It is time to quickly review my performance in 2014 and set goals for 2015. I have a few accounts I use to deal with my finance. I have an account which I call TD account, ROTH IRA account, 401k account, Scottrade account, and Motif investing account.
I use each of the account for a different purpose and different investing strategy. Those taxable accounts are meant to help me with early retirement to bridge the time when I retire but yet will not be able to use 401k or ROTH accounts.
TD Account
In my TD account my primary strategy is trading options. The secondary strategy is then dividend investing. I trade options and use proceeds to invest into dividend stocks.
ROTH IRA account
In this account I use dividend growth strategy. I invest contributions and dividends into a commission free ETF as long as I save at least $1,000 which I then use to buy a dividend growth stock.
I use Motif investing to simulate mutual funds. I created a few dividend growth portfolios in my Motif account and now slowly continue investing into those portfolios (called motifs). In my Scottrade account I perform a compounding experiment. I will write about it later in my next post.
That was a review of my tools I use to get to my financial freedom. And now let’s review my 2014 performance.
These were my goals for 2014:
- Reduce my debt by 50% – FAILED
- Make $5,000 in options trading – FAILED
- Max. out ROTH IRA account – FAILED
- Reach $300 monthly dividends income in combined accounts (in TD and ROTH IRA accounts). – COMPLETED
As you can see I failed most of my goals last year. Next I will set my new goals and also explain my failures.
My Goals for 2015
My trading results were very good the first half of year 2014. I more than double my account. I started with $10,072.72 and soon I had almost $24,000 in my account. I was so excited about my success and I believed I was invincible. I overinvested my account and became greedy. I ended 2014 year with 17.42% gain only as I gave all my gains back. You may say it is still a good result, but I am not satisfied with it. My account dropped even below my original starting point. And yet my account is still overinvested. I am breaking my rules.
My goal for 2015 would therefore be to focus on money management and wealth creation and preservation.
I advise my readers to trade only 30% of available cash and keep the rest in reserves for trade repairs. I was constantly breaking this rule. This year my goal will be to strictly follow this rule.
My second goal will be to rebuild once again my account and keep it constantly growing.
My third goal will be to continue eliminating my debt. I was so excited about my trading results at the beginning of 2014 I stopped paying attention to my other goals. I stopped paying off my debt. This year I am determined to work harder than before on eliminating the debt.
Well, my overall year 2014 wasn’t a complete disaster. Only my trading account wasn’t going the way I wanted. My ROTH performed well. My 401k did the same and other accounts were great too. Just my trading account wasn’t that great. My plan is to change it this year.
I wish you a lot of success in the New Year and may your financial dream come true!
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