Performance Update (Day 2738): Where Do We Go From Here?

My main goal* was to build an investment and cash portfolio of $1,120,000* ($1,000,000 to retire on and $120,000 to pay off the house) in 1500 days**, starting from 1/1/2013 and ending in February of 2017. I made my goal in 2016, my 1500 Days are over, and I’ve left my job. In the interest of openness, I’ll continue to share my numbers.

And holy crap, those numbers get big after a while! As a kid, I never dreamed I’d be a millionaire. I thought that rich people lived in mansions, had servants, and drove Ferraris. But now, here I am closing down on $3,000,000. Thank you compound interest! And e-exuberance doesn’t hurt either.

June

Whoah, I’m behind again. We’re already into August (!) and I’m just getting around to publishing my June update. Summers are usually a busy time, but this one has been especially busy:

• I try to keep my projects to a minimum during summer, but COVID brought my work to a halt two months early in mid-March. Bye-bye building, hello homeschooling! The result of this was my projects spilling into summer.
• My father’s health issues and death resulted in a couple of spontaneous road-trips.
• We had planned to turn our previous home into an Airbnb. However, that dream died when the virus reared its ugly-ass spikes. We pivoted to a traditional rental instead. This resulted in a lot more work (“Hey, we have to empty the garage now and paint and fix…”) and consumed our lives for a while.

It was a very busy time and I hate it when life gets crammed down your throat. No time to breathe and it all goes by too fast.

But, life is still good. We have our health and (somewhat inexplicably), we have even greater wealth. I’m guessing that the stock market is ignoring the economic realities of COVID, but what do I know? Not much apparently. Or maybe my timing is just off and winter is coming. More on that later.

Colorado!

Chaos aside, we had a chance to explore Colorado. First, we went to the southwest corner of the state near Durango:

And then we headed to Salida:

I really enjoy Salida. The altitude makes the temperatures more tolerable (I don’t like heat). The town is small, so very walkable. There is a beautiful river running through it. Perhaps Mindy and I will end up here after the girls are out?

Performance Update

Our investment portfolio (stocks, rental home, trailer park, private loans, syndication deals, coworking space) started the month $2,526,338 and ended at $2,605,803 for a gain of $79,265. Add in $150,000 in home equity and our net worth sits at $2,755,803:

2020 (as of 6/30/2020)

• Days elapsed: 181
• Investment portfolio gains: $570,763 (Our gains are outsized because we took equity out of our home and invested it. The next number, net worth which includes home equity, is more accurate.).
• Net worth gains: $355,763 (this number is still crazy!)

Since the Start (1/1/2013)

• Days elapsed: 2737
• Investment portfolio gains: $2,019,760

Portfolio and Net Worth

• Investment portfolio and cash value: $2,605,803
• Net worth: investment portfolio + primary home equity of $150,000: $2,755,803

Where Do We Go From Here?

The world has been a difficult place. COVID. The United States feels more divided than ever. Last week, two people I know lost their jobs. It’s ugly. But at the time of this writing, the S&P 500 is up for the year and its PE is optimistic. Very optimistic.

In the short-term, perhaps the gravy train will derail and we’ll all be in for some more pain. Long-term, we’ll be OK. The virus will be defeated and we’ll stop fighting over masks and fight about whatever we fought about pre-COVID.

*My goal wasn’t to have $1,120,000 at the end of 1500 days, but at any time before the day count was up. Why? It all goes back to the 4% Rule. Remember that our little friend, Mr. 4%, is nothing more than the most conservative safe withdrawal rate. Since my investment portfolio now sits at $1,550,000, I can spend about $62,000 in my first year of retirement.

**My original goal was $1,000,000 and no debt, I later raised the goal by $120,000 to $1,120,000 because I will have debt in the form of a mortgage and I firmly believe in not paying it off (LOOK at the MONEY I’m MAKING!). My compromise was to have enough money put away to cover the mortgage at the time of retirement.

***This is an affiliate link. If you sign up, the blog (me) makes some cold, hard, beautiful, cash. Personal Capital is a totally free and awesome way to keep watch over your investments. It’s worth it for the fee analyzer alone. I would never recommend anything that I don’t personally use and completely believe in, so give it a try. If you’ve already signed up through the link, please know that you are a fine person of above-average intelligence.

****My 401(k) contributions include my own, Mrs. 1500’s, and the contributions from my corporation. Self-employment with a solo 401(k) is a very powerful savings tool. I should have done this years ago.