We haven’t had a stock market like this in almost nine years. This February was the first time in nearly a decade the market seriously headed downward. It made me grateful that February is a short month because the market didn’t have a chance to be as dramatic as it wanted to be.
I’m down about $370 in each of my stock-based accounts, which includes SEP IRA, IRA, and taxable investment accounts. A few top financial analysts thought the market would lose half of its value before it was all said and done. But then, in the last few days of the month, things began to level off and go up a bit.
I managed to take advantage of the dip by purchasing a few shares of PEG (it was down the most). I also received dividend payments from SBUX and SEP in February.
What a difference a year makes. This time last year the only dividend I received was from SBUX for $0.88. I received a total of $43.21 in dividends last year. I plan on bringing that number well into the three-figure range by the end of the year, if not sooner.
Finally, I filed my taxes and I’m happy to report that I’ve broken even. I really worked to educate myself on tax laws and things I could do to minimize my tax bill. And after years of owing, I’m getting money back and it will be enough to cover the small amount that I owe the state ($103). It even covers the annual business registration fee ($275). Once I pay out $378, 2017 will be in the books.
And while things could be better, I still have room to grow in the tax department. I’ll elaborate next time.
Okay time for the update:
As I mentioned earlier, my retirement accounts lost around $370 each but inched forward a little in the last few days of February. I also didn’t make a deposit into my SEP IRA for the month of February. I needed to free up some cash to pay a bill. I’ll have to make it up with small deposits throughout the year.
My emergency fund (MM/E Fund) and on-hand savings (cash) are slowly building back up. I’m looking to up the monthly deposit on the E-Fund by the second half of the year. The taxable stock account is also down, but purchases I made on the last day of February and the late bounce by the market will reflect in March.
My bonds are growing nicely and to my surprise, the account is pulling in decent interest every month. I love what the bond account represents because when I opened it I was working to pay off a lot of debt quickly and I remember only being able to put in $50 a month and a few times I couldn’t even do that.
The investing fund is building back up nicely and I look forward to knocking it back down to purchase Proctor & Gamble (PG) in late March. As for that nasty, old credit card, I continue to make small payments on it each month and while it’s slow going, I’m happy to report that next month it will be out of the $6,000 range.
Remember, we want our money to work for us one day, so keep saving and investing as hard and as often as you can!
February 2018 Net Worth Update
Asset
SEP IRA: $6,695.47
IRA: $8,395.07
CASH: $2,735.12
MM/E Fund: $4,530.28
Stocks (taxable) $3,779.40
I-bonds: $8,542.62
Investing fund: $1,385.07
Business acct.: $3,261.00
Liabilities:
Credit Card: $6,230 @ 0%
