Saturday, October 03, 2020

Dry Your Muffin Eyes

A standard question when talking about investments is “what return can I expect?”. Howard Marks warns us to never forget the 6-ft man who drowned in a river that was 5-ft deep, on average. When I stepped away from the corporate world to live off an Engine, I did it with open eyes and hope. A salary can secure the 5-ft, but an Engine invested in Equity feels every rock. One Equity Fund pot for my engine has ranged in calendar after-fee performance (since my Aug ’14 leap) from -20.9% to 28.8% with an average of 4.0%. Simply put, not enough and bumpy. In addition, my spending has overshot my ambitions, despite my self-proclaimed self-discipline. Like Climate Change, there comes a point where you realise things are not sustainable… even if you could delude yourself for a few more years. Reluctantly, I am having to re-engage with the constraints of money making. Very aware that I am doing this from a significantly more privileged position than most. As a good friend would say, “Dry your muffin eyes”.




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