Nov-2011 Vanguard 529 Index Fund Portfolio Performance
Posted on | December 31, 2011 | No Comments
Happy New year to everyone. I hope 2011 was a rewarding year for you and that 2012 will be even better. Even though this is my Nov-2011 performance post (little late, life got in the way, I had to take some time off to study for a professional exam). Let’s take a second to look at the market performance over the past calender year. Over the last year the Vanguard S&P 500 Index fund was down -1.14% without dividends. If you take into account dividends and those dividends are re-invested, the Vanguard S&P 500 Index fund was up +0.24%. (Source: Yahoo! Finance) Never under-estimate the power and importance of dividends, espically, reinvesting dividends. In a couple months we can review the 2-year performance of our 529 Index Fund portfolio.
November was another volatile month for the markets. The month started off well behaved and traded “flat”. Need the end of the month the market took a nose dive based on bad news out of Europe, only to recover by the very end of the month. I added a third line to the chart of the Vanguard S&P 500 Index fund. One can see a second, higher, trading range forming between 111.5 and 118.
S&P 500: Nov-2011 (Year to Date)
Overall market performance between October 31, 2011, and November 30, 2011:
- S&P 500 (^GSPC): -0.51%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI): +0.76%
- NASDAQ (^IXIC): -2.39%
Our sample actively managed mutual fund, the Growth Fund of America (CGFAX), was down -0.55% (before fees) between October 31, 2011, and November 30, 2011. Whereas our age-based benchmark, the Oppenheimer Blended Age-Based 0–6 Years Portfolio, was down -1.26%.
Our more conservative Vanguard index fund portfolio was down -1.57% between October 31, 2011, and November 30, 2011 (before the monthly automatic investment). The heavy weighting in the International Index fund hurt us this month, in addition to the High-Yeild Corporate Bond fund. All five funds were in the red this month. Here is the performance of each individual fund in our index fund portfolio:
|
-2.88% |
|
-0.29% |
|
-0.40% |
|
-2.07% |
|
-0.33% |
At the end of October, the allocation of our Vanguard portfolio was:
- Vanguard Small-Cap Index (NAESX):
- 16.16% (up from 16.01%; goal = 15%)
- Vanguard Total Stock Market Index (VTSMX):
- 15.79% (up from 15.62%; goal = 15%)
- Vanguard Total International Stock Index (VGTSX):
- 37.05% (down from 37.45%; goal = 40%)
- Vanguard High-Yield Bond (VWEHX):
- 15.68% (down from 15.79%; goal = 15%)
- Vanguard Total Bond Market Index (VBMFX):
- 15.32% (up from 15.14%; goal = 15%)
You can see the relative performance of each portfolio on the performance page: Vanguard Index Fund 529 Performance.
Tags: 2012 • 529 Performance • CGFAX • Index Fund • Oppenheimer • Vanguard
Comments
Leave a Reply
About
Follow along as I test three portfolios against each other—using my own money! You have read the investment blogs, now see these theories in action.
SUBSCRIBE TO MY FEED
Subscribe via Email
Search
Join U Promise for FREE
Over the last year, we have earned over $50 with Upromise. Never turn down free money! Please click on the above banner to join for free.