I'm Back...... Again!
Wow, it has been over a year since I have visited this blog or put up a new post. What a year it has been. So many things have changed in my life, the lives of those around me, the stock market, the country, even the world! It is an interesting little time capsule to come back and look at my last post and the ones I had lined up to publish. They are an insight into what I was thinking and learning at the time. I will do my best to be brief while I cover some of the changes since that time because there are a lot of in-depth financial items that I also need to cover with their own articles. Lots to share, so buckle up!
Good News Everyone, I got married!
That is right, the most eligible bachelor on this blog is officially off of the market! Last spring I tied the knot and married my best friend. With this being a financial blog I will spare you the feelings portion where I explain to you how she is the most wonderful person in the world (she is) and that I cherish every day I get to spend with her (I do). But since it is a financial blog I will divulge that we took our wedding finances very seriously.
Our aim was to start our marriage together with zero wedding debt and to achieve this we started saving a year early. Society and family can add pressure to have the "Dream Wedding" and cause people to end up tens of thousands of dollars in debt on day #1 of marriage (or worse). Luckily my bride and I decided to sit down and have a logical and thoughtful discussion around what we could afford and what was most important and least important for the ceremony.
We dispensed with portions of the traditional ceremony that we thought were just not important like the entire bridal party. We settled on a more affordable location in a state park at the top of a mountain rather than the more expensive options that had caught our eye. We decorated the hall ourselves with help from friends and family. We found great deals in local cattery and photography. On things that were really important to us, like her custom wedding dress and my custom Victorian suit jacket, we spent a bit more freely; however, we did a lot of shopping around and ended up paying less for our wedding than most couples. We did have a week-long honeymoon overseas but that time together was really special for us. In the end, we wound up with a tiny bit of debt that was paid off a few short months later due to our hard work and prior planning leading up to that day. The wedding itself was in a word, perfect.
Our aim was to start our marriage together with zero wedding debt and to achieve this we started saving a year early. Society and family can add pressure to have the "Dream Wedding" and cause people to end up tens of thousands of dollars in debt on day #1 of marriage (or worse). Luckily my bride and I decided to sit down and have a logical and thoughtful discussion around what we could afford and what was most important and least important for the ceremony.
We dispensed with portions of the traditional ceremony that we thought were just not important like the entire bridal party. We settled on a more affordable location in a state park at the top of a mountain rather than the more expensive options that had caught our eye. We decorated the hall ourselves with help from friends and family. We found great deals in local cattery and photography. On things that were really important to us, like her custom wedding dress and my custom Victorian suit jacket, we spent a bit more freely; however, we did a lot of shopping around and ended up paying less for our wedding than most couples. We did have a week-long honeymoon overseas but that time together was really special for us. In the end, we wound up with a tiny bit of debt that was paid off a few short months later due to our hard work and prior planning leading up to that day. The wedding itself was in a word, perfect.
Good news for Investors (mostly)
2019 was a breakaway year for the stock market with the S&P 500 soaring an eye-popping 31%. While that comes off a -4% close for 2018 those numbers are extremely impressive and slightly concerning for some investors, myself included. Other than the 2018 blip we are still in the throes of a massive bull market in its 12th year. As all investors are aware, the market runs in cycles and what goes up (historically) has always come back down. Valuations and indexes are at all-time highs so the question is not if we will hit a slump but when. I have seen plenty of predictions of the next bear market, yet so far none of them have been correct and any money sitting on the sideline has been missing out on tremendous gains. That said there are plenty of threats fresh on the horizon, coronavirus being the latest but certainly not the first even in the beginning months of 2020. No one truly knows how the next correction will begin, but I am glad I am a buy-and-hold investor or I might have some issues sleeping at night. Even with all of that, I still believe in the long term market and continue to roll my dividends into shares every time they are paid.
The EAF Portfolio is Stronger Than Ever
With a year like 2019, it was hard to lose in the wider market. My portfolio value surged a whopping 23% overall in value (notice it doesn't track the S&P 500 directly due to diversification). Somewhat surprisingly my dividend income followed suit gaining 23% year-on-year. That propelled the portfolio to its first year with pre-tax dividends over $1,000 a month. While my net worth and portfolio size are great numbers to see increasing, the real goal is to have that dividend number grow, so passing this milestone felt amazing. Not many people get paid $1,000 a month to do nothing, but I can say with a smile on my face that I now do.
What is Next in 2020?
Well for starters I will be posting more updates on the blog as I continue to work on my journey to Financial Independence or "FI". Some of the reading I have been doing over the past year on investing has convinced me that I should probably stop using "retirement" as my goal since I think I will keep working for longer just at a lower stress level and capacity. What I really want is the freedom to know that I have all the options open to me because my actual cost of living is covered before I sell a single hour of my time to anybody. Because that is what you are doing when you go to work for someone else, you are selling your time to them for a fixed fee. Now, I actually like my job and the company I work for. Each day is not always rainbows and sunshine, but I am in a pretty good place. However, that feeling of security, of freedom, is really what I am looking for from my financial journey. I have made substantial progress towards that goal and as time (and compounding) goes on, it will only get better.
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