Time is the wisest counsellor of all.

Pericles

This is my eighty-third 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	$724,110
Vanguard Lifestrategy Growth Fund	$38,118
Vanguard Lifestrategy Balanced Fund	$69,131
Vanguard Diversified Bonds Fund	$84,578
Vanguard Australian Shares ETF (VAS)	$420,542
Vanguard International Shares ETF (VGS)	$578,045
Betashares Australia 200 ETF (A200)	$262,175
Telstra shares (TLS)	$2,030
Insurance Australia Group shares (IAG)	$7,183
NIB Holdings shares (NHF)	$8,688
Gold ETF (GOLD.ASX)	$141,183
Secured physical gold	$22,310
Bitcoin	$600,385
Raiz app (Aggressive portfolio)	$20,107
Spaceship Voyager app (Index portfolio)	$3,347
BrickX (P2P rental real estate)	$4,431
Plenti Capital Notes Market Loan	$5,000
Total portfolio value	$2,991,363 (+$105,860)

Asset allocation

Australian shares	33.6%
Global shares	30.7%
Emerging market shares	1.3%
International small companies	1.7%
Total international shares	33.7%
Total shares	67.3% (-12.7%)
Total property securities	0.1% (+0.1%)
Australian bonds	2.2%
International bonds	4.8%
Total bonds	7.0% (+2.0%)
Gold	5.5%
Bitcoin	20.1%
Gold and alternatives	25.5% (+10.5%)

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

Comments

The portfolio increased in value by around $105,000 through this month, pushing it to its highest level since late 2021.

This move represented a 3.7 per cent increase in its value, more than offsetting losses through the last two months.

The different segments of the portfolio sharply diverged across the month, as higher inflation outcomes in Australia and yield increases in government bond markets globally challenged the comparative value and outlook for equities.

The equity portfolio suffered sharp losses in its domestic component, down around 3.3 per cent after accounting for dividends being distributed. In the case of international shares the losses approached 2.7 per cent, cushioned by a weaker currency performance on the part of the Australian dollar.

Continue reading “Monthly Portfolio Report – October 2023”

For it is right, Athenians, to use prior events as a guide about what will happen in the future

Andocides

This is my eighty-second 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	$737,295
Vanguard Lifestrategy Growth Fund	$38,682
Vanguard Lifestrategy Balanced Fund	$70,163
Vanguard Diversified Bonds Fund	$85,371
Vanguard Australian Shares ETF (VAS)	$426,674
Vanguard International Shares ETF (VGS)	$587,719
Betashares Australia 200 ETF (A200)	$276,661
Telstra shares (TLS)	$2,052
Insurance Australia Group shares (IAG)	$7,196
NIB Holdings shares (NHF)	$8,916
Gold ETF (GOLD.ASX)	$129,907
Secured physical gold	$20,534
Bitcoin	$465,913
Raiz app (Aggressive portfolio)	$20,515
Spaceship Voyager app (Index portfolio)	$3,447
BrickX (P2P rental real estate)	$4,458
Total portfolio value	$2,885,503 (-$56,273)

Asset allocation

Australian shares	35.7%
Global shares	32.4%
Emerging market shares	1.4%
International small companies	1.8%
Total international shares	35.5%
Total shares	71.3% (-8.7%)
Total property securities	0.2% (+0.2%)
Australian bonds	2.2%
International bonds	5.0%
Total bonds	7.2% (+2.2%)
Gold	5.2%
Bitcoin	16.1%
Gold and alternatives	21.4% (+6.4%)

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

Comments

This month the portfolio declined in value by around $56,000 – falling 1.9 per cent.

The decline means the portfolio has fallen back to a level first seen at the end of 2021, and in March last year.

The losses were widely dispersed across the different asset classes held. The equity portfolio fell as a whole, with global equities contracting by 4.0 per cent, and Australian equities falling by 2.8 per cent.

Gold holdings fell in value by 3.7 per cent. Bitcoin was comparatively stable across the month, losing just 0.6 per cent.

Continue reading “Monthly Portfolio Report – September 2023”

There is a world beyond ours, a world that is far away, nearby and invisible

Maria Sabina

This is my eighty-first 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	$771,760
Vanguard Lifestrategy Growth Fund	$40,305
Vanguard Lifestrategy Balanced Fund	$72,510
Vanguard Diversified Bonds Fund	$87,091
Vanguard Australian Shares ETF (VAS)	$413,503
Vanguard International Shares ETF (VGS)	$600,036
Betashares Australia 200 ETF (A200)	$284,603
Telstra shares (TLS)	$2,137
Insurance Australia Group shares (IAG)	$7,373
NIB Holdings shares (NHF)	$9,954
Gold ETF (GOLD.ASX)	$134,913
Secured physical gold	$21,323
Bitcoin	$466,898
Raiz app (Aggressive portfolio)	$21,323
Spaceship Voyager app (Index portfolio)	$3,560
BrickX (P2P rental real estate)	$4,455
Total portfolio value	$2,941,776 (-$9,399)

Asset allocation

Australian shares	35.4%
Global shares	32.7%
Emerging market shares	1.4%
International small companies	1.8%
Total international shares	36.0%
Total shares	71.4% (-8.6%)
Total property securities	0.2% (+0.2%)
Australian bonds	2.2%
International bonds	5.1%
Total bonds	7.3% (+2.3%)
Gold	5.3%
Bitcoin	15.9%
Gold and alternatives	21.2% (+6.2%)

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

Comments

This month saw a small loss of around $9,000 in the financial independence portfolio, equivalent to a contraction of about 0.3 per cent.

This continues the period of relatively muted month-to-month volatility in the portfolio, with the portfolio sitting at an essentially unchanged level since the beginning of the financial year.

There was a relatively mixed experience across the portfolio components in August.

The sharpest percentage falls in value were experienced in Bitcoin (at -4.4 per cent). Some legal appeal developments in the United States around possible US ETF offerings helped reduce earlier larger falls. By constrast, gold securities increased in value by around 2.5 per cent.

The large equity component of the portfolio also demonstrated this mixed result.

Australian equities fell in value approximately 0.7 per cent through the month, while continued strength in global equities and a weaker exchange rate produced a capital return of around 1.3 per cent across the same period for international share holdings.

Continue reading “Monthly Portfolio Report – August 2023”