| 12/06/2014
I've kept a spreadsheet tracking our every penny since 1995. Sadly, I never really kept track of the performance on the individual stocks and funds within my portfolio. Adding these numbers was eye opening.
Some of my bad trades like URA suddenly looked REALLY BAD once I added performance numbers to the sheet. Doing this has also helped point out a few other holdings that have either been down or flat this year in very strong market.
I think we could easily be up another $20-40k at this point if we had avoided some of these flubs. But with the market at all time highs (again) I'm not sure what to do about these issues at this point.
My health continues to be an area of concern. I'm almost six months into my issue, with not much in the way of answers. October and November were rough months, some of which I think was really anxiety getting the better of me. Much of that anxiety was put to rest in recent days by a trip into Boston to see a specialist and then a follow up visit with an local eye doctor.
It's seems pretty clear now that at least some of what I've been dealing with has been brought on by going online to try and diagnose my condition, and then fearing the worst.
The trip to Boston was an eye opener. While I don't know if I'll ever be cured, I feel now that my care is on track.
The whole ordeal has definitely shaken me up. I stopped our 401k contributions to help increase our reserves (currently about $80k), which we've been tapping into a few times a year to help cover living expenses. Taking a step back, this is probably not the smartest move, because we miss out on the tax benefits and 401k match, so perhaps at some point in 2015 I'll reconsider.
Ok, that's enough for now...
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