Thursday, March 26, 2015

My Recent 401K Options


This week I had the opportunity to pick the funds for my 401K and was overwhelmed with all of the options. I ended picking the following two funds:

Vanguard Growth Index Fund  (VIGAX)

Top Holdings
(as of 12-31-14)
Apple Inc
7.9%
Coca-Cola Co
2.0%
Google Inc Class A
1.7%
Gilead Sciences Inc
1.7%
Google Inc Class C
1.7%
Facebook Inc Class A
1.7%
Oracle Corporation
1.6%
Walt Disney Co
1.6%
Philip Morris International Inc
1.5%
Home Depot Inc
1.5%
Totals 22.9% of assets

Vanguard Value Index Fund (VVIAX)

Top Holdings
(as of 12-31-14)
Exxon Mobil Corporation
3.7%
Microsoft Corp
3.4%
Johnson & Johnson
2.9%
Wells Fargo & Co
2.7%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class B
2.6%
General Electric Co
2.5%
Procter & Gamble Co
2.3%
JPMorgan Chase & Co
2.2%
Chevron Corp
2.0%
Verizon Communications Inc
2.0%
Totals 26.3% of assets

Expense Ratio for each of these funds is currently 0.94

Cost per $1,000 = $9.40

My concern is that I don't have current exposure to international funds at this time. Vanguard has the lowest expense ratios which is why I went with two of their funds. I also don't know a lot about funds, but I would like to eventually get into a foreign fund as well. I am content with what I have picked to start off with but I am unsure if I should add to this. 
What do you think? Should I add a foreign fund or any other type of fund? What are some great funds that have worked out well for you?

 

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Recent Sell (MAT)

Sold Mattel (MAT) 27 Shares @ 23.13/Share
Total Proceeds - $624.51

Today I had to make the tough call of selling off a company that I feel doesn’t have much going for them. Recently I thought about adding shares to Mattel, in order to average down my cost basis. I ended up just selling all 27 shares because I feel like this money can be used in a better investment. There has been talk of a dividend cut or freeze and I don’t think that has been priced in yet. Trying to catch a falling knife is always a bad idea and has a certain level of risk that I am not willing to take. At the same time I am unsure of what I will be doing with the funds from the sell. RetireBeforeDad just wrote a great article on why he sold Mattel.

If you get a chance please vote on my newest poll on the right labeled “Which Company do you think will Experience the Most Growth in 2015”? 

Sunday, March 22, 2015

March 2015 List of Buys


This post comes a little early because I don't see myself initiating anymore buys in March. I have a few big expenses to deal with by the end of the month such as vacation costs and car repairs. Overall I am happy that I was able to allocate a bunch of cash in the following companies.

Here is my total list of buys for the month of March:

Company
Shares
Price/Share
Cost Basis
AT&T (T)
2.533
$32.65
$82.60
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)
1.44
$48.87
$70.37
Baxter (BAX)
1.18
$67.03
$79.10
BHP Billiton (BBL)
1.83
$41.34
$75.65
Coca-Cola (KO)
1.1982
$41.73
$50
Coca-Cola (KO)
1.2267
$40.76
$50
Coca-Cola (KO)
.6250
$40.00
$25
Diego (DEO)
.70
$109.85
$76.90
Dunkin
1.0982
$45.53
$50
Dunkin (DNKN)
1.6265
$46.11
$75
Emerson Electric (EMR)
1.37
$55.11
$75.50
General Mills (GIS)
1.64
$51.87
$85.07
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
1.84
$45.96
$84.57
Kraft (KRFT)
.8059
$62.04
$50
Kraft (KRFT)
.7933
$63.03
$50
Kraft (KRFT)
.9909
$61.56
$61
Kraft (KRFT)
.4077
$61.32
$25
National Grid (NGG)
1.19
$62.62
$74.40
Pepsi (PEP)
.2342
$93.94
$22
Verizon (VZ)
1.76
$48.60
$85.54
Viacom (VIAB)
.3557
$70.28
$25
Wal-Mart (WMT)
.8990
$83.43
$75
Wal-Mart (WMT)
.6056
$82.56
$50
Wal-Mart (WMT)
.6070
$82.37
$50
Total
 
 
$1447.70
 
What do you think of my list of buys for March?