Check up time for my Retirement (were half way through the year!)

The first 2 quarters of 2010 are over… so it’s time to look back at my retirement levels and see the “big picture” of how my finances are doing.

401A Account:
• Benchmark Balance: $741.62
• 1st Quarter Balance: $866.40
• 2nd Quarter Balance: $892.50
o From the 2010 Benchmark, I’ve added $185.12 in new contributions. So while the balance is up, I’ve actually lost -$34.24 due to the market

457Account:
• Benchmark Balance, $1,032.80
• 1st Quarter Balance, $1,033.17
• 2nd Quarter Balance $1,033.82
o From the 2010 Benchmark, its gained $1.02 in interest

Roth IRA ING DIRECT:
• Benchmark Balance, $2,567.56
• 1st Quarter Balance, $2,585.80
• 2nd Quarter Balance, $2,604.21
• From the 2010 Benchmark, its gained $36.65 in interest

Sharebuilder Roth IRA:
• Benchmark Balance: $11,532.06
• 1st Quarter Balance: $12,575.89
• 2nd Quarter Balance: $12,786.10
o From the 2010 Benchmark, I’ve added $1,500.00 in new contributions. So while the balance is up, I’ve actually lost -$245.96 due to the market
Over all what have I learned?

2010 is the year of the slow recovery… if we can label it a recovery at all. I’ve watched my account loose $300 in a single day, and when you only have a small amount of money invested, that can really hurt your bottom line… at least my over all retirement balances are actually increasing (which couldn’t be said for last year). I’ve also decided to move my mutual funds into an account with lower fees and a better rating, so hopefully this will be a good move for me and my investments since I plan to be a buy and hold investor once everything is moved into Vanguard. I continue to, even though everyone keeps telling me not to because I’m so young, put $1,000.00 a year into Roth CD’s as it makes me happier because I’m not a huge fan of risk (and that’s actually the fund that’s earned the most this year... pitiful eh?)

Goals for 3rd quarter (July, August, and September)
Try and get the 457 account below 3% of my portfolio… it’s at 3.59% now (it dropped .08% over the last quarter).

Continue making $250.00 a month contributions to Roth IRA (July is extra Check Month and I’ll be adding my Annual $1,000.00 to my Roth IRA CD Account. Move Mutual Funds to Vanguard.

401a contributions are cut for the next fiscal year… and I’ll be paying more for my pension. =(

Continue doing my pension buy-back…. 26 more installment payments to go!