Investing

2022 will be remembered as a crazy year for the financial markets. I can’t even count how many times I heard finance professionals use the word “unprecedented” in the news. As I did last year, and every year since 2019, it’s time to take a look back at my own predictions and performance. This year I was totally right and totally wrong at the same time.  2022 Market  The S&P 500 dropped 22% in 2022. The Russell 2000 (small-cap stocks) went down 19.5%, so this drop affected the entire market, large and small. Apart from the dip in 2020 from covid, which was rapidly erased,Read More →

Another crazy year has passed us by, and despite so much uncertainty in the world with continued shutdowns and staffing shortages, the stock market has once again performed very well.  The S&P 500 is up 27% for 2021, and small-cap stocks also increased. Although there were seemingly many knee-jerk investor reactions every time a Fed meeting was imminent, the market consistently bounced back from any drops. Anyone invested in the market, even the most simplistic market-tracking ETFs (which many investors will tell you is a wise diversified choice for many), did very well this year and last. Next I’ll take a look as always atRead More →

This is the third year that I’ve done both a financial review at the end of the year, as well as a prediction of my own passive income looking forward.  Since dividends aren’t guaranteed and can fluctuate a lot (especially last year), there’s always some uncertainty and educated guessing required to work out your own specific numbers ahead of time. I delved into potential market recoveries in my update on 2020, as well as a preview of my expectations for 2021. In this article I’ll get into specifics on my own finances, and what I expect for 2021. (As always, these are just my personalRead More →

When I posted my 2020 predictions back in January, I casually threw in a typical financial statement of caution: “Everyone has seen those “the past is not an indicator of performance” disclaimers, which is of course true, so predictions are just that – estimates that could easily be affected by market changes.” Well, I think it’s safe to say nobody saw 2020 coming. Not even the guys from The Big Short.  Here’s my year-end look back at the market, updates on my financial experiment in generating income from dividends during my sabbatical, and a quick look forward.  Stock Market Performance in 2020 The National BureauRead More →

In my last update in April, I talked about the complete unknowability of the world’s financial situation. The stocks have been swinging up and down seemingly on a whim, and nothing seems safe anymore.  I’m a year and half into my experiment of living off dividend income while on my sabbatical, so in this completely terrible time to try such a thing, how am I doing? While some of my funds have indeed suspended payouts, including Carnival Cruise Lines (go figure), I’m actually doing fine with others.  I predicted back in January that I should be able to make $1,191 a month on average thisRead More →

Well, there’s no way anyone could have predicted the financial situation we find ourselves in now, in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak. The inverted yield curve back in August 2019 didn’t look encouraging, but nobody expected a global pandemic and subsequent mass shutdown this spring. In the midst of the turmoil, a lot of people are experiencing financial distress, both for immediate needs and in their retirement accounts. I wanted to address the market conditions and give a personal update, since some folks have kindly asked how I’m doing.  Stay the course, and Don’t Panic.  Though this global shutdown is unprecedented, market conditions haveRead More →

Way back in 2013, I was looking for a simple way to invest. The roboadvisor startups were just getting going and there wasn’t a lot of data out there, so I decided to put a small amount of money in two of the front runners, Wealthfront and Betterment, and assess performance over time. There was a lot of interest among my friends, so I posted Facebook updates across a six month period. In May 2014 I decided on Betterment because the returns were better, the interface was simpler, and the tax documents were released a month sooner. I talk more about that here. Three YearsRead More →

As I did last year, I spent some time predicting what my dividend income will look like for 2020, and wanted to give an update on how things look. Using the past to predict the future Everyone has seen those “the past is not an indicator of performance” disclaimers, which is of course true, so predictions are just that – estimates that could easily be affected by market changes. In fact I saw it firsthand when my REIT ETFs underperformed thanks to the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates. That said, here’s the simple methodology I follow.  First, I look at the dividends from last yearRead More →