Some of you have emailed asking, so here is an overview of my current portfolio:
STOCKS – now @ $144,385 (2016 goal = $200k … which may be a stretch!)
- $18402 – AAPL
- $8665 – AMZN
- $1891 – DIS
- $1130 – FTR
- $2783 – GE
- $649 – GOOG
- $20408 – IHI
- $7315 – JNJ
- $7862 – MCD
- $6951 – SBUX
- $2935 – VOO
- $8178 – VZ
- $33392 – VGHCX
- $13690 – VMGMX
- $5634 – Loyal3 Account (multi-stock)
- $4500 – Robinhood Account (multi-stock)
RETIREMENT (mostly pre-tax) – now @ ~ $154,824 (2016 goal = $190k)
- $9172 – DVY
- $1487 – GLD
- $2898 – XRT
- $3088 – AMZN
- $2199 – GOOGL
- $2299 – NFLX
- $347 – TEL
- $2106 – VTI
- $4658 – VFWIX
- $12867 – VEMAX
- $21943 – VIGAX
- $16169 – VTIAX
- $31170 – VTSAX
- $12612 – VDADX
- $5078 – VDIGX
- $10928 – VSGAX
- $15803 – 401k to rollover
OTHER ($24,164)
- $6464 – 529 plan
- $873 – Prosper
- $427 – Lending Club
- $16.4k – stock options that will likely be worth $0 in 2016
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Interesting–a lot of top tech stocks in this list but FB is conspicuous by its absence from this list. I’m invested in FB myself–should I be worried about my investment 🙂 .
I’m not sure whether I should be pleased or not to see my stocks dropping. Bonuses are being paid later this week at work having been postponed from December. In a way the delay is good because a great deal of the bonus will be immediately invested–and I’ll be getting in at a lower price (in all likelihood) than I would have in December. But it still isn’t fun to see my net worth dropping early in 2016.
I actually own about $1k of Facebook in my Loyal3 account, was just too lazy to detail out small investments. I don’t know anything about investing so don’t listen to me, but I do think Facebook has a good idea in diversifying away from just FB // i.e. instagram and esp oculus rift, etc. I think Zuck has some things up his sleeves so could be a good long term play. Still I think Apple and Google are more exciting with hardware products vs mostly ad-driven model based on what’s cool at the moment.
I hear you on the net worth dropping – it’s painful. Mine went down like $25k or more… in two weeks… ouch. I’m trying to remind myself that this is a good thing (STOCK SALE!) — I’m also grateful that my 401k doesn’t kick in until Feb so it forced me to hold off on dumping my entire Jan salary into stocks immediately. I’m probably going to wait a bit as I think this year is going to be bumpy, but what do I know.
I also have the sense this year will be bumpy. That often seems to be the case–without taking partisan sides–when a 2 term president is nearing retirement. The uncertainty of what comes next is bad for the market–no matter which party is in power. 2008 and 2000 were both shaky years; the Oct 1987 crash was also getting towards the end of Reagan’s second term.
Yea it’s going to be tough. I’m just trying to look at it as BUYING OPPORTUNITY when stocks go on sale… I made the best profit after 2008, but didn’t have a lot of money to invest. It’s really how I was able to kick start my current portfolio despite having a rough first 2 years of investing.
Hi Joy,
I would sell the MCD position ASAP. It’s overvalued while the market is undervalued. You got a nice run in it, take it or you might lose it.
AAPL and IHI positions seem to be too high of allocation. AAPL is fairly safe though.
VZ isn’t a growth stock so don’t expect much more than the dividend +2% or so a year. If you catch it on a sale it can get you an extra 10-15% but not a great long long term holding for increased returns.
My favorite ETF’s are VIG and SPLV.
Buy a group of these stocks would be my advice:
DIS – you need a larger position size
VMW
AAPL
UNP
CMI
QCOM
TROW
HCP
PSX
JNJ – you already have it
ITW
DKS
MA
UPS
UTX
Joy,
I was just curious whether for your personal (not retirement) portfolio you ever buy on margin? I’ve often bought on margin and thought it was a no brainer: why wouldn’t one choose to leverage one’s buying power as much as possible? However I’m currently seeing the downsides. A good part of my portfolio is current in a stock which I believe will eventually rebound, but is seen as a risky stock with higher than usual margin requirements. Several of my stocks, in fact, have higher maintenance requirements that the standard 25%. As such with this stock as well as my other investments being down a bit now, I am treading very close to getting a margin call. In fact for much of this week I was in the territory where a margin call really should have been issued but for some reason my brokerage didn’t do so.
With the market having rebounded a bit the last couple of days, I’m now out of margin call territory heading into the weekend but who knows what next week will bring?
This is problematic for two reasons. One is that if a margin call is in fact issued and I am forced to sell, then I will end up selling low and having bought high–a terrible outcome. The second is that as I put additional cash into my brokerage account each payday, that money is going to pay down my margin debt–not into new investments and I’d prefer to be making new investments when the market is down.
Do you have any opinion on trading on margin? It seemed like such a great idea at first but now I’m not so sure.
Honestly I haven’t done any “fancy” trading such has trading on margin. I don’t feel intelligent enough to understand this and because it’s quite risky I understand conceptually it’s a good idea but only if I were to understand it enough to make wise investments. I prefer for my investments to not have the option to lose “unlimited money.” This terrifies me. I’d rather limit my growth potential but be comfortable knowing I can only lose at most how much I put in. Certainly, though, I wish I knew more about this type of investing to include it in my portfolio. However I won’t be able to advise on this as I only invest in straight “buy” stock and ETFs. Good question though!
Yes I’m probably being a bit too “fancy” in my trading recently than I should be. It is limiting my ability to invest going forward even if I don’t get a margin call–some investment advisors seem to advise against trading on margin entirely. It does have the one advantage that because I didn’t sell anything in 2015, I can now carry over the interest I paid on margin for a deduction in 2016.
I don’t think you can lose “unlimited money” if you stick to buying long on margin. You can, however, lose the entire amount of the stock and if this is more money than you have–the consequences likely won’t be pleasant.