Portfolio Income Update – Half Year to June 30, 2023


And since I am embarked on the boundless sea and have spread my full sails to the winds, there is nothing in all the world that keeps its form. All things are in a state of flux, and everything is brought into being with a changing nature.

Ovid, Metamorphoses, Bk.XV

Twice a year I prepare a summary of total income from my financial independence portfolio. This is my fourteenth portfolio income update since starting this record. As part of the transparency and accountability of this journey, I regularly report this income.

My primary goal is to maintain a portfolio of at least $2,750,000 which is capable of providing a passive income of around $94,800 (in 2023 dollars).

A secondary focus is achieving a minimum equity target of $2,200,000.

Portfolio income summary

InvestmentAmount
Vanguard Lifestrategy High Growth (retail fund)$16,568
Vanguard Lifestrategy Growth (retail fund)$928
Vanguard Lifestrategy Balanced (retail fund)$833
Vanguard Diversified Bonds (retail fund)$102
Vanguard Australian Shares ETF (VAS)$6,187
Vanguard International Shares ETF (VGS)$7,245
Betashares Australia 200 ETF (A200)$4,532
Telstra shares (TLS.ASX)$45
Insurance Australia Group shares (IAG.ASX)$76
NIB Holding shares (NHF.ASX)$156
Raiz app (Aggressive portfolio)$251
Spaceship Voyager app (Index portfolio)$0
BrickX (P2P rental real estate)$19
Total Portfolio Income – Half-Year to June 30, 2023$36,942

The chart below sets out the income or distributions received on a half-yearly basis from the financial independence portfolio over the past seven years.

Chart - Half-Yearly Portfolio Income
Continue reading “Portfolio Income Update – Half Year to June 30, 2023”

Monthly Portfolio Report – June 2023

If you can look into the seeds of time

And say which grain will grow, and which will not

Speak then to me.

Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act I, Scene 3

This is my seventy-ninth monthly portfolio update. I complete this regular update to check progress against my goal.

Portfolio goal

My objective is to achieve and maintain a portfolio of at least $2,750,000 by 31 December 2024 or earlier. This should be capable of producing an annual income from total portfolio returns of about $94,800 (in 2023 dollars).

This portfolio objective is based on an assumed safe withdrawal rate of 3.45 per cent.

A secondary focus will be achieving the minimum equity target of $2,200,000.

Portfolio summary

Vanguard Lifestrategy High Growth Fund$769,333
Vanguard Lifestrategy Growth Fund$40,487
Vanguard Lifestrategy Balanced Fund$72,451
Vanguard Diversified Bonds Fund$87,427
Vanguard Australian Shares ETF (VAS)$385,859
Vanguard International Shares ETF (VGS)$579,897
Betashares Australia 200 ETF (A200)$280,714
Telstra shares (TLS)$2,291
Insurance Australia Group shares (IAG)$7,221
NIB Holdings shares (NHF)$10,140
Gold ETF (GOLD.ASX)$129,373
Secured physical gold$20,519
Bitcoin$514,175
Raiz app (Aggressive portfolio)$20,817
Spaceship Voyager app (Index portfolio)$3,525
BrickX (P2P rental real estate)$4,488
Total portfolio value$2,928,717
(+$87,366)

Asset allocation

Australian shares34.4%
Global shares32.1%
Emerging market shares1.4%
International small companies1.8%
Total international shares35.4%
Total shares69.8% (-10.2%)
Total property securities0.2% (+0.2%)
Australian bonds2.2%
International bonds5.1%
Total bonds7.3% (+2.3%)
Gold5.1%
Bitcoin17.6%
Gold and alternatives22.7% (+7.7%)

Presented visually, the pie chart below is a high-level view of the current asset allocation of the portfolio.

Chart - Asset allocation

Comments

The financial independence portfolio advanced materially this month, growing by 3.1 per cent or $87,000.

This takes the portfolio total well beyond the anticipated $2.75 million target, even while some of its most important component parts – such as the equity portfolio – sit below what I am seeking as a condition of moving to any changed work arrangements.

The portfolio as a whole has only experienced three months at value levels beyond the current level, all off the back of then bouyant Bitcoin and equity markets at the end of 2021.

Chart - Monthly portfolio value

Australian equities showed capital growth of around 1.7 per cent across the month. International equities advanced slightly more, with gains of around 2.5 per cent.

Overall, this has led the total equity portfolio to exceed $2.0 million, with over $1.0 million in both Australian and international shares, a milestone that is significant in both the long journey, and this shorter record, which commenced – in 2017 – at a time when the entire portfolio had yet to exceed a million dollars in value.

Continue reading “Monthly Portfolio Report – June 2023”