2010 Personal Financial Goal Review

These changing years
They add to your confusion
Oh and you need to hear
The time that told the truth
--Level 42

Had a fortunate 2010 from a personal finance standpoint. Was able to achieve my biggest annual goal: to pay off the home mortgage. Mortgage was off the books in September and am currently debt free. It feels gooood.

A noticeable difference w/ being debt free is how much quicker savings accumulate. This may be 'obvious' but, until I didn't have mortgages and other debt sources siphoning off big chunks of income, I didn't fully grasp how much I was running on the hamster wheel when it came to building liquid assets.

My other primary goal in 2010 was to increase physical gold levels. I was more aggressive here than originally planned. Bullion stock increased by over 50%, most of it added in Q1 and Q2.

Physical gold is harder to trade--an advantage if you're looking to stay involved in this asset class for the long term (as I am). While I was only able to capture some of the big lift in precious metals by trading 'paper' ETFs like GLD and SLV, my position in physical gold helped me participate nonetheless.

My other 2010 goal was to deploy more capital should a deflationary downleg occur in the markets. We had a couple of these downlegs in 2010, and I was 'there' to some degree. I also traded the uplegs, of which there were several as well.

In fact, the theme of my investing/trading behavior during 2010 might best be described as 'trend catching.' I tried to catch at least part of the major market lifts and declines, and I was fortunate to some degree. This approach netted high single digit returns during a year when the SPX increased about 13%. Fine with me given my overall risk profile.

All in all, a year to be thankful for.

position in SH, gold