One of the great things about following a financial game plan is that if you stick with it long enough you'll be surprised at how much you'll end up accumulating. Conversely, those who don't follow a financial game plan will wake up one day wondering where all their money went! Here is the Financial Samurai Investment Tracker Spreadsheet to help you stay invested and focused.
For the past several years, my goal was to invest between $5,000 – $20,000 a month in order to generate enough passive income to take care of a family. I define investments as anything I put new money towards that has the potential of increasing my net worth e.g. paying down debt, buying an S&P 500 ETF, building a municipal bond portfolio, venturing into real estate crowdsourcing, expanding a home, and so forth.
With a $5,000 – $20,000 a month investing cadence, I figure my net worth should grow by at least $60,000 – $240,000 a year. If I stay disciplined over 20 years, then I could finally retire in Hawaii and do nothing instead of grind so much with all of you!
Everybody should at least max out your 401k so that worst case, you'll end up a millionaire after a lifetime of contributions. Time in the market is truly an investor's best friend.
2016 Investment Summary
For the first time, I've decided to do an analysis of all the investments I've made in a year to see if I actually followed through with my $5,000 – $20,000 a month investing goal. When we're not diligently tracking our finances with free tools from the likes of Empower, I've found our expectations are quite different from reality. Through tracking, I also wanted to see if I could observe any bad habits in order to make improvements.
I'd like everybody to list their monthly investments for the year and make some observations as well. Here are mine:
January: Bought $5,000 of VYM, (Vanguard High Yield Dividend ETF) in my after-tax investment account. I stuck with accumulating one equity ETF all year in my after tax investment account to simplify. VYM has a dividend of roughly 3.2%.
February:
1) Bought $10,000 of VYM.
2) Bought $5,000 of AMZN (Amazon, wish I bought so much more) in my after-tax investment account.
March: Bought $5,000 of VYM.
April: Bought $5,000 of VYM.
May:
1) Bought $5,000 of VYM.
2) Venture debt capital call of $14,250 (Fund I).
June: Opportunity knocks
1) Bought $10,000 in VYM post Brexit. Actually put to work a total of $76,500 in idle cash, but took profits after a 4% rebound, hence why there's only $10,000 in net new investments. I was very cautious the first half of the year and was just waiting for an opportunity that finally came
2) Venture debt capital call $750 (Fund II).
July: Venture debt capital call $2,150 (Fund II). Pretty slow month. Went to Hawaii for a first half business offsite. July was the one month I didn't reach my $5,000 minimum investment cadence. Instead, I took some profits ($55,000) on an investment I made in 2012 to pay for my deck.
August: Focused on debt pay down
1) Refinanced a 2.625% 5/1 ARM that was set to expire in 2017 down to 2.375%. New expiration is 2021.
2) Paid down $3,380 of extra principal on the 2.375% mortgage.
3) Paid down $6,400 of principal on a 2.5% mortgage.
4) Paid down $2,000 of principal on a 4.25% mortgage.
5) Venture debt capital call $4,150 (Fund II)
September: Rare equity offering, felt like I was going to miss a rally
1) Invested $50,000 in a S&P 500 structured note with 150% upside participation and a 30% downside barrier in my after-tax investment account. $40,000 of the $50,000 came from a called Netflix structured note that got called after one year. It's too bad because the note was paying a 14% annual dividend and was way in the money. Net new investment amount = $10,000.
2) Deployed 100% of my remaining $150,000 rollover IRA cash in the 150% S&P 500 upside participation note as well. It definitely didn't feel like a no brainer investing a total of $200,000 in this structured note at the time, but the terms of the structure note were just too attractive. Net new investment amount = $0 since I just used idle cash.
3) Invested $15,000 in this principal guaranteed (can't lose money unless Citibank goes out of business) structured not that returns the average returns of the S&P 500, EuroStoxx 50, and Aggregate Bond Index after 5.5 years. In retrospect, this was a overly conservative investment that's probably not going to return much at all.
4) Invested $10,000 via Fundrise in a commercial property with a target IRR of 18% over five years. Don't let me down East Coast!
5) Paid down $6,600 of principal on a 2.375% mortgage.
6) Paid down $1,000 of principal on a 2.5% mortgage.
7) Paid down $12,000 of principal on a 4.25% mortgage.
8) Bought $5,000 shares of VYM.
October:
1) Paid down $5,500 of principal on a 2.375% mortgage
2) Contributed $18,000 to my self-employed 401k and invested the money 50/50 in DVY, the iShares Select Dividend Equity ETF, and IEF, the iShares 7-10 Year Bond ETF. DVY and IEF are commission free ETFs with Fidelity. I view this self-employed 401k as a bonus fund to build on the side with my side hustle income. More contributions will be made after I do my 2016 taxes in order to ascertain the exact contribution amount possible. I do some occassional corporate consulting to stay connected to society on top of my main business where I have a SEP IRA.
3) Paid down $2,500 on a 2.5% mortgage.
November:
1) Invested $50,000 in the California Muni Bond fund, CMF post presidential election.
2) Invested $20,000 in my SEP IRA and invested half in DVY and half in IEF. SEP IRA was also started on Jan 1, 2014. Should have started it in January 1, 2013, but I didn't know better.
3) Paid down $2,000 of principal on a 2.375% mortgage.
4) Paid down $3,000 of principal on a 2.5% mortgage.
5) Paid down $2,000 of principal on a 4.25% mortgage.
6) Venture debt capital call $3,600 (Fund II)
December:
1) Bought $60,000 of California Muni Bond, CMF.
2) Bought $24,000 of five different California zero coupon bonds.
3) Bought $20,000 of MUB (iShares Municipal Bond Fund) to diversify.
4) Paid down $5,000 on a 4.25% mortgage.
Investment Spreadsheet Overview
I'm probably missing an investment or I mistook some new money for existing money, but to the best of my knowledge, the above chart encapsulates the amount of new money I invested in 2016.
At one point in early 2015 I got down to about $35,000 in cash after paying off my condo rental property. It didn't feel great having that little cash even though paying off a mortgage felt amazing. Then I got up to about $300,000 in cash in order to amass a large enough downpayment by the winter of 2017/2018 or winter of 2018/2019 to buy another property. But it felt bad earning only a 0.2% money market return, so I decided to start investing more aggressively in September.
Here's what I've learned this exercise:
1) Underestimated my monthly investment cadence of $5,000 – $20,000. My real monthly average investment cadence is roughly $29,273. I'm basically investing the large majority of my earnings each month because I'm addicted to investing. Once food, shelter, and transportation are covered, all I can think about is what to invest in. Not a month went by where I didn't put some capital to work.
2) Stock investments were front loaded in the first half of the year. When the market was tanking in February, I pressed a little more with a $15,000 equity investment. I tried to be opportunistic during the Brexit sell-off in June, but foolishly didn't hold on to my $76,500 new money investment after a 4% rebound. If I held on, I'd be up another 5%+. Perhaps every year there's this irrational optimism during the new year to invest in equities that I need to watch out for.
3) Started late with paying down my mortgage. I didn't start a regular mortgage pay down cadence until August because my last refinance took almost four months, starting in March. I paid down $130,000 in principal to qualify for a 2.375%, $850,000 5/1 ARM. The $130,000 came mostly from money earned in 2015 and random asset sales. Each time I refinance, I like to pay down a chunk of principal to at least ensure I'm making good progress. In retrospect, I shouldn't have been so aggressive in paying down my mortgage given rates increased and the stock market rocketed higher.
4) Irrationally paid down lower interest rate mortgages. I should be focused on paying down my highest interest rate mortgage of 4.25% with the smallest balance. But I didn't because it reminds me of the bad timing I made buying my Lake Tahoe vacation property in 2007. I thought I was getting a deal when I bought it for 12% less than the previous owner, but then it proceeded to plunge in value by 30% – 40% during the financial crisis! I'm finally above water, but still down from my purchase price. At least this property has given me wonderful memories and I never plan to sell anyway. The condo serves as a great reminder never to confuse brains with a bull market. Always carefully analyze every single investment beforehand. I plan to always write about big purchases on FS before making a decision from now on.
5) The total amount invested in stocks and bonds is roughly $265,000. The new money investment split is 35% stocks and 65% bonds after going aggressive into bonds in November and December. The ideal timing would have been to invest $265,000 into the S&P 500 when it was down 10% in February. But timing the bottom is a fool's game. For the new year, I plan to methodically invest in a 40% stocks and 60% bonds ratio to be more defensive. I've also rebalanced my portfolio to a 40/60 ratio as well.
Related: The Proper Asset Allocation Of Stocks And Bonds By Age
6) Venture debt slowdown. After investing $120,000 in my first venture debt fund, I decided to only invest $50,000 in my second venture debt fund because I'm worried about my friend's ability to make his target returns of 15%+. Due to large startup costs, the return for the first venture debt fund is closer to 8% if there are no more workouts in the portfolio. The amounts you see in the chart are capital calls. When you commit $50,000, you don't send the $50,000 right away. Instead, you pay as you go when the General Partners find new investment opportunities. Capital calls are good in a way that it forces me to invest. If it wasn't for a capital call in July, I would have invested in anything.
7) New asset class investment. I finally got my ears wet by investing $10,000 in a 5-year, 18% target IRR, commercial real estate deal in Conshy, Pennsylvania via Fundrise. The process was a lot easier than expected since everything was done electronically. I've earmarked another $10,000 for another deal, and plan to continue working my way up to building a $250,000+ real estate crowdsourcing portfolio this year. I'm hoping that with the historical 9% – 15% returns, and a rise in the required returns due to a rise in interest rates, I'll be able to easily clear my modest 4% growth target with a diversified portfolio of 10 or so RE crowdsourced investments.
8) I have a dumbbell approach to investing. On the one hand, I like to invest smaller amounts when I first get started e.g. $10,000 in real estate crowdsourcing, P2P lending, etc. On the other hand, I have no problems swinging for the fences when I strongly believe in a particular investment, e.g. $178,000 in muni bonds in November and December, and two S&P 500 investments totaling $200,000. That said, I've gotten in trouble in the past by buying too much, too soon. Therefore, I should spread my investment tranches further.
9) Stayed away from wants and desires. Given I invested a large majority of my income each month, I didn't leave room for buying anything unnecessary. I came very close to spending $60,000 – $70,000 on a mid-life crisis car three times this year, but didn't because I always thought about how much I could have in 5-10 years if I invested wisely today. After every close spending call, I gave Rhino, my handsome 2015 Honda Fit, a good wash. Then all of a sudden my desire for a new car would fade.
10) Back-end loaded investments. Roughly 85% of my new investments were made in the second half of the year due to the presidential election. In other words, my investments are event-driven in nature because that's when opportunities arise the most. I was very cautious the first half of the year because the job market and real estate market were slowing here in SF. For 2017, my biggest worry is that Trump creates too much foreign backlash due to incendiary rhetoric. I pray nothing terrible happens this year, but it feels like an inevitability.
Related: Practice A Better Dollar Cost Average Investment Strategy
11) Compare the ratio of new investments with existing investments. The higher your ratio, the more active you are in growing your net worth. My goal is to try and grow my net worth by 10% a year. It gets harder to do as your net worth grows and your risk tolerance declines. This year, existing investments went up by ~8%, and new money investments went up by ~6%. In other words, my public equity/fixed income investments underperformed the S&P 500, but outperformed my investment target of 4% – 6% a year. However, it's possible my real estate investments outperformed the S&P 500 (~40% of net worth) and I know my business value (20% – 30% of net worth) grew by much greater than 10% due to a 35% increase in top line revenue.
12) Keep on stretching. I'm now upping my monthly investment cadence to $20,000 – $35,000 a month on average. With this goal in mind, I now feel the pressure to keep on saving, earning, and grinding. I want to be like Mr. Zhang, the $271,000 a year janitor who challenges himself every day by not letting his $58,000 base pay or occupation get in the way. My prior minimum monthly investment target of $5,000 put absolutely zero pressure on me to try harder. With family responsibilities, the need for income is more important than ever.
Overall Insight
New investments + existing investments in a bull market = net worth acceleration. When times are good, it's important to press as much as you comfortably can because good times don't last forever. Eventually something bad will happen if you live long enough. When that time comes, we've got to rely on all our efforts during the good times to see us through.
My fear lies in missing out on investment gains instead of having nice toys to show off to my friends. Besides a mid-life crisis car, there's nothing more I really want. Instead, it feels fantastic to continue practicing Stealth Wealth while ensuring that nobody in my family has to go back to work or struggle financially. Taking care of my family is now the most important duty I have.
Although ~$352,000 is a good amount to put to work, it's smaller than the paper gains from existing investments. I was expecting a ~$300,000 decline in the value of my existing assets at the beginning of 2016. Such dumb luck is why I'm happy with paying down debt and building a muni bond portfolio for more modest returns. Dumb luck is also the reason why I want to actively contribute as much as possible so that I can rely less on luck to survive each passing year.
Track Your Investments Already
Everybody should already be tracking your net worth online. The easier it is to track your investments, the more you will pay attention to your money. Come up with your net worth goals and talk them over with your close friend, partner, or loved ones. You'll learn something about your risk tolerance, your investing habits, and whether your actions are congruent with the way you think. Only then will you become a more disciplined investor over time.
In addition to leveraging the latest technology to grow your wealth, I've put together an Investment Tracker Spreadsheet for you to download. Input your own numbers to see how much you've contributed this year. Go through the same exercise I went through in this post to find out your tendencies. Feel free to change the categories or include all your financial investments, instead of just new money investments. I'm pretty sure that once you input all your numbers you'll be surprised by the takeaways.
Achieving financial independence is all about developing a system and following through for a long enough period of time. Don't be the donkey who frivolously spends everything he or she makes during a bull market, thereby missing out on incredibly lucky returns. Let's try to maximize the good times for as long as possible!
Related:
Financial Samurai 1Q2017 Investment Recap
Financial Samurai 2Q2017 Investment Recap
Invest In Private Growth Companies
Finally, consider diversifying into private growth companies through an open venture capital fund. Companies are staying private for longer, as a result, more gains are accruing to private company investors. Finding the next Google or Apple before going public can be a life-changing investment.
Check out the Innovation Fund, which invests in the following five sectors:
- Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
- Modern Data Infrastructure
- Development Operations (DevOps)
- Financial Technology (FinTech)
- Real Estate & Property Technology (PropTech)
Roughly 35% of the Innovation Fund is invested in artificial intelligence, which I'm extremely bullish about. In 20 years, I don't want my kids wondering why I didn't invest in AI or work in AI!
The investment minimum is also only $10. Most venture capital funds have a $250,000+ minimum. In addition, you can see what the Innovation Fund is holding before deciding to invest and how much. Traditional venture capital funds require capital commitment first and then hope the general partners will find great investments.
thanks for all the detail of your investing. i just do not find the foundational information, other than you have a tendancy toward hard assets and away from funny money when appropriate.
i mean, where is the ‘technical analysis’…?
isn’t that part of what you did coming from a background in finance and investing at GS and CS?
even a search for this doesnt have any articles.
You’re welcome. I find technical analysis regarding reading charts and Bollinger bands etc to be bogus. But there are books on technical analysis if you want to read them. Check out Amazon.
Hi Sam, it is a great article and it inspires me to go ahead with my plan for 2017 to save and invest more aggressively.
The stock market is doing great but it seems to me that it has been doing great for too long. I am not complaining of course, but still it makes me thing that there must be a turning point some time. Just to be prudent,
I will divide my monthly savings into 2:
1. 50% in the stock market;
2. 50% in debt investments: deposits, bonds and possibly some P2P lending.
Thank you and keep it up!
Valentin
Great article !!! Thank you so much for posting.
The details you have provided are just amazing. It is inspiring too. For me, I do NOT have anywhere close your investment. But there are some positive improvement I have done in 2016 compared to previous years.
1) Maxed out my 401K ($18,000) (80% Vanguard Small Cap Index fund. 20% Vanguard total Bond Market index fund). That’s the best I could find in my company 401K choices.
2) Maxed out Roth IRA. ($5500) (60% Vanguard Total Stock Market Admiral Shares. 40% Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Admiral Shares).
3) Vanguard REIT Index Fund Admiral Shares ( Invested $10,000).
4) Vanguard High Dividend Yield Index Fund ( Invest $ 20,000)
In 2017, I am planning to continue the same and invest $5000 in HSA account. If I can do that, I will be happy.
Thank you again,
Sonny
Hi @financial samurai – quick question what amount of capital did you need to start out on your investing?
I started out with $500 investing in my online brokerage account. It was Ameritrade for me back then. Always good to start small and work your way up as you get more experience and knowledge.
Commission costs have come down since then, and now a trade costs $7.95 or less at most places. Motif Investing is cool because you can buy up to 30 positions for $9.95. That’s a huge savings for investors just starting off. The problem I see is that it’s hard for Motif to make any money. Hopefully investors will keep investing in them to help subsidize the retail investor.
Sam, can you tell any reasons you chosen RealtyShares over Fundrise? Thanks!
Sure:
1) RealtyShares is based in SF, some I’m partial to helping/investing in SF-based companies
2) The CEO went to Haas Berkeley for his MBA like me
3) I’ve met the CEO, VP of Finance, Director of Marketing, Marketing Manager, and Capital Markets person multiple times (at a conference, lunch, at their office)
4) They were very responsive over e-mail, whereas one firm in LA who contacted me were not, then their CMO left. Fundrise was also very responsive and excellent to work with.
5) They’ve raised a good amount of money and have been operation for 4 years, longer than most
6) They’ve got the most robust platform in terms of number of deals so far
At the end of the day, I want to focus my attention on one platform. It’s easier and more efficient for me. Fundrise is pretty good too, it’s just a little less familiar since they are in the DC area. It really gives me confidence when I can meet with people in person.
Sam
Hi Sam, been following your blog for quite some time now. Thanks for your insightful posts. My question is, why did you select muni bonds that pay ~2-3% yield when there are other bonds in out there that pay more? What do you think of corporate bonds at the moment? I’m no expert in bonds but am in search of good bonds to buy.
Secondly, what are your thoughts on high div stocks (VYM etc) versus bond investments at this moment for the next 2-3 years?
Lots of questions! Check out: The Case For Bonds and The Proper Asset Allocation Of Stocks And Bonds By Age.
There’s no free lunch. Higher returns are almost always accompanied by higher risk.
Hey Sam, it seems like you have a high net worth with a decent chunk of change to invest. VYM is a good basket of stocks, but why not something like the VTSMX (total stock market)? Over the short term (1 year) to long term (5-10 years), VTSMX has consistently beat the VYM and offers a more diversified portfolio to protect your investment. Curious.
I’m always up for better ways to invest. Can you provide an analysis of the dividend comparison between the two and the relative performance over a three, five, 10, and lifetime period so far?
My VYM purchase is in my main after-tax portfolio. But I have several portfolios due to the nature of my age and my business.
There is truly and endless amount of investments one can buy. How long have you been investing and what is your end game? This will help me understand your perspective more. Thanks
Have put a bit of money to work in alt-energy sector based ETFs (PBW & TAN).
IMHO S&P is a bit extended now – but this sector still trades like it’s 2009. It will be a long-term hold for me but optimistic that today’s trash is tomorrow’s treasure.
Watching the XBI also.
Samurai –
Great post and definitely love summaries – I think we all do. I remember in late 2015/early 2016 I wanted to commit to an overall $3K in investments in the year in the market alone… turns out I had almost $45-$46K done on the year, and trumped the hell out of what I thought was going to be consistent & difficult. Always go harder and stretch further, now I even have a new baseline of well over $40K expected per year to be contributed/invested. Thanks again FS, keep it up.
-Lanny
Well done 15Xing your initial investment desire in 2016! Wow, that’s really crushing it. It goes to show how much more you can save/invest if one actually focuses.
Hi Sam! Happy 2017. another great post.
REAL Financial Planning is about helping us get really clear on what we want to do. Having said that, I loved reading: “For the past several years, my goal was to invest between $5,000 – $20,000 a month in order to generate enough passive income to take care of a family.” If MORE people were able to summarize their goals like you have (and more importantly take action on it), the financial independence revolution would be something of a reality!
Until then, we (as you say) keep grindin’.
Since ‘sharing’ is a common theme here, let me say I continue to use your “Above Average Net Worth for the Above Average Person” as a measuring stick.
For 2016, my wife and I max’d out our 401k, IRAs and also saved over 35% of our after tax income. Re cc debt, none (800 club baby!) and our major liabilities is our mortgage (which we pay every 15 days to accelerate our principal payments, and squeeze our prop tax deductions for year end). We only use a CC to maximize points for the cash back incentives.
For 2017, our new goals include increasing our after tax savings to 50%. YTD we’ve saved 48% (not including our tax-deferral contributions); and tighten our expenses on ONLY the things we need. To your point, I loved how you went through the motions of a crisis car purchase but ultimately decided to keep your HondaFIT.
My point is FS continues to inspire the like-minded!
Stay on it Sam!
student of stealth wealth,
DDH
Great job maxing out your pre-tax retirement accounts AND saving 35% afterward! Once you get to that 50% savings amount, it’s like the seas part where you’re just banking freedom each year that goes by at a 1:1 ratio. It gets super addicting, and it’s something I miss, so enjoy the journey!
Where do you see muni bond funds going in 2017?
With regards to venture debt funds unfortunately unless you know someone, the barrier to entry is quite high. I inquired and was told $500k minimum for a few of the funds that were still raising.
After buying a lot of muni bonds in December, my hope is 2%-3% principal appreciation while collecting a 4% – 5% gross dividend yield. But I’ll settle for 0 principal gain and a 4% – 5% gross dividend yield. I’d like to eventually build a muni portfolio equal to my mortgage to 100% live for free.
Awesome job on your investments! It’s such a great idea to track everything. It really does add up quickly and getting into a rhythm can pay off nicely.
Last year I worked on rebalacing and increasing my exposure to bonds through emfs like CMF. I also continued to add to my positions in DVY and invested into a couple structured notes.
This year I plan to continue legging into my existing positions and possibly increasing my international exposure. Emerging markets are tempting me a bit but I’ve been burnt before so I’m still cautious. My goal is to invest at least $10k a month this year.
That’s an impressive amount of capital to put to work. I especially like the AMZN purchase. It’s the best company out there today and my second largest position. That and Google are the best companies in the world right now, IMHO. Best regards, 10
Am expecting a correction soon as well so scaling back on equities. Still looking at Realtyshares & Fundrise, but, hesitant to pull the trigger since these are not tangible assets. Also, as you mentioned in your previous post, waiting for the Property correction to jump in and hold onto something more tangible. Hey Sam, have you looked into “RoofStock”? What do you think of it?
Prices have already been correcting in places like SF and NYC for about a year now. It’s the heartland of America that’s good value and has lots more upside IMO, especially with the Trump administration’s policies.
I’ve never heard of RoofStock.
Do you reinvest the dividends and capital gains from VYM in your taxable account?
Sam, what are your thoughts on maxing out 403b even if a couple has 60-70% of their highest paid year coming in the form of a pension? Would you still max out the pre-tax dollars (36K) or dedicate more savings to after-tax if it’s impossible to invest significantly in after-tax after maxing out the 403b accounts (with college tution quickly approaching, etc.).
I’d still max out your 403b. It’s kind of like putting on your oxygen mask first before helping your child.
I’ve found that the more cash poor we are, the more focused we are with optimizing our finances since we don’t have as much left. Post coming on this topic shortly.
Of course, it’s up to you guys to decide how cash poor you want to be. If it’s hurting your marriage, preventing you guys from doing things that bring happiness to your family, then dial it down.
I put another $4000 into my business, $4000 in my IRA that is 90% equities and directed as a Target Retirement Date account, and used $4000 to pay down debts. I also played with individual stocks and spent less than $100 trying to learn a little about DGI and how those processes feel.
Just wanted to say thanks – it’s interesting to see other peoples investments strategies, especially in such detail.
Secondly, if you were able to put in over $350,000 in mostly after tax new money into investments – I greatly underestimated how much a blog like this could bring in! Has me re-evaluating my day job and side hustles. :)
The exercise was eyeopening for me as well. I hope you do the same exercise and learn something new.
I aggressively reinvest my passive income sources and business cash flow each month. I haven’t been really motivated to grow my online income due to what I feel are excess taxes and fees. But if the corporate tax rate gets cut to 15% as Trump proposes, I’m going to go all out for the next 4 years to try and earn as much as possible before tax rates go up. Why not right? It’ll be fun!
Related: How Much Can You Really Make Blogging?
I love how you will drop $150,000+ on Munis and then only $5,000 on AMZN. After reading your posts for the past 6 months I am still trying to wrap my head around the Financial Samurai system. There has to be some logic here! I am investing almost everything I make just like you, but I have been buying a ton of individual stocks ($100K+ in AMZN earlier in the year) and a few dividend finds (but not too many). I have been researching dividend investing more (trying to move beyond just index funds and tech stocks) and the $2,000-$5,000 annual dividend income goals most dividend bloggers have are too small for my tastes. Dividend stocks just seem way too expensive also. Thanks for sharing this. I was so focused reading it I almost missed my plane!
Man, that’s awesome you bought $100,000 of Amazon this year! I was too hesitant in the first half of the year to get too long into equities. I should have bought more, but it’s always shoulda, coulda, woulda. It’s what happens when you get old and risk averse. As they say, hindsight is always 20/20.
What else did you buy besides the $100K in Amazon? BTW, do you do still do SEO consulting work? I’m going to do the HTTPS transition one day this year and need some help making sure everything is optimized after.
In mid Feb I also bought CRM, NFLX, and my only bad decision was CMG. But I put a lot less money into them than AMZN. Only about $35K across them, but definitely made some money. I plan to hang on to CRM and CMG, but I’m pretty conflicted on NFLX. With so many other streaming options and big NFLX competition in Africa I don’t know if I will keep it.
Yes, I definitely still do SEO consulting and I am working with about 3 or 4 bloggers a month in addition to running my agency. HTTPS is a great decision – I’ve helped a few Universities do the switch recently and probably 25+ in my career, so I’m well versed with the challenges. You should see about a 5% organic lift pretty quickly, then obviously the impact over time should be greater.
Happy to chat offline, just shoot me an email anytime.
I got some NFLX myself…. Reed Hasting, the founder spoke at my Berkeley MBA commencement in 2006 when the stock was at $10 and Wall STreet was bashing the hell out of it for going to zero. Should have put my entire life savings in then!
Great stuff on SEO. Have shot you an e-mail.
Thanks
Hi Sam,
If you reinvested your dividend income that should count as new money. Factoring in my dividend income boosted my yearly contributions up by 20%. I have all my funds and stocks automatically reinvest the dividends so I didn’t even think of it until I looked at last years tax return. A very pleasant surprise.
Thanks, Bill
I love the end of the year because I get to look at my lovely spreadsheet and see where I am at. Last year changed a lot for me and I’ve read a lot more. Should be clear of the credit card debt by April then snowballing into the medium term debts then plowing investments. Thanks for the posts, they are inspiring.
Sam, your “Investment Summary” an excellent idea that I’ve added to my net worth tracking spreadsheet. The spreadsheet has 13 plus years of data updated monthly, and it reveals the magic of my saving and investing over time. Starting January 2017, my net worth tracker now includes any significant investments or financial events during a given month. I think of it as the road map to my current net worth, including any significant bumps. Just wish I had thought of this 13 years ago.
One more note, I enjoy and respect you talking about money, financial concepts and investments, but not acting as a financial advisor. This gives you greater credibility in my assessment.
Am actively looking into RealtyShares.
Happy New Year!
Nice work, Sam.
I added approximately $275K of fresh capital into my after tax brokerage accounts and bought some equities that were on my watch list. Need to keep building out for the future.
I haven’t built up the bond ladder yet but I’m eyeing these opportunities. I am in a different tax situation where dividend income is taxed favorably given my federal tax credits from living overseas so I’m continuing to build up this channel.
-Mike
I’m currently delaying bond purchases as they offer little yield and values will surely suffer with interest rate increases.
Sam, I like your strategy of crowdsourcing RE investments but I am worried at some of the properties I noticed on the platform.
Took a random sample of SF properties and found the projections for selling price too optimistic even considering the Bay Area. I know Bay area so it was easy for me to conduct the analysis. I am wondering how to do that in an unknown area and avoiding buying lemons. Even if the investment is backed by RE; it hold little comfort when the value of the Re itself is much lower than what the market can bear. Thoughts?
Have there been SF properties? If so, I missed them or just wasn’t looking for them as I’m already long SF. My focus has been to look for properties in the Midwest and South for much higher cap rates.
I don’t believe in any of the coastal city real estate projects at this moment, because prices are coming down or at least flatlining now.
Couple of SFH. Midwest also has risen to crazy levels and the fear is that it may fall harder than Bay area due to lack of jobs :(
Hi Sam,
Since the age of 17, I have wanted to be financially free. The thought consumed me, and I was constantly reading articles. To put it brief, it was my dream. Your articles were the ones that first got me interested, and I think I have read every single one! I have already started investing and have tried a few things here or there, but I haven’t really found a true fit yet. I’m 18 now, and am really looking for a mentor to steer me in the right direction. I know with a little bit of guidance I can do big things!
I would really appreciate some advice,
Tj Hunt
TJ – The biggest things you should focus on are:
1) Maximizing your income and income streams by taking advantage of your energy. One day it will fade, and hopefully by then, you’ll be reaping the rewards.
2) Contributing as consistently as you can, which will make the bigger difference to your overall net worth the first 10-15 years of your investment life.
3) Reading everything you can about investing from all different perspectives. You need to read about what happened in 1997, 2000, 2008-2009 to realize there have been huge downturns in the past. Never confuse brains w/ a bull market.
Best of luck!
Sam