Monthly Portfolio Report – August 2023

Posted on September 1, 2023September 30, 2023 by The FI Explorer

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.

Monthly Portfolio Report – July 2023

Posted on August 1, 2023July 31, 2023 by The FI Explorer

The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.
Winston Churchill

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

Portfolio goal

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	$776,574
Vanguard Lifestrategy Growth Fund	$40,530
Vanguard Lifestrategy Balanced Fund	$72,853
Vanguard Diversified Bonds Fund	$87,316
Vanguard Australian Shares ETF (VAS)	$404,668
Vanguard International Shares ETF (VGS)	$592,416
Betashares Australia 200 ETF (A200)	$286,699
Telstra shares (TLS)	$2,270
Insurance Australia Group shares (IAG)	$7,513
NIB Holdings shares (NHF)	$9,936
Gold ETF (GOLD.ASX)	$131,560
Secured physical gold	$20,805
Bitcoin	$488,404
Raiz app (Aggressive portfolio)	$21,631
Spaceship Voyager app (Index portfolio)	$3,549
BrickX (P2P rental real estate)	$4,451
Total portfolio value	$2,951,175 (+$22,458)

Asset allocation

*Australian shares*	*35.1%*
Global shares	32.4%
Emerging market shares	1.4%
International small companies	1.8%
Total international shares	35.7%
Total shares	70.8% (-9.2%)
Total property securities	0.2% (+0.2%)
Australian bonds	2.2%
International bonds	5.1%
Total bonds	7.3% (+2.3%)
Gold	5.2%
Bitcoin	16.5%
Gold and alternatives	21.7% (+6.7%)

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

Comments

This month the financial independence portfolio increased modestly at a ‘headline’ figures level, with an increase of 0.8 per cent, or around $22,000.

What may be easily missed, however, is that this relatively modest headline movement compared to last month obscures a set of wider incremental changes that continue to subtly reshape the portfolio from within.

As an example, looking at only the non-Bitcoin ‘financial portfolio’ shows a growth of around $48,000 – which is actually a greater level of expansion than the equivalent movement in financial assets last month. The equity portfolio has advanced to 95 per cent of its eventual target, or $2.09 million.

So beneath the apparent steadiness of the monthly portfolio value this month there sits some emerging, and no doubt some ebbing or changeable, trends.

Australian equities advanced around 2.0 per cent in capital growth terms through the month, while international equities posted similar gains of around 2.2 per cent over the same period.

Portfolio Income Update – Half Year to June 30, 2023

Posted on July 17, 2023September 12, 2023 by The FI Explorer

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

Investment	Amount
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.

Monthly Portfolio Report – June 2023

Posted on July 1, 2023June 30, 2023 by The FI Explorer

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

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 shares*	*34.4%*
Global shares	32.1%
Emerging market shares	1.4%
International small companies	1.8%
Total international shares	35.4%
Total shares	69.8% (-10.2%)
Total property securities	0.2% (+0.2%)
Australian bonds	2.2%
International bonds	5.1%
Total bonds	7.3% (+2.3%)
Gold	5.1%
Bitcoin	17.6%
Gold and alternatives	22.7% (+7.7%)

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

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.

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.