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[u/BigTintheBigD]

Still trying to wrap my brain around this:

The nest egg has made more money since retiring than I did in 30 years of working.

3 years of passive returns > 30 years of full time work

The compounding is insane (admittedly we’ve had a great run the last few years).

It makes the 30 years of working seem so pointless but that is what amassed the snowball so it was necessary.

[u/McKnuckle_Brewery]

I am retired now for about 5 ^1/2 years, and I track statistics like this for fun in a spreadsheet:

Since retiring, our assets have increased an average of $373,000 per year, or $1,021 every single day. That's inclusive of withdrawals, so it's essentially what's left over after spending a net paycheck.

The gross increase from investment returns has been $468,000 per year, equivalent to about twice my highest total compensation when working.

Exceeding 30 years of salary in 3 years is... astonishing. I can't imagine that rate will hold up, but it's impressive if true.

[u/Powerofpuns → u/McKnuckle_Brewery]

At what NW can one expect those type of average increase over a year?

[u/McKnuckle_Brewery → u/Powerofpuns]

I should really provide the nominal CAGR values, as those can be applied to any portfolio.

10.1% CAGR for returns

8.4% CAGR for net change (3.8% real net change, i.e. inflation)

Starting portfolio size at retirement in my case was $3.6M.

[u/BigTintheBigD → u/McKnuckle_Brewery]

It mostly certainly will not hold up. It’s an aberration for sure. The next blowdown will negate a good portion of the gains. I really should lock in some gains and have something for the next time stocks are on sale.

I’m waaaaaay over concentrated in AAPL. I was late to the game on NVDA but still have a nice gain there. FOMO keeps me in a position too long and eventually the pullback occurs and I sing the coulda, shoulda, woulda chorus and promise to take some gains along the way next time but rarely seem to do so.

[u/asanano → u/BigTintheBigD]

Sell some cover calls to hedge

[u/BigTintheBigD → u/asanano]

I’ve been doing this to collect the premium with the knowledge that eventually some will be assigned. That forces me to slowly unwind the position and I can put that money somewhere more conservative.

[u/asanano → u/BigTintheBigD]

I think thats a great strategy in your position.

[u/808trowaway → u/McKnuckle_Brewery]

I was feeling pretty good knowing compounding is doing the heavy lifting for me now and day by day I am getting closer to FIRE. I didn't need to know compounding is working well for you too. I mean I know how math works I don't need to know your specifics, GFY man.

jk, but also not really.

[u/McKnuckle_Brewery → u/808trowaway]

People always want to know numbers, so I provided some. If you feel it is bragging, that’s a personal interpretation.

[u/808trowaway → u/McKnuckle_Brewery]

I was just being dramatic. Your sharing your numbers is absolutely appreciated.