1/12th of the way there!

[ken-do-nim]

I hope this post isn't out of line; the forum does say "or to brag" and I just wanted to share this milestone with my friends here.  My accumulation goal is $3,000,000, and I'm officially 1/12th of the way there in my E*Trade account as of close of business today!



Of course, it is April 1st, and I'm absolutely certain my portfolio will be crushed come Monday.  But I'll savor this for the weekend

To get the balance to come out so even, I added a few bucks from my checking account to round it off.

I hope everybody else's portfolios are similarly kicking butt.

[EricL]

(04-01-2021, 04:51 PM)ken-do-nim Wrote: I hope this post isn't out of line; the forum does say "or to brag" and I just wanted to share this milestone with my friends here.  My accumulation goal is $3,000,000, and I'm officially 1/12th of the way there in my E*Trade account as of close of business today!



Of course, it is April 1st, and I'm absolutely certain my portfolio will be crushed come Monday.  But I'll savor this for the weekend

To get the balance to come out so even, I added a few bucks from my checking account to round it off.

I hope everybody else's portfolios are similarly kicking butt.

That's awesome Kenneth. Congratulations!

[ChadR]

Congratulations. Great milestone to hit. And the second 1/12th will get here even quicker than the first 1/12th.

[fenders53]

Congrats Ken!  This is a long road and setting goals is very important IMO.  I was excited when I hit $100K.  I had contributed a lot of the money working for low pay.  While not a goal it was satisfying when my portfolio grew more in a year than I made at a good paying job.  A few years ago I found the progress chart I made in the late 1980s.  It was yellowed and brittle lol.  I was well ahead of the pace for a long time.  Actual progress wasn't linear of course, but it was a worthwhile projection.

[ken-do-nim]

Yeah in the first six weeks of the year my portfolio grew faster than my paychecks; it was a nice feeling. Sure didn't last!

You should scan your yellowed and brittle progress chart and show us.

******

So now that I refinanced the mortgage and cashed out the house's equity, the next big way I can contribute funds to my portfolio is to sell my grandfather's vintage stamp book from the 1950s. The difficulty is in evaluating how much it is worth. I don't really see anything too similar on eBay, but of what is there, it could be worth $10,000, $50,000, or even $100,000. I don't want to sell it for less than it is worth, so my next major project is to figure that out. And if you're wondering how could I sell such a family heirloom, my grandfather got it for me pretty much for this exact reason. He was always looking for ways to pass things down to us that would grow in value, like rare coins and stamps, and wanted my siblings and I to learn investing.

[NilesMike]

Congrats on hitting the milestone, you certainly are full on with stock investing/trading.

Personally, I prefer a more diversified attack.

XX% in the market
X% in the trading account
XX% in rental real estate
XX% in my house equity
XX% in cash

On the 1st of the month, the rents come in, soon to include Social Security.
2nd week of the month is payday.
Dividends come in monthly for the most part.
Back to 1st, another round of rents, payday and soon Social Security.

I have no rhythm but like that rhythm. LOL

[ken-do-nim]

(04-02-2021, 06:39 AM)NilesMike Wrote: Congrats on hitting the milestone, you certainly are full on with stock investing/trading.

Personally, I prefer a more diversified attack.

XX% in the market
X%  in the trading account
XX% in rental real estate
XX% in my house equity
XX% in cash

On the 1st of the month, the rents come in, soon to include Social Security.
2nd week of the month is payday.
Dividends come in monthly for the most part.
Back to 1st, another round of rents, payday and soon Social Security.

I have no rhythm but like that rhythm. LOL

What's the difference between 'market' and 'trading account' ?

I'll get into the rental game in a few years.  I need to stay in my house while the kids are in the school system, after that I will rent it out and live elsewhere (ideally with a girlfriend).  Mortgage payments are $2200 now but even in today's prices I shouldn't get less than $3000 for a whole house; probably $3500 by the time I move out.

House equity I have to warn you against.  The value of your house goes up and down regardless of how much of your house you actually own.  Of course having a mortgage paid off lowers your monthly expenses, so I generally recommend people to either have the house nearly fully mortgaged or paid off.

Ideally by the time I'm in my 60s I'll also have some self-published material available on lulu.com (print on demand site) which provides additional revenue.

Interesting that you have the 2nd week of the month as payday.  I get paid every other Friday instead.

[fenders53]

(04-02-2021, 06:19 AM)ken-do-nim Wrote: Yeah in the first six weeks of the year my portfolio grew faster than my paychecks; it was a nice feeling.  Sure didn't last!

You should scan your yellowed and brittle progress chart and show us.

******

So now that I refinanced the mortgage and cashed out the house's equity, the next big way I can contribute funds to my portfolio is to sell my grandfather's vintage stamp book from the 1950s.  The difficulty is in evaluating how much it is worth.  I don't really see anything too similar on eBay, but of what is there, it could be worth $10,000, $50,000, or even $100,000.  I don't want to sell it for less than it is worth, so my next major project is to figure that out.  And if you're wondering how could I sell such a family heirloom, my grandfather got it for me pretty much for this exact reason.  He was always looking for ways to pass things down to us that would grow in value, like rare coins and stamps, and wanted my siblings and I to learn investing.

I may have tossed the binder it was in.  If not I will share it.  I had it on digits by the 1990s and referred to it.  It started around 1986 and the goal was to have about $1M at age 53.  My contributions the first five years were literally extra earned side hustle money repairing cars out of my garage as my living expenses consumed my meager paycheck.   Where there is a will there is a way.  

The 2000s bogged me down some but I got caught up with contributions and the bull market of this decade.  My gains were nothing remotely like linear with market crashes, my aggressive investing style and real decent pay the last 10 years beofre retiring.  I have several significant pensions plus SS coming soon.  I also have real estate I sold on contract to keep me out of my stock portfolio.  I prefer to be diversified but this is about as good as it will get.  And I work part-time at HD now because I am frugal and paranoid.    I'll try to stop that in a year or two. I have no real need to worry now.

[fenders53]

(04-02-2021, 07:09 AM)ken-do-nim Wrote:

(04-02-2021, 06:39 AM)NilesMike Wrote: Congrats on hitting the milestone, you certainly are full on with stock investing/trading.

Personally, I prefer a more diversified attack.

XX% in the market
X%  in the trading account
XX% in rental real estate
XX% in my house equity
XX% in cash

On the 1st of the month, the rents come in, soon to include Social Security.
2nd week of the month is payday.
Dividends come in monthly for the most part.
Back to 1st, another round of rents, payday and soon Social Security.

I have no rhythm but like that rhythm. LOL

What's the difference between 'market' and 'trading account' ?

I'll get into the rental game in a few years.  I need to stay in my house while the kids are in the school system, after that I will rent it out and live elsewhere (ideally with a girlfriend).  Mortgage payments are $2200 now but even in today's prices I shouldn't get less than $3000 for a whole house; probably $3500 by the time I move out.

House equity I have to warn you against.  The value of your house goes up and down regardless of how much of your house you actually own.  Of course having a mortgage paid off lowers your monthly expenses, so I generally recommend people to either have the house nearly fully mortgaged or paid off.

Ideally by the time I'm in my 60s I'll also have some self-published material available on lulu.com (print on demand site) which provides additional revenue.

Interesting that you have the 2nd week of the month as payday.  I get paid every other Friday instead.

Mike is a real estate tycoon by my standards.    He has a number of tenants.  I only had one house.  It was mostly a good experience for me.  Tenants paid off every dime, mortgage, taxes, insurance, repairs.  I found somebody with a good down payment and sold it on contract wat an interest rate he doesn't care for.  That's good because I don't want to be a bank forever.  He is spending substantial money on improvements so I feel comfortable with the arrangement.  Childhood friends of my wife's and we know he works steady at his business.  I "suspect" is business is a little heavy on cash and light on taxes or he would have just secured a mortgage.

To your other point I have never liked my residence to be mortgaged any longer than possible.  I always paid them off fast.  I am not hearing "but you can get a better return elsewhere.  Save that argument for somebody who hasn't endured severe stock market downturn.  There is no guarantee.  If I pay my home off I am guaranteed I don't owe the bank anymore interest.  Multiple rental property financing. is different.  A friend of mine bought too much home around 2006 with little down.  It cost him six  figures to move five years later.

[ken-do-nim]

I do see your point about the certainty of not owing money on your home. I'm a Ric Edelman disciple myself: https://www.edelmanfinancialengines.com/...-mortgage/. He's on the radio here in the Boston area every Sunday morning, and I've read his book The Truth About Money, which shaped some of my ideas that are now coming to fruition.

[fenders53]

I will check him out. I will give consideration to anyone's opinion as long as they have been investing at least 15yrs. That's long enough to experience at least one beating. it's important to experience the extreme downside. The experience was horrible but I'm thankful it happened sooner than later.

[ken-do-nim]

I was in my first 5 years of working during the dot com bust. I wasn't investing in the "e" companies, but I had automated monthly investments in Lucent and Nortel that followed them into the grave. In 2002 I cashed out what was remaining in my portfolio for the downpayment on my first home.