This is shaping up to be a good year for investors

[Dave McClung]

If you have not checked your retirement account in a few months, you may be pleasantly surprised. 2012 is beginning to look like a good year for investors. With the market swinging so wildly, it is pretty easy to have a negative attitude about the investment markets, but for those who invest for the long-term the day to day swings don't really matter.

Let me point out a few "bright spots":

I invested in Fairholme (FAIRX) about three years ago. Since the beginning of 2012, it has produced a Total Return of 24.84%. I would be pleased with that return for the entire year.

Another of my funds, Dodge & Cox Stock (DODGX) is up 15.95%.

My worst performing fund is Vanguard Energy Inv. (VGENX) which is up only 2.37%.

If the markets can just hold their current gains for 2012, I will be pleased.

[Jim Franklin]

The closest I will ever become an investor is to put on one of my $ .79 vests left over when I bought on sale while I was working at JCPenney.

[Doug Ward]

Unless you bought a load of Facebook at $39.00. Seems I remember someone saying wait until it goes below $25.

[G R 'Scott' Cundiff]

If you have not checked your retirement account in a few months, you may be pleasantly surprised. 2012 is beginning to look like a good year for investors. With the market swinging so wildly, it is pretty easy to have a negative attitude about the investment markets, but for those who invest for the long-term the day to day swings don't really matter.

Let me point out a few "bright spots":

I invested in Fairholme (FAIRX) about three years ago. Since the beginning of 2012, it has produced a Total Return of 24.84%. I would be pleased with that return for the entire year.

Another of my funds, Dodge & Cox Stock (DODGX) is up 15.95%.

My worst performing fund is Vanguard Energy Inv. (VGENX) which is up only 2.37%.

If the markets can just hold their current gains for 2012, I will be pleased.

I looked at my Fidelity 403b yesterday and it's at over 7% this year. I was feeling pretty good about it till I saw your 24.84%!

[Dave McClung]

I looked at my Fidelity 403b yesterday and it's at over 7% this year. I was feeling pretty good about it till I saw your 24.84%!

Don't let my example make you feel bad. Obviously that was the best performing fund. I have a diversified portfolio, so some are doing better than others. a 7% return for the first 7 months isn't a bad return.

The only reason I shared that information is because there is so much "doom and gloom" in the media. It is easy for those who don't watch the real numbers to feel gloomy about their retirement. I keep reading that 2% return on investment is the "new normal." The truth is that there is no such thing as "normal." Over the long run, governments can't hold interest rates at artificial levels and 2% return is certainly an artificial level.

As I have said many times before, "those who consistently spend less than they make will prosper over the long term."

[Dave McClung]

Unless you bought a load of Facebook at $39.00. Seems I remember someone saying wait until it goes below $25.

I don't own even one share of Facebook! I am not smart enough to trade stocks, so I stay away from initial offerings.

[Rich Schmidt]

The Dow Jones Industrial, Nasdaq, S&P 500... All the indexes are up since Jan. 1, 2012 (and Jan. 1, 2011).

We bought some shares of Apple (AAPL) at $385 last October. Then some more at $505. Then a bunch more at $545. On Friday, AAPL closed at $621.70. So we're feeling pretty good... and I'm wishing I'd bought a lot more than I did at $385!

At this point, I think we're going to wait for the shares to convert to long-term gains, then start donating them to the church in chunks as our tithe. That way we'll avoid taxes on the increase (since we'll never receive it), get tax credit for the full donation/sale amount, and the church will still get the tithes they would have received from us. So, for example, in October, when that first chunk of stocks crosses the one year mark, we'll donate it to the church... and then do the math to see how many weeks of regular tithing that covers for us. I think it will be enough to get us to the next stock gift.

That's our thinking right now, anyway. We'll see.

[Doug Ward]

Rich, thanks for sharing that. It is wise and good advice.

[Roy Richardson]

If you have not checked your retirement account in a few months, you may be pleasantly surprised. 2012 is beginning to look like a good year for investors. With the market swinging so wildly, it is pretty easy to have a negative attitude about the investment markets, but for those who invest for the long-term the day to day swings don't really matter.

Let me point out a few "bright spots":

I invested in Fairholme (FAIRX) about three years ago. Since the beginning of 2012, it has produced a Total Return of 24.84%. I would be pleased with that return for the entire year.

Another of my funds, Dodge & Cox Stock (DODGX) is up 15.95%.

My worst performing fund is Vanguard Energy Inv. (VGENX) which is up only 2.37%.

If the markets can just hold their current gains for 2012, I will be pleased.

I checked my COTN 403b account and I am up 11% on the year, which is a good year. Let's pray it holds.

[Dave McClung]

The Dow Jones Industrial, Nasdaq, S&P 500... All the indexes are up since Jan. 1, 2012 (and Jan. 1, 2011).

We bought some shares of Apple (AAPL) at $385 last October. Then some more at $505. Then a bunch more at $545. On Friday, AAPL closed at $621.70. So we're feeling pretty good... and I'm wishing I'd bought a lot more than I did at $385!

At this point, I think we're going to wait for the shares to convert to long-term gains, then start donating them to the church in chunks as our tithe. That way we'll avoid taxes on the increase (since we'll never receive it), get tax credit for the full donation/sale amount, and the church will still get the tithes they would have received from us. So, for example, in October, when that first chunk of stocks crosses the one year mark, we'll donate it to the church... and then do the math to see how many weeks of regular tithing that covers for us. I think it will be enough to get us to the next stock gift.

That's our thinking right now, anyway. We'll see.

Rich

Your idea of donating the appreciated stock is a good one. Linda and I have done the same. That is one of the "tax loop holes" that has not yet been closed.

The problem we encountered was that we wanted to make one donation a year rather than a few shares a month because there is a transaction fee with each sale of stock. The fees are minimized when all of the shares are donated at once. Then we discovered that local churches (our experience is with 3 different churches) are not prepared to manage tithe on an annual basis. Each of the churches where we have paid tithe budgets on a month to month basis, so they tend to put excess receipts into a "reserve fund" which doesn't get spent on ministry. Based on our experience, it is better for the donor to give in one large donation, but it is better for the local church to receive the donation in monthly payments.

We have addressed that issue by establishing a Donor Advised Fun with the Nazarene Foundation. The Nazarene Foundation is familiar with how to handle stock donations and is able to minimize the fees. We make one donation a year to the foundation, then the foundation sends a monthly check to the local church -- everybody is happy.

[Dave McClung]

The Dow Jones Industrial, Nasdaq, S&P 500... All the indexes are up since Jan. 1, 2012 (and Jan. 1, 2011).

We bought some shares of Apple (AAPL) at $385 last October. Then some more at $505. Then a bunch more at $545. On Friday, AAPL closed at $621.70. So we're feeling pretty good... and I'm wishing I'd bought a lot more than I did at $385!

At this point, I think we're going to wait for the shares to convert to long-term gains, then start donating them to the church in chunks as our tithe. That way we'll avoid taxes on the increase (since we'll never receive it), get tax credit for the full donation/sale amount, and the church will still get the tithes they would have received from us. So, for example, in October, when that first chunk of stocks crosses the one year mark, we'll donate it to the church... and then do the math to see how many weeks of regular tithing that covers for us. I think it will be enough to get us to the next stock gift.

That's our thinking right now, anyway. We'll see.

I buy mutual funds and exchange traded funds rather than individual stocks, but I have participated in the Apple perfomance too. When I look inside the funds I hold, Apple is the third larges holding. Almost 2% of my retirement portfolio is in Apple.

[Rich Schmidt]

I buy mutual funds and exchange traded funds rather than individual stocks, but I have participated in the Apple perfomance too. When I look inside the funds I hold, Apple is the third larges holding. Almost 2% of my retirement portfolio is in Apple.

This was our first time buying an individual stock. I felt comfortable enough with my knowledge of the company and its trajectory to invest.

Rich

Your idea of donating the appreciated stock is a good one. Linda and I have done the same. That is one of the "tax loop holes" that has not yet been closed.

The problem we encountered was that we wanted to make one donation a year rather than a few shares a month because there is a transaction fee with each sale of stock. The fees are minimized when all of the shares are donated at once. Then we discovered that local churches (our experience is with 3 different churches) are not prepared to manage tithe on an annual basis. Each of the churches where we have paid tithe budgets on a month to month basis, so they tend to put excess receipts into a "reserve fund" which doesn't get spent on ministry. Based on our experience, it is better for the donor to give in one large donation, but it is better for the local church to receive the donation in monthly payments.

We have addressed that issue by establishing a Donor Advised Fun with the Nazarene Foundation. The Nazarene Foundation is familiar with how to handle stock donations and is able to minimize the fees. We make one donation a year to the foundation, then the foundation sends a monthly check to the local church -- everybody is happy.

I'd be happy to consider a Donor Advised Fund down the road. Right now, it's not a good fit for us. It takes $10,000 to get one started, and we're not talking those kinds of numbers yet.

Besides, I think our church can handle the budgeting issues. We're not advanced enough to have a reserve fund, even. Just a building fund and an operating fund with enough cushion in it to see us through any short-term lean times that may come. We set our budget annually, and then we spend money as we need to, whether it fits the budget exactly or not. We look at the numbers every month, but we don't adjust the budget every month. Things fluctuate month to month. We'd go crazy if we tried to adjust our spending to match our income every month.