cloudcaster's Net Worth for January 2024

Assets	Value	Change ($)	Change (%)
Taxable	$700,270	$379,363	118.22%
Tax Deferred	$1,686,780	$1,299	0.08%
Tax Free	$494,466	($1,045)	(0.21%)
Home	$500,000	-	-
4x Cars	$40,000	-	-
529 Accounts	$35,904	($28,141)	(43.94%)
Total Assets	$3,457,420	$351,476	11.32%

Debts	Value	Change ($)	Change (%)
Home Mortgage(s)	$0	-	-
Student Loans	$0	-	-
Credit Cards	$28,879	$28,879	-
Car Loans	$0	-	-
Other Debts	$0	-	-
Total Debts	$28,879	$28,879	-
Net Worth	$3,428,541	$322,597	10.39%
^*All values shown in USD ($)

Notes:
Stocks 20% / Bonds 80% Holding too much cash, so I'm once again locked in my eternal personal struggle: Lump Sum invest or DCA into the market? Paid last estimated tax payment of 2023 via PayUSATax, which accepts Paypal. PayPal has a 3% cash back award, while PayUSA Tax has a 1.82% fee. Because of statement cycle, I also get a two month float with Paypal before interest is due, which is nice at 5% MMF rates. Might as well get some benefit for paying taxes.

Notes:

Stocks 20% / Bonds 80%
Holding too much cash, so I'm once again locked in my eternal personal struggle: Lump Sum invest or DCA into the market?
Paid last estimated tax payment of 2023 via PayUSATax, which accepts Paypal. PayPal has a 3% cash back award, while PayUSA Tax has a 1.82% fee. Because of statement cycle, I also get a two month float with Paypal before interest is due, which is nice at 5% MMF rates. Might as well get some benefit for paying taxes.

Comments

1/27/2024 10:43:06 AM mydogwantsmetoretire
We have a similar financial profile and life at this point. Out of curiosity, is there a reason for the heavy bond focus?
1/28/2024 6:25:11 AM cloudcaster
Short answer: emotion and fear. Long answer: I was 100% equities my entire life until Dec 2021, when I decided to accelerate payoff of my mortgage to become debt free in prep for possible RE. TBills had enticing yields, so I went heavy treasuries as I got used to the cardinal sin of never selling stock. Through dumb luck, I managed to avoid some market pain in 2022. Through just being dumb, I also managed to avoid the 26% gain in 2023, which made me realize my folly. It's been a good lesson in my inability to predict the future. Stocks still seem very expensive to me, but I'm slowly rebalancing to a 60/40 split, which is probably more appropriate for some contemplating RE.
1/28/2024 1:45:44 PM testertest98
Thanks for sharing. I remember selling much of my equity portfolio in 2011 thinking there is an eminent correction (wanted to "take advantage" of the kind of snapback we saw in the market in 2H08-1H09) only to buy back into the market a few months later at a higher cost basis. Still shake my head when I think about it... Almost every prediction I have made of a market downturn / correction has been wrong...
3/2/2024 6:14:44 PM mydogwantsmetoretire
I have learned through a lot of trial-and-error and now I just try to stay the course with my current asset allocations, with speculative stocks making up 5% or less. I figure the "experts" struggle with trying to figure this stuff out so might as well play the historical averages.
3/4/2024 11:14:25 AM azphx1972
I'm in the same NW & age group as you guys (w/exception of TT98), and have also found that the MDWMTR's strategy of investing at least 30% of earnings, accepting market returns via index funds, and leaving emotions out of the process to be an effective & sustainable method for growing wealth over the long term. Cheers!