AskDong

While I’ve made the decision not to post the gory details of my net worth, I have to decided to at least post the details of my IRA account(s) consolidated into one easy-to-read summary as a part of my portfolio posts.

Through the tax years 1999-2006, I’ve put in a total of $17,800. Had I put in the maximum allowed I would’ve been able to put in $23,000. I didn’t. I missed one year completely (when I bought my condo), and other years I found myself short. I wasn’t the financial maven I like to believe I am today. I’m happy with my 38% total return, not because it’s a great return over that period, but because I learned some lessons about investing along the way. Notice the shares of WCOMEQ. In the past 2 years, I’ve remodeled myself a value investor after reading Benjamin Graham’s “The Intelligent Investor”. This is not to say I don’t invest in growth stocks. I actually find the terms “growth” and “value” somewhat useless. However, I’m much more careful now. My time horizon for any one holding is now at least 3 years, and I’m trying to learn more accounting so I can actually decipher SEC filings. My long term plan is not be an active investor. I’d rather hold most of my money in mutual funds. But if there is a place to churn investments, it’s in my IRA (given the tax considerations). In the future, I will also start posting summaries of my taxable accounts, i.e. my asset allocation, yearly returns, etc. So stay tuned!