Hey look, we’re halfway through 2018 already! Time to look back on the first half and a little more…
Portfolio Pops
The S&P 500 was flat for the first half of 2018, but my portfolio is up $87,269. About $20,000 of this is due to 401k contributions! (Thanks blog income and Mrs. 1500’s job!) Another $16,000 is from real estate investments including private loans and syndication deals (the trailer park has made $0 so far). The other ~$50,000 is from tech stocks.
Tech Stocks FTW!
While I’m a big believer in indexing, I wasn’t always that way. When I launched this blog in January of 2013, I didn’t even know what an index fund was:
My stock picks overall have beaten the indices by a large margin, but they’re not sustainable for the long term. I have no idea when empires will fall and they all fall.
However, in the near term (less than a decade for everything except Google [IPO purchase baby]), it’s going very, very well.
I’m a geek:
- I dream about electric
sheepcars. - I talk nonstop about stuff like VTOL autonomous aircraft and battery technology.
- I’m obsessed with augmented reality and artificial intelligence.
So, almost all of my stocks are tech. Software is eating the world and it’s also boosting my wealth. Amazon is absolutely killing it this year. So are Google, Facebook and VGT (Vanguard technology index fund):
Fitness Flops
One of my FIRE goals is to become fitter. My skinny frame’s ideal weight is around 150. That didn’t stop me from ballooning up to 180 at my low (high?) point. Not good. I’m trying to remedy the situation…
Running Sucks
Does anyone actually like to run? I don’t think so. But it’s good for us humans, right?
My fitness challenge for the first quarter of 2018 was to run a half-marathon and I would have liked to do it in 2 hours or less. I ran it, but 30 minutes tardy of my goal. I’ll run another one at the end of 2018. Wish me luck.
Strength Training
My second quarter goal was to increase strength. I was doing pretty well with this one. But then, the girls got out of school and I lost my focus. At the end of May, it all fell apart. Ya’ gotta wanna and I didn’t want it bad enough. I didn’t make the time for training, but I’m back on the horse now. Stay tuned for more updates and disturbing pics in the near future.
Steps
Running is hard. So are pull-ups and push-ups. However, walking is… well… walking. Easy. One foot in front of the other.
My goal is to walk 6,000,000 steps this year and I’m happy to report that I’m ahead by 160,390 steps:
Finally, a win!
FI Thoughts
I’ve been on vacation, so have had some time to think. While walking on the beach, I had these thoughts.
FI Friends
My favorite part of blogging is the excellent community of other bloggers and readers that I get to interact with. I’m reminded of this every time I meet folks in the community. On our current road trip:
- Our friends, the Waffles on Wednesday people hosted a party on July 4th and invited members of the FI community. All of the people were pretty great and one of them had even flown F-16s!! It’s not every day that you get to chat someone like that up. Very cool. (Note that I’m also obsessed with aviation.)
- On another day, Mrs 1500 and I met with a reader decided he wanted to pursue FI and went after it full-throttle. While he’s not retired yet, he very quickly acquired a mini real estate empire. It’s neat to see people make a swift life-pivot when they realize they want FIRE. And is also neat when you can chat about Python programming with the same person.
- Mrs. 1500 and I also got to meet the Crispy Doc. Crispy Doc is a great guy who was kind enough to serve us a delicious lunch in a beautiful park near the beach:
When I started this blog, I avoided personal interactions. Now, I seek them out. There are so many interesting people with good stories, it’s not hard for even an introvert like me to enjoy these meetings.
Decompression
I’m in a better place than I was last April when I left my job, but I realized on our vacation that I’m still not quite where I need to be. Our vacation is slow paced, but I find myself planning when I’m supposed to be relaxing. Living in the moment ain’t easy!
Big Tailwinds
When I started this blog on January 1st of 2013, our investment portfolio was worth $586,043. 66 months later, it’s worth $1,614,970 for a gain of $1,028,927. That breaks down to increases of $15,590 per month. But not so fast:
- $100,000 of this gain is due to a house sale that we put into the markets.
- About $150,000 is due to 401(k) contributions.
- A little more (somewhere south of $50,000) is due to after-tax investments.
After subtracting these contributions, my portfolio appreciated by about $10,600 per month. I’m fortunate to have gotten lucky with my stock picking:
I’m also fortunate in the big tailwinds that Mr. Market has given us. Those tailwinds won’t last forever, but I’ll take them while I can get them. And when they stop, I’ll wait patiently for them again.
Life is good.
Life is good!
I’m not doing awesome with my fitness or weight loss goals either, but I haven’t fallen completely apart. I’m interested to know more about the next half marathon. Where do you plan to don the bunny suit?
Cheers!
-PoF
Bunny suit! It should be December or January. NOT in Minnesota. Want to join us??
Relaxing takes practice too Carl, you can do it! Keep researching mindfulness and practice being in the moment…
I’m on track with my strength training goals (really my only goal is to be safe & go regularly) but my cardio disappeared after our Bunny race… my IT band just really does not like running, but I’m with you on the walking!
Are you still slowly unwinding some of those individual tech stock positions…?
Enjoy the rest of your trip home!
My IT band doesn’t appreciate long distance running either, but I haven’t given up trying to convince it!
Yep, slowly unwinding the tech. I’ll probably sell another 200 shares of Facebook at the end of 2018/beginning of 2019.
6 million steps is a lot. Wow! I targeted 5, but am behind. In the beginning of the year, it was too cold. In spring, I was busy, and now it is too hot. I guess even my excuses muscle is not getting better..
Haha! I’m with you on the temperature excuses. Exercise outdoors, especially when it’s hot, is misery.
I can relate to finding it hard to exercise with kids not in school. It’s hard to have any free time when I have to take care of the kids!
Looks like your doing well Mr. 1500! Your stock picks are doing awesome! Enjoy the summer!
Mr. Tako recently posted…June 2018 Dividend Income And Expenses
So glad to have gotten the opportunity to hang out with you guys while you were here and introduce you to our awesome FI friends. We had such a blast; good food, great beers, and even better conversations! The people we have met in this community have really been the best part of this whole FIRE thing. Hope you guys enjoy the rest of your travels!
Thanks so much for having us over! We made some great memories!
my stocks are pretty tech heavy. i have about 30 names but 11 of them make up the bulk as they’re huge gainers. the 401 is all in indices through work. last year the individuals gained about 34% to 17 for the indices and this year it’s 12% over somewhere about flat. those 2 big beats can take you a long way and you can always pivot and sell them at any time. that’s the beauty of a strategy is that it doesn’t have to be permanent. i wrote something about aging and fitness not too long ago. i have plenty of time to be fit but the motivation sometimes lacks. that food looks great.
freddy smidlap recently posted…What’s Your End Game? I’m Selling!
I’m spoiled with the tech stocks returns, My best is Google, a friggin’ 20 bagger! I’ll never repeat that again!
Fitness is hard. It’s difficult to keep the passion levels high. And when you’re not passionate, it’s easy to throw in the exercise towel.
When the weather is right, bike instead of running. There is always a breeze when you’re biking. Biking is gentler on your feet, knees, and hips. A change is as good as a rest, so take the monotony out of your exercise routine. (Add some lap-swimming too.)
When you bike, you can yack with the other people who are biking with you.
I love biking and have plans to mountain bike with a friend when I get back.
Agreed that it’s a lot easier on the body. My knees never protest on a bike ride.
Dude, you’re killing it! Our portfolio has been flat with the market, but I can’t complain after all the gains we’ve already had the last few years 🙂
It’s funny to say it, but vacation planning takes up a lot of time and energy! After travelling year round the last two years, it’s been nice to take this summer and relax at home. Even without any big trips, we’re still just as busy enjoying the local life.
Looking forward to catching up with you in NYC, it’s coming up soon!!
NYC will be awesome! I think our Airbnb even has a private outdoor space. We’d love to you have and Mrs. CK over for dinner.
And you’re totally right; travel planning is a drag. The Mrs. and I just declared a couple days ago that we’re staying local next summer.
Glad to hear you’re enjoying it! I have a feeling I’ll be the same way in terms of finding it difficult to relax once I hit FI (whenever that is haha)
Jealous of your trips and all the FIRE people you get to meet! Would love to be able to have the freedom to do that with the people I’ve connected with through the blog as well
Life. Is. Good.
Sounds like most of your goals are still pretty good. I mean to run a 1/2 marathon that is great. I just want to get to a 5k. Fitness goals, IMO, are probably the hardest because they are totally on you. You can blame the market, in some respects, if you don’t hit your FI goals, but the fitness and health goals are totally on oneself.
Totally true regarding fitness goals. It’s easy to maintain FIRE. not so easy to maintain the internal fire…
Summer is tough on fitness goals. I’m a teacher and when I go into summer and break my normal routine (like when you had the kids come home) it is always hard to maintain everyday discipline.
Clint recently posted…The Pros & Cons of Credit Cards: Not Just Another Affiliate Article
I’m on a fitness journey too. I’ve lost 55 pounds. And now I’m doing Strong Lifts 5×5. It’s hard but I’m making progress and it shows on the measuring tape around my waist. Keep the faith brother!
Financial Velociraptor recently posted…Bro, do you even lift?
I totally read your…met your 1.2 Million net worth article…and went and bought some stock. Thanks for the inspiration guys.