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Other Stuff

October 13, 2016 by Mr. 1500 Days 19 Comments

Other Stuff.

That is the worst title ever in the history of blogging.

screen-shot-2016-10-12-at-7-09-52-pm

For me, creativity comes in waves. Sometimes, I’m overflowing with ideas. Other times, I come up empty. Sometimes, I can come up with 5 great post ideas in 5 minutes. Other times, I think all day and can’t come up with a decent title. I’m in a trough today, at least when it comes to clever titles.

screen-shot-2016-10-12-at-3-29-47-pm
Some days you ride the wave. Other days, the wave rides you.

Anyway, I thought that I’d fill you in on some of my other appearances around the web.

 

Adventures in Stock Picking (@ InvestmentZen)

I don’t discuss it very much, but I used to pick stocks. I still hold most of them. And, I’ve done really well. This year, I’m beating the S&P 500 by 10% in my stock trading account. The green line represents me:

screen-shot-2016-10-10-at-8-32-19-am
eTrade account for 2016

 

In 2015, I beat the S&P 500 by 26%:

screen-shot-2016-10-10-at-8-44-23-am
eTrade account for 2015

 

As an experiment (more on that later), I opened an account with Motif and created my own mini-portfolio. This experiment is young, but I’m killing it there too:

screen-shot-2016-10-12-at-3-35-59-pm
Blue line is my portfolio

screen-shot-2016-10-12-at-3-37-26-pm

Despite my success, I’m an indexer now. Why would I change? The reason is simple and timeless; I think that I’ll make more money over the long term as an index investor. Read why over at InvestmentZen.

 

Mad Fientist

In case you missed it, the Mrs. and I interviewed the Mad Fientist for his own Financial Independence Podcast.

screen-shot-2016-10-09-at-8-01-42-pm

In the interview we discussed:

  • the Fientist’s childhood
  • how he acquired Fientist superpowers (nuclear accident)
  • why someone would get an advanced degree from an Ivy League school right before retiring (the Mad Fientist isn’t really mad, but I think this is slightly insane)
  • the joy of reading IRS documents
  • boxers, briefs or unfurnished basement?

screen-shot-2016-10-12-at-12-36-22-pm

I’m in South Africa!

Not really. However, I am on a blog that is based in South Africa. My friend and TEDx speaker Angela, featured me in her Spotlight On series. In the interview, you’ll learn about why we downsized homes, but 40 months later, are still decluttering.

Big old house, new small house (before remodel)
Big old house, new small house (before remodel)

Less is powerful. Less is beautiful. Less is great. Less is more.

Except when it comes to blog titles.

 

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Filed Under: InvestmentZen

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Angela Horn says

    October 13, 2016 at 4:13 am

    Ha ha ha…you should definitely visit SA for real at some point Mr 1500!

    Reply
  2. Mrs PoP says

    October 13, 2016 at 4:30 am

    Titles are hard! For my post today I could only think of titles that were vaguely sexual sounding or made it seem like I had a drug problem. Lessons learned on my back, lessons learned in recovery… Sometimes you go with the least worst.
    Mrs PoP recently posted…Lessons Learned From Bed…My Profile

    Reply
    • The Roamer says

      October 17, 2016 at 11:12 am

      Hahha those are some funny titles . I don’t see anything wrong with them.

      Mr. 1500 I wish I could help you declutter . One good tip is to get outside help. A fresh pair of eyes helps you ask more questions.
      🙂

      Reply
  3. Biglaw Investor says

    October 13, 2016 at 4:43 am

    Wow, I didn’t realize you were a closet Warren Buffett. You’re crushing the S&P 500! I still have some individual stocks too, but feel much better now that I’ve offloaded most of them. Index investing is so much easier and I don’t get sucked into monitoring the stock prices.
    Biglaw Investor recently posted…Why Should You Choose Vanguard?My Profile

    Reply
  4. Gwen @ Fiery Millennials says

    October 13, 2016 at 4:47 am

    That wave chart looks uncomfortably like my company’s performance. Highest of the highs, lowest of the lows. Hopefully, it’ll go back up like I know your blog titles will hah!

    Reply
  5. Matt @ Optimize Your Life says

    October 13, 2016 at 6:11 am

    It is really interesting to see someone that has had success with stock picking recommending indexing. I feel like most of the folks recommending indexing (myself included) have not spent much time in the picking world, and so the advice feels like it carries less weight.

    I am excited to listen to the Mad Fientist podcast. It is next up on my listening list!
    Matt @ Optimize Your Life recently posted…Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?My Profile

    Reply
    • Full time finance says

      October 13, 2016 at 3:49 pm

      I think it depends on how far you look back. In the last decade or so index investing has been all the rage, but 20 years ago when I bought my first stock it existed but it was not the hot thing. For the record my first stock was Nvidia which I bought at IPO. I sold for a 5x return ,though a small investment amount. Sadly my second stock evaporated in the dot com bust taking almost all the cash with it. Interestingly that stock was acquired by yahoo search.

      Reply
  6. Designing A Frugal Life says

    October 13, 2016 at 6:21 am

    I love a good round-up post! Thanks for sharing. Going to check out your post on picking stocks now. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  7. Mrs. Picky Pincher says

    October 13, 2016 at 8:15 am

    Well, even though you’re an indexer now, I’m sure those stocks aren’t hurting your net worth. 😉

    And I’ve seen worse blog titles! I would have liked a string of clever profanity, but “Other Stuff” works too.
    Mrs. Picky Pincher recently posted…Our Favorite 7 Frugal Fall DinnersMy Profile

    Reply
  8. Mr. Tako @ Mr. Tako Escapes says

    October 13, 2016 at 9:16 am

    Haha! This is the most random blog post yet Mr. 1500… Still, it was interesting! Looks like your stock picks are killing it.

    So, don’t you think you can replicate your success in the future? That would be my main guess as to why you went full-on index investor…if you didn’t think the results were repeatable.

    Reply
  9. Team CF says

    October 13, 2016 at 12:27 pm

    Still, remarkably good “other stuff” 😉

    Seriously impressed by the stock picking thou….

    Reply
  10. Our Next Life says

    October 13, 2016 at 2:01 pm

    Titles are the hardest. I would happily outsource that duty, because I am bad at it. Funny how different that skill is from writing posts!
    Our Next Life recently posted…You Don’t Need That Thing // On Cachet Vs. ValueMy Profile

    Reply
  11. Doctor In Debt says

    October 13, 2016 at 5:07 pm

    That’s a pretty impressive run, but I’m glad to see that you realize it for what it is, a case of good stock picking. How many stocks in the portfolio? That has to be a major temptation to your indexing.

    I keep a small percentage of my savings for picking stocks. Luckily for me it has taught me to index and stick to medicine 🙂

    Reply
  12. Mustard Seed Money says

    October 13, 2016 at 7:05 pm

    I too like to trade a small percentage of my portfolio. You are doing much better than me. I am only beating the market by a couple of points. Seems like you really know what you are doing right now.

    Personally I like playing around with the stock market because I feel like it teaches me more about finance and in some ways a fun way to learn. But like I said it’s only a small allocation of my total portfolio.
    Mustard Seed Money recently posted…Teaching Kids About MoneyMy Profile

    Reply
  13. Dean in Denver says

    October 13, 2016 at 8:06 pm

    I think you are being much too modest…I’d say you are beating the S&P by almost 200% this year (5% vs 15%)!

    Reply
  14. jason says

    October 14, 2016 at 4:02 am

    Love the interview and before you know it you might be able to get to South Africa. I am actually going in two months. Here’s to your investment experiment continuing to do well.

    Reply
  15. Liz@ChiefMomOfficer says

    October 14, 2016 at 4:50 am

    Just caught this interview on my drive back from a work trip – great job! I loved how the Mad Fientist enjoys reading and breaking down tax documentation. I’ve done that before both for myself and my co-workers. One time that sticks out to me is when I had coworkers spreading around inaccurate information about what could be paid by a 529 plan (they thought room and board were not eligible because Form 1098-T doesn’t list it). So I cracked open the IRS website and read through Publication 970, and e-mailed them the appropriate parts of the tax code. I’m sure they thought I was lots of fun!

    Reply
  16. Finance Solver says

    October 14, 2016 at 8:21 pm

    I don’t know, I think that it’s a great title.. :p

    I’m always amazed at how you’ve been able to get great gains in investment gains. I think Warren Buffett is looking for people like you, wink wink..

    Reply
    • Mr. 1500 Days says

      October 14, 2016 at 8:41 pm

      Ha ha, Buffett and Munger would shudder at my holding!

      Reply

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My goal was to build a portfolio of $1,000,000 by February of 2017; 1500 days from the birth of this blog (January 1, 2013). And hey look, I’ve since retired!

Investments only (primary home excluded)
1/1/13 (The Start): $586,043
1/1/14 (1 Yr Later): $869,635
1/1/15 (2 Yrs Later): $987,351
1/1/16 (3 Yrs Later): $1,057,961
1/1/17 (4 Yrs Later): $1,257,128
1/1/18 (5 Yrs Later): $1,527,701
1/1/19 (6 Yrs Later): $1,549,440
1/1/20 (7 Yrs Later): $2,035,040*
1/1/21 (8 Yrs Later): $3,379,746**
1/1/22 (9 Yrs Later): $4,762,642
1/1/23 (10 Yrs Later): $3,112,821

2023: Investments only
1/1: $3,112,821
2/1: $3,582,368

Overall
2023 investment gains: $469,547
Investment gains since 1/1/2013: $2,996,325
Net worth***: $3,812,368

* The big jump between 2019 and 2020 was partly because we bought another home, but kept the previous (much more expensive) one as a rental. We have since sold it.

** Tesla.

*** Includes our primary home equity in addition to our investment portfolio.

Finally, we still have about $290,000 in mortgage debt (which I love!). No regrets about the debts!

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