I'll be honest...I'm a terrible trader and just an average investor yet my wealth still rose 17% last year. Despite being average at capturing income I am a master at keeping and growing whatever I happen to earn. If you think of yourself as an excellent trader, investor or earner but are not seeing your wealth rise significantly over time then you might be suffering from bad lifestyle habits. How you spend your money can make such a huge difference in how much wealth you are able to build over time...just take a look at the long list of bankrupt celebrities. If you're looking for a new powerful edge consider changing the way that you spend. What are your thoughts?
Money is kind of a funny thing...when you don't have any, you wish you did...so you can buy all the lavish things you want. But once you have money, your values and ideals kind of become the opposite -- or more conservative and simpler.
I totally get what you're saying. I remember in the beginning when I first started working and had nothing, all I could think about was making enough to buy an Acura TL...but when I finally made the money to buy it all I could think about was doubling and tripling it.
Yeah I worry about whether or not I've just been lucky as well. My total net asset growth rate has been high but has been declining each year (2012 32%, 2013 31%, 2014 25%, 2015 17%) so I do wonder if I can keep it up for very much longer. One source of optimism for me beyond saving a ton of money is that I take advantage of diversification across a multitude of asset classes including cash, for optionality, as well as various time oriented themes (long term versus short term). Also, I'm getting pretty close to what I thought I would have in retirement, the only problem is that I'm not even 40 yet so there's a long way to go. You're right...time will be the best judge.
A lot of humblebrag in this thread. You've earned a lot in the bull market (which is fine). Just keep it if we transition to a bear market. I know a few guys who earned 1000x returns over their life times, who did it by overperforming in bull markets and not underperforming in bear markets.
I like that word, "humblebrag"...that is exactly what I sound like huh, and I wasn't even aware there was a word for it. Anyways...that is one of my biggest concerns...how to successfully transition to a bear market. The only problem is that preparing too aggressively too early on creates too much negative carry or drag on the portfolio which can cause permanent damage. Instead of trying to predict the transition...my strategy is to own assets that perform in bull markets as well as assets that perform in bear markets. I then layer that by saving as much money as I can as well as keeping a long term multi-decade focus. I'm thinking that this core strategy will be enough but I will be flexible as I continue to learn from new information and from my mistakes.
Blah, blah, blah. How's bout you sharing how it's done...much more appreciate that than this. Na zdrowie, Tim