We contributed $5,096.15 this month to our retirement accounts, and we lost $2,508.27 in investment value this month.
This was a pretty “normal” month in terms of contributions – no one time contributions, no extras from my Fidelity cash back card (although next month that will really have a lot – and the following month once we buy appliances – on the cash back card of course!). We’ll have to contribute more to our Roths later this year to make it to 70k for the year, but that’s OK, I plan on setting aside that monthly amount in July, and probably putting it all in Dad’s account next February – once we know we’re under the AGis for the full contribution.
The markets seem to be slowing down in anticipation of the Fed rate increase and not knowing when that is, but I suspect it’ll still be up for the year, just maybe not the 20+% it was last year.
We got a letter in the mail allowing us to change the terms of our HSA to “more accurately reflect our goals”. We have Optumbank, and our previous option was a minimum of $2000 in the “cash” part of the HSA, and $3/mth investment fee plus a $3/mth account fee (completely covered by Dad’s employer). We sent the paperwork back to be a “investment” HSA, which requires a minimum of only $500 in the “cash” part, and $2.50/mth investment fee plus a $3/mth account fee, $2 of which will be covered by Dad’s employer, so we pay an extra $0.50 in fees per month, but we have the opportunity to invest $1500 more than we currently do – which in VFINX, I think we’ll make up all of the fees during most months. The online account information hasn’t changed yet, so I haven’t been able to see this in practice yet. The account fee can be waived if there’s a minimum of 5k in the “cash” part of the account – which kind of defeats the purpose. I’ll need to watch that account to see if the investment option continues to make sense (so far, it hasn’t, but it’s only been 3 months).
In house news, which really deserves its own post: we have an electric meter! I should know by Thursday or Friday when closing will be, and I’ll call and lock in my rate then (as well as finish up any other paperwork the lender might need). We cannot wait to move in!
One quarter into the year, how are your contributions coming?
2015 Totals
In 2015, so far, we’ve contributed $19,521.22 (27.89% of our goal of 70k), and we’ve gained $11,486.76 in investment value (56.69% of our planned total).
Small world — I have the same HSA and just called into check on that option. It seems I’d be responsible for the whole $2.50 each month ($30 annually). I’m sure the extra $1500 in play would probably cover that, but decided just to leave it at cash $2,000 for now.
I think you made the right decision though. 🙂
So far, in the 3 months we’ve had the account, it’s lost $17 (total), mostly by fees. I’m hoping the market picks up and over the year we make up the difference in fees. Dad’s company pays some of the fee, and even the cash gets interest now, so I might consider the $5k minimum in cash at some point. Our goal is to contribute the max $6650 this year (family plan), and the max next year – then it won’t be so painful to have 5k sitting in cash 🙂
Congratulations on the progress.
Thanks for checking up on me! I hope we can continue to accelerate this as we move out of our temporary living situation.
So far this year, I’ve saved about 19% of my goal, but I think my goal was a little overly ambitious – it’s about 10% higher than my expected net income for the year. Oops! I’m only forecasting to save ~75% of my original goal.
Even 75% of your original goal is progress. Good luck!