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.
Summer is here which means adventure in the 1500 household. We just got back from Germany. In a couple of weeks, we’ll head to Camp FI Rocky Mountain (week 2). Before summer is up, we’ll spend time in Sunriver/Bend (Oregon) and Pismo Beach (California).
I’m not a huge fan of short-format travel (less than 2 weeks), but kids’ busy schedules mean that our travel must be short. We look forward to slow travel (at least a month in one location) after the children leave the nest.
About The Time We Spontaneously Bought Another House…
We bought another house! And it was somewhat spontaneous. We were walking around our neighborhood and noticed someone moving out. This happened:
- Me: Hey, it looks like you’re moving out?
- Homeowner: Yes, we plan to put it on the market in July.
- Me: Here’s my information. If you’d like to sell it to me, let me know.
1 month later:
We own another place.
And you guessed it; this one needs work. But, not a lot. We’ll redo some of the flooring, replace interior doors with conventional ones, and give the place a new kitchen.
This is a precarious time to be making deals. Very precarious. But:
- I’m a long-term investor. The value of this house could very well dive in the short-term, but I think in decades.
- I believe in Longmont and my little corner of the town.
- This will be a fun and easy project. Also, we get to film it for BiggerPockets. Fun!
I’ll have more to say including:
- More details on how we found the house
- How we funded the deal
- The rehab process
- What we intend to do with it
These are stories for another day.
For now, we’re going to enjoy summer. The home will be a crash pad for friends until the girls go back to school. No more missing out on life to swing a hammer.
May Performance (Maximum OOF!)
Mr. Market has been grumpy in 2022 and his poor mood is reflected in our portfolio. In May, our investments lost another $68,206:
2022 (as of 6/1/2022)
- Days elapsed: 150
- Net worth gains (actually losses): –$833,372
Since the Start of The Experiment (1/1/2013)
- Days elapsed: 3438
- Net worth gains: $3,423,227
Different?
I started this blog on January 1st of 2013 and this is the first time it feels “different.” By that, I mean:
- This drop is the biggest one yet. With COVID, the drop was quick, but the recovery was almost as quick. We may be in for some extended pain this time around.
- It happened very quickly. Six months ago, you could get a 30-year mortgage for around 3%. Now, you’re going to pay close to 6%! That’s crazy!
Our net worth is down a little over $1,000,000 from our all-time high. I don’t worry about myself. Sporadic downturns are the price you pay for all of that sweet-ass upside. Inflation and the war will end. Mr. Market will be happy again. In the meantime, I hope y’all are hanging in there.
More 1500 Days!!!
You can also find me (and the dinosaurs) at:
Mile High FI 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.
*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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It was fun listening to you and Doug banter about the new spontaneous house purchase, what case of right place right time! Hope this luck comes my way. Sure they could have rehabbed and sold it, but nice that you brought a personal story along.
Glad you are taking time to enjoy life and summer. I remember you saying you’re busier now than when you were working!
Keep cruising Carl, and enjoy your visit out here in CA!
Woot! I can’t wait to see the Pacific Ocean in California again! Happy times!
Are you in the Bay area?
Bay Area? That’s only for millionaires! I am not too far in the Sacramento area. Let me know if you find your way here!
Oooh, I may be passing near you in late July. I’ll shoot you an email should we make it.
Congrats on the new deal! 😉
Enjoy
Thank you!
Losing a million can’t be a good feeling (it took me my whole investing life to reach that magic number). Keeping the positive long term view is the best way to look at it. I am down the most ever during this round of market grumpiness too. I dropped out of the 7 digit or double comma club. Still adding to the stash following my plan and confidant this is only temporary and the market will return to new highs. Your are right the 2020 down turn didn’t last long enough to even let the market losses sink in. I just focus on the number of shares I own that number is going in the right direction and hasn’t gone down.
Good luck on the new house and keep enjoying the summer.
Actually, it’s more of a sense of relief. Relative to historical PEs, we’re in a better place now, but still high: https://www.multpl.com/s-p-500-pe-ratio
So, I always thought it would drop; I just didn’t know when or what the cause would be.
Thanks for the kind words on the house!
What’s the new pre-IPO investment? 😀.
My mid-year predictions…
I’ve been doing a lot of reading and analysis so I’m sharing what I’ve noted in my journal here what may happen in 2022:
– The US stock markets will continue to fall, maybe another 20% to 3400 – 3200 in S&P500 (don’t be lulled into a sucker’s rally)
– Housing prices will fall 5 – 10% as interest rates rise
– A recession will be confirmed (2 consecutive qtrs of declining GDP)
– Crypto will continue to get hurt
– Tesla stock price will drift lower like an EV running out of charge
Short term gimmicks like more stimulus in the form of student loan forgiveness or gas card rebates would only make inflation worse.
What could slow / stop the runaway inflation? A significant change in policy. Such as at least ONE of the following:
– Immigration reform
– Expansion of nuclear power
– Expansion of refining capacity
– etc. (some other significant change in policy that permits economic GROWTH)
There is an outside chance that the Fed (Federal Reserve) gets spooked (possibly by higher unemployment/layoffs), blinks and CUTS interest rates in 2022.
Note: Do your own research before you invest.
I hope the public comes around to nuclear energy. In light of what’s going on in the world, we should be pivoting towards it at full speed instead of against it.
https://xkcd.com/1162/
Small localized nuclear is the answer, but it isn’t “green enough”. Sad days.
Winter is coming (north of the wall) in Europe.
Another house. 🙂
I feel sorry for your project list, but I know you do like projects. My running joke with a friend is “can’t afford not to buy unlimited houses.”. 🙂
Just wanted to say that I love the podcast, heard about you guys from the Mad Fiantist.
And I can see that the blog is just as entertaining, wishing us all luck in the market going forward!
Thanks so much Liam!
I still can’t believe you’re not paying off the mortgage. Sigh… 😉
Hope you’re doing well, sir. Be sure to put in a big fancy hot tub at the new house for when we visit, k??
Now this is exactly the situation why I have a mortgage! A 30-year mortgage costs close to 6% and I’m paying 2.75%. I’m paying down my mortgage with dollars that are worth less, meanwhile because of inflation, our income is up.
I really loved reading this article. thanks for sharing.