said to invest in gold. wow, missed that one!

 

[Meadbh]

I disagree your best financial move was not loaning money to your SIL. Pat yourself on the back for that one.

+1, Fuego!

 

[NW-Bound]

... I started investing that money in dividend producing stocks and I've done real well. Thanks Jim!

Well, the market has been generally rising this year. Stock owners either win big or win small.

In order to count, a "good" stock has to beat the S&P500. I have plenty that do, and I do not watch Cramer.

PS. High-beta stocks beat the S&P500 on the way up, but also go faster on the way down too.

 

[RunningBum]

Best: Holding out for "one more year" to get a departure package for early next year.

Worst: Nothing too bad comes to mind...carelessly let my checking balance get too low a couple times, not realizing that I had to pay a fee when it got under $500--I hate bank fees! Or splurging on a Droid smartphone, increasing my monthly phone costs from under $10/month to over $60. Or missing out on the gold rush, even though I did think about it.

 

[Lisa99]

Can you still convert it to Roth again? You can pay the taxes over 2 years 2011/2012 (half each year) - a special deal for 2010 Roth conversions. This is probably something you know but maybe not. I am doing that and it helped with the taxes, enormously.

We can still convert to Roth again but we'll wait until retired.

 

[mmcc]

Best: Paying off the house. Although we'd made more keeping the money in the portfolio, it feels good. Something about paying off the house makes my wife for the first time feel we are "okay" financially.

Worst: It is probably not tracking our spending more closely. Or time may tell it may be the decision to buy some cattle.