September Performance, Day 2829: Down $140,847

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.

Not every month is a winner. In September, the portfolio took a kick to the nether regions to the tune of $140,847. Oof! More on that in a moment.

The COVID Cave

If you’ve been following along, you know that we bought our current home to fix and flip (more videos coming soon!). When we sell it, we’ll pay $0 in capital gains because of the Tas Man’s 2 out of 5-year rule. This strategy can be painful because you live in a construction zone. However, not having a job gives me the time to do the work quickly. That is until a pandemic happens and your life pivots to home-schooling and breaking up sibling fights.

Fun! Not really.

I had planned to have the home done by May of 2021, but now all work is pushed back by at least 1 year. So, I’m prioritizing projects that will make COVID life a little more pleasant. A remodeled master bath is nice. However, a finished basement (COVID Cave?) with a fun place to watch movies will bring more joy than a fancy shower. Besides having a little media area, the COVID Cave will have a small kitchen, exercise area, and bathroom.

So, I’ve been busting ass on the basement. About 15 minutes ago, I passed the insulation inspection:

Frugalsaurus has been a huge help:

Spendosaurus, not so much:

Next up is the one task I will not do, drywall. I can do it, but it would take me forever. I’d rather be taking pictures of plastic dinosaurs, riding my bike, and writing bad blog posts for you.

Time To Hit The Road

Even with the near completion of the COVID Cave, life is a bit repetitive and stale. Local friends have faded away as everyone sits tight waiting for life to go back to normal. This may not happen for a long time. I’m getting a little stir-crazy.

I don’t like sitting still, so it’s time to hit the road.

In a couple of weeks, we’ll head west to visit Moab, Monument Valley, and the Grand Canyon. We’ll end the trip with a visit with family in Las Vegas. It will be nice to get out of the house for a bit.

September

Our net worth started the month at $3,252,689 and ended at $3,111,872 for a loss of $140,847:

With big numbers come big movements. At some time decades down the road, I’m sure that there will be a time when we lose more than $1,000,000 in one month. I’m perfectly fine with that as long as the overall, long-term march of the dollars is upward.

2020 (as of 9/30/2020)

• Days elapsed: 273
• Investment portfolio gains: $926,802 (Our gains are outsized because we took equity out of our home in order to increase our investable assets. The next number, net worth, which includes home equity, is more accurate.).
• Net worth gains: $711,832

Since the Start (1/1/2013)

• Days elapsed: 2829
• Investment portfolio gains: $2,375,799

Honey, We Sold The Elevated Living Estates!

In other news, the trailer park (Elevated Living Estates to the easily offended) is under contract to sell in a little over one month. If the deal goes through, financially it will end well for us. I’ll write about this in detail should the deal close.

Our experience with mobile home park investing started way back in 2017!

The reason I wanted to sell isn’t related to money though. I can’t discuss it, but the reason isn’t related to the property itself. On that front, I think we did well. We cleaned up the place and made life better for the occupants. I feel good about that. I don’t feel good about other aspects though. Sorry to be mysterious, but…

*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.