Performance Update: June, July, August!! Oh My!!!

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. For now…

Naughty Me

Whoah, no Performance Updates since May! I’ve been slacking! Naughty, naughty…

Summer has been full of fun and adventure. I took the family on a road trip to Seattle and from there, we went on a cruise to Alaska:

Shortly after that, we took another road trip to the Midwest. My daughter had a conference in Bloomington Indiana. In addition to the Hoosier State, we spend time in Kentucky, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa:

Now that I’m back home, it’s back to a more normal routine. But I think that I still have too much going on. I used to say Yes a lot. Perhaps it’s time to trim the fat. As Derek Sivers once said, if you don’t feel HELL YEAH! about something, it should be a no.

Health

One thing that is a big HELL YEAH! for me is my health. Since about mid-June, I’ve been working hard on diet and exercise. I eat a lot of protein and push myself hard in the weight room. In between, I try to walk 25,000 steps and do at least 45 minutes of zone 2 exercise daily. The initial result are good:

I’ll have much more to say about what I’m doing (and not doing) at the end of this month. Before I write that post, I’m also going to have a hydrostatic test done. I hydrostatic test will be more accurate than my impedance scale. Tune in end of month for juicy details and embarrassing before/after pics!

June, July, August

This blog is supposed to be about money! And it’s also supposed to be about my journey to (and now beyond) financial independence. In the spirt of that, here’s how the money’s been performing lately:

Investments Only

• May (end of): $4,629,351
• June: $4,891,166
• July: $4,907,628
• August: $4,978,611

Add primary home equity and we sit at $5,378,611. I’ll take it.

Have We Changed?

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.

– Richard Feynman

Mindy and I chat on our podcast and recently someone left this comment:

I’ve watched and subscribed after viewing a few of your videos. You seemed like regular people, but you just lost me at 4.3 Million dollars. Congrats on acquiring that pile of money, but you’re at a level now that I’ll never be able to relate to.

– Jeff

I’m not sure exactly what Jeff meant by that comment. He said seemed, so he must thing we’ve changed. I’ll readily admit that we’re more likely to spend money on certain things:

• That cruise I mentioned at the start of this post? I also took my mom, my siblings, and their partners
• We also paid about $1,000 to sponsor the EconoMe opening party
• I paid $10,000 to have one of my favorite bands perform
• We bought a new car last year

Clearly, these are extravagances for which I’m very thankful. I also would not have purchased them if our money wasn’t doing so well. So am I different person? I’m probably the wrong one to ask since I’m president of my fan club (that was a joke). What is the test then?

I’d like to think that if folks didn’t know about our infrequent big purchases, they would think I’m the same. If they do know about them, they should also know that almost all of them have involved generosity. If you had a free beer at the EconoMe party, we paid for it. I invited everyone I could to the concert with the rule that they weren’t allowed to give me any money towards it. My extended family would have never been able to go on the cruise without me footing the bill. The Tesla? That was all about me. I’m a nerd who likes techy things.

You should never let money define you. Money should not change you. If you hang out with different people or move away from friends and family to have a bigger house, you may be doing it wrong.

You should define money. Do the same things you’ve always done. Just do it more because you can. Keep your friend, but consider elevating the experiences you have with them. For me, money allows me to create fun times with people I care about.

Down the road, Mindy and I look forward to doing good with our money too. We’ve started on a very small scale (most recently, we gave $2,000 to this). But before we die, we’ll give most of it away. I’d much rather to see my money in action while I’m still alive than know it’s going to a good cause when I croak. I don’t want my name on a building but it would be cool to walk through a new part of the local library that you helped fund.

More 1500 Days!!!

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

Mile High FI podcast:

• Listen on Apple, Google, YouTube, and Spotify

MindyOnMoney podcast!

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.
• Buying a Tesla? Use my referral code to get some perks!

*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.

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