Investment Results- 2013

Overall, 2013 was a good financial year.  We did not earn as much as we were expecting, but when you don’t have any debt (other than the mortgage), have a fully funded six month emergency fund, and have completed your first full year of investing in retirement, the earnings “not being as much as expected,” doesn’t play as big of a role. 

Below are the rates of return for 2013 for both Julie’s IRA and my Roth 401k at my company.  As you can see below, we’re very happy with the advice Brian Fleetwood gave us.  We’re very pleased with the performance of American Funds.  Brian is no longer with Florida Financial Group, but a special thanks to him for steering us the right direction.  Brian, good luck to you in your future endeavors! 

Below I have also provided the rate of return percentage for my Roth 401k at my company, which I started investing in with Brian’s advice.  There is a 100% company match up to 5% of my gross income, so this year, I contributed 5% (it’s what we could afford at that time).  We hope the contribution amount increases in the future.

                                                  Rate of Return

*American Funds                             33.13%
**Roth 401k (company)                  19.30%

 *IRA invested in 4 funds in the American Funds family of funds (the Growth Fund of America, the Investment Company of America, the New Economy Fund, and New Perspective Fund). 

**Roth 401k invested in T. Rowe Price, Dodge & Cox, Franklin Templeton, Blackrock, and Pimco

Ernie Cave at Florida Financial Group is who we are now working with.  We were confident in Brian and we have no problem placing our confidence in Ernie.  We would not have any problem putting our confidence in any of the financial advisors at Florida Financial Group in Jacksonville, FL. 

Pimco is the only fund that has not performed well in 2013.  Ernie has advised me to rebalance my portfolio and no longer invest in Pimco (as interest rates are set to rise).  This retirement investing thing is not about the returns in present time, but long-term average returns for the next 30-40 years.  Happy investing!