Performance Update, June 2022: COVID Blows Up Life (Again)

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.

COVID Rears Its Ugly-Ass Head (again)

Last week, I told you that this blog would temporarily turn into a travel diary:

So, I’ll be changing things up on the blog for the next couple of weeks. 1500 Days will temporarily become a travel journal where I regale you tales from the road and show you pretty pictures.

My friend (who I’ll call Mr. Palindrome) and I left last Sunday with our younger daughters. After 3 days on the road, we arrived in Sunriver on Tuesday.

I immediately liked the feel of Sunriver. Coniferous forests and the smell of the pine trees are wonderful. Also, Sunriver was built with extensive bicycle trails complete with underpasses to avoid traffic. There is little need to get in a car.

There is also water:

We spent the next couple of days not doing much. We’d wake up, bike around, take a tennis lesson, and have a beer. Easy life.

On Thursday, we went to Bend to meet up with friends. On Friday, we returned to float the Deschutes:

On Friday evening, my daughter complained of a minor sore throat. I told her that if she still felt bad the next day, she would have to take a COVID test.

On Saturday, Sunriver hosted a car show. Note the propellers on the Amphicar on the right:

Upon returning from the car show, my daughter was awake and still feeling ill. Mr. Palindrome and I headed to the store to pick up a COVID test. Despite being triple vaxxed and already having a bout with COVID, she tested positive. Oof.

Mr. Palindrome and I had a decision to make. Our original plan called for us to leave Sunriver on Monday and drive about 750 miles down the California coast. Do we continue? Maybe in separate cars to limit exposure?

After much consideration, the only good solution was to high-tail it home. My daughter could rest and the rest of us would be home in case we also got sick. On Sunday, we packed it in and drove 1,100 miles back to Colorado.

I’m thankful that my traveling partners took it mostly in stride. My daughter was upset at first but then accepted it.

At this time, we’re doing well. My daughter’s symptoms are minor and she’s already doing better. I tested negative this morning. So did the Palindrome family.

June Performance

Mr. Market continued his naughty streak. In June, our net worth went from $4,159,270 down to $3,859,137 for a loss of $300,133.

2022 (as of 7/1/2022)

• Days elapsed: 181
• Net worth gains (actually losses): –$1,133,505

Since the Start of The Experiment (1/1/2013)

• Days elapsed: 3469
• Net worth gains: $3,043,094

2022 has not been kind, but I’m not worried:

• The markets were inflated and still are. This time may be different, but it probably isn’t. See mean reversion. Inflated markets give me anxiety, so the drop is a relief.
• At the beginning of 2022, I thought that the markets would have a great year. COVID seemed like it was waning, so I thought the world was on a good trajectory. Then the war happened. Then inflation. Then more COVID lockdowns in China which caused more inflation. But, all of this will pass.
• Most of us in the FI community are conservative and err on the side of saving too much. This is definitely the case with us. I could have stopped working earlier and still have a very large buffer.
• Mindy still works, so we’re not in the withdrawal stage yet.

More Fun!

While I’m enjoying the summer, we have some fun stuff lined up for the rest of 2022:

• Doc G: In August, MMM HQ will host a book launch party for Dr. Jordan Grumet.
• Orlando: In September, Mindy and I will be in Florida for FinCon.
• San Diego: In October, we’ll be in California for BPCon.
• House rehab: We’ll be rehabbing the crazy house we just bought. This is a much smaller project than our primary home, so I look forward to finishing it in a couple of months. We’ll be filming the project for BiggerPockets, so you’ll be able to see our hijinks!

Perhaps I’ll see you at HQ, in Orlando, or San Diego?

More 1500 Days!!!

You can also find me (and the dinosaurs) at:

Mile High FI podcast:

• Listen on Apple, Google, YouTube, and Spotify

Also here:

• Facebook: Facebook group and page
• YouTube: My channel is mostly devoted to home improvement, but I have some other material coming up soon too.
• Instagram: Pretty pictures of dinosaurs, sunsets, and nail guns!
• Twitter: Spontaneous, often insane, ramblings
• Coworking space: On the surface, MMM HQ is a coworking space. Look a little deeper and you’ll see that we’re really building community. The members of MMM HQ are some of the finest people I know.

*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.