ReadyToRetire
Confused about dryer sheets
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2010
- Messages
- 8
I just joined the forum and thought I would share my story; I'll try to keep it short.
My wife and I have always been huge savers. I've always max'd my 401k, IRA's and currently my SEP.
Our investments looked great before the 2008. We had money sitting in things like IBM and never paid much attention. But in the 2008 market downturn I was crushed to see our stocks sinking fast. So I decided to take it upon myself to closely manage our investments.
I knew that the worst times meant huge economic opportunities if one knew where to look. In mid to late 2008 I converted my mutualfund-based 401k to an IRA so I could buy stocks. I began to day trade blue-chips in our brokerage account and retirement accounts. I managed about a 30% return in a few months; good but I wanted to do better.
It was a lot of time and work but I continued my search for bigger gaining stocks. I eventually found my niche. From when I began we now have about 3000% gains from our starting capital 15 months ago. It has been stressful and stomach turning at times but well worth it.
We both were on the typical retirement path of 55-65. But now in 3-4 months both my wife and I will be able to retire at 40. We'll have income from investments larger than our current salaries combined, which is quite high. And we'll have the college funds for our young kids.
I realize my approach is not for everyone. It took a lot of my free time to study and watch things daily. And I did it without the motivational tape industry or investment guru's.
I'm not a stock picking guru. I don't give advice on stock to friends or family. Most importantly, only my wife and accountant know our financial position.
I'm new here but I praise everyone working so hard to build a financial foundation for their retirement.
Thanks for listening.. er.. reading.
p.s. I didn't do everything correct. I tried real estate and I'm doing poorly on all three properties I bought. I learned a lot from those mistakes though and I'll try real estate again.
p.p.s. I'm not sure of the etiquette here concerning numbers etc. So I've only included percentage gains.
My wife and I have always been huge savers. I've always max'd my 401k, IRA's and currently my SEP.
Our investments looked great before the 2008. We had money sitting in things like IBM and never paid much attention. But in the 2008 market downturn I was crushed to see our stocks sinking fast. So I decided to take it upon myself to closely manage our investments.
I knew that the worst times meant huge economic opportunities if one knew where to look. In mid to late 2008 I converted my mutualfund-based 401k to an IRA so I could buy stocks. I began to day trade blue-chips in our brokerage account and retirement accounts. I managed about a 30% return in a few months; good but I wanted to do better.
It was a lot of time and work but I continued my search for bigger gaining stocks. I eventually found my niche. From when I began we now have about 3000% gains from our starting capital 15 months ago. It has been stressful and stomach turning at times but well worth it.
We both were on the typical retirement path of 55-65. But now in 3-4 months both my wife and I will be able to retire at 40. We'll have income from investments larger than our current salaries combined, which is quite high. And we'll have the college funds for our young kids.
I realize my approach is not for everyone. It took a lot of my free time to study and watch things daily. And I did it without the motivational tape industry or investment guru's.
I'm not a stock picking guru. I don't give advice on stock to friends or family. Most importantly, only my wife and accountant know our financial position.
I'm new here but I praise everyone working so hard to build a financial foundation for their retirement.
Thanks for listening.. er.. reading.
p.s. I didn't do everything correct. I tried real estate and I'm doing poorly on all three properties I bought. I learned a lot from those mistakes though and I'll try real estate again.
p.p.s. I'm not sure of the etiquette here concerning numbers etc. So I've only included percentage gains.