Our portfolio decreased -2.4% in August, bringing us to 919% total increase since the beginning of our dollar plan [1].
In addition, our year-to-date total decrease is -11.9%.
Reflections on my portfolio this month
August was a critical point for our portfolio. In the future, it will be the month that I draw an arrow to noting that I took out the first of many retirement withdrawals [2] to fund my new lifestyle [3]. Along with a down market, you’ll notice our portfolio heading the wrong direction lately!
I was going to calculate how much of the decrease is due to making withdrawals, and how much is due to market return, but I decided it didn’t actually matter at this point. At the end of the year, I’ll do that to compare my return to the benchmarks, but it’s not something I want to get caught up in each month.
August Performance Highlights
Individual Stocks
- Best: Aqua America
- Worst: Exxon Mobil
Mutual Funds
- Best: Vanguard Small Cap Value Index
- Worst: Vanguard Emerging Markets Index
Previous 2008 Net Worth Updates
- June 2008 [4]
- May 2008 [5]
- April 2008 [6]
- March 2008 [7]
- February 2008 [8]
- January 2008 [9]
Check out how others did in August
- 2008 Financial Status / Net Worth Update [10] at My Money Blog
- August 2008 Site and Net Worth Review (+1.72%) at Moolanomy
- Personal Balance Sheet, August 2008: Net Worth +0.43% at One Caveman’s Financial Journey
- August 2008 Net Worth Update (+1.27%) [11] at Million Dollar Journey
- August net worth report [12] at Consumerism Commentary
- Net Worth: August 2008 at Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge
- First of month net worth update [13] at Step 3
- Net Worth Update: August 2008 [14] at No Debt Plan