3 Ways I Might make money in 2023

For many, 2022 was a disaster year. Especially for me. I was set back by $1.84 million–yikes! Many people believe we still haven’t hit bottom yet and even fewer people believe that we will recover to 2021 levels in 2023. My prediction is that SP 500 will continue to hover around 3800-4200, mortgage rates will continue to hover around 6%, residential real estate prices will drop, but tech stocks will boom. Based on those predictions there are 3 areas I want to put my money to earn a positive return in 2023. Are you ready? Standby.

Read More

Quick 2022 Life Update

It’s been a while since I last posted and a lot has happened since. On the macro level, the stock market almost went into a bear market (defined as -20%) since the start of the year, Russia-Ukraine war started, home mortgage rates went from 3% to 5%, and baby formula cannot be found in some cities. On a personal level, my family finally caught COVID, my new home construction has been delayed by 4 months, I went through a re-org at work, I sold a ton of stock, I lost over $1,000,000 in portfolio value, I paid my $85K tax bill (not a typo), and I am now a father of 3 boys. In this blog, I’ll expand on my $1,000,000 loss, why I’m not concerned for myself, why I’m concerned for the bottom 90%, and what my plan is for the next 12 months.

Read More

My $77,000 experiment portfolio -- year end 2020 update

Happy new year! A year ago, I started a new M1Finance portfolio where I picked several dividend stocks to invest in. The goal was to achieve similar returns to the SP 500 index but beat it in terms of dividends. As of the writing of this article, I’ve contributed $77,000 of my own money into this portfolio ($25,000 initially and $1k contribution per week). In this article, I’ll share the end-of-the-year results, how I’m doing against the market and my thoughts on the dividend aristocrat experiment. Finally, I will be sharing an update on what I plan to do during 2021--stay tuned!

Read More

My $77,000 experiment portfolio -- Nov 2020 update

At the beginning of 2020, I started a new M1Finance portfolio where I picked several dividend stocks to invest in. The goal is to achieve similar returns to the SP 500 index but beat it in terms of dividends. As of the writing of this article, I’ve contributed $73,000 of my own money into this portfolio. By the end of this year, I will have contributed $77,000 ($25,000 initially and $1k contribution per week). In this article, I’ll share my M1Finance portfolio, how I’m doing against the market, my thoughts on the current stock market, and how I am doing against my FIRE schedule.

Read More

My $77,000 experiment portfolio -- Oct 2020 update

At the beginning of 2020, I started a new M1Finance portfolio where I picked several dividend stocks to invest in. The goal is to achieve similar returns to the SP 500 index but beat it in terms of dividends. As of the writing of this article, I’ve contributed $66,000 of my own money into this portfolio. By the end of this year, I will have contributed $77,000 ($25,000 initially and $1k contribution per week). In this article, I’ll share my M1Finance portfolio, how I’m doing against the market, my thoughts on the current stock market, and how I am doing against my FIRE schedule.

Read More

My $77,000 experiment portfolio -- June update

At the beginning of 2020, I started a new M1Finance portfolio where I picked several dividend stocks to invest in. The goal is to achieve similar returns to the SP 500 index but beat it in terms of dividends. As of the writing of this article, I’ve contributed $48,000 of my own money into this portfolio. By the end of this year, I will have contributed $77,000 ($25,000 initially and $1k contribution per week). In this article, I’ll share my M1Finance portfolio, how I’m doing against the market, my thoughts on the current stock market, and how I am doing against my FIRE schedule.

Read More

Is this the end of the FIRE movement?

The main concepts of the FIRE movement started from a book called “Your Money or Your Life” in 1992. And in 2011 Mr. Money Mustache amplified those concepts by giving the average worker hope. That as long as they can increase their savings rate through frugality, they can one day live off of a “safe” withdrawal rate of 4%. It has since become popular amongst millennials and has branched into different flavors (e.g. lean FIRE, barista FIRE, fat FIRE). But for the first time in its short history, the FIRE movement is being challenged. Since 2011, the real estate market has been booming, exceeding its 2007 levels and the stock market has averaged a yearly return of 13.6% from 2011-2019. In other words, it has not been truly tested--until now.

Read More

How am I navigating COVID-19?

COVID-19 has had an unprecedented impact on the global economy. Public health issues aside, it has changed how millions of Americans live every day. And in an economy where 70% of our GDP is based on consumption, if that consumption pattern is disrupted, we are bound to experience some turbulence in the stock market. In this post, I'll be talking about how I am navigating the COVID-19 stock market crash and some thoughts of how bad I think it really is.

Read More

How is COVID-19 impacting my portfolio?

At the beginning of 2020, I started a new M1Finance portfolio where I picked 7 dividend stocks to compare against VTI. The goal was to have a similar appreciation, but better dividends. On Feb 24th, news about COVID-19 sent the US stock market into a frenzy. We have since seen 9 (as of 3/13/20) 1000+ point swings in the DJIA. In this article, I’ll share my M1Finance portfolio, how I’m doing against the total stock market, and share my thoughts.

Read More

The $77,000 Experiment -- My Dividend Aristocrats Portfolio

This is the blog post series where the rubber meets the road, where the pen meets the paper, and where my $77,000 meets its Dividend Aristocrat friends. In one of my previous posts, I had written about why I think Dividend Aristocrats is a great alternative to real estate, and in general, provides a great way of increasing one’s monthly cash flow.

Read More

Buying vs Renting a House in Silicon Valley

in

Go to school, get a job, get married, and buy a house. This is what my parents have always told me to do. And I’m not alone. Owning a home is one of the major milestones in achieving the American dream. But what about owning a home in the Bay Area where a decent townhome can cost $1.4M and a decent single-family home will cost $1.8M? In this article, I'll break down how I ran the numbers and decided that it was not financially worth it to buy a house in the Bay Area, in 2019.

Read More