Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Rainy Day Fund vs The DOW

I have a Rainy Day Fund. It is not huge but it is hopefully enough to weather any small storm that comes my way. It is composed mainly of the money I inherited from my parents and my long term cash savings from back when I worked for a living although I have dipped into it a few times for a motorhome purchase and the cost of some home repairs/improvements. This money is handled by a local investment adviser, Alitis Investment Counsel who have looked after my money since long before I retired. Norma called it, "The Black Hole" but it has proven to be anything but.

But right now if this Rainy Day Fund was a lifeboat, it has developed a small leak! I have been watching the DOW (the benchmark Trump wants to be rated by) in what appears to be it's death throes but have waited until the end of March to see how I was doing.

Well I (at least Alitis) has outperformed the DOW in a rather spectacular manner. The DOW is down 23% since January 1 while I am down only 7.3% over the same time period. Not optimal, I would have been better off to keep my money under the mattress but I have done far better than many investors. Thank you Alitis, your policy of diversification is working! I am a happy customer!

Vector cartoon of man trying to row leaky boat in ocean


Posted by at

10 comments:

  1. JBMarch 31, 2020 at 6:06 PM

    Hmmmm, I thought all that digging around your place was folks looking for all those jars full of Maple Leafs and Rands you had buried.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CroftMarch 31, 2020 at 6:14 PM

      Wouldn't matter JB. The railroad managed to convince an early government that anything underground belonged to them.

      Delete
  2. DonMarch 31, 2020 at 8:45 PM

    Glad you're doing better than the DOW. You do realize the big drop can't be hung on Trump right? I know Obama wants to take credit for the big run up under Trump, do you think he'll also take credit for this big drop? Not likely. It's not anyone's fault.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CroftMarch 31, 2020 at 9:48 PM

      When it was high he certainly took credit for it. Why not when the bottom falls out?

      Delete
    2. CroftMarch 31, 2020 at 9:59 PM

      Plus, he stated over and ove he wants to be judged by the DOW's performance. His words, not mine.

      Delete
    3. DonApril 2, 2020 at 1:45 PM

      Come on Croft, only an idiot would actually blame COVID-19 on the president or any leaders. I wouldn't have blamed Obama just like I didn't blame him for H1N1.

      On April 29th, 2009 the WHO raised H1N1 to a level 5 pandemic. On October 24th Obama finally declared a National Emergency. So JUST STOP blaming Trump for any of this if you don't blame Obama for anything H1N1.

      Delete
  3. Rick and Kathy RousseauMarch 31, 2020 at 8:47 PM

    If you hang in there the market will eventually recover and you won't lose a dime. Sell now and you'll be hurting.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CroftMarch 31, 2020 at 9:52 PM

      Yes they will eventually bounce back. Unfortunately I have to take a substantial RRIF payment scheduled for April. I know I can reduce it by 25% and I will. Maybe also postpone it till later in the year but that is a tough call. I will talk to my adviser.

      Delete
  4. heyduke50April 1, 2020 at 5:41 AM

    Yep, you fared way better than we did so far... congrats!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CroftApril 1, 2020 at 1:59 PM

      They have done a pretty good job for me. No spectacular 30% years but pretty consistent gains over the years. The fund has been increasing even with my periodic withdrawals.

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)