Starting the Rebalance

Inspired by Mrs. Micah's financial confession, I confessed that I needed to rebalance my almost 50K in retirement funds. Clearly, Fidelity 2050 and Vanguard 2050 are just not aggressive enough for me.

The problem. All of that money is in a billion different accounts! We have old his and hers ROTH IRAs & Rollover IRAs. The active accounts are a SEP-IRA (his) and a 401K (mine). Whew.

One of the rollovers and the SEP have less than 1K in them. This makes reallocation really difficult. The largest account, the 401K, also has the most limited options, and it will continue to grow the fastest. Yikes! How am I going to rebalance that?

I decided to make my 401K about 2/3 international, and make it all international going forward. That will continue to make my portfolio more and more international. As for the rest, well, ugh.

I went to Jonathan's portfolio. He also has a lot of model portfolios from various books and such. I just stole his categories and added mid cap because I have a good mid cap fund in my 401K. I got rid of the bonds, that left me with these categories, and these rough percents. I wrote down what I want ideally, though I knew this would not happen with my strange account balances and choice. I had to break out a pencil I revised this so much.

US Total (large cap) 25%
Mid Cap 15%
Small Cap 15%
REIT 5%
International 20%
International - Emerging 20%

Off to a good start!

Got My Other Wedding Dress!

Not so long ago, I got a used, big, white wedding dress (90% off!) for formal parts of the wedding. For reasons I can't quite explain, I also wanted a traditional dress from my culture.

I just ordered the traditional dress. It was a little more than I would have liked, $350, but the seamstress really had a good eye, and I loved her other work.

Both dresses will require a little tailoring, maybe $100. That makes BOTH dresses, with tailoring, $800. Not bad!

Personal Finance Confession Project

Mrs. Micah posted a financial confession. She said to tag yourself and confess. So here goes.

I have almost 50K in retirement invested. But it's all in either Vanguard 2050 or Fidelity 2050. That means I have bonds and cash and a lot of other things that don't match my incredibly aggressive goals and style. Lazy investing, really. LAZY.

I'm thinking about how I am going to reallocate. I want a really aggressive 100% stock, heavily international portfolio. I'm going to get it done this month. Thanks for the confession Mrs. Micah.

Not Sinking Anywhere: June Net Worth

The haters are not going to like this one! Even with the market in a tailspin (3K down for me, ouch!) and no business cash just yet, my net worth is still up almost 8 large. That's right, I'll be out of this in no time. Sorry, I'm not sinking anywhere.

I thought about writing a post defending my life against nasty anonymous comments and drama-queen titles. You know, how hard I work and what I accomplished and such. But rational arguments go nowhere with haters.

No biggie, I'm used to haters. I grew up poor too. I get it--they're bullies. Haters like to kick you when you're down and think that you should fail like they do. They laugh at your mistakes, they envy your success. A waste of human creativity, really. But without the haters in my life, I don't think I would be where I am today. I stumble; I fall flat on my face. But I always prove haters wrong, and I answer in actions, not words.

Talk About Expensive Bridesmaid Duties!

This auction just ended. Someone actually paid $5,700 to be a bridesmaid in a stranger's wedding. Yes, five THOUSAND seven hundred dollars. Wow.

That bride has some guts! And some creativity! Good for her, I am so impressed that she did what she needed to do. Judging from the comments, she got news coverage all over the country. Good for her!

The buyer, however, is a different story. Being a bridesmaid sucks. There is always drama, you always wear something hideous. Small mistakes run the risk of ruining her "special day." I will probably never be a bridesmaid again. I wouldn't have even had bridesmaids if there weren't so many toes that would be stepped on. My middle ground at my wedding will be paying for the dresses. The least I can do for this dubious honor.

There are already two similar auctions up. But those bids wouldn't even pay for the dress. As it should be.

Got My Wedding Dress!

Sometimes it all works out. I just got my wedding dress in the mail yesterday.

A couple months back, mom really wanted to go to a fancy bridal boutique. It had champagne and nice sofas, it was really a pleasant experience. Usually mom makes decisions based on price, this time, she didn't even look at tags. I'm sure it was nice for her. So, the third dress was "the one." It made my mom cry. The whole experience was incredible. If you are shopping for a dress, go with mom. But, it was the super-designer one that cost almost $3K. It was beautiful, as you would expect of a $3K piece of clothing.

There was another problem. For reasons I can't quite explain, I didn't want a big, white wedding dress. I wanted one from our culture. My parents are third-generation immigrants. But they only spoke English around me; they barely speak our language. They insisted that above all we fit in. We did things like a "normal" American family. But I wanted a traditional dress, not an American one. I knew that decision would break my mother's heart, after she tried so hard to be so American and loved that white dress so much. She wore a white dress, so did her mother. What did the traditional dress mean to her? I wasn't sure how to break it to her.

By some bizarre stroke of luck, the $3K dress came up on eBay (thanks eBay search alerts!). Used. Worn once (obviously). It was $300. I bought it for $350 with shipping and insurance. It is fantastic! I have it hanging beside me as I write this, and I am so glad I was able to buy it. There are a couple grass stains, but whatever. It is such a gorgeous dress. I love it.

So, now I have a big, white wedding dress for photos, and I can have a traditional dress for the reception. I can have both. The traditional dress will be much less. Both dresses with cost about $500! Yay! Everyone is happy!

How I Paid for $250K in School: Part 3

I worked my tail off in college. I worked at the pharmacy, I RA'ed. In the summers I took internships (paid, couldn't afford it otherwise) and worked a few shifts at nearby hospitals.

I got an online bank (Everbank) so that I could put money in and take it out no matter what state I was in. At the time, online banking seemed risky and strange. I usually had a few thou in there most of the time. I paid for all my expenses out of that and the student loans. (I ditched Everbank when it started charging fees.) I had a local bank account with a couple bucks in it so I could cash checks. My daily expenses were cash.

One financial incident sticks out in my mind. My meal plan was due, and I didn't have the cash. I think it was about 3K, and I only had 2K. I went to the meals director and explained that I worked hard, but I just didn't have the money. I was crying, more like bawling. He actually cut the price to 2K for me, and I wrote him a check on the spot. I think he just didn't know what else to do. It was one of the more humiliating things I have done.

At the end of college, I got my first credit card ($500 limit) to pay a bill that had to be paid online, I think it was my first cell phone (bought in 2003 or 2004). I paid the card off every month with a paper statement and a check (ha!). When I left college, I had 10K in the bank, enough that my loans were never in deferment, even in grad school.

My accounting was not great, but when I graduated from college, I had 50/50 private/public loans. They totaled about 100K.

How I Paid for $250K in School: Part 1
How I Paid for $250K in School: Part 2