TorstenInLosAngeles

Today, we drove to Bryce Canyon. A 4 hour ride from Mesquite/Nevada where we stayed (and gambled - and lost $100) overnight. First we took the I15 to Highway 14 and from there Highway 89 into Bryce Canyon. Entrance fee is $25 but we have a Year-Pass (about $80) for all the National Parks which is a really good investment. The drive in Bryce Canyon is very scenic, I guess it’s best to drive all the way to the end to the Rainbow Point (about 20mi) and then stop on the way back at the different points of interest. It was bitter cold but the road was free and clear and luckily the weather was sunny. Tonight we are staying at the Brycevalleyin in Tropic (What a name for city when it is that cold). It’s about $50/night including breakfast (and they also have wireless). Tomorrow, we will drive to Capitol Reef and maybe stop by the 3 State Parks on our way (Kodachrome Basin, Grand-Staircase Escalante and Anasazi State Park). Most roads in the park are for 4-wheelers though and I don’t know if I can risk my little Hyundai on them… will see.

I am on the road again, like always at this time of the year. This year me and my partner are going to a roadtrip to Southern Utah (Zion, Bryce, National Monuments) and maybe further north to Salt Lake City. I just hope they don’t have to dig us out of the snow.
I bought snow chains though …

Just to update my quick calculation from yesterday I did a whole review how I fared with Sharebuilder so far.

I come more and more to the conclusion I should take my losses and pull all the money from my Sharebuilder account. Even if that means spend another $20 to sell these two positions.

Last year I opened an account with Sharebuilder. Since I am also a Costco Member I got a $55 sign up bonus and a 10% (quarterly) transaction discount on the $4 fee for each invested amount. Sharebuilder is now part of ING but they still offer the Costco Discount and the $4 transaction fee but they lowered the price for selling shares to now $9.95.
For the first couple of months I invested $50/month and then $100 but after I did some calculations I found out this is pretty stupid.
Lets do some calculations:

1. Transferred $100 to the Sharebuilder account.

2. Now, if I had just left the $100 in the Cash Account that is also a money market account (currently 4.11% 7day average) for a year I could have had $104+ at the end of the year.

3. But I invested that amount and because their is a $4 fee the actual investment into Shares/Mutal fund is only $96.

4. Quick calculation: (8/96)*100 = 8.34% This is the percentage my $96 investment has to gain before I will have just as much money as in the ~4% money market account !

If you now consider that the average long-term return on Stocks is between 8-10% then investing a small amount as $100 with Sharebuilder is a bad investment. It is much worse of course for $50 or less.
I am now considering to accumulate at least $1000 in the Cash Account before making an investment, then the $4 I will be only 0.4% of the total amount and I can make some money with the money market account before I reach the investment amount.