My Watching Paint Dry Investments

Tracking my investments in 2015 has been lot like watching paint dry.   A lot of time goes by and very little seems to happen.   With 2015 almost over, most of my accounts within a couple percent of the beginning of the year.   One managed account is down about 7% and one is up about 10%.    So overall, everything is about the same.

One reason is that I have chosen to invest in stocks that pay above average dividends to build a more dependable source of retirement income.  These stocks usually don't see significant short term price appreciation, and thus have a smaller impact on the account value.  In fact, several of my purchases have fallen with the expectation of Fed raising rates.   So most of my account growth will come from dividend payments, which will be about  1- 1.5% of the invested value per quarter.

Another reason is that we chose to be conservative in 2014 and put significant amounts in 5-10 year CDs paying 2-3%.   While better that the 0.01% of money market accounts, 2-3% still feels like very little annual growth.   But it's steady.

Finally, I don't get any immediate benefit from income,  since the investments are in IRA accounts and I am still below the age for penalty free withdrawals.    In about 2 years, I will be eligible for penalty free withdrawals and hopefully will benefit from "watching paint dry" during this time.

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This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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