Calendar 2011 Recap

After three short months of working on the “Rescue My IRA” strategy, I have decent enough results to report.  This post is a summary of the account’s performance so far, basically adding up everything that has happened in 2011.  I don’t want this annual post to be overly redundant to the monthly reports, and since this first one is for just three months, I’m afraid I don’t have a lot of material.  So next year’s annual report will probably have a bit more meat to it.

Not to mention that it will foster a more consistent analytical approach.  I simply don’t have much data, and the basis of this account has changed quite a bit over the first three months as several accounts were combined to form it.  So I suppose we should call these results “illustrative” – although there are real, actual, cold hard cash results included.
Performance Metrics:
Total Option Premiums Collected (net, 2011):  $2,013
Capital Gains Collected (net, month of December): ($459)
Dividends Collected (recognized on the ex-date): $344
Interest on Cash Reserve (estimated total): $.70
Total, Absolute Return:  $1,898
Absolute Return, Percentage Basis:  3.71%
Annualized Return, Percentage Basis:  15.03%
As I mentioned in yesterday’s “monthly recap” post, I rolled a sizeable 401(k) into the Rescue My IRA portfolio during the month of December.  I established a couple of new positions with those funds (and maintained a “legacy” position of 800 shares with ACM), so calculating anything in much more detail doesn’t seem to accomplish much.

The takeaway, though, is easy enough to discern.  I set out to achieve a 1% return monthly, and an annualized return of 12%.  So far, so good on these, I met that objective.

I am looking forward to making some progress on my goals in 2012.  Here’s to you, hoping you accomplish your financial goals as well, dear reader!