| The market had the worst January in its history, with the DOW and S&P dropping 9% for the month. It's going to be another interesting year.
I am continuing my trading sabbatical, however. Even though I wanted to short, I stayed out of the stock market this month (except for retirement, of course, which got clobbered).
One thing that does not get reflected here is the market's terrible routing of my daughters' 529 Plans. As you can see, I do not count them as my own money so I do not include them in my net worth, but they were bouncing around $40K each not too long ago, and now they are closer to $25K each. It's a good thing my girls have a while until college!
If you have a 529 Plan, you know they are typically tied to the child's age. Supposedly the "risk" is adjusted the closer the child gets to college. I wonder how the performance of my kids' plans compares to those 529 funds that are timed to expect withdrawals this year. Does anyone have a read on this sort of thing?
I am continuing my search for a bargain on a beach house in SoCal, but am not finding anything yet. Ironically, however, the home I am renting as my primary residence in AZ, just started foreclosure proceedings.
At first I was quite worried about it, but now I am just going to ride it out. My view is that, worst case scenario, it gets sold to the bank and I get 30 to 60 days to get out. Of course, the bank can decide to lease it to me or even sell it to me at a fire sale price ... so you never know. I'm staying nimble.
Oh, I was thinking that some people may wonder why I "have such an expensive car." I don't, I'm not flashy. I actually now have two vehicles and use them both. One is an SUV and, while I no longer drive it that much, I just don't see the point of selling it. It's handy to have around for moving stuff, taking the dog places, taking out friends and family and going on vacations. So I decided to keep it a few months ago when I got a new daily-driver. |