Saturday, March 21, 2009

Weekly Update: Battlestar Galactica Edition

The big news this week, at least for those of us with a geeky bent, is the series finale of Battlestar Galactica. It was an excellent series, not just in the science fiction genre, but as a broader drama, touching upon and exploring some of the deeper issues facing our society. It's a rare series that can be so emotional enveloping, but this series succeeded. The fact that it had semi-regular spaceship fights and some cute robot girls was just an added bonus.

Just two things that bothered me: first, the ending. I'm not going to spoil it for you, but cripes was that a convoluted way to wrap things up. To say nothing about raising more questions than it actually answered...

Second, apparently there's going to be a two hour 'event' in the fall, looking at some of the events from the series from the perspective of the Cylons (the race of evil robots, if you've never caught either the original series or this current remake). While this is a good thing (I'm not going to complain about more Galactica), it does make me think: is it really a season finale if they're already planning more stories (even if just as a two-hour movie)? These are the questions that haunt my mind (which tells you quite a lot about said mind).

On that geeky note, onto the finances:

Savings

PNC (Checking Account) $ 1329 +$1144
Susquehanna (CD) $ 2542 +$0
ING Direct (Checking) $ 55 -$50
ING Direct (Savings) $ 1338 -$1668
ING Direct (Orange CD) $ 1016 +$0
HSBC Direct (Savings) $ 23 +$0
Smarty Pig (Savings) $ 948 +$248
Vanguard (Money Market) $ 901 -$400

Total Savings $ 8152 -$726

Investments

Vanguard (Roth IRA) $ 6654 +$1128
- Small Cap Index (NAESX) $ 3326 +$167
- High Dividend Yield (VHDYX) $ 2796 +$429
- Foreign Total Market (VGTSX) $ 532 +$532

Share builder (ETFs) $ 2771 +$61
- Total US Market (TMW) $ 905 +$10
- Extended Market (VXF) $ 756 +$11
- Total Foreign (VEU) $ 550 +$24
- Small Cap Value (VBR) $ 256 +$7
- Emerging Markets (VWO) $ 304 +$9

Total Investments $ 9425 +$1189

Total Assets $ 17,577 +$463

Debts

MasterCard (JCPenney) ($ 28 ) +$107
American Express ($ 652) +$1260

Student Loans ($ 11,874) -$8

Total Debts ($ 12,554) +$1359

Net Worth $ 5023 +$1822

Not bad, I'd say. A combination of getting my tax refund deposited (over $1300) and some investment gains allowed me to get some substantial increases in my net worth. I paid off my credit cards; a neutral issue as far as net worth, but it was nice to eliminate the debt.

I am in the process of opening a Foreign market fund with Vanguard for my retirement account; on April 2nd, the Susquehanna CD will be cashed out and transferred into my VGTSX fund (which is why I was able to open that Vanguard fund without meeting the $3000 minimum, in case anyone was curious).

All in all, pretty solid week.

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