My Financial Journey

I’ve never really discussed any of the investments that I have before, but on occasion I do get asked what I am invested in and thought this might be useful for me as a learning tool as I look back in time. This list is probably something I will only update once a year as it probably won’t change much.

Anyway these are my top 15 holdings in my various retirement accounts as of March 2010 and the percentage of my portfolio that is invested in them. Currently these top 15 holdings make up 75%+ of my portfolio – although I do have about 45 other smaller investments that make up the remaining 25%. As you can see the top 3 holdings are mutual funds that I hold in my 401k account – the rest with the exception of UMBIX are individual stocks. I in no way condone this type of investing and highly recommend that most people just stick their money in a low cost no-load index fund or lifestyle fund.

The IRS has announced that the contribution limits for 2008 will remain unchanged at $15,500, which sort of sucks. Apparrently the cost of living hasn’t increased for people who contribute to their 401ks 🙂 See details below.

Many of the pension plan limitations will change for 2008 because the increase in the cost-of-living index met the statutory thresholds that trigger their adjustment. However, for others, the limitation will remain unchanged. For example, the limitation under Section 402(g)(1) on the exclusion for elective deferrals described in Section 402(g)(3) remains unchanged at $15,500. This limitation affects elective deferrals to Section 401(k) plans and to the Federal Government’s Thrift Savings Plan, among other plans.

Source (thanks H B)

I wrote an article last week that talked about some of what I perceived as over-reaction and irrational thinking by some of the best minds in the personal finance world. Now granted some of the situations I pointed out weren’t exactly off your rocker moments, but I still think at some level they fell into the trap of reacting to the markets recent performance when things started heading south (read the comments and this post to get Dave’s full story). Again I think these guys are financial wizards and a great place for sound financial advice, but just wanted to point out that we are all susceptible to thinking we can time the market or know where it is headed and can make more money by selling or deferring buying when the market is in a little slump. So I’m going to hopefully point out a few things here that show you why if you want the best possible returns you won’t be selling just because the market looks bleak at the current moment.
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I’m sorry I have not been posting as often as I used to but with the new baby, new promotion, and weddings I’ve just not had the time to sit down and write every day. Anyway I’ve been keeping my pulse on most of the personal finance community and one thing that really surprised me is how some of the personal finance bloggers I admire most are reacting to the latest market movements and advocating or adjusting their investing strategies because of short term market fluctuations and the worst part is they are reacting in my opinion counter intuitively.
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I left my previous employer in January of this year and have been waiting to receive my matching funds from last year (deposited June 15th of this year). I was looking at the company’s 401k rules and see that I am only 20% vested after my 2.5 years of service. So basically what I was expecting was that I would get 20% of my matching funds for the previous year seeing how I am not longer an employee. It appears however that I got 100% of my matching funds.

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