Mar 4th, 2009
Tumblin’ Down: How My Model Portfolio Did in February
Last month our model portfolio–and the rest of the market–kept going down. February, I was hoping, would be better, but sadly, it was not better.
The Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSMX) continued its freefall, this month down another 10.45%! The T. Rowe Price International Discovery Fund (PRIDX) was also down, although it did a bit better at 7.60%. The Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund (VBMFX) was also down, a meager 0.79%, while paying a yield around 4.71% (which is what really counts for a bond fund), and the Vanguard GNMA Fund (VFIIX) was actually up–just a cent–which is a microscopic 0.09%, but still paying an even better 4.86% yield.
All told, like the market as a whole, the portfolio continued to slide in February. How much farther will it go? I hope not much, but only time will tell–this is quite a bear market, but since I’m a buy-and-hold-while-investing-regularly kinda guy, we’ll keep going with the bulls and bears, up and down.
