What A Year For Investing: Here's Hoping To A Calmer 2021

[Singuy]

2020 will probably go down in history as one of the most volatile year in market history. It was a year that tested people's patience, convictions, and their investment thesis. I don't know about you guys but I can definitely take a breather and hoping that 2021 beyond will be in calmer waters as the pandemic becomes history and the economy recover stronger than before. Every now and then there needs to be a forest fire just so the trees can come back stronger.

[Jluke]

401k. Started 490k to low of 330k ending around 605k.

yeah that’s some swings!

[disneysteve]

I don't have the final numbers worked out yet but a pretty decent estimate is that our portfolio grew by around $285,000 in 2020. I'd be perfectly happy to see that happen again in 2021. I don't care about the volatility. I only care about the end result. Four more years of growth like that and we'd be all set for retirement.

[kork13]

This isn't everything, but it's representative of the rest that's sitting in our TSP accounts. My Vanguard accounts went from $316k (Jan'20) -> $254k (Mar'20) -> $314k (Dec'20) ... and that includes withdrawing ~$85k from our taxable investments between May-Jul to buy our current home outright, while only restarting contributions in ~Oct. Overall, we've earned ~16.5% in 2020. A successful year to be sure, albeit somewhat nauseating as we rode the rollercoaster. Sayonara, 2020...

I do think it'll be really interesting to see how all of this ends up morphing our economy in the long term. Some aspects will likely return to normal, but as we've discussed previously, some parts of the economy will remain dramatically altered (I'd bet on lots of telework sticking around, for example).

[Scallywag]

It's been an excellent year for my ROTH, a decent year for my 401K rolled over into an IRA from a previous employer but a very nominal year for my husband's 401K. Overall, I'm very pleased BUT I'm concerned we'll never see these kinds of returns again. I just think 2020 will be the best year in a long time... almost like 1999.

[srblanco7]

Our portfolio ended up more than 21% for the year - but was down $800k in March and ended the year up $800k, so a $1.6M swing over the course of a year. A "stomach churner" for sure - which reinforces the "stick to the plan" mantra.

As Kork noted - it'll be interesting to see what the "new normal" looks like as we emerge from the pandemic. Would seem there's likely to be long-term impacts to the commercial real estate market. Would assume there's significant pent up demand for leisure travel & vacations, though I'm not certain if business travel will reestablish at the same levels as we've all become accustomed to virtual engagements.

[parafly]

My net investible assets grew by 28.8% in 2020. This includes contributions and gains.