Investing

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

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  • Mar 22nd, 2024 3:36 pm
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Member
Aug 15, 2003
495 posts
22 upvotes
Anyone panicked and changed their allocations/went to cash?
I started investing in Feb of 2018 (before the drop!) and it's been a wild ride! 50% ETF and 50% dividend growth stocks. Down 6 figures. I never tried to time the market and didn't sell anything. I did the same in the fall of 2018 correction and it worked well that time, but this time is different!
Lesson learned: I get very emotional seeing paper losses on my portfolio, and I probably should have kept more cash on hand. Actually, I did have more cash on hand, but I put that into another investment and didn't re-balance my stock portfolio because I got greedy and wanted to maximize my returns.
Member
Jul 22, 2018
225 posts
178 upvotes
gwplant wrote: Humour me....just out of curiousity and this is just a hypothetical. Let's say this becomes a recession and you lose your job and the day after that you get in a car accident and have no health coverage, and if you live with mom and dad and they are forced to sell assets to cover your hospital bills and of course you are forced to sell your 100% equities to pay for everything because you no longer have a job. Then what? Just curious.

I sue the guy who got me in the car accident and DCA into the market.
Deal Addict
Jul 8, 2013
4498 posts
6936 upvotes
Somewhere in AB
jimbojones wrote: Anyone panicked and changed their allocations/went to cash?
I started investing in Feb of 2018 (before the drop!) and it's been a wild ride! 50% ETF and 50% dividend growth stocks. Down 6 figures. I never tried to time the market and didn't sell anything. I did the same in the fall of 2018 correction and it worked well that time, but this time is different!
Lesson learned: I get very emotional seeing paper losses on my portfolio, and I probably should have kept more cash on hand. Actually, I did have more cash on hand, but I put that into another investment and didn't re-balance my stock portfolio because I got greedy and wanted to maximize my returns.
Did you sell? If not, don't worry. Ride it out.
"You don’t need to sacrifice stability, common sense, and comfort if a 1% bond still lets you achieve your financial goals." M. Housel
Deal Addict
Jun 15, 2012
2837 posts
1011 upvotes
Saskatoon
Germack wrote: How times changed. In the 2008 crash I lost around 60k which was extremely stressful. In the last 2 weeks I lost around 100k and zero fuc*s given.

FEB2020.png
Still zero ?
No need to type thank you; upvote=thanks.
Buffett, investors are focusing “not on what an asset will produce but rather on what the next fellow will pay for it.”

“Because gold is honest money it is disliked by dishonest men.” – R. Paul
Deal Addict
Oct 7, 2008
2692 posts
1742 upvotes
Home
In at Dow 15K. At this rate well be there next week lol
Fizz Mobile $ 4.80 USA CAN 45 GB
Deal Addict
Oct 1, 2006
3249 posts
4472 upvotes
Montreal
ukrainiandude wrote: Still zero ?
Yes, still zero. Down 261k now.

This is my third major market crash. The first 2 were very stressful. This one not at all.

You make most of your money in a bear market, you just don't realize it at the time.

Net worth: 12MAR2020
12MAR2020.png
Deal Fanatic
Mar 24, 2008
6278 posts
2753 upvotes
Toronto
I am down ~100k+... who the hell cares. Lmao :D

It will pass just like everything else. Stay the course, people... if not for yourselves, for your families.
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Deal Addict
Jul 8, 2013
4498 posts
6936 upvotes
Somewhere in AB
Germack wrote: Yes, still zero. Down 261k now.

This is my third major market crash. The first 2 were very stressful. This one not at all.

You make most of your money in a bear market, you just don't realize it at the time.

Net worth: 12MAR2020

12MAR2020.png
That's a significant drop, and I'm happy to see that you're just riding it out.

It's perfect time to buy more. Have you considered using your home equity to purchase more stock?
"You don’t need to sacrifice stability, common sense, and comfort if a 1% bond still lets you achieve your financial goals." M. Housel
Deal Fanatic
Mar 24, 2008
6278 posts
2753 upvotes
Toronto
TuxedoBlack wrote: That's a significant drop, and I'm happy to see that you're just riding it out.

It's perfect time to buy more. Have you considered using your home equity to purchase more stock?
Borrow to invest, homie don't play that... although I appreciate that some people might.
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Deal Addict
Jul 8, 2013
4498 posts
6936 upvotes
Somewhere in AB
ksgill wrote: Borrow to invest, homie don't play that... although I appreciate that some people might.
Why not? The interest is a tax write off (40%+ in my case) and the markets were down 25%. I know it will go up, so I borrowed. I wish I could borrow even more!

Note that the borrowing is tied to my home, so it's not on margin.
"You don’t need to sacrifice stability, common sense, and comfort if a 1% bond still lets you achieve your financial goals." M. Housel
Deal Fanatic
Mar 24, 2008
6278 posts
2753 upvotes
Toronto
TuxedoBlack wrote: Why not? The interest is a tax write off (40%+ in my case) and the markets were down 25%. I know it will go up, so I borrowed. I wish I could borrow even more!

Note that the borrowing is tied to my home, so it's not on margin.
Yeah, no worries man... I just have a code against borrowing to invest. I am pretty sure it'll work out for you. :)
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Deal Addict
Jul 8, 2013
4498 posts
6936 upvotes
Somewhere in AB
ksgill wrote: Yeah, no worries man... I just have a code against borrowing to invest. I am pretty sure it'll work out for you. :)
I don't want to take over OPs thread, but he also has a home. I wonder if he is comfortable with borrowing to invest.

I just hate that if a home is partially paid up, the equity is just sitting there doing nothing.
"You don’t need to sacrifice stability, common sense, and comfort if a 1% bond still lets you achieve your financial goals." M. Housel
Deal Fanatic
Mar 24, 2008
6278 posts
2753 upvotes
Toronto
TuxedoBlack wrote: I don't want to take over OPs thread, but he also has a home. I wonder if he is comfortable with borrowing to invest.

I just hate that if a home is partially paid up, the equity is just sitting there doing nothing.
I got no mortgage on a 1.3+ million house in Toronto. Just never thought about it since I want to be FI... don't want a banks grubby little hands in there. :lol:
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Deal Addict
Oct 1, 2006
3249 posts
4472 upvotes
Montreal
TuxedoBlack wrote: That's a significant drop, and I'm happy to see that you're just riding it out.

It's perfect time to buy more. Have you considered using your home equity to purchase more stock?
No, I have not considered this. Borrowing to invest is not for me.

Besides, there is no need for us to take any additional risk.
Deal Fanatic
Jan 21, 2014
8518 posts
6261 upvotes
Germack wrote: No, I have not considered this. Borrowing to invest is not for me.

Besides, there is no need for us to take any additional risk.
You should see a significant bounce today, probably $100K for your portfolio
Deal Addict
Jul 8, 2013
4498 posts
6936 upvotes
Somewhere in AB
Germack wrote: No, I have not considered this. Borrowing to invest is not for me.

Besides, there is no need for us to take any additional risk.
I'm not understanding this point. If you're looking at a long time-frame, why would the additional risk matter? You've already proved to yourself that a 27% drop in your networth is not sufficient enough for you. So how is it riskier?

The only risk I can think of is if the banks want to call in your HELOC. That is a significant risk, though it's unlikely to happen if you borrow only 1/3 of what your home is worth.
"You don’t need to sacrifice stability, common sense, and comfort if a 1% bond still lets you achieve your financial goals." M. Housel
Deal Addict
Jul 8, 2013
4498 posts
6936 upvotes
Somewhere in AB
ksgill wrote: I got no mortgage on a 1.3+ million house in Toronto. Just never thought about it since I want to be FI... don't want a banks grubby little hands in there. :lol:
Baller!
"You don’t need to sacrifice stability, common sense, and comfort if a 1% bond still lets you achieve your financial goals." M. Housel
Jr. Member
Jun 30, 2019
151 posts
236 upvotes
TuxedoBlack wrote: I'm not understanding this point. If you're looking at a long time-frame, why would the additional risk matter?
OP's investment philosophy is to be passive and minimize risk. OP now has personal net worth of almost 2 million (household networth could be way more) and he is nowhere near retirement age.

It is pretty clear that this strategy works. Why should he change it and complicate things? OP will easily reach 3-4 million net worth in 7-9 years by keeping his current strategy in place.

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