checking YTD +/-
 

i invest money on both a scheduled and random basis. i also never really pay attention to what the market is doing, so i am pretty much in the dark as to where i stand +/- wise for the year. anyways, whats the best way to see what i have earned/lost? tax info YTD? i use vanguard and fidelity fwiw.

Re: checking YTD +/-
 

You can look at your historical fund prices on Yahoo. I'm sure you can log onto Vanguard/Fidelity to see when you added money/how much you invested this year. As a very rudimentary estimate you can assume that all money you invested this year was invested on Jan 1, then you can calculate from there. e.g. if the value of your investments was $100,000 on Jan 1 and you invested $20,000 so far this year and you now have $150,000, then you're up ($150K-$120K)/$120K == 25% YTD. Not exact, but close.

Re: checking YTD +/-
 

Pretty sure you can click through somewhere in Vanguard to see your basis on all positions...I can anyway...

Re: checking YTD +/-
 

You can get an accurate "internal rate of return" by calculating it in a spreadsheet like MS Excel. Line up the cash flows and dates in 2 columns. For example,

100000 1/1/2007
10000 1/31/2007
10000 3/31/2007
-150000 8/21/2007

This is 100,000 starting value on 1/1/2007. Then 2 10,000 deposits on 1/31 and 3/31. The current value ($150,000) is negative with todays date.

Then, the function is =XIRR(dollar ranges, date ranges)
example: =xirr(A1:A4,B1:B4)

In this case, the annual return is 44.4%. (The actual return is less, closer to 25% because the year is not over.)

In order for XIRR to work, you have to load an Add-In: Tools | Add-Ins... and choose Analysis Toolpak (or Analysis Toolpak VBA).

-Tom

Re: checking YTD +/-
 

Just look at your unrealized gains/losses on vanguard.

Re: checking YTD +/-
 

I have created a spreadsheet with beginning balance, deposits, withdrawals, commissions, dividends, ending balance for each month (everything can be from the statement) and set a formula for the difference to calculate gains and losses.

For % gains for the year, I take the average end balance each month. This isn't exact, but close enough.