Five Years, Lord Willing

Where are you and where are you going?
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fiby41
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Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by fiby41 »

Congrats on reaching the half a million mark!

Jason

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Jason »

Thank you. I appreciate it.

steveo73
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Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by steveo73 »

Jason wrote:
Sun Nov 10, 2019 2:00 pm
Having money is a moat against the indignity of not having money. Other than that, if one is not looking to accumulate things or status, its not much beyond that.
This is a very good point. Not having money sucks. At some point though increasing money doesn't really give you a lot of value apart from being able to do what you want within reason with your time. If it is just for accumulating stuff or having experiences I don't think it increases your happiness that much.

Congrats on the $500k. That is a lot of money.

Jason

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Jason »

In this day and age comparing net worth is a parlor game. On mainstream financial websites $500K is "modest" and as far as retirement goes, not enough. I know its a different mindset here. Where I live and work, I would probably considered behind the curve. There are people on this website who have much more. You can always compare yourself to people have both more and less. That's why I like the thermostat vs. temperature analogy. I think most people don't know what a lot of money is because they have never decided the issue for themselves.

Edit: The other thing is I'm older than most people here. Compound interest has a way of making people look smarter than they really are.

J_
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Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by J_ »

You are doing well Jason! And you are a boon to the forum with your language virtuosity. Although... never mind.

Cheepnis
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Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Cheepnis »

I haven't read your entire journal, but if you've been saving as much as you stated in your first post you must have either eliminated or significantly reduced your mortgage in that time as well, correct? 500k and a paid off house maybe graduates you from a shit-ton of money to an ass-load of money.

Dream of Freedom
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Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Dream of Freedom »

Jason wrote:
Mon Jan 30, 2017 9:49 am
I want to be done in five years. I believe that with 500K, a paid off house and SS and this pension, we can retire somewhere in America. Where is the question.
We have reached a milestone - $500K in money.

Jason

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Jason »

The balance of a mortgage stands at slightly under a buck and a half. We have knocked 25% off in three years. The question I have to work out with the SS is that I can't collect for another 8 years. So one out of the four streams is not flowing immediately. I know there has been a lot of debate on the 4% rule but I'm using 4%.

7Wannabe5
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Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Congratulations!

Not wanting to make a tangle of threads, but do you think that your core metaphysics might have something to do with your perspective that money primarily provides freedom from suffering rather than, perhaps, towards joy?

One of my guilty pleasures is watching talent show audition videos. Doesn't your growing financial independence make you feel just a bit like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej04VAktzyE

Jason

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Jason »

Thank you.

In answer to your question, no. It means that either because of disposition, personality, upbringing, life experience or combination thereof, I tend towards pessimism and despair. Although I am addressing it. I don't think a correlation between worldviews and personality characteristics can be made. Although from experience, the Buddhists I have known, they seem to be the ones most free of from general assholishiness and inclined towards selflessness even though I don't agree with them. Maybe its all the mediation.

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fiby41
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Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by fiby41 »

You may be privately a pessimist but as a money manager you maybe an optimist
Last edited by fiby41 on Tue Nov 12, 2019 10:13 am, edited 1 time in total.

7Wannabe5
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Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Gotcha. Maybe you haven't met enough Buddhists? I've knocked boots with one or two and they can exhibit their own flavor of assholery too. IME, what I will call for lack of a better phrase, New Agey Christians exhibit the fewest superficial asshole-like behaviors. On one occasion I attended an early morning book sale attended by a lot of other dealers in a large space where two lines were forming. The other line was for members of a New Age Christian congregation and you could instantly determine which line an individual was going to join by presence or lack of benign smile on face. Although, it just occurred to me, that because I am definitely on the cheerful, benign looking side for a used book dealer, it might have been even money on me if I had been dressed less grubby.

7Wannabe5
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Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Maybe it is your environment? I think you live someplace like Newark? Maybe if you went and visited the Animal in Alaska you might feel better.

Jason

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Jason »

@Fiby41

My therapist and I talk about the fact that some things are impossible without a degree of optimism. I could see investing falling under that description- it involves planning for a future, the assumption of growth etc. So yes, I am at times an optimist in pessimist's clothing.

@7W5 - The Animal would surely kick me and my frozen mainland scrotum out of his bi-plane after I shoot my own foot instead of our kill and shit turns all Beowulf after I piss into some Eskimo C'hieftains ice fishing hole. I don't live in the hood, but I'd have a better chance of survival there than in the frozen tundra. I mean I can barely shovel my own fucking car out.

theanimal
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Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by theanimal »

And here I was ready to give you a discount on a ticket with Big Love Airlines.

Jason

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Jason »

lol@ well, in that case, let's Northern Exposure this shit

Jason

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Jason »

I went for my annual physical. Before the physical I met with the nurse practitioner to provide blood and urine sample. When I came back with my dixie cup of pee, she exchanged it for a freezer size storage bag that said "Toxic" on it. I said "You have to be bleeping me." She said "You have reached the age where its suggested." I said "Funny, I thought I reached the age where I no longer have to give a bleep." She said "No, its actually the opposite." I said "I have lived long enough to realize this whole life is precious nonsense is simply not true. If this is necessary to live longer, I chose not to." She said "Bring the bag back when you come for your physical. If you have any questions, call." I thought "Wow, someone encouraging me to talk shit."

For two weeks I stared at the shit bag. It sat on my wife's piano. I realized that for the rest of my life, there will be a day worse than April 15, namely "sample my own shit day." The night of the physical, I opened the shit bag, read the instructions and realized this was a five part process of pure fucking indignation and a dexterity I was not certain I possessed. Suddenly, my bowels clenched tighter than JLF's fist around his first dollar bill. I couldn't do it. It was like I literally could not give a shit to save my own life. When I arrived at the doctor's office without my homework, the receptionist was not surprised as she must have realized I was not the type of person who could do something of this nature. I said I'll do it next time. Upshot, I am in good health with the exception of high cholesterol to the point that it appears I can no longer go to McDonald's. Not only do I have sample my own shit once a year, but I cannot comfort myself with a Big Mac afterwards. It was like my own 9/11. My life as I have known it, is over.

We have eclipsed $600K net worth. Thanksgiving was just the two of us. I was thankful for many things, not the least that there are six months before I have to think about sampling my own shit again.

Jason

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Jason »

Net Worth: $675K (92% increase in four years)
Show Me The Money Honey: 560K

I used to think "just save." Just plow the money into the funds and don't think. It's Dave Ramseyish/Jl Collinsish/My Fidelity Investment Advisorsish. Well, ironically, one day I was playing with Dave's investment calculator and I had a light bulb moment. It's actually better to be a better investor. Especially if you are a lazy ass fuck with no discernible do-it-yourself skills such as this writer.

Here are the numbers:

550K saved with additional savings of $1000 per month at 7% in 12 years is: $1,616,000.00
550K saved with 0 additional savings per month at 8% in 12 years is: $1,550,708.00

Difference: $65K

One point of investing acumen is basically equivalent to 12 years of sweating balls in order to add $1000 per month in order to have approx. 0.03 more of a net worth.

I understand that there is a principle/practice dichotomy that plays out in real time, but my basic heuristic on these matters has significantly altered. Because that 1% is most likely going to be produced from an unanticipated holding i.e. acumen equals luck.

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Lemur
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Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Lemur »

@Jason

Thinking on similar lines lately....maybe I'm just bored from the grind but I've been doing the same thing for years. Shovel money into index funds (US total stock market / international / bonds at 60/30/10 ratio) and ignore it.

I realized that with a few successful speculative bets (call options, buying FOMO stocks like SPCE/TSLA, etc.) I could significantly alter my own timeline....I'm not sure if you've ever looked into call options but its very possible to get +100% returns on a few lucky bets. How much of your portfolio you want to allocate is all up to risk tolerance.

Jason

Re: Five Years, Lord Willing

Post by Jason »

Over the last six months I have traded in probably 50K of funds and picked individual stocks. Never took a dollar out just reallocated. I use other people's guidance and stock picks. Read forums, trends, etc. No IPO's. I think shorting/long is beyond my comfort zone as well as my wife's. That being said, the gains have been ridiculous. Now I know its a bull market so who knows. But the fact is, I can't merely look at what the DOW/Nasdaq did that day to know how I did. We still have a large base in funds. It will never be all stocks.

This transformation coincides with free trading across the board. I can buy a stock. One stock. I can buy in increments up to 1K, not 1K as an increment. I have two go-two sub-$15 stocks when I have small balances. Instead of a Big Mac I buy a share of INSG or TLRA.

There was a vignette in a Warren Buffet biography where he was getting divorced and he needed money. So he goes into his room for a day, does some international money exchanges and gets his nut. I guess Charlie was there and he walks out of the room and says (I paraphrase) 'this is too fucking easy." From October till now, I have often thought of that story. Its' not over till the fat lady sings, but damn, this has been too fucking easy.

JLF was spoken upon the definition of diversity. Some people they say "I know cloud computing is the future, so I"m going to buy a ton of these small companies, just so I own the next Microsoft when shit gets sorted out." They diversify within a segment and there is a sense to it. Because well, that's how fortunes can be made. Is it gambling? I don't think its gambling gambling. Its informed gambling. And there is a just as much risk to being too conservative than too aggressive.

And there are certain plays that boost quickly. For me - OKTA - up 300% in two years. You can't hit home runs in funds.

I love reading forums "Talk about your worst investing decisions." The vast majority are of the "I sold" not "I bought" variety. One mantra I picked up - be very lazy when it comes to selling. Ask the average tween texting on their IPHONE who Steve Jobs is and think back upon the concern of Apple's future in 2011 and where it is now.

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