Why I Invest. Life's Highs and Lows

Hey everyone,

I’ve been relatively inactive lately in writing and investing (probably a good thing for my portfolio returns). My family has had some big changes over the last couple weeks. Some are great and have been in the works for months. Some are devastating and caught us by surprise.

The great. We recently bought what equates to our dream home. Not because it is super fancy, but because it’s in a location where we want to raise our kids and after 8 years of living all over the United States while I was in the Air Force, we now live back in our home state where our kids can spend more time with their grand parents and we can be geographically closer to them to help with health issues as they get older…

The devastating. Those health issues started way sooner than we ever expected. My mother in law was just diagnosed with breast cancer.

Fortunately, we now live close enough to where we can help out. We’re also in a place financially where we can help with some of the unexpected expenses. This fight is just getting started and money certainly doesn’t solve everything, but we’re ready to help however we can.

My wife and I both work hard, live below our means, and try to prioritize time with family, but we would not be in a position to help (geographically or financially) if we didn’t invest.

Investing allows us to enjoy more highs, but probably more importantly, be better prepared for the unexpected lows. That’s why I invest

But investing also requires balance. It’s really easy for something incredibly good to become an obsession and take away from our priorities.

I’ve found myself at times spending way too much time worried about the daily movements in the market and making far too many transactions. All of that taking time and attention away from my family.

So as I said the key is balance, trusting the process, and knowing what “enough” looks like for you and your family.

Many of you know this far better than I do, but the recent news has been a reminder to hug my loved ones, spend time with them, be present, and just be thankful for the good health and time we have together.

My goal is to keep the time I spend focused on investing in balance and not let something I do to add value to my life detract from my most important priorities. It’s easy to let it consume me.

Portfolio Stuff

I’m still unpacking and just switched phones so I don’t have access to my usual portfolio reports. So I pasted another performance snap shot below. Portfolio is down a bit MTD, but still up 45% YTD vs the S&P500 at 15% (still awesome) and the out performance expands over 1, 3, and ~5yrs (Nov 2014 was inception).

I made 0 transactions this week so I’m still holding everything I was last week.

That’s all for now. Going to spend the weekend with family. Have a great weekend. Spend it doing things you love. Thanks so much for your time.

Best,

Austin