I Am Forever Thankful

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

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

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!

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!