Portfolio Update May 2024

A lot has happened since I last posted. It has been much longer than I anticipated. My life became busy: I was promoted at my job, my employer went out of business, I had to start over with a new company, a global illness came and went, and I went through another job change. All of these factors conspired to prevent me from working on my side projects.

Even though I haven’t been posting, I have continued to invest and thought I should share my current results. Since my last post, I have invested $180 from every paycheck into my investment accounts each month. Five years ago, I withdrew $35,000 to use as a down payment on my new house. Yes, things have been crazy for me.

When I last shared my portfolio in January 2014, its value was $32,273.50 with a gain of $3,008.35. Over the years, I have made many purchases and a few mistakes, such as selling Facebook because I listened to an analyst who suggested that buying the IPO wasn’t wise. However, I also made some great decisions, like investing in Google and Apple, despite fearing they might be overvalued. It just goes to show you need to be in the market to see results.

While I am older now, I am also much wiser. Looking at the younger generation, I realize I need to share my journey to provide them hope for the future. When I first started investing, I thought I would never be successful and believed the long-term horizon was a myth. I feel today’s youth have similar sentiments. I was fortunate to have a mentor who took me under his wing, showed me what was possible, helped remove my biases about money, and encouraged me to save a little bit each month with future compounding in mind. Looking back, I wish I had been more aggressive with my portfolio. The gains are astounding, and I should have found a way to increase my investments each month.

From my original portfolio, you will notice some truly impressive numbers that time has afforded me. When I purchased my house, I sold $35,000 in stock, including 15 shares in CAT, 20 shares in VFC, 20 shares in CLX, 10 shares in KMB, 25 shares in MRO, 20 shares in UN and UL, along with 10 shares in SYK.

My initial investments in Apple and Google were challenging steps to take. I agonized over putting nearly half of my total investment dollars into these two companies. Finally, after studying and believing in the strength of both Apple and Google—knowing their extreme strength and financial power in the tech industry—I made the plunge, buying $12,000 and $14,000 of each company over the course of 2014. Both stocks have done amazingly well, with more than 500% gains each. Google is an astounding story, as their stock not only split but also grew at a very decent year-over-year rate.

For those who think that $150 a paycheck isn’t worth investing, please take a look at my portfolio as proof that time in the market is far more valuable than the amount you can afford to invest today! My story shows that even small, consistent investments can yield significant results. Over the past ten years, I have grown my portfolio to $415,429.31. While I am not an adviser and cannot guarantee the same results for everyone, I firmly believe that investing, no matter the amount, will pay off in the fullness of time.