April is always one of the worst saving months for us historically. Unfortunately, this April was no different. I always play a little game of Russian roulette with our taxes because I despise government spending and waste in general. I choose to hold onto my money as long as possible before the politicians get to waste it; especially state government like we have in California who waste countless taxpayer dollars on lame ideas like a high speed rail line. Um, it’s California! We like our cars and we are not taking a stupid train anywhere, but I digress.

Anyway, this year the tax man was able to reach particularly deep into our pockets due to a prior sale of stock. To top it off, our new auto insurance renewal included a new RV and a teen driver. Hello flame, meet gasoline!! The good news is all of this was planned for and didn’t come as a surprise, but boy does it SUCK!!

Despite these factors, we still managed to squeak out a gain on the month. The gain was probably cut in half from what it would have been, but I’m happy to be in the black at the end of April.

Here is where we finished the month of April:

Portfolio- $952,244 (Cash and Investments)

Portfolio Goal – $1,500,000

Amount needed to reach goal – $547,756

Our portfolio increased by $16,739 or 1.79% from the end of March. Year to date we are up 14.52%. Not too shabby!

Net Worth – $1,140,352

This is an increase of 1.34% from the end of March.

May is off to a rocky start but the only thing predictable about the stock market is that it’s unpredictable. That’s why I will stick to the plan as always and enjoy the ride.

I still need to pull the trigger on eliminating some expensive activity managed funds and reallocating that money to low cost index funds. I hope to get that done soon but I need to find time to research a few funds first.

More to come soon…………………