I Attribute My Investment Success To...

[kat]

Neither. After I realized I had enough to ER or ESR, I opted for boring buy and hold investments. I accumulated the money by LBYM and some nice pay days.

 

[TargaDave]

Marrying smart. I'd be a pennyless idiot without DW. Now I am much happier idiot.

 

[audreyh1]

Interesting how many ERs took considerable financial risk to get a big enough nest egg to ER (risk that any financial advisor would strongly counsel against), and then switch to a super conservative approach after retirement.

Of course - that's not surprising at all to me. It takes risk to build considerable financial reserves. It takes a conservative strategy to then preserve the wealth (and major risk is no longer required).

But it might not have been obvious to those not yet ER'd that the strategy during accumulation phase is drastically different from the strategy after retirement.

Audrey

 

[boutros]

I buy individual stocks for domestic equities and rely on MFs for foreign. I don't think of it as any more risky than buy and hold index funds. I have ~ the same industry weightings as the S&P (really fundemental indexation weightings but that is a long discussion) and rebalance often. My beta is slighly under 1, and though I have never measured it I imagine my standard deviation is near the markets. I will buy individual bonds when that time comes but I am only 28 so the small portion attached to bonds now is in MFs as well.

 

[unclemick]

Sheryl

Yep  - not related - 4 of them: twin girls 3mo, boys 5 and 10.

Back to the thread - 1966-1992 all my great but risky adventures were so so, lost money or broke even when all was said and done. Luckily back at the ranch - I maxed 401k, IRA - before I rode forth with great investment ideas.

I was unemployed at 49 - mentally shifted to retirement in the stretch - crossed the million about 6/7 yrs into ER - mainly cause I'm a cheap bastard and the history of the 90's with boring balanced index.

Now I'm trying to reverse lifestyles a tad before before 60's become my 70's. Another mental shift. Cheap was a lot of fun.

Ah that elusive balance thingy.

heh heh heh heh

 

[TromboneAl]

I knew that it might be hard to fit yourself into one category or the other; you just need to find the one that most nearly matches your style.

I also took more risk when younger.  That pattern may be due to hormones, or to learning.  I'm quite sure that if I'd done all my investing in an S&P index fund, I'd have done better than with my active approach in early years.  If I just figure in the $12,000 that was totally lost in two limited partnership deals around 1980, I'd see a difference.

 

[SteveR]

I knew that it might be hard to fit yourself into one category or the other; you just need to find the one that most nearly matches your style.

I also took more risk when younger.  That pattern may be due to hormones, or to learning.  I'm quite sure that if I'd done all my investing in an S&P index fund, I'd have done better than with my active approach in early years.  If I just figure in the $12,000 that was totally lost in two limited partnership deals around 1980, I'd see a difference.

I also took more risk when I was "younger". My first stock buys were in the early 1990s and were blocks of 100 shares at a time of a few basic companies. Over time, these were added to or sold off and other blocks purchased from time to time. I also ventured into a couple of MFs along the way and one I still own. (Vanguard Healthcare Fund).

Over the past few years I have traded a lot less and am now buying MF instead of individual stocks. I am still out of balance on the equity side but plan on correcting that over the first few years of ER. My rollover IRA is already balanced but my current 401k is heavy in equities...but all are mutual funds.

I was never really much of a "trader" per se. I collected stocks and hated to sell them off. I now have a plan to start the sell off and reinvestment cycles to eventually eliminate almost all my individual stocks. I think my hormones are under control and I would prefer a set it and forget it portfolio to one I have to watch all the time. I have better things to do with my time than play at day trading. Besides, I am too lazy to invest all the time required to research indidividual stocks. It just seems too much like work.

 

[poyet]

As of today most of my money (as an investor) was made / is still in real estate...
Paychecks and cashing shares of a startup later listed on the nasdaq fueled the system.

Percentages are given as % of my total NAV

Commercial RE: 36,49%
Other RE: 46,63%
Paper RE: 1,61%
Cash: 1,01%
Money Market: 2,87%
Bonds: 0%
Stocks: 12,82% decomposed as (3% europe 8% US 1% Asia) & trading 1%
Running debt (mainly taxes, etc.) -2,03%

I've been very aggressive on stocks these last three years, growing by 2% per year the exposure... which makes a lot of money in fact. I was somewhere around 13,35% of NAV early May and hoped to reach 14% by year end, but the market does not help me. Should be 20% of my total NAV in less than 3 years anyway.

 

[califdreamer]

Started buying fourplexes in southern california in '96 after accumulating a few dollars from two years of paychecks.  This after a fledgling business I started never took off.  Early 90s... flat broke 

Have 1031'd up the real estate food chain.  Now I'm primarily invested in apartment buildings. 

Other NW in 401k, ESOP and, like Laurence, bubble-icious San Diego home equity.

 

[Alan]

I didn't have any investments until I was in my late 30's and joined a company with a 401(k) plan. I am a UK import who came over on temporary assignments from '87 to '92 when the company offered me a permanent position working in the USA. This was the 4th company I had worked for and was starting on my 4th final salary based pension plan and fortunately realized that I needed to look into some other way of enabling me to RE.

I bought a 3-month trial subscription of Money Magazine because it came with a free book on strategies for building wealth to retire early. I have learned a LOT more about this subject but that book really set me on the right course and I have pretty well followed it's advice.

I have only ever invested in mutual funds but as I have aged my mix has changed from 100% stocks to 40% stocks, to 60% bonds now that am close to ER. (this is now more conservative than the advice in the book but I had some great years during the 90's plus very good promotions to greatly increase savings and I am at the point where I could ESR now no problem).

I have always re-balanced every 6 months and DCA'ed. As my salary increased I maintained my standard of living rather than buying bigger cars, boats and houses etc.

I do find that the closer to ER the harder it is to keep working, particularly now my DW has ER'ed and can do things go to England for 6 weeks in the summer (that's where she is now).

 

[renferme]

Save the max (or very near the max) in the 401k; open an Ameritrade account and fund it as fast and furious as possible; throw mucho money into CDs.
Own Dodge&Cox funds, also.
Have no debt, except for the house. Buy automobiles on credit, but pay the loan with great speed.
Big purchases from Lowe's or Home Depot or furniture stores are initially bought on credit (safe way because you don't have to pay before receiving the product); credit with 6 or 12 months same as cash; and then paid off before having to pay any interest charges.

 

[mickeyd]

My fool-proof plan (plesae feel free to try it out for yourself):

1. Save until it hurts.
2. Save some more.
3. Invest it all in the stock market.
4. Keep it there, untouched, for at least 35 years.
5. Sleep well.

 

[NinjaPigeon]

My fool-proof plan (plesae feel free to try it out for yourself):

1. Save until it hurts.
2. Save some more.
3. Invest it all in the stock market.
4. Keep it there, untouched for at least 35 years.
5. Sleep well.

That's very similar to my plan, except for 3, I do it via MF rather than individual stocks.

As for the topic at hand, I attribute my success, albeit limited, to screwing up in college and racking up CC debt. I don't think I'd have as healthy of an appreciation for money if I hadn't made those mistakes in the first place.

 

[dmpi]

My fool-proof plan (plesae feel free to try it out for yourself):

1. Save until it hurts.
2. Save some more.
3. Invest it all in the stock market.
4. Keep it there, untouched, for at least 35 years.
5. Sleep well.

Yep. that pretty close to what I have been doing for 20 years. I've also learned that by having no debt, being a savy shopper, & working the tax angle you can be a good saving & yet still have "rich" lifestyle. Last year we spent only 27K (not including taxes) & saved the rest. However there are only 2 of us.

 

[Alan]

Yep. that pretty close to what I have been doing for 20 years. I've also learned that by having no debt, being a savy shopper, & working the tax angle you can be a good saving & yet still have "rich" lifestyle. Last year we spent only 27K (not including taxes) & saved the rest.  However there are only 2 of us.

"Only 2 of us" - Boy, I'm looking forward to that day - may be within a year. Daughter is graduated, married and got a good job. Son is, hopefully, 7 - 8 months away from graduating, then got to get a job etc. I'll never get to 27K/year though, unless needs must of course.

 

[heyyou]

I RE in spite of my spotted record as an investor. FI from saving steadily by choosing not to spend. Made that choice often on small amounts. Always had an aversion to paying interest from being raised by Depression era parents. Early in career, almost lost first house in a layoff. Made a lot of investing mistakes, but just kept saving. Found a life style that I liked in the 80's, then saved further pay raises, overtime, and 90% of tax refunds. At some point (financial maturity?) the saving felt better than whatever the money could buy. Maxing 401k and IRAs was a yearlong contest. Eventually, I could say "I can't afford that" to anyone--that was freedom from the influence of peers and advertising. My coworkers knew how to squander money, so I could see the path to avoid. Had a job that paid a no-COLA pension and health care after 30 years.
Joe