remember those days,after work i used to go to NYPL at 42nd street and from there log in to my laptop i came to read Silicon Investor, Buddhabob was posting those days(some actor from LA trading stocks and writing comments about it's manipulation) ,i thought the guy was the funniest thing ever.I think you might have been Jamesbon.I was just starting to get interested in trading,i would spend days in Barnes and Noble reading every book about trading.
Thanks clacy, appreciate it. But only need $100-200K/yr to live on?? Hardly. I live in a very low cost of living area of the country here in rural Kentucky, am debt free (no mortgage/rent) and receive Social Security ( I am a big advocate of being 100% debt free) So it's more like I am padding my nest egg. But at 68 years old at some point I have to start spending more. I wish it was 4 million, more like 2 million. But even at that amount based on my annual expenses minus Social Security and including vacations and the like my money will far outlive me - not necessarily a good thing. As for being a vendor, my past five years or so tax returns show only a few hundred dollars annually in book sales. So don't feel I am part of Vendorville. As for why bond funds ala junk, bank loans, muni and the like, because of their low volatility and trend persistency, I can go 100% of my capital unlike any other trading instrument. I am real big on something rarely mentioned on trading forums and that is the Compound Effect. Edit: I am real big on consistency with as little drawdown as possible. I had posted back in October a one year screen shot of my conservative IRA account at Scottrade. Below is an updated version excluding around $8000 in dividends that will be posted end of month. I believe you have to be signed in to view this upload. I also have a taxable trading account there too. My taxable account is smaller because that is the account where I pay my monthly expenses as well as when necessary buy a car or my home. You will note the smoothness in trend of my equity curve. I could care less about being the biggest or baddest trader out there. I am a small time Mom and Pop trader who only cares about a secure retirement nest egg. With my IRA account below as well as my taxable account I have achieved that goal. And it's not like I am going to suddenly quit trading. I hope to continue to grow that nest egg over time.
To me it looks like its one year, starting from May 1, and the last entry, 4/9 refers to April 9, and since this isn't in fact the last bit of data, there are a couple of more weeks to take us to the current date of end of April. So in essence, in just under 1 year, about 200k of growth!
He doesn't post often, but it looks like 10% appreciation over a year's time, not hugely difficult to do.
Definitely. Not the hundreds of millions that the elite rake in every day , but more than just pocket money.
Again, this is my conservative IRA account, not my taxable account. The big percentage returns were when I had a smaller account and could be more aggressive. Since December 16, 2008 have averaged around $195,000 annually in both accounts combined. Of course I had the wind (the Fed) at my back. Had but $2200 in all in April 1985. Have you seen the returns of the hedge funds over the past five to six years? I could post the links but only 5% of U.S. households have $1,000,000 in investable assets and only 6/10 of 1% of the millions of 401(Ks) administered by Fidelity are over $1,000,000. So being the small fry, non elite, Mom and Pop trader that I am, I am happy with what I have achieved. Of course *everyone* on trading boards are millionaires many times over. Boy, the stories I could tell about some of the Pretenders that infest the trading forums. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/401-k-millionaire-ridiculous-idea-050000111.html http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-01-18/1-20-us-households-has-over-million-assets-where-they-are
You are a shining example of long term consistent investing which everyone here should be aspiring to rather than trying to make a quick buck before the inevitable blowup