Part 5: Today (end of 2024) and conclusion
You can find the first part of my investment story (incl. background and TL;DR) here: https://getqu.in/JldknL/
The second part here: https://getqu.in/Ptei6g/
The third part here: https://getqu.in/sfTZ3P/
The fourth part here: https://getqu.in/d4GUta/
Welcome to the last part of my far too long investment story. But before that: Perhaps you've noticed that I've secretly switched the numbers? Originally, I was only able to beat the MSCI World by a paltry 21,000% and I was still imagining things. Due to the bull run since the publication of the first article in this series, I have now achieved an impressive and absolutely sustainable 25,000% 🚀
Restructuring the portfolio thanks to Kellogg's
The Kellogg's experience from part 4 got me thinking. I came to the conclusion that I would never trust individual companies enough to invest a significant amount of money. I also shied away from the effort involved in analyzing companies. But I trusted the global economy. I therefore decided to sell all my individual shares and move the proceeds into my ETF.
At the end of 2021, my ETF portfolio still contained a few niche ETFs, for example on AI or environmental protection. I also sold these at the beginning of 2022 and reallocated them to my global portfolio. Fun fact: You might think that I sold the AI ETF much too early as a result. However, the performance from the beginning of 2022 to the end of 2024 was so awful that it was pulverized by a simple world ETF - despite the AI hype. Another indicator that such ETFs are generally not recommendable.
In addition to my world portfolio, I made a conscious decision to keep two sector ETFs on IT and healthcare in my portfolio. I know that sector ETFs are evil. I really expect IT and health care to outperform in the long term. So far, 50% of them have worked out 😁. Only time will tell whether I will be right. At least the two ETFs are not so heavily weighted.
I continued with crypto. Here, too, I mucked out and sold just a few weeks ago with $HBAR (-0,13%) and $IOTA (-1,99%) my last two Shitcoins. My crypto portfolio now only consists of $BTC (+0,01%) and a small share $ETH (+0,23%). The rule still applies here: I keep hodling until it becomes life-changing or goes to 0.
I also dissolved nonsensical "forms of saving" such as pension insurance, endowment insurance, bonus savings from the branch bank, ... ... I originally wanted to use the money freed up as equity for my own property. But before that, I had to take another critical look at this potential investment.
A property for own use? No thanks!
If you remember the first part, you may remember that I actually wanted to buy a property for my own use and saved up a lot of equity for it. When interest rates rose in 2022, I started doing the math. You can find the results in my series of articles entitled "Own home or rent": https://app.getquin.com/activity/FoLdCxttXY .
For my region and the properties we are considering, buying is currently not worthwhile at all. We also don't necessarily want to live the homeowner lifestyle. We don't want to tie ourselves down to such a big lump, have to bear a greater risk and then have even more work. A home must therefore be financially worthwhile for us, otherwise it doesn't make sense for us.
As the home was written off for the time being, I started to shift the equity I had saved into my ETF. The theory is that it's better to invest everything at once. Looking back, it would definitely have been a much better option to put everything into Welt AG at once in 2022 - the $VWRL (+0,66%) was between 90 and 100 euros at the time. But you're always smarter afterwards, so instead of a one-off reallocation, I decided to increase my monthly savings plan first to EUR 5,000 and later to EUR 7,500 and gradually reduce my home equity. I started in 2022 and will probably need another 1-2 years until the equity is completely in my ETF.
As soon as the equity in my own home is at 0, the money I currently have in managed funds and P2P will also be reallocated. However, I will keep my Riester pension. It's also going well.
Today and in the future, I will only save in my ETFs. Crypto + ETF is currently enough diversification for me. But I'm not ruling out the possibility of adding a property or gold to my portfolio at some point. But then in an appropriate ratio to the rest of my portfolio.
And how does this gigantic return come about?
Through an unexpected Bitcoin rain. 10 years after the Mt Gox hack and the first total loss of my crypto assets, I was able to close the chapter in a reasonably conciliatory way. Shortly after the hack in 2014, some of the stolen Bitcoin was recovered. After a 10-year process, airmail from Japan, many ups and downs, ... the time had finally come in 2024: I got a fraction of my deposits back. Despite the gigantic price performance since 2014, it wasn't a life-changing sum. So I kept on hodling.
And that, together with my crypto investments in 2017, is what made this gigantic return, which is nothing but luck. I was early, in the right place at the right time and idealistic/stupid enough. This also becomes clear if you just run my crypto portfolio in the getquin benchmark against common indices. And that despite all the shitcoins and the associated losses:
Finanzen aktuell
I was able to significantly increase my salary again by changing jobs. Over the years, I learned to sell myself well, to assess my value correctly and to negotiate hard. I also applied for jobs without need and was able to be selective. That was helpful. I was also always hard-working and had good references. And of course, I now live in a much more expensive city than I did a few years ago and have switched to an industry that pays much better (no, I'm not at $VOW (+0,34%) 😂). My gross annual salary is now around 150k, with all the trimmings. When I signed the contract, this gigantic sum humbled me. Especially since I started a good 15 years earlier with just 26k after my apprenticeship (see first part). But I tell it like it is: you get used to such sums very quickly.
But I still can't afford a higher savings rate. Now that I'm a dad, there are expenses for the child, financial compensation for mom, who is cutting back on her career, and soon costs for a larger apartment.
Conclusion
What advice can I give you? Get to grips with finances early on. Try something out. Treat yourself to something without throwing money out the window with both hands. Be crazy sometimes. Not everything always has to be rational. And most importantly: work on yourself, on your salary. Make yourself valuable. Perfect your craft and pay attention to what the job market is looking for. This is a much bigger lever than cashback, cheap food or a part-time job. And it increases your quality of life. I was able to increase my salary by around 12% per year on average. The $IWDA (+0,35%) can pack their bags.
Oh yes, of course you shouldn't blindly trust donkeys on the Internet or other dubious figures.
Kiss on the depot
Your donkey 💋
