All Roads to Wealth

I Am Forever Thankful

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 15:52:00 +0000

For a lot of things, on this Thanksgiving holiday:

My wonderful husband. His unconditional support and love helps me get through every day and bring happiness to my life. Without him, I won't be complete.

My loving family. My parents and sister are the most loving family I can ask for. Without them, I won't be the person I am today and I won't achieve my dream.

My job. It is a very stable environment and I have a lot of kind friends there.

My friends. They drive me crazy sometimes, but nonetheless, they are the ones who seen the worst of me and still stay with me.

My health, of course. It is the best gift God can give me, the strength, the good sense and good health to enjoy everyday.

My good house. It is a beautiful house and we look forward to a lot of years' of wonderful memories.

My good fortune. Stock market has been kind to me, even in this year, I am not down (yet) and I still have my skills with me. Nothing can take it away.

Happiness is all around us. I just need to be reminded everyday to enjoy it.

Retirement Urge

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:38:00 +0000

Veteran's day, P got the day off. Lucky him, or lucky government employees. But he still went to his office to catch up on his work. That meant that we didn't have to get up as early as 5:10am like we usually do on Mondays. That felt so good. I got up when I was awake, not disturbed by an alarm clock. I felt quite sad, thinking about it. That is the life I want. I am not lazy, I still get up at 6am, but it felt so different, without being roused out of bed by a cold alarm clock. I don't dislike my job, but I think I want freedom more. Freedom to be in control of my life and my hours. I don't want to labor 30 years on the job, wasting my life away in front of a computer in exchange for a stable paycheck.

I try really hard to horn my skills on stock market so that I secretly wish one day, I would be able to earn enough to support our family with the income I make of it. It is doable, I have seen other people do it. But of course, I need more time to perfect it and see a noticeable result. It may take years, but I am working on it.

I don't ask too much, I just want more time to do something I really enjoy, reading, less stress, stock market, spend time working on the house, no need to rush to grocery stores on weekends while everybody is shopping. Simply, I want more time to myself and my family.

Maybe I depress myself more working on something that is out of reach for a lot of people. But I know at least I am trying.

Bits and Pieces

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 19:01:00 +0000

I received a letter from our HR regarding our new 401K plan administrator. They will change to Fidelity from ADP. This is a wonderful news as ADP's plan has really limited options and I can find only two funds that is compatible with my overall portfolio. So I am quite happy with the news. But it also means that I won't be able to make any changes from Dec to Feb while it is in transition. So I plan to change my payroll 401k deduction percentage before Dec and leave it at that. Hopefully I will get more fund choices to choose from. Hey, they may even let me trade stocks! (One can hope, right?:))

At times like this in the stock market, I am really glad to have more than 20% of my portfolio in cash, it acts as a strong buffer. I feel better prepared for any outcome than in Aug, with more bonds, cash and long-short mutual fund positions. It is time to get more defensive.

I sold off TAVFX (Third Avenue Value) today. According to Morningstar X-ray, I have a tad more in financials than S&P 500, and I don't want that, I should underweight financials. Since TAVFX has more than 50% of its stocks in financial sector, I need to sell it and return to underweight financial sector position. Besides, this fund has not been performing up to my standard, only returns about 12% since I bought it a year ago. It is a five star fund in Morningstar, but honestly, I don't always go by that rating system, if it is not performing as I have hoped and I have a valid reason to sell, I will go for it regardless of five star rating or not.

And I also sold off Lehman Brothers in the DRIP account. This move is also made to reduce my financial holdings and get rid of a under performing trade. Since I didn't start this DRIP until beginning of this year, the position is not big and I am only out $150. I am quite ruthless in trimming unprofitable positions if I think it no long helps the portfolio and the original reason for purchasing it is no long working. When financials eventually start to show some sign of revival, I will be the first to jump back in since financial would be the first to recover in a new bull market.

Gas Price!

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 18:17:00 +0000

Lord, they go up fast. I remember last time we filled up our tank at around $2.6 a gallon, two weeks ago, now is $2.83. I was shocked. Actually, maybe I shouldn't be since the oil price has reached $95! I won't be surprised if gas goes up to over $3 by Christmas, right on time for heavy travel season. We went to Walmart this weekend, and usually the gas price there is cheaper than around our house, so luckily we filled up. According to P, the gas price around our house has gone up to $2.9.

We use a cash reward card from Pentagon Federal Credit Union which will have 5% back on gas and 1.25% on everything else. This is our main credit card for now and I really have no desire to change anytime soon. The article on Washington Post this weekend about people gaming the credit card rewards system looks like a lot of work to me :) for just 2% of return.

We also do oil change on our car this weekend too. It has been over 5000 miles since we did the last oil change and with the cold weather and possible holiday trip planning, we think it is better to do this maintenance now. Of course, with the gas price sky high, it will help with millage too!

Fed Action

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 19:57:00 +0000

Fed reduced the fed fund rate by a quarter point and stock market soared. I anticipated the quarter rate cut. To hopefully enjoy some of the market rally, I bought some $30,000 worth of investments the last two days. Not much, just trying to dip a toe in to catch some profit, so most of them is not full position. I still have 25% of cash, and expect to deploy them in the coming two weeks before Thanksgiving. The problem is I think a lot of the things I have my eyes on are all quite expensive in my opinion, so I am not sure I can find anything to buy. I bought a half positon in CGMFX (CGM Focus, this fund is a high flier this year, up 70% YTD thanks to legendary money manager Ken Heebner), PRHSX (T Rowe Price Health Science), MERKX (Hard Currency), FNORX (Fidelity Nordic) and one single stock (HERO). I will add more to CGMFX, FNORX and PRHSX later, giving it some time for me to observe their performance first. I want to get 100% in to capture the usual Christmas rally, on the other hand, the expensive values I have seen in so many stocks has me concerned as well. I will just take my time and be patient.

Rain Barrel, Sort Of

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 16:49:00 +0000

That is our latest adventure. We want to save water and the environment, and reduce our water bill. So instead of buying expensive rain barrels, we just use our spare 13 gallon trash can, open the lid and let the rain collect inside. It has been raining for three straight days now, so the trash can is a little more than 1/4 full. Tomorrow, when the rain stops, we will put the lid back on to prevent bugs getting in and use the water later on to water plants. Admittedly it probably won't save us much money, but I feel that it is small baby step towards a cleaner environment and we will do as much as we can to conserve precious water.

AC/furnace company came yesterday to service our furnace as part of our annual checkup to make sure that the furnace is running at tip top shape and get ready for the cold winter. We use gas for heat, and since the government predicted another record year for winter heating bill, we want to be prepared. Gas is relatively cheaper than using oil, so we are a little luckier that way.

Warren Buffet Warned Investors about China

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 17:27:00 +0000

He said it! Warren Buffet, the greatest investor, cautioned investors to be wary of China stocks' vertical climb in recent years. I know he is the GREAT ONE for a reason! I have the same feelings about China stocks as well, that is why I sold my MCHFX (Matthew China) fund last month. It almost doubled since I bought it and I sold it to diversify out to other Asian funds, not willing to concentrate on China alone. I still have 12% in Asia ex-Japan, but that includes HongKong, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and Thailand. So I am a little more diversified.

I have learned a great deal from Warren Buffet. His theory that we should buy superior companies with solid management for undervalued price is the key to my investment philosophy. My purchase of Walgreen today is a direct application of his teaching.

Bought Walgreen and Sold GLD

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 15:59:00 +0000

That is my only two trades today. GLD is getting soft and toppy, so I sold it. It is a small position, and I just bought it not long ago, so my profit is minor, couple hundred. But I expect to buy it back soon, after a steep market sell off. I used the sales proceed to buy 150 shares of Walgreen. Its RSI7 daily finally went up above 30 and after I bought it, it went up more, even in today's market when S&P 500 goes down by more than 1%. So I guess we will see how this plays out.

It seems to me that the sale of Walmart and Johnson and Johnson I did two weeks' ago was very timely. Since then, Walmart has dropped down to my purchase price of 43.75, due to a conference call yesterday that the company claimed they would slow down US domestic expansion plan and predicted further decrease in sales growth. But I am not eager to buy it yet, considering the volatility of the market, I am very cautious and try to preserve cash to buy on dips later on. Besides, I want a even lower entry price this time, so it is on my watch list.

I still have my eyes on couple other stocks, mainly Toyota, JC Penney, Sandisk, and Wells Fargo. I was warned by some experts that now is not the time to buy financials, so even thought Citigroup and Bank of America look very promising now, especially Bank of America (Warren Buffet bought it at a higher price from here!), I will probably just put them on the watch list.

Will

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:20:00 +0000

We are in the process of updating our will, including will, power of attorney, medical power of attorney, living will. We first did that several years ago, but the person I picked to be the estate executor moved out of state and we want someone close by to take care of us when something urgent happens. So we choose one of our close friends who live couple miles away to be the new executor. To be cautious, we invited her to dinner one day and asked her if she would be willing to be one. She readily agreed. So we will give her our parents' contact info, our password to everything and a copy of our wills after they are ready and signed by a notary.

It is a serious matter for us and I think everyone should take steps to take care of this matter, especially if you have kid(s).

Two DRIPs Gone

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:25:00 +0000

I sold out two DRIP (dividend reinvest program) stocks the last few days. One is Aqua America which is a water company, the other is Omnicom which is an advertising company. I have had these two companies for about 2 years now and their performance has been sub par, less than 10% overall return on all my investments. So my patience is running low. I made a little profit on both. I will move all the proceeds to our Wells Fargo brokerage account. I have my eyes on several stocks right now who are all at 52 week lows. They are Toyota, Walgreen, Wells Fargo (!), and JC Penney. I am waiting for the trend to improve for all of them before I open my wallet. With the market running at such a high level, I am very wary of expensive valuations I have seen in so many stocks.

Verizon Phone and DSL

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 17:51:00 +0000

That is what we got for our home. We have a lower speed DSL for $17.99 a month, and we have the cheapest phone plan offered by Verizon which means we only have a basic plan and have to pay 8 cents per outgoing call (incoming calls are free). Since we both have cellphones, we hardly ever use the land line for outgoing calls. The land line is used strictly for the DSL. I know Verizon offer a "naked DSL" which has no land line at all. But we want to keep a basic land line just in case of emergency. Any way, the basic plan is about $5 a month, which is probably about what extra cost will be for the "naked DSL". So our total phone/Internet cost every month is $34.5.

We also have basic cable from Comcast, costing us $16 a month after fees. Cellphone is a family plan, two lines and minimum whenever minutes, total charge a month is $60.

Gas and electricity total about $65 or less last month. Of course it is higher for electricity in summer month and for gas in winter month. We haven't gone through one winter yet in the new house, so I don't know how much gas bill will be in winter. But I guess at least $70 or more.

Water would be about $20-25 a month. So last month, our total utilities (cable, phone, Internet, gas, water, electric)were $200.

To me that is a lot! I can't cut back on cable short of canceling it which P will raise h***, have to keep DSL, have to use gas/water/electric, so the only way I can serious cut back is finding more ways to use less electricity by turning off lights, computers, TV while not in use and line drying clothes, our latest adventure. Another area I may need to look into is our cellphone although I doubt we will be able to cut much out of it. Our cellphone contract will be up for renewal in Dec, I have been thinking about changing to prepaid for me and find a cheaper plan for P. But so far, I haven't found anything that can really save us money. I will need to analyze our calling patters and total minutes used every month to do a comparison between different plans.

Line Dry Clothes

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:00:00 +0000

We did it this weekend. We used the basement to line dry our clothes and it was very successful! The trick is we put the clothes in the dryer for 5 minutes then we hanged them up to dry. That way the clothes won't be stiff and scratchy and it will dry faster. We left them there for the night and next morning, they are ready for the closet.

We prefer it this way instead of hanging them in the back yard. One reason is of course we don't feel comfortable hanging our laundry for the world to see. They won't see much since our back yard is pretty secluded, still we don't like the idea. Second reason is we won't have to worry about dirt, dust and pollen getting inside the clothes since both of us have allergy.

It takes P a while to warm up to this idea and we did a trial run last time just for couple items so that he could see whether it is doable.

We still use dryer for a full cycle to dry undergarments which we don't want to line dry. So it means every week, we only run dryer for 20 minutes for two-three loads of clothes. I can't wait to see how much this new strategy will save us in electric usage.

Electric Bill for New House

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:58:00 +0000

I just got an email from our electric company telling me our Sep bill is available for viewing. It was $43.58! The lowest I have seen so far since our move in late June. I think turning off the AC helps tremendously. The most expensive one was in Aug about $64. Of course Aug was the month with the hottest temperature too.

I know that moving into a bigger house will mean higher utility bills. So we try a lot of ways to save money. We bought high efficiency washer. New dryer is not HE but it takes only average 15 minutes to dry a load of clothes because the clothes are not wet but only damp coming out of the new HE washer. And we start to line dry cloth in the basement so that we can save even more by not using dryer much at all.

We use programmable thermostat to adjust temperature so that it will be higher while we are at work and cooler before we get home. And we just turn off the AC in early Sep when the temperature turns comfortable. We also use ceiling fan quite a bit too to keep cool.

The biggest electric bill saving tip is we sleep on a futon in hot summer days of June/July/Aug in the basement so that we don't need to keep the AC running. The basement is cool in summer and warm in winter. I think that is our plan too to sleep down there in winter. We even discuss putting an actual bed there instead of futon. But we want to take it slow and see actually how we spend the first winter in the house first before we commit the money to buy a new bed or do something drastic again.

We use gas for cooking/heat/water heater in the new house. The bill for Sep is also the lowest, $18. So total we spend a little more than $60 last month. It is about $10 higher than the old house although the old house is much smaller. So I am pretty happy about our electric/gas usage and spending so far.

I think the fact that we have a relatively new AC/furnace system helps in keeping the bills down. We also have an annual maintenance contract with AC/furnace company to do spring/fall tune ups every year to keep them running in optimum shape.

Sold Them All

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 22:01:00 +0000

I sold both Johnson and Johnson and Walmart this morning right after market opened. Walmart raised the quarter earnings guidance and the stock shot up more than $1 at open. So I sold it to pocket a $700 profit in less than 2 month. Johnson and Johnson is getting pricey and the RSI trend is going down, I sold it too to protect my $900 profit.

Now my trading account is all in cash. My long term portfolio is still unchanged. My cash level is now up to 35% which for me is very high. I am waiting for market to cool down and reverse the overbought condition. And I am also very concerned about China/HongKong market. It seems everyday this market is reaching record highs. Movements like this always give me the "too good to be true" feeling. I have about 13% in Asia ex-Japan region. And I will watch it very carefully for any signs of fatigue or topping out. Being an Asian, I know that the faster it goes up, the harder it falls. Moderation is always my theme.

Sealed Our Driveway

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 17:15:00 +0000

We have a pretty decent sized two car driveway. And it is asphalt. It is in good shape but the other day, my boss and I were talking about power washing our front walkway. And he mentioned that if the driveway looks whitish, that means we should seal it with tar to protect if from forming cracks.

We always take care of our stuff, house and everything else. So of course, I go home and look at our driveway. It does look a little parched.

We talked about sealing it with tar. With the cold weather coming, if we want to do it, it has to be soon. So with the three day weekend and hot weather, that was our weekend project number one.

We bought a 5 gallon sealant from Lowes. It is supposed to be good for 5 years. Cost is about $18. We thought that was more than enough! How wrong we were. Not even half way done, the container is empty. So P had to make a quick run to the store and got two more. With a second coat, we finished all three containers and there was not much left. So for about $50, we sealed the driveway and am ready for winter to come. It is a great investment, because to redo the driveway, we probably need to spend $3000. In sealing it and protecting it from water and other harsh element, we are extending its life and our pocket book!

Now we are ready for our next project-dethatch!

Controling My Urge

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 18:35:00 +0000

Any time the market goes up hugely in one day, I have a hard time controlling myself from selling investments and keeping the profit. I know the market is short term overbought. But overbought conditions can keep on going until who knows when to turn around. Just like housing market in 2004, at that time, I started to feel that this market just couldn't continue like this and I read on newspapers that some economists even sold their house to capture the gains and rented because they thought that the market would tank anytime. The housing market kept on going and didn't start to show signs of fatigue until 2006. Those people who sold too early left quite a bit of money on the table.

But of course, no one knows when the market will change, it is better to take profit too early than no profit at all. That is what I am trying to learn to watch for signs that the market trend has turned and sell before the panic sets in. I have left a lot of money on the table throughout my investment life by selling too early. Sometimes, I kick myself for not being patient, sometimes, I congratulate myself for selling the stock right before a horrible quarter earnings report and pocket the gain. You can tell I am probably not a buy and hold person, but more likely a momentum player. I usually treak my portfolio a bit to capture the market theme but still maintain a diversified portfolio by over or under weight certain sectors of the market.

Usually I use fundamental analysis to buy a stock and rely on technical indicators for sell signals. It has served me well over the years. Right now I only have two individual stocks: Johnson and Johnson, and Walmart. Both have some nice gains so far and I think Johnson and Johnson is getting a little pricey. But it hasn't issued a sell signal yet, so I am watching it very closely. The thing is I enjoy seeing the gains brought to me by the strong market performance, such as today, but I am very worried too about how far it can go before it returns most of the gain it reached over the last month.

Not Quite Impressed with TRPrice

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 18:39:00 +0000

We opened our account two weeks ago with T Rowe Price but last week, I found out that the bank account information on the website was not correct. I don't know how that could be since they have a voided check on file. Anyway, we called last weekend and was told it would be corrected as soon as possible. And I checked this morning, it was right. So I think we are all set to invest. Now their customer service was excellent, but I am a little not happy about this incident. How hard is it to get the right account information with a void check?!

I will transfer 27,500 to this account, together with 2,500 already in there, I will have 30,000 total to invest in three funds, 10,000 each. I have already picked out the funds, but I think I will wait for the market to cool down a little from today's overbought condition before I commit cash to work. Until then, the cash will be parked in a MM account earning 4.81%.

Right now I have about 25% in cash, that is a lot to me. And our portfolio has never been higher. So you can tell, I am quite cautious after the big stock run up lately.

Anyway, I will definitely wait until I see more consolidation in the market before jumping in. In the meantime, cash is king!

Sometimes Dream Remains A Dream

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 22:27:00 +0000

A reader's question to Trent at Simple Dollar sparked a heated debate and it resonates with me deeply too.

Kathy, also from DC area, questioned whether she should move to some place less crowded and expensive than DC area where she is miserable, someplace that is affordable and closer to nature.

I have a similar yearnings from time to time, when I am tired from a long train ride after a long day at work (really, I shouldn't complain, riding metro for 40 minutes is nothing compared to some people's hour or two long commute, in the car, no less!), when I feel overwhelmed with all the hectic life in city, when I feel burdened with a big mortgage, or when I lose touch with my friends because they are spread all over the country due to job relocation.

We have debated moving to NC quite a few times, attracted to its affordable housing, nice weather and close proximity to his sister/parents. But we decided not too. P's job market is pretty narrow. Working where he is now is the best for his career and skill. There simply isn't anything better. And he loves his job.

I am a CPA, so I can pretty much get job anywhere.

With him working for the Fed, we will get a pension and medical insurance at retirement (at least until the gov changes its policy) when he turns 57, clocking 30 years working for the government. Medical insurance is critical for retirees. A recent Fidelity report claimed that average retiree will spend at least 200,000 in the future for medical care. I have seen a lot of federal employees enjoying a comfortable retirement because of both benefits without having to save a million dollar for retirement.

I am an immigrant, easy air traffic to China is very important to me. And I feel so much blended in in DC. There are immigrants every where. In rural area, that is not the case. P is from West Virginia, when we go in for visit, I have never seen a black person. And in those places, it is so hard for transplant to feel a part of the community. I never felt so trapped in my life when we visit his parent, never felt so alone. With my yellow skin and black eyes, they are nice to me, but I don't feel I belong there. I can't wait to get out.

Of course it is beautiful in WV. Lush green lawn and super cheap housing, life is laid back and church is above all. It is just not for me.

Where we live, in MD, right at metro stop, we are close to everything. We can walk to school, bus stop, park, bike path, library, a coop grocery store, restaurants, gym and swimming pool. Neighbors help each other, and kids run around at dawn on sidewalks. It is a great community with a lot of activities such as craft shows, parades and my favorite-yard sales! School is the best in the county. And policy/fire department is around the corner. I feel very safe. And this is where we belong. I can't describe the joy I have every time I heard neighbors mowing the yard. The noise feels me with so much pride in our community, I am grateful for everything I have.

Maybe when we retire, we will go someplace warmer and cheaper, but right now, I can't imagine calling home anywhere else but here.

Fear of Losing It All

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:55:00 +0000

Right now we have about half a million of investment portfolio in stocks/bonds. That includes our 401k/TSP, IRAs and taxable accounts. Four years ago, when we first talked about marriage and combining finances, we had a total $80,000. So in four years, we grew our investment six times. Of course the strong stock market performance since 2003 helped tremendously. And we save like crazy too. Besides, before we bought this new house this summer, our 15 year coop unit mortgage payment plus HOA fee totaled $1100. We are really lucky indeed.

From now on, things probably won't be this good. We have a much higher mortgage payment and with bigger house, comes bigger maintenance expenses too. We still will save quite a bit after bills, but it just won't match what we had before.

I am OK with that. And I still feel comfortable with our finances.

The problem is I start to get anxious about investing in stock market. It is hard for me to describe it, but now that we have built up some substantial (to me) portfolio values, I am just so afraid to lose it all or anything in that case. I can't imagine myself going back to the old days and starting all over again if something catastrophic happens in the stock market and we lose all of it.

I have tasted the wonder of wealth, and I am terrified of letting it go.

I don't know whether it is natural or not, or I am just a born tightwad. It seems like the more I have, the more I want to, desperately, hold on to everything.

This is not a good thing, I realize. I have to learn to manage risk and look at the stock market from a historical view. The chances of losing it all is slim, if I watch it carefully and protect profit/capital. I need to find a balance between reaching for high return and capital preservation. After all, higher return means higher risk. I need to find a comfort level that will let me grow investment at a nice pace and also limit downside risk. It is easier said than done. I have to temper my greed to reach for the highest yield possible. I need to be satisfied with what I have. If I go over our portfolio and see that all investments in there are reasonable and I have a valid purpose for having it, then I think I should step back and let market force and proper allocation do its work.

With inflation getting higher, I know I need to participate in the stock market to grow my capital. If I have multimillion dollars, I can afford to be conservative. But I don't, so I have to take SOME risk to achieve growth, how much risk is the key.

Stocks and Taxes

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 17:21:00 +0000

I bought some shares in VWO, PBW, DBA and GLD today, as well some more FICDX. All of the above purchases are for hedges against falling dollars which is well under way. Experts say that the best way to hedge against falling dollar is to have more foreign equity and commodities. So I bought quite a bit of those type of assets lately. Now my foreign equity is over 50% of all equity positions. And I have 20% in cash. I think I will monitor all my investments very closely from now on. Any sign of market weakness reappears, I won't hesitate to sell. That is why I try to use ETFs instead of funds because I can sell faster. I don't think we are out of the woods yet with the real estate market and credit crunch. Actually, I think houses in my neighborhood still sell, although they take a little longer and I haven't seen any drastic price cut. They are not growing, but not declining either. Just stay even I guess. So I think that is a good sign.

I also went to IRS website to calculate our withholding for 2007 so that we won't come up short. It happened to us last year and we actually had to pay a little penalty too. That drives me crazy! I don't think we are paying a lot of taxes with 401K, FSA and now a bigger house. So hopefully, next year we will pay even less with a full years' bigger property tax bill and higher mortgage interests payment. I try to minimize taxable capital gains, but I won't let that dictate my investment strategy entirely. When I need to take profit and protect gains, I won't hesitate about taxes too much.

Lots of Changes

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 15:42:00 +0000

I made quite a few changes in our Wellsfargo brokerage account the last couple of days with more to come tomorrow and next week. I sold out Charles Schwab Health Care fund in anticipating of opening a similar fund in our new T.R.Price brokerage. There is a very neat tool on Bloomberg that when you type in a fund/ETF ticker, it will list all the performance data for similar funds in the same category so that you can see how it compares to other funds. When I typed in SWHFX, you can see that T.R.Price's health care funds so far has outperformed the Schwab fund in both long and short term periods. So I gladly sold it, netting a gain of about $1000.

And I use the proceeds from the sale to buy Fidelity South East Asia fund today. I sold Matthew China last week because I think it is just too narrowly focused on one country although this fund is on fire lately. I want more broad coverage. So in addition to my recent buy of Matthews Asia Pacific Equity Income fund, Fidelity South East Asia is my other Asia play. I will most likely buy Matthew Asia Tech tomorrow.

I have been under weighted in Tech for a long time. Come to think of it, I have never been heavy in Tech because I never felt comfortable investing in it (I am not a tech person and gadgets just doesn't interest me). In the 90s and early 2000, I don't have money to play the stock market and the plunge of 2001-2002 really didn't affect me much.

So in order to further the theme of diversification, I will buy some tech tomorrow with two funds. Even after the planned purchase, I am still quite light in Tech compared to S&P 500 weighting. I plan to study more later to see whether I need to put more in, so far, what I have is good for now.

The latest Kiplinger magazine got me really interested in alternative/clean energy plays as well. So I also plan to buy GAAEX tomorrow, not a lot, just several thousand dollars to get my feet wet and get a feel for the sector before I invest more.

Slow and cautious is my theme now:)

Open A New Brokerage Account

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:50:00 +0000

I opened a new brokerage account with T.R.Price. I just like their funds too much, especially Health Care, New Asia and Media/Telecoms. That is the three funds I have my eyes on to be invested in the next month or two to enjoy the Christmas rally (I think/hope:)).

I have debated about it for a long time since we have Wellsfargo for the main brokerage account. But I heard that T.R.Price's is pretty strict on enforcing the frequent trading rules for brokerage accounts not with them. They will often ban investors from other brokerage accounts with one little bit of trading, with or without good reason.

In order to avoid that and still enjoy the superb performance of their funds, I have to open an account with them. Now I try to find ETFs to replace funds gradually because it is just so much more convenient and faster with ETFs. But with international investments, I still prefer to have experienced managers to oversea the investment instead of just plain index.

New Lawn Mower

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 18:55:00 +0000

Works like a charm. Seriously, I was watching P mowing the yard yesterday afternoon by the window. He was pushing the mower, listening to the ipod, a silly grin on his face. I felt so happy seeing him enjoying the time. Mowing the yard will no longer be a miserable experience for both of us. He told me" You can't sell the house now!". I don't mind spending money to make our life better, as long as it is a sensible investment. There are a long of ways to save money without sacrificing our life and happiness.

I truly wish the manufacturers can make the push reel mower is a little easier to use. We want to support the environment. But we also need balance in our life.

Sold!

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:14:00 +0000

The push reel mower that is. J emailed me yesterday afternoon inquiring about its availability. I wasn't available at that time. I was being tortured at dentist's office. So I checked my mail at around 6pm and voila, this wonderful email. He preferred to come pick it up last night or today, since P was out doing his part time tutoring gig, and I don't want to deal with a dark shed, I emailed J back suggesting we meet today after work and gave him P's cellphone.

J called P insisting to come last night, willing to wait until 9pm after P got off tutoring. P of course wasn't going to say no.

So J came at 9pm, P showed him how to use it. 15 minutes later, it is gone to a better home. We are enormously relieved! At least we can recoup some of the costs back and I am glad someone can put it to a better use.

See, like I said, I just need to have faith and time. Eventually, someone will come.

Selling Push Reel Lawn Mower

noreply@blogger.com (My Road to Wealth) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 19:19:00 +0000

When we first moved into our new house, we bought a push reel lawn mower. It is the type that has a blade and two wheels. That is it. No gas, no messy oil, no tripping on electric lines, and no loud noise. We are trying to be environmental friendly.

Everyone told us that we were making a huge mistake. One friend predicted that we would buy a new gas mower in three months.

She was right.

We, or specifically P, did try really hard several times to mow the yard with it. It just took too long, two hours at least, and the yard didn't even look pretty afterwards. He was very frustrated, the blister didn't help either.

We gave up. I was so tired of his complaining and dark mood every time he got ready to mow. I dreaded talking to him because I know that would most likely led to a big fight later. And it did, without fail. This is not the life I want. I'd rather spend extra money to get a new gas mower so that we can move on and focus on more important and enjoyable things.

So we bought a new gas mower from Home Depot after doing a bit of Internet research, reading reviews and consulting Consumer Report. It costs us $270.

If it still doesn't work out, I just have to sell the house with the big yard and get an apartment. American dream be da*ned.

We posted an ad on Craigslist to sell the push reel mower. So far, several interested inquires, but only one agreed to come yesterday to look at it. That was yesterday. But today, we still have the mower. She didn't even show up!

I don't know about people. But if I make a promise to other people, and I change my mind later, I'd at least email or call the person so that they don't wait for me to show up, giving them false hope. We even tell other potential buyers that we have an interested party, giving her the first priority.

That is just not right. Nothing wrong with changing your mind, and I am fine if you don't want to buy it, but at least have the decency to let me know you are not coming so that somebody else can have a chance. I think the person is very selfish.

I will keep my faith and keep posting. I know someday, maybe sooner, maybe longer, but everything will find a right owner. It just needs time.