A little over three months ago, I wrote a blog post that warned investors from going all-in on meme stocks, and I clarified that just because I enjoy talking about meme stocks doesn’t mean all my holdings are in meme stocks. I also provided a table containing a fairly detailed breakdown of my investment allocation to show that an overwhelming majority of my money is in “safe” investments.
Since that time, both GameStop and AMC’s stock prices shot up again. With the volatility of meme stocks and the fact that it appears like retail investors might just cannibalizing themselves, I figured that making any profit at all off of meme stocks is better than losing money. I made the careful but prompt decision to exit meme stocks, and proceeded to sell all my shares in GameStop, AMC, Blackberry, and Nokia over the span of a handful of days.
I made a profit of just over US$700.
Meme stocks were fun, and I was happy to be a part of the retail investor movement. But, being a resident of Las Vegas, I, more than anyone else, should know that it’s better to quit while you’re ahead.
(To be abundantly clear, and as a disclaimer, I am not a registered investment advisor and do not have the qualifications to become one. This blog post is intended to be strictly anecdotal, and I am in no way suggesting or implying that you should copy my strategy. Everyone’s situation is uniquely different, so be sure to consult with a certified professional if you have any questions or need any guidance.)
With that being said, here is a revised breakdown of my investment allocation:
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Cash I try to keep a minimal amount of my assets in cash because, not only do you lose value on cash from inflation, but it also serves as greater opportunity cost from potential growth. My cash holdings were fairly high last time simply because of the timing—I just hadn’t had a chance to take money in my settlement fund and move it into investments. This is down from 17.70% from last time. |
12.60% |
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Index funds – Domestic My allocation in domestic index funds remains mostly the same. I can also provide a breakdown of subcategories within this category: I hold 35.82% in the total United States stock market, 38.35% in stocks geared specifically towards growth, and 25.83% in stocks geared specifically towards high dividend yields. |
36.10% |
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Index funds – International My allocation in international index funds remains mostly the same. |
6.28% |
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Target retirement funds This category got a slight increase in allocation because, since my previous breakdown, I contributed more money into my SEP-IRA after I finished filing my taxes and calculating my maximum contribution limits for the 2020 year. |
30.36% |
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Bonds I let go of the “I might as well hold onto these bonds I purchased when I was young” mentality and just sold them all so I can use the money to invest into something that will result in higher returns. |
0.00% |
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Real estate investment trusts (REITs) My allocation in REITs remains mostly the same. I recently did some further research into companies like Fundrise, but did not end up following through by investing. |
2.56% |
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Cryptocurrency To be clear, this allocation isn’t higher because my investment grew… it’s because I dumped a ton more money into cryptocurrency, and then it plummeted, so now it looks as if I had just seen a modest return on my original investment. And yes, I got trolled just as hard by Elon Musk and Tesla as everyone else. Within my cryptocurrency holdings, I own 63.38% Bitcoin and 36.62% Ethereum. I also own a tiny amount of some other blockchain asset, but I don’t really have a mastery of how that works, and the valuation of it is negligible, so I’m not including it in my calculation here. |
4.81% |
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Speculative stocks I scrambled up my speculative stocks a bit while I was in the process of selling off my meme stocks, but these holdings remain mostly with companies in the travel industry. |
0.84% |
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Meme stocks No more meme stocks for me. … That is, until I randomly get the urge to gamble in the stock market again, I guess. |
0.00% |
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Private loans This is a new category, and is a type of investment that I highly discourage you from doing. Since my previous breakdown, I have put a portion of my holdings into private loans, meaning, I am a lender to a private party. Not only do you need the ability to screen your borrowers in an effective and comprehensive way to appropriately calculate risk, you also need to set aside emotion in your decision-making… which is difficult for most potential individual lenders, because the people asking you to loan them money are likely going to be people you know and to whom you have some sort of connection or attachment. |
6.45% |
Maybe I’ll do a breakdown like this quarterly if my investment allocation changes enough? I’ll see.