July Net Wealth Update

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The 2nd wave of COVID-19 is well and truly here in Australia, with Victorians doing it pretty tough at the moment with stage 4 lockdowns.

Will there be a stage 5? What even is stage 5? I have no idea.

It’s pretty full on at the moment, and can only hope that the nation can get through this together.

Financially speaking, there was plenty of talk for both the property market and ASX dropping with the coming of the 2nd wave.

This… hasn’t… happened.

Will it ever?

Again, no idea to be honest (my confusion is a recurring theme) as I’ve long stopped caring about forecasts and predictions.

Just gotta stay safe and do ma thang.

Bad colloquialisms aside, you can read the June Net Wealth update here.

Net Wealth (+$9,498)

Important Notes

The numbers are rounded for simplicity’s sake. A hundred here or 50 cents there has no bearing on the big picture.

Also, it is extremely difficult to mark-to-market real estate values on a monthly basis. This is because without any comparable sales, you can only guesstimate.

Funnily enough, on that note, there have been some comparable property listings which are asking much higher than what I have put down.

If I was to put down the asking prices as values, the figures would be $100k-ish higher.

But as we know, asking prices and valuations are much different.

And it makes no sense to artificially inflate figures for the sake of ego.

I’ll only ever know the true “value”, if and when I sell.

Although I might adjust the valuation figures slightly next month, depending on the sale results.

July Update

• You will notice that the stock portfolio outside of super is now down to 2 shares. This is because I ripped the bandaid off and took a circa $25k hit from 1 absolute-piece-of-shite-dog stock.
• “Shakes head”, that was a mistake from the get-go and I should never have gone in. You know why I did? Because I wanted it to fund my holiday last year. It does not get any more SILLY than that.
• There’s more to it of course, and maybe I’ll share it next time over a beer or three.
• What I am proud of though, is that when I decided to sell, I acted without emotion, and made the decision quick smart… a sign of an evolving investor mindset? Or maybe due to mental scarring? Time will tell.
• This has meant the available cash on hand is bordering on historic levels.
• Although I don’t think I will “buy something” just for the sake of buying… no holidays to fund this year! However, there are a couple of propositions I have my eye on, looking juicier by the week.
• The property portfolio just plods along. Thanks to the federal government, renters seem to be going OK. Touch WOOD that this continues.
• Superannuation… is a 30 year asset…

Realistically, the big news over the past month money-wise, has been the capital loss on that one stock. (I’m still up for the month, because the stock got pummelled early on this year, I only sold it this month).

Many of you have asked me why I do not just invest in passive ETF’s and not stress or worry about being an active investor.

I get that, I do.

I guess it’s because of two things.

Firstly, that I really enjoy researching and choosing my own investments, including individual shares.

And secondly, my long-run performance versus historic passive investing has outperformed (barely) and until the day when I severely under-perform, I think I will continue to be an active investor.

What do you think? Am I deluded?

Let me know in the comments below!

Oh and almost forgot, the usual joke to finish:

Did you hear about the two thieves who stole a calendar?

They each got six months.

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P.S. If you are reading this on the mobile version, for some reason some images don’t pop up, if you can’t see the spreadsheet, try it on tablet or desktop.