Author: danny

USCPA Journey #19– AUD Exam Result

I was really nervous, but thankfully… I passed.

It feels like I’ve finally crossed about 90% of the CPA mountain.

My girlfriend said she couldn’t see any of the typical traits of someone who studies well in me — and honestly wondered if I’d ever pass studying the way I do. She says it’s kind of a miracle that I actually made it. To be honest, that comment annoyed me a bit — which, in the end, pushed me to work even harder during the last stretch.

For the final section, Regulation, I only had about 6–7 weeks to prepare. I wasn’t sure if that would be enough, but I decided to give it everything I had and pass it in one shot.

When I first started this journey, it felt like a long, dark tunnel — and now that there’s just one subject left, it feels surreal. Can’t wait to finish and finally relax.

Let’s go! 💪

Sep 2025 Performance (AUM KRW 224.5M)

AccountThis month2025 Cumulative Amount
KRWUSDKRWUSD
Pension Saving Fund––6.0M–
ISA–5.7M
IRP–3.0M
Roth IRA–––$8,000
Total––14.7M$8,000
ETFMonth-over-Month ChangeQtyTarget%
KODEX S&P500–4,47910,00045%
KODEX NASDAQ100–3,7898,00047%
TIGER TDF2045–6041,50040%
VOO–4030013%

At the start of the year, it plunged, but in the blink of an eye, my portfolio hit a record high.

I’m reminded once again that you have to buy when it drops.

Aug 2025 Performance (AUM KRW 212.8M)

AccountThis month2025 Cumulative Amount
KRWUSDKRWUSD
Pension Saving Fund––6.0M–
ISA–5.7M
IRP–3.0M
Roth IRA–––$8,000
Total––14.7M$8,000
ETFMonth-over-Month ChangeQtyTarget%
KODEX S&P500–4,47910,00045%
KODEX NASDAQ100–3,7898,00047%
TIGER TDF2045–6041,50040%
VOO–4030013%

I don’t really have anything to talk about. Let’s just keep grounded.

USCPA Journey #18– Starting REG Subject

Somehow, I’ve made it to the final section.

Since my NTS has an expiration date, I need to take the exam by mid-October. With a business trip and travel plans already set for then, I scheduled the test for 10/09.

A retake of AUD looks likely, but since the AUD score won’t be released for another four weeks, I’ll focus on the final section for now.

USCPA Journey #17 – AUD Exam Recap

For both FAR and BAR, I didn’t walk out of the exam with overwhelming confidence, but at least with those sections you get a sense of what you got right or wrong since they’re so number-heavy.

Audit, on the other hand, was a completely different story. During the exam I actually caught myself thinking, “So… when am I going to retake this?” That’s how tough it felt. It wasn’t so much the difficulty level itself, but rather the unexpected types and scope of questions that threw me off.

Even after going through all the Becker problems, I still faced a lot of questions that felt totally new. For Audit, I realized that drilling questions isn’t as effective as thoroughly memorizing the concepts, phrases, and reports. The lectures had mentioned this, but it didn’t really click until I took the exam. I think it’ll probably take at least 7–8 full passes through the textbook before I can sit for the exam without confusion.

For now, I’ll stick to the plan and move on to REG prep. Only six weeks left until the test.

July 2025 Performance (AUM KRW 212.8M)

AccountThis month2025 Cumulative Amount
KRWUSDKRWUSD
Pension Saving Fund––6.0M–
ISA–5.7M
IRP–3.0M
Roth IRA–––$8,000
Total––14.7M$8,000
ETFMonth-over-Month ChangeQtyTarget%
KODEX S&P500–4,47910,00045%
KODEX NASDAQ100–3,7898,00047%
TIGER TDF2045–6041,50040%
VOO–4030013%

The S&P 500 hit another all-time high (ATH), pushing my retirement portfolio to a new peak.

Still, with money going out left and right, I didn’t make any additional contributions this month either. Feel quite bad.

June 2025 Performance (AUM KRW 200.1M)

AccountThis month2025 Cumulative Amount
KRWUSDKRWUSD
Pension Saving Fund––6.0M–
ISA–5.7M
IRP–3.0M
Roth IRA–––$8,000
Total––14.7M$8,000
ETFMonth-over-Month ChangeQtyTarget%
KODEX S&P500–4,47910,00045%
KODEX NASDAQ100–3,7898,00047%
TIGER TDF2045–6041,50040%
VOO–4030013%

The S&P 500 hit an all-time high (ATH), pushing the valuation of my retirement portfolio past the 200 million KRW mark.

Once again, I didn’t make any additional contributions this month—zero investment for two consecutive months. The guilt is real. I need to think seriously about what to do in July.

Since staying still felt a bit boring, I plugged in the number of shares I own for each holding. I didn’t have specific share count goals before, but while making the table, I impulsively set some targets. If I manage to stick to them, I might just retire and chill comfortably.

June was a booming month for KOSPI. Even the long-neglected stocks in my portfolio surged. I’ve been buying little by little whenever prices dipped—and finally, they’re starting to shine.

USCPA Journey #16 – AUD Exam Scheduling

Started studying AUD in March.

I worked hard through March and April, but after visiting Korea in May, I couldn’t keep up with studying. Now I’m slowly getting back on track.

The exam date is set for August 16.

Looks like I won’t be able to take a summer vacation this year 😢 — the goal is to finish strong with the AUD exam in August and the REG exam in October.

May 2025 Performance (AUM KRW 192.1M)

AccountThis month2025 Cumulative Amount
KRWUSDKRWUSD
Pension Saving Fund––6.0M–
ISA–5.7M
IRP–3.0M
Roth IRA–––$8,000
Total––14.7M$8,000

It feels like just a few days ago when the market plunged, yet now the U.S. indices are magically heading back toward their previous highs. Due to a slightly weaker exchange rate, my portfolio hasn’t rebounded as much as the indices themselves—but at this pace, I’m okay with it.

Last month, I fully contributed the planned investment amount for the year, so this month’s investment is nothing. It’s the first time I’ve gone an entire month without investing a single penny, and it feels oddly guilty. Even if it’s not in the plan, I feel like I should at least be putting in a little. I’ll likely have more “no-investment” months coming up, which might make investment performance posts less interesting—so I may start looking for other types of content to share.

The reason I’ve scaled back is because I’m getting married early next year, and I’ll be needing some cash.

I invest with a 70% passive / 30% active split, while my fiancée goes for 40% passive / 60% active. (I’ve been trying to convince her to lower the active share… but no luck yet.)

We both didn’t want to liquidate our investments for the wedding, so we decided to cover the expenses using just our salaries and a bit of savings.

Last month, I flew back to Korea and, in about ten days, we managed to take care of everything: meeting the parents, booking the venue, doing the studio shoot, and selecting our wedding rings and attire. I still don’t believe how we did them all in a very short period time.

Apr 2025 Performance (AUM KRW 185.1M)

AccountThis month2025 Cumulative Amount
KRWUSDKRWUSD
Pension Saving Fund––6.0M–
ISA–5.7M
IRP–3.0M
Roth IRA–$500–$8,000
Total–$50014.7M$8,000

With a $500 contribution to my Roth IRA, I’ve now completed all my 2025 retirement account contributions—roughly 26 million KRW in total.

For three consecutive months, even with additional investments, my portfolio value kept declining like magic. By mid-April, I had almost given up all previous gains, though fortunately, much of it recovered by the end of the month.

I probably won’t be making any more contributions for a while. But if there’s another sharp drop or a prolonged downturn, I might consider buying more index ETFs through my ISA account.