What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]

JustinR · Post by **JustinR** » Mon Sep 04, 2017 7:19 am

Why doesn't Vanguard's personal performance page give you a return percentage for YTD?

Selecting any time period other than "Since inception" removes the Rate of Return %.

schachtw · Post by **schachtw** » Mon Sep 04, 2017 7:30 am

Age 67, retired.
AA is 50/50

Up 8.7% YTD

ignition · Post by **ignition** » Mon Sep 04, 2017 7:49 am

Uncle Pennybags wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2017 12:01 am I'm up 6.7%, 60/40, 40% short bonds, 10% REIT, 10% foreign, 10% VZ, 30% total US. The VZ was almost 15%, I'm holding it for tax avoidance. If I figure in my savings and checking cash it's worse. This thread makes me sad.

If it makes you feel any better: I'm only up 0.9%...

packet · Post by **packet** » Mon Sep 04, 2017 8:20 am

moshe wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2017 3:28 pm
student wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2017 3:08 pm
packet wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2017 12:11 pm Is this a reasonable estimate?
I take the funds I use and the percentage that I use them in and add them all up (YTD(a) is a function that returns the YTD return for fund "a")...

.4*YTD(a) + .1*YTD(b) + .1*YTD(c) + .2*YTD(d) + .2*YTD(e) = ytd % return
...
Cheers,
packet
I think this is a good enough approximation.
Does your YTD(x) function include dividends? If not you should add them back in to measure total portfolio performance.

~Moshe

Hmmm... another pesky detail. I don't even know, I'll have research it. The function I'm using is googlefinance() on a google sheet...

Cheers,
packet

Uncle Pennybags · Post by **Uncle Pennybags** » Mon Sep 04, 2017 8:53 am

JustinR wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2017 7:19 am Why doesn't Vanguard's personal performance page give you a return percentage for YTD?

Selecting any time period other than "Since inception" removes the Rate of Return %.

One can get a one year return. What really messed up Vanguard's page for me was when they strong armed me into a brokerage account. The "settlement fund" voodoo economics are a pain.

ignition wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2017 7:49 am
Uncle Pennybags wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2017 12:01 am I'm up 6.7%, 60/40, 40% short bonds, 10% REIT, 10% foreign, 10% VZ, 30% total US. The VZ was almost 15%, I'm holding it for tax avoidance. If I figure in my savings and checking cash it's worse. This thread makes me sad.
If it makes you feel any better: I'm only up 0.9%...

All CDs?

ruralavalon · Post by **ruralavalon** » Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:26 am

JustinR wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2017 7:19 am Why doesn't Vanguard's personal performance page give you a return percentage for YTD?

Selecting any time period other than "Since inception" removes the Rate of Return %.

Click on year to date.

Then just divide "investment returns" by "beginning balance". If you are making regular monthly withdrawals or regular monthly contributions of the same amount, then that gives you your personal return year to date.

ignition · Post by **ignition** » Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:29 am

Uncle Pennybags wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2017 8:53 am All CDs?

100% equity

But I live in Europe and hold quite a high amount of US stocks. I assume it's caused by the dollar weakening the past couple of months compared to the euro.

JustinR · Post by **JustinR** » Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:36 am

ruralavalon wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:26 am
JustinR wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2017 7:19 am Why doesn't Vanguard's personal performance page give you a return percentage for YTD?

Selecting any time period other than "Since inception" removes the Rate of Return %.
Click on year to date.

Then just divide "investment returns" by "beginning balance". If you are making regular monthly withdrawals or regular monthly contributions of the same amount, then that gives you your personal return year to date.

Oh awesome. Thank you!

Is there an easy tool to aggregate all your accounts to see the total return? I don't mean Mint because I don't think it takes into account contributions/withdrawals in calculating performance. I have my taxable and Roth at vanguard, but my 401k and HSA are in different places.

I could name my taxable's ytd return, but it'd be inaccurate since my bonds are all in my 401k, for example.

Sidney · Post by **Sidney** » Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:39 am

5.7% after withdrawals on a 40/60.

Sheepdog · Post by **Sheepdog** » Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:51 am

Uncle Pennybags wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2017 12:01 am I'm up 6.7%, 60/40, 40% short bonds, 10% REIT, 10% foreign, 10% VZ, 30% total US. The VZ was almost 15%, I'm holding it for tax avoidance. If I figure in my savings and checking cash it's worse. This thread makes me sad.

Don't be sad, Uncle Pennybags, it's all in the eye of the beholder and what your situation is. After all, my YTD is 5.05% (7.87% if annualized) and I am very happy with that...23% stocks, by the way. I live off of that and I only wish to beat what I take out and I do and have. Mine is about income and preservation with just enough growth for it to last a life time and beyond. My present age is 84, 19 years retired, with that nest egg grown and growing in that time so I am confident about our present and future financial health. That is worth a fortune.

Uncle Pennybags · Post by **Uncle Pennybags** » Mon Sep 04, 2017 10:04 am

Sheepdog wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:51 am Don't be sad, Uncle Pennybags, it's all in the eye of the beholder and what your situation is.

I too am retired and don't need my investments for day to day living so a 2.4% return is my benchmark. I must stay the course and not get

I'm 10.5% annualized. That sounds better.

ruralavalon · Post by **ruralavalon** » Mon Sep 04, 2017 10:37 am

JustinR wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:36 am
ruralavalon wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:26 am
JustinR wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2017 7:19 am Why doesn't Vanguard's personal performance page give you a return percentage for YTD?

Selecting any time period other than "Since inception" removes the Rate of Return %.
Click on year to date.

Then just divide "investment returns" by "beginning balance". If you are making regular monthly withdrawals or regular monthly contributions of the same amount, then that gives you your personal return year to date.
Oh awesome. Thank you!

Is there an easy tool to aggregate all your accounts to see the total return? I don't mean Mint because I don't think it takes into account contributions/withdrawals in calculating performance. I have my taxable and Roth at vanguard, but my 401k and HSA are in different places.

I could name my taxable's ytd return, but it'd be inaccurate since my bonds are all in my 401k, for example.

You can use Morningstar's "portfolio manager", but you have to input data on the holdings and adjust periodically for the dividends.

sergeant · Post by **sergeant** » Mon Sep 04, 2017 8:29 pm

Sheepdog wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:51 am
Uncle Pennybags wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2017 12:01 am I'm up 6.7%, 60/40, 40% short bonds, 10% REIT, 10% foreign, 10% VZ, 30% total US. The VZ was almost 15%, I'm holding it for tax avoidance. If I figure in my savings and checking cash it's worse. This thread makes me sad.
Don't be sad, Uncle Pennybags, it's all in the eye of the beholder and what your situation is. After all, my YTD is 5.05% (7.87% if annualized) and I am very happy with that...23% stocks, by the way. I live off of that and I only wish to beat what I take out and I do and have. Mine is about income and preservation with just enough growth for it to last a life time and beyond. My present age is 84, 19 years retired, with that nest egg grown and growing in that time so I am confident about our present and future financial health. That is worth a fortune.

Sheepdog rocks! 84 years young and still going strong. I just had a conversation with a neighbor who is in the process of trying to get control of his father's considerable assets. He thinks his dad is too old to make good financial decisions. He is 71 years old and is active and seems ok to me. The son has zero bad intent just thinks 71 is old.

Detroittl · Post by **Detroittl** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 2:05 am

13% YTD.

75 stocks 25 bonds

peterinjapan · Post by **peterinjapan** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 2:39 am

I'm up 15.4%, with mostly stocks. Firing that Wells Fargo guy was the smartest thing I ever did. 40% of the decisions he made were mistakes anyway. I can make mistakes myself for free.

Tamarind · Post by **Tamarind** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 5:42 am

11%+ YTD. 80/20 with 30% intl and a small REIT tilt which keeps me humble.

Gains still vastly outweighed by contributions. More striking to me as a mental benchmark is that I'm now generating more than $1k annually in dividends to reinvest, which I imagine as giving me an extra paycheck's worth of contributions this year.

SirRunsabit · Post by **SirRunsabit** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 6:39 am

Not sure of the YTD %, but one year is 14.8 with similar numbers. Thankful that I took some returns with my new asset allocation.

harvestbook · Post by **harvestbook** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 8:08 am

I can't easily tell since I make contributions steadily. Since I started using Vanguard in mid-2013, I've made 11 percent. This is using a fairly aggressive and slightly modified Merriman portfolio (I use total stock markets instead of S& P or Developed Market funds and I am lighter on international value than Merriman recommends due to the higher ER). As a late starter to investing I needed to take the risk but slowly increasing my bond portion. Right now I'm 85/15 working toward 80/20 but early on I was probably 95/5. I got lucky but don't expect my luck to last. I'll be comfortable at 80/20 for at least the next five years, or so I feel at this time.

BeBH65 · Post by **BeBH65** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 8:16 am

- Stocks portion + 9 %
- Protection portion: + 1%
Total portfolio @ 60/40 : +6%
All in Euro

hulburt1 · Post by **hulburt1** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 8:31 am

up $400000 28%-I bought Facebook the year it came out. I do not know why it was a gut feeling. I only live on $60000 a year.

mattyfu1 · Post by **mattyfu1** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 8:38 am

10.1%

chisey · Post by **chisey** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 8:40 am

Our 62/38 model ETF portfolio with a mid/small value tilt is up 10.7% YTD. I don't bother calculating for our actual portfolio but it would be pretty close to that.

MichaelM · Post by **MichaelM** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 9:06 am

Portfolio 49/51 Equity to Bond with 20% Intnl Equity is +8.3% YTD. Retirement 1/2/2017. Michael

ruralavalon · Post by **ruralavalon** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 9:15 am

Retired, age 72, asset allocation is 50/50.

Total return is up 8.86% year to date.

Best fund so far is Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund, total return is up 21.66% year to date.

snarlyjack · Post by **snarlyjack** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 9:15 am

According to Vanguard's portfolio summary
14.3%...I' am a happy camper.

moshe · Post by **moshe** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 9:16 am

Hi Tamarind,

Just note that dividends paid out of most funds, vanguard TBM (ticker: BND) and VIB (BIV and others?) excepted, pay dividends out of market share price...so those dividends are really a return of capital and not additive to the share price on the prior to x-dividend market price. IOW a stock selling at $100 per share will open @ $95 (+/-) per share on the x-dividend date. You will then receive a check or reinvestment of the $5 per share.

Apologies if this is already clear to you but $1K in equity dividends reinvested changes your net worth negatively if held in taxable accounts as you pay taxes on dividends in taxable accounts in the year received.

~Moshe

Tamarind wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2017 5:42 am 11%+ YTD. 80/20 with 30% intl and a small REIT tilt which keeps me humble.

Gains still vastly outweighed by contributions. More striking to me as a mental benchmark is that I'm now generating more than $1k annually in dividends to reinvest, which I imagine as giving me an extra paycheck's worth of contributions this year.

Uncle Pennybags · Post by **Uncle Pennybags** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 9:32 am

moshe wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2017 9:16 am .so those dividends are really a return of capital

Bond interest is considered a dividend/income, it comes out of and lowers the share price but it does not reduce one's cost basis. A return of capital is not a taxable event and reduces one's cost basis.

unclescrooge · Post by **unclescrooge** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 10:14 am

14% YTD through September.
80% stocks and alts, 20% bonds.

dwickenh · Post by **dwickenh** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 10:46 am

Toons wrote: ↑Tue Aug 26, 2014 5:05 pm I don't know but it appears my investment portfolio is worth more than it was this time last year,,and I have been spending money along the way,,,,this is the way long term investing is supposed to work,,methinks

ditto that for me

Best wishes,

Dan

SEAworld9 · Post by **SEAworld9** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 11:12 am

100% stocks.

up 26.3% YTD.

Tamarind · Post by **Tamarind** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 11:25 am

moshe wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2017 9:16 am Hi Tamarind,

Just note that dividends paid out of most funds, vanguard TBM (ticker: BND) and VIB (BIV and others?) excepted, pay dividends out of market share price...so those dividends are really a return of capital and not additive to the share price on the prior to x-dividend market price. IOW a stock selling at $100 per share will open @ $95 (+/-) per share on the x-dividend date. You will then receive a check or reinvestment of the $5 per share.

Apologies if this is already clear to you but $1K in equity dividends reinvested changes your net worth negatively if held in taxable accounts as you pay taxes on dividends in taxable accounts in the year received.

~Moshe

Tamarind wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2017 5:42 am 11%+ YTD. 80/20 with 30% intl and a small REIT tilt which keeps me humble.

Gains still vastly outweighed by contributions. More striking to me as a mental benchmark is that I'm now generating more than $1k annually in dividends to reinvest, which I imagine as giving me an extra paycheck's worth of contributions this year.

Thanks, Moshe. I'm aware. All of my accounts are tax-advantaged.

triceratop · Post by **triceratop** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 11:26 am

moshe wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2017 9:16 am Hi Tamarind,

Just note that dividends paid out of most funds, vanguard TBM (ticker: BND) and VIB (BIV and others?) excepted, pay dividends out of market share price...so those dividends are really a return of capital and not additive to the share price on the prior to x-dividend market price. IOW a stock selling at $100 per share will open @ $95 (+/-) per share on the x-dividend date. You will then receive a check or reinvestment of the $5 per share.

Apologies if this is already clear to you but $1K in equity dividends reinvested changes your net worth negatively if held in taxable accounts as you pay taxes on dividends in taxable accounts in the year received.

~Moshe

Tamarind wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2017 5:42 am 11%+ YTD. 80/20 with 30% intl and a small REIT tilt which keeps me humble.

Gains still vastly outweighed by contributions. More striking to me as a mental benchmark is that I'm now generating more than $1k annually in dividends to reinvest, which I imagine as giving me an extra paycheck's worth of contributions this year.

This is true from the day before ex dividend to the day it goes ex dividend. But in the days/months prior to the distribution the fund receives earnings from its investments which pushes the share price up. Tamarind has the more accurate picture.

edit: to be clear I'm talking about your claim about equity dividends, in the second paragraph, which is false.

moshe · Post by **moshe** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 11:30 am

Uncle Pennybags wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2017 9:32 am
moshe wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2017 9:16 am .so those dividends are really a return of capital
Bond interest is considered a dividend/income, it comes out of and lowers the share price but it does not reduce one's cost basis. A return of capital is not a taxable event and reduces one's cost basis.

Thank you for your reply. My bad in not being clear that some dividends are return of retained earnings (IOW profits), which are taxable in taxable accounts, but some equity REITs, for example, do return invested capital.

Also, please note i said some "bond funds excepted". (i do not know how all bond funds work but i know how Vanguard TBM and IBM funds work.)

All the best,
~Moshe

N.B. Please note that Vanguard's ETFs that track the bond funds do work as other equity ETFs and funds.

Dottie57 · Post by **Dottie57** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 11:35 am

With 50/50 stocks/bonds I am at 10% up for the year, plus contributions.

Portfolio7 · Post by **Portfolio7** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 12:29 pm

11.7% as Sept. close. 70/30 split. Small Value tilt hasn't done so well this year, though it rebounded last month.

Toons · Post by **Toons** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 12:35 pm

dwickenh wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2017 10:46 am
Toons wrote: ↑Tue Aug 26, 2014 5:05 pm I don't know but it appears my investment portfolio is worth more than it was this time last year,,and I have been spending money along the way,,,,this is the way long term investing is supposed to work,,methinks
ditto that for me

Best wishes,

Dan

technovelist · Post by **technovelist** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 12:37 pm

About 9.9% investment return YTD.
Approximate AA: 50% gold, 35% Swiss francs, 10% US dollar cash.

dsmil · Post by **dsmil** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 2:00 pm

Up 13% YTD, but it's not an exact number. I took my total returns and divided them by the average of my ending balances each month.

triceratop · Post by **triceratop** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 2:16 pm

According to longinvest's spreadsheet, I am up 17.50% as of 9/30, on a 90/10 portfolio invested internationally at market weight and with tilts. 14.06% investor return since beginning investing in August 2014. I've been a bit lucky with my market timing of tax gain harvesting (and my market timing of purchases generally) this year: I switched from VBR to IJS on the best day of the year so far.

Plenty of volatility along the way.

Ron Ronnerson · Post by **Ron Ronnerson** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 2:24 pm

About 15%.

sharpjm · Post by **sharpjm** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 2:59 pm

13% @ 70/30

JTJjr · Post by **JTJjr** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 4:48 pm

9.72% @39/60/1

Namashkar · Post by **Namashkar** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 5:12 pm

10% YTD. AA 60/40 S/B, (18% of stocks in International and 16% of bonds in international).

stemikger · Post by **stemikger** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 5:58 pm

Personal rate of return from 11/01/2016 to 09/30/2017 is 14.01%
60/40 stock/bond all U.S. (Blackrock U.S. Debt Index Fund and the Vanguard Institutional index Fund).

goingup · Post by **goingup** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 6:53 pm

stemikger wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2017 5:58 pm Personal rate of return from 11/01/2016 to 09/30/2017 is 14.01%
60/40 stock/bond all U.S. (Blackrock U.S. Debt Index Fund and the Vanguard Institutional index Fund).

Interesting time frame!

veggivet · Post by **veggivet** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 7:03 pm

21% year to date. 58, retired, 85/10/5 stocks/bonds/cash. Overweight in tech.

J295 · Post by **J295** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 7:12 pm

This question reminds me of .....

Refrain from the Kenny Rogers song the Gambler

Asking someone on the 17th tee if this is his best round ever.

1030danielle · Post by **1030danielle** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 10:44 pm

Toons wrote: ↑Tue Aug 26, 2014 5:05 pm I don't know but it appears my investment portfolio is worth more than it was this time last year,,and I have been spending money along the way,,,,this is the way long term investing is supposed to work,,methinks

Well said!
Cheers,
Danielle

stemikger · Post by **stemikger** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 12:30 am

goingup wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2017 6:53 pm
stemikger wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2017 5:58 pm Personal rate of return from 11/01/2016 to 09/30/2017 is 14.01%
60/40 stock/bond all U.S. (Blackrock U.S. Debt Index Fund and the Vanguard Institutional index Fund).
Interesting time frame!

lol. Yeah, I just copied from my 401K.

ruralavalon · Post by **ruralavalon** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:49 am

1030danielle wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2017 10:44 pm
Toons wrote: ↑Tue Aug 26, 2014 5:05 pm I don't know but it appears my investment portfolio is worth more than it was this time last year,,and I have been spending money along the way,,,,this is the way long term investing is supposed to work,,methinks
Well said!
Cheers,
Danielle

Age 72, retired. I am always happy

to see that our portfolio is growing at a rate faster than our rate of spending.