Investing

Couch potato investing for the last 18 years - tracking my progress

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Deal Addict
Oct 21, 2006
2900 posts
1583 upvotes
Borrowing money to gamble with it doesn't seem like a good idea to me, but everyone has different standards of risk.
Deal Addict
Mar 19, 2016
1199 posts
1576 upvotes
canada
spiralspirit wrote: Borrowing money to gamble with it doesn't seem like a good idea to me, but everyone has different standards of risk.
Im with spiralspirit, unless you are a seasoned investor and have a deep grasp on what one is doing I would not bother.
Sr. Member
Jun 3, 2005
852 posts
2 upvotes
What's the recommendation of investing a large sum say $30k. Is it better to invest right away or buy funds over 12 months or so ?
Shiiii.....................
Deal Addict
Oct 1, 2006
3249 posts
4472 upvotes
Montreal
oppositeset wrote: What's the recommendation of investing a large sum say $30k. Is it better to invest right away or buy funds over 12 months or so ?
Investing all right away is the better approach.
Deal Addict
Oct 1, 2006
3249 posts
4472 upvotes
Montreal
hipster wrote: What's the feeling of buying etf on a margin account?
I do not like to buy stocks using margin.
Sr. Member
Sep 29, 2007
762 posts
247 upvotes
Anyone else disappointed with vxc performance YTD? Obviously due to fx swing but hard to swallow seeing markets run-up and your largest foreign holding in the red nearly 10% for the year
Deal Addict
Sep 6, 2010
2029 posts
804 upvotes
Vancouver
retireat50 wrote: Anyone else disappointed with vxc performance YTD? Obviously due to fx swing but hard to swallow seeing markets run-up and your largest foreign holding in the red nearly 10% for the year
zea, tdb911....all in the same boat, think long term, ytd is irrelevant. They will catch up at some point.
Deal Addict
Apr 21, 2014
2321 posts
1106 upvotes
Alberta
gwplant wrote: zea, tdb911....all in the same boat, think long term, ytd is irrelevant. They will catch up at some point.
Saw that the other day. I have VXC as well and is almost 60% of my portfolio. 60% VXC, 30% VCN, 10% VAB. But as gwplant said above. The rest of the world will catch up at some point.
Sr. Member
Sep 29, 2007
762 posts
247 upvotes
abc123yyz wrote: Saw that the other day. I have VXC as well and is almost 60% of my portfolio. 60% VXC, 30% VCN, 10% VAB. But as gwplant said above. The rest of the world will catch up at some point.
Well VXC is 1/2 US stocks. It's the runup in Canadian currency which has caused the loss. So oil goes down and VCN gets killed. Oil goes up, dollar goes up and you get killed with VXC. Something something about long term
Jr. Member
Jun 22, 2015
105 posts
33 upvotes
Calgary, AB
VXC has done better than Canada over the past 12 months so its Canada who needs to catch up in performance.
Deal Addict
Oct 1, 2006
3249 posts
4472 upvotes
Montreal
I had $15312 when I started recording my networth twice a month.
Sr. Member
User avatar
Nov 30, 2010
629 posts
489 upvotes
Burnaby
Germack wrote: I had $15312 when I started recording my networth twice a month.
Heads up, I'm not trying to be a critic. I'm a young professional on 55k salary analyzing your path of success.

My biggest question is how you got from 15k to 100k in little over 2 years. The index fund won't help you that much given the initial investment amount. I'm guessing you had low, next to nothing costs of living? I'm assuming half of your take home pay is approx 20k, leaving another 25k to fill.

I'm struggling to get to the 6 figure mark but I can't save more than 12-15k a year. I'd imagine that if it took you 5+ years to get to 100k point (my current rate), then you'd only be at the 500k instead.

Any suggestions or comments on how you managed to increase your net worth that quickly from mid 2005 to mid 2007? I might have posted before, I think you mentioned you had a salary increase early on.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Sep 23, 2014
1962 posts
677 upvotes
Toronto, ON
Slashon wrote: Heads up, I'm not trying to be a critic. I'm a young professional on 55k salary analyzing your path of success.

My biggest question is how you got from 15k to 100k in little over 2 years. The index fund won't help you that much given the initial investment amount. I'm guessing you had low, next to nothing costs of living? I'm assuming half of your take home pay is approx 20k, leaving another 25k to fill.

I'm struggling to get to the 6 figure mark but I can't save more than 12-15k a year. I'd imagine that if it took you 5+ years to get to 100k point (my current rate), then you'd only be at the 500k instead.

Any suggestions or comments on how you managed to increase your net worth that quickly from mid 2005 to mid 2007? I might have posted before, I think you mentioned you had a salary increase early on.
OP was renting for $450 a month at that time plus various small misc expenses and is very disciplined at timely contribution towards his funds. I think at that time it was around $20K/year into the fund? 2005 to 2007 was the last mania run up before the crash so that type of returns is very reasonable. During the crash, the portfolio diversity saved it from a major haircut and since OP is still contributing DURING the crash, that means he is grabbing the shares at a heavy discount while increasing in share count. When QE mania came, asset prices just took off :) OP's investment style requires great discipline in both timely contribution and controlling yourself to not be trigger happy in the event of a market fluctuation. It is a great living and breathing example to the average Canadian on the power of multiplier effect of the market without getting into the nitty gritty details of an active trader.

The market condition right now, starting from late 2015 has changed completely and the volatility genie is out of the bottle. S&P500 saw its tightest trading range in decades and is having a hard time breaking new high, while taking out several lows during last year's flash crash and early this year. So don't expect the same type of return from 2011 to 2014 when market is making new high everyday from QE induced mania. We are treading on water right now and depending on how the energy & global debt debacle plays out, we will either go back to the basement or to the moon :)
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Deal Addict
Jun 15, 2012
2837 posts
1011 upvotes
Saskatoon
Found answers while reading the thread, thus deleted
Deal Addict
Jun 15, 2012
2837 posts
1011 upvotes
Saskatoon
ak1004 wrote: Do you really believe that not having a car is not a sacrifice? We are not talking about commuting to work only. What about visiting friends, family, going out, traveling to another cities? I agree that it saves you a lot of money, but it IS a great scarify.

And how is living in a rented apartment not a sacrifice? In this case, I think it doesn't make sense financially as well. I bought my house in 2006 for $525k, today it's worth around $1M. Yes, I paid much more in mortgage and utilities during those 9 years, but in 5 years I will be mortgage free and own a $1M house (probably more by then). Meanwhile I enjoyed quality of life which is by all standards not comparable to living in a rented apartment. btw, OP himself admitted that car and house were his sacrifices.

11k per year on vacations is indeed impressive, especially considering his young age. But with 100k salary and no car/house expenses, it is not unusual.

Retirement at 40 is not realistic. Most people that can do it choose not to anyway. Work is an important part of our lives. Many billionaires continue working until 80+ if their health allows them. It doesn't mean they don't enjoy life meanwhile.
Downpayment: $225,000 minimum
Closing costs: $40,000, including $37,000 in land transfer costs
Monthly: $4,400 plus insurance and property tax ($600), plus utilities. So, five grand.
Opportunity cost: Figure on a lost 6% on the down, or $1,125 a month.
Total occupancy load: a tad over $6,100.
----

Given the true overhead on this property, the price-to-rent ratio is probably closer to thirty. And remember what that means:

P/R ratio is lower than 15 = Listen to your mom. Buy the place.
P/R ratio is between 16 and 20 = Nah, better off renting
P/R ratio exceeds 21 = Your landlord is a munificent god. Worship him.
Sr. Member
Mar 13, 2009
781 posts
212 upvotes
Maple
ukrainiandude wrote: Downpayment: $225,000 minimum
Closing costs: $40,000, including $37,000 in land transfer costs
Monthly: $4,400 plus insurance and property tax ($600), plus utilities. So, five grand.
Opportunity cost: Figure on a lost 6% on the down, or $1,125 a month.
Total occupancy load: a tad over $6,100.
----

Given the true overhead on this property, the price-to-rent ratio is probably closer to thirty. And remember what that means:

P/R ratio is lower than 15 = Listen to your mom. Buy the place.
P/R ratio is between 16 and 20 = Nah, better off renting
P/R ratio exceeds 21 = Your landlord is a munificent god. Worship him.
Would you mind to explain how you reached price-to-rent ratio closer to thirty?
Deal Addict
User avatar
Sep 4, 2005
4118 posts
2270 upvotes
Toronto
OP,
Awesome job investing over the last few years. I'm tracking my total networth as well. It's nice to watch it grow better than linear.

How often were you buying your ETFs? Have you tracking how much you've put in vs how much it's actually worth and what your year over year gains have been?
Newbie
Dec 10, 2006
31 posts
17 upvotes
ukrainiandude wrote: Why would want XQB ? And 10%
It is not going to change anything
IMHO you whether go with at least 30% or none
Personally I think bonds are obsolete and will never return its historical yield
I would suggest to replace xus with xuu, cheaper and greater diversity
Of course your need bonds, even if it's only 10%. When equities drop, it's time to buy more (i.e. rebalance your portfolio). Where's the money coming from to buy more if you have no bonds?

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