Last year I walked away from a high stress degrading morales career and eventually accepted a role for a stake in building a business. Before stepping away I’d hit 100% Coast Fi in my Roth/Traditional IRAs, and after 1/3 of a year not working had decided that a lower stress - live for the moment now - kinda job fills my mojo jar happily. As part of this, I have been raising a large family in a moderate cost of living area primarily on the taxable investment pot and it has gone splendid.
My debt reduction & consumerist mindset shove towards valuist minimalism took about 5 years and my net worth accumulation took another 5 years. As part of the accumulation into equities (80 VTI/ 20 VXUS) I reserved 5% for a few single names. Most of these pot-shots have done well, a few exceptionally so, a few have not, but the gains have been sold after a year+ and the losers have offset gains. In addition, at certain targets I sell to recoup the principal at which point this goes into my VTI/VXUS bucket. All as laid out in my written financial plan.
Alas, the crawl space developed a significant moisture and mold problem – but $5K later the 1800 sq ft x 31” has been encapsulated, dehumidified, and treated – and the air quality in the home is significantly improved. The labour was intense, but highly satisfying. Quotes came in at 20-25K for the job, DIY came in at time and grind.
In addition, 12 year old builder’s grade white carpet, multiple children, and 2 old dogs do not mix well for those asthmatic and allergetic in nature. The nasty allergen flairing carpet is being torn out and I’m laying in Engineered Vinyl Plank over OBS in its stead. Again, a big win for cleanliness and air quality improvement. This job is ongoing, but for 600 sq ft the cost is $1,400.
TSLA’s principal investment was recouped in the early spring. Now I still hold a goodly amount of shares however It has paid for the crawl space and flooring in a time of no income.
The products that I love owning the most, that consistently improve the quality of life the most --- they’re equities.
While it may not be the Mustachain Majority Methodology, while I typically discourage most folks from buying into single names as they lack the knowledge needed to properly vet below market value opportunities, it sure feels amazing to have these funding sources beyond the 100% Coast FI bucket… especially in a time of no disposable earned cash-inflows.
