What's the number?

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Originally Posted by Kevo

How much of your portfolio are you actively managing? For things that you aren't actively managing, are you indexing? If so, are you indexing total stock market or are you indexing only certain industries?

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A certain percentage of my portfolio is buy and hold. They're mostly dividend yielding cash rich old school stocks I bought back in 08 - 09. On these I log in once a month and sell covered calls or cash secured puts or sometimes both to enrich yield. MSFT, TU, LMT, IRM, AMZN (no dividend), JPM, BMO, RY, TIPS but the mix/content isn't important. I target 12-15% YoY yield on that.

A certain percentage of my portfolio is "actively managed". This is approx 2%. It's for trading long/short/FX/options/derivatives mainly to keep in practise. If I blow up over the year then so be it; I don't replenish it. If it goes above 5% then I take out excess capital and that goes into my boomer buy and hold portfolio. Sometimes I go months without trading. Sometimes (like this year due to Covid I trade several times a week).

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Originally Posted by LeeLau

If something extracts money out of someone like me who's so cheap then join the crowd and participate. Eg buy AMZN (too easy to impulse shop), buy BMO (usurious banking fees), buy WB (long lineups, overpriced food. Join the people who extract money.

US military industrial complex runs the country? Buy LMT

Financial companies will always win? Buy JPM.

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Similar to how I invest. There are some businesses that are just mandatory for everyone. We all need a bank, internet connection, online shop, insurance, oil etc. Buy the companies you hate. Make them pay you back. I like to invest enough for their dividends to exceed their cost to me.

A general thanks Lee. My FI journey started with a Mr money moustache post you shared on FB maybe 8 yrs ago. I was like fm, you mean working to 65 isn’t mandatory?? 8 years later, I checked out for good.

And dang dude 80hrs weeks for 8 years??! At least it paid off for you.

Lee, thanks so much for sharing - and congrats for being able to stick with that and make it work for you. Not everyone could do that.

And thanks for the rest of the responses, too. Definitely have provided food for thought.

For better or worse, we're committed to not only keeping the kid we have but also having more. Having lived as DINKs for a few years prior to this we understand the financial benefits of that but our minds are made up in that respect.

Focus on having either stupid kids who won’t be college bound, or smart ones that get a full ride scholarship.

I wouldn’t give up my kids for anything, even though they weren’t really my idea. It’s definitely a standard of living vs quality of life thing.

I think it should be said that kids are not only expensive, but they also change the equation in other ways. E.g. harder and more costly to move to pursue an opportunity, putting in months or years of 80+ hour weeks are at odds with your kids’ best interests, you have to maintain basic availability and responsibilities around mornings and evenings, your risk tolerance goes way down, etc. They drive a lifestyle baseline that is more than purely economic.

All good things, IMO, but different.

I'm thinking the cost of HC might make the number way different depending on which side of the line you live, up here with universal HC we don't have to think about it

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Originally Posted by XXX-er

I'm thinking the cost of HC might make the number way different depending on which side of the line you live, up here with universal HC we don't have to think about it

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For sure. Up there with risk tolerance again. There was a time, after I had kids, where I had to choose between steady job with healthcare benefits or take a risk and do my own thing. If healthcare wasn’t a concern I might have chosen differently, but I had a hypochondriac non-earning spouse, which made striking out on my own a non-starter (for me, and my meager balls).

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Originally Posted by LeeLau

A certain percentage of my portfolio is buy and hold. They're mostly dividend yielding cash rich old school stocks I bought back in 08 - 09. On these I log in once a month and sell covered calls or cash secured puts or sometimes both to enrich yield. MSFT, TU, LMT, IRM, AMZN (no dividend), JPM, BMO, RY, TIPS but the mix/content isn't important. I target 12-15% YoY yield on that.

A certain percentage of my portfolio is "actively managed". This is approx 2%. It's for trading long/short/FX/options/derivatives mainly to keep in practise. If I blow up over the year then so be it; I don't replenish it. If it goes above 5% then I take out excess capital and that goes into my boomer buy and hold portfolio. Sometimes I go months without trading. Sometimes (like this year due to Covid I trade several times a week).

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I run specific stocks for the covered calls because every now and then they can be called away. How do you hold from 08-09 and avoid any options from being called because of a runup? Or am I reading too much into that generalized statement?

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Originally Posted by sirbumpsalot

I run specific stocks for the covered calls because every now and then they can be called away. How do you hold from 08-09 and avoid any options from being called because of a runup? Or am I reading too much into that generalized statement?

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The buy and holds are in a tax-deferred account (canada - RSP and TFSA). If they get assigned I sell CSPs to buy them back. Also if they get assigned obviously I've made a capital gain but that's not material in the tax-deferred account. It has happened mainly with MSFT and AMZN because those are so prone to bigger price swings even though they're mega caps. Not so much with the other boomer stocks where I automatically sell at 0.2 deltas or thereabouts and harvest premium and the stocks just don't move that much.

I also subscribe to the calendars for all these CC stocks so I get alerted to new product announcements, quarterlies, events etc so I watch for those when selling the CCs

Some of the buy and hold CCs are in a taxable account. Either I roll the calls or I take assignment, pay the taxes and move on.

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Originally Posted by shafty85

Lee, thanks so much for sharing - and congrats for being able to stick with that and make it work for you. Not everyone could do that.

And thanks for the rest of the responses, too. Definitely have provided food for thought.

For better or worse, we're committed to not only keeping the kid we have but also having more. Having lived as DINKs for a few years prior to this we understand the financial benefits of that but our minds are made up in that respect.

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In Whistler I'm surrounded by lots of early retirees. All chose different paths to get there. Most retired later than me; but some earlier. The one common trait all had was the ability and discipline to save. Without savings you can't execute. Money makes money.

Another common trait most (but not all) had was the outlook that they could do it. They found reasons to succeed; not reasons to fail. Generalizing but I find that Canadians seem to like to find reasons to fail. Americans (and Malaysians and Singaporeans - where I grew up) find reasons to succeed. That's why I liked that MMM website and his blogs and I suspect why xyz also did. He gives people the tools to learn how to execute to the best of their ability.

Oh and last thing. The vast majority people of are financial retards. Finance and the stock markets are a zero sum game. To get winners there must be losers. I find it to be the height of personal failure how many people refuse to learn about financials basics; I'm thinking of things like compound interest, tax writeoffs, basic budgeting. It takes so little to be better than average than most people in that.

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Originally Posted by Mustonen

I had a hypochondriac non-earning spouse, which made striking out on my own a non-starter (for me, and my meager balls).

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there is meager balls and there is recognising a situation which is in your own best interest, I had me one of them too ^^ at one point she was filling a prescription on average every 4 days, the cradle-to-grave extended health paid for it but that kind of shit is ... exhasting shit

which is why you will always hear me say i was so glad she kicked me out

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Originally Posted by LeeLau

That's why I liked that MMM website and his blogs and I suspect why xyz also did. He gives people the tools to learn how to execute to the best of their ability.

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Which website is that, sorry?

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Originally Posted by shafty85

Which website is that, sorry?

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https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

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Originally Posted by LeeLau

II find it to be the height of personal failure how many people refuse to learn about financials basics; I'm thinking of things like compound interest, tax writeoffs, basic budgeting. It takes so little to be better than average than most people in that.

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I was just talking to my wife about this. They should be teaching this shit in high school. I told my wife you could make every kid a millionaire if you simply taught the basics of compound interest, saving, budgeting. You figure that out and you will make it no matter what your job is.

Civics and basic finance should be required subjects for every kid in school. It's almost like some people might prefer the masses to be passive, uninformed and broke. Nah that's crazy talk.

Bread and circuses.

okay, I'll bite

wifey and I are in our early 30s. we live within our means but aren't "money smart". I know fuckall about tax write-offs or investments or saving strategies other than maxing out my 401k and playing around on robin hood.

where can I get myself edumacated? any good youtube videos or books?

sorry, jong here, but the first step to fixing ignorance is admitting it

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Originally Posted by tgapp

okay, I'll bite

wifey and I are in our early 30s. we live within our means but aren't "money smart". I know fuckall about tax write-offs or investments or saving strategies other than maxing out my 401k and playing around on robin hood.

where can I get myself edumacated? any good youtube videos or books?

sorry, jong here, but the first step to fixing ignorance is admitting it

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

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If you are both maxing out your 401k, look at doing a back door Roth IRA, max out HSA. 529 if u have kids.

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Originally Posted by ötzi

Civics and basic finance should be required subjects for every kid in school. It's almost like some people might prefer the masses to be passive, uninformed and broke. Nah that's crazy talk.

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I know a lot of very smart professional type people who are extremely stupid with money. It’s sad really, they end up working a job they hate for 2-3 decades longer than they need too.

Even if you love every second of your job, the peace of mind of financial independence is always worth pursuing.

if i could do it it can't be rocket biology

I went conservative and the long plan

[QUOTE=tgapp;6179988]okay, I'll bite

wifey and I are in our early 30s. we live within our means but aren't "money smart". I know fuckall about tax write-offs or investments or saving strategies other than maxing out my 401k and playing around on robin hood.

where can I get myself edumacated? any good youtube videos or books?

sorry, jong here, but the first step to fixing ignorance is admitting it
/QUOTE]

Spend less than you earn; invest it early and often. This is a good starter:


WHAT
0. Establish an emergency fund to your satisfaction
1. Contribute to your 401k up to any company match
2. Pay off any debts with interest rates ~5% or more above the current 10-year Treasury note yield.
3. Max Health Savings Account (HSA) if eligible.
4. Max Traditional IRA or Roth (or backdoor Roth) based on income level
5. Max 401k (if
- 401k fees are lower than available in an IRA, or
- you need the 401k deduction to be eligible for (and desire) a tIRA deduction, or
- you earn too much for an IRA deduction and prefer traditional to Roth, then
swap #4 and #5)
6. Fund a mega backdoor Roth if applicable.
7. Pay off any debts with interest rates ~3% or more above the current 10-year Treasury note yield.
8. Invest in a taxable account and/or fund a 529 with any extra.

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/in...estment-order/

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Originally Posted by XXX-er

if i could do it it can't be rocket biology

I went conservative and the long plan

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Yeh but what IS that plan

Ppl talk about plans and conservative and shit and I'm just sitting here wondering how the fuck to start with any of this.

Do I put my money under a mattress? In the walls in the outlets? Attics or crawl spaces? Big bills vs small ones: does it matter?



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okay tips up that actually is super helpful

thanks mag, that's exactly what I needed

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I found it a few years ago, probably referred to by someone else on TGR, implemented as much as I can. Turns out that it's a well-trodden path, easy to follow. Most people just don't know how to find the trailhead. I'm not there yet, but I can see where the path is leading and it looks good.

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Originally Posted by ötzi

Civics and basic finance should be required subjects for every kid in school. It's almost like some people might prefer the masses to be passive, uninformed and broke. Nah that's crazy talk.

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Just smart enough to run the machines