Auld Lang Syne

New Years is past. 2013 is in the rear view mirror. As is the rest of the world, I am looking back and looking forward. The last several years have been a "duck head" time. The agenda has been pour in more capital, move money (and debt) around,  hope for recovery, continue with saving discipline, stop spending on travel, toys, etc.

I entered 2013 in the throes of a major professional transition, merging a small business into a large one and withstanding the cash flow dislocation and cultural transformation required to manage that. In the midst of that I was managing the contract renewal and growing expectations of a junior associate, negotiating the anticipated retirement of another partner and strategic planning for the succession plan. Fortunately, 2013 was financially a good year and we didn't have too much stress on the cash-flow side.

With respect to the retirement planning, one qualified plan turned into IRAs, a new qualified plan was opened and funded. I'm now becoming used to the fact that there is no new money flowing into the "used-to-be" qualified roth and traditional accounts, and the now-Roth and traditional IRA accounts are only traded to rebalance, or replace equities. This has been a good thing, as it has forced me to evaluate how each equity is performing and whether or not it still belongs in the portfolio. New money is going into a smaller qualified account with a small-cap DGI focus. I am still not doing much outside the tax-deferred arena and probably won't, aside from trying to keep up on life insurance premiums. Loans against life insurance will have to wait, as will the big mortgage, until property values have adequately recovered to allow us to get out from under the current home without bringing cash to the equation. Rentals will stay in place until this spring/summer, at which time we'll test the market and hopefully sell the majority of them. 

This anticipates the issue of 2014 goals;

1) Continue maximizing pre-tax income deferral.
2) manage IRAs for dividend growth and total return, in that order
3) Sell one rental house, one rental condominium and reposition the cash receipts (refund life insurance cash values)
4) Test the market on primary residence, either sell later in 2014 or plan to sell in 2015.
5) Reduce expenses where possible; pay off auto loan with bonuses. Potentially pay of LID debt on street improvement

Goals for retirement investments
1) Total return 8% or greater
2) Portfolio dividend yield 3% or greater
3) Each holding grows dividend at greater than rate of inflation
4) Reinvest all distributions and dividends
5) Maximum pre-tax deferral including "catch up"
6) total portfolio growth in value for 2014 ( capital appreciation, dividends reinvested and salary deferral) should be 13% or  greater

I think these are all very realistic goals that can be achieved, unless the country falls into another recession and property values plummet, market returns plummet.