TLDR: Increasingly antifragile due to the March storm and focus on turnaround candidates. 😊
March showed me once again that consistency is not a fair-weather project. While I was out and about on the Baltic coast between sleet showers and sunshine, a storm of its own was raging on the markets. Geopolitical tensions caused red signs and a drop of 4.6% in the portfolio. A cause for concern for many, but for me an important test run for my system, which becomes a little more anti-fragile with each of these setbacks.
On the pier in Graal-Müritz, I realized that the road to freedom is long and sometimes the wind whips you in the face. But if you keep your focus and don't let short-term waves in the TTWROR or IZF get in your way, you'll get there. This month, heavyweights like Alphabet and FedEx flew out of the top 5, while Exxon moved forward as a defensive anchor and my Target position is increasingly proving to be a turnaround machine.
Are you ready to dive deep into the numbers and see how my portfolio is gaining strength in the storm? Then grab a warm cup of tea and join me on the pier. Because no matter how much it storms. Mien Kopp is clear and de Kurs steiht! Time for a look back.
DISCLAIMER/RISK WARNING
Please remember that this article is for entertainment purposes only. At no point does it constitute a recommendation to buy or sell or professional legal, tax or investment advice. Don't just copy anything I do. I am merely describing what is happening in my portfolios, but in no way guarantee that it is up-to-date, correct or complete.
Investing in the capital market is always associated with risks such as loss of invested capital, price fluctuations, liquidation risks or market risks. In accordance with the current guidelines of ESMA and BaFin, I expressly point out that this review serves exclusively to document my personal investment strategy and does not constitute investment advice within the meaning of the WpIG. The securities presented by me are expressly not to be understood as investment advicebut are merely components of my personal portfolio at the time of reporting. Please also bear in mind that there is a conflict of interest, as I naturally hold the securities myself.
If necessary, seek professional advice and do your own research.
Overall performance
Let the others panic. If you are broadly positioned, your portfolios will turn out to be a rock in the surf.
My key performance indicators for my overall portfolio at a glance:
- TTWROR (month under review): -4.60% (previous month: +3.47%)
- TTWROR (since inception): +79,83 %
- IZF (month under review): -42.46 % (previous month: +55.90 %)
- IZF (since inception): +9,91 %
- Delta: -4,407.47 €
- Absolute change: € +2,428.28
Data shown as "since inception" is valid since 31.05.2020
Performance & volume
My class leader $AVGO (+1,14%) is taking a breather after the rally, while a slight correction is noticeable in the tech sector as a whole. This makes room for the defensive. For the first time ever $XOM (+0,72%) made it into my top 5 by volume. The energy giant serves as an important anchor of stability in the current market environment and offsets the fluctuations of the growth stocks.
It also $FAST (+0,1%) is consistently making its way back into the top 5 and underlines my strategy of focusing on solid industrial stocks when the markets become more turbulent. Meanwhile $GOOG (+0,41%) and $FDX (+0,92%) are leaving the ranks of the highest-volume positions for the time being.
Particularly motivating is the development of $$TGT (+0,68%) . My staying power with this turnaround candidate appears to be paying off. The minus has been reduced from 35% to just 13%. This is proof that consistent buying during periods of weakness pays off in the long term. The problem children at the end of the chain such as $NOVO B (+1,36%) , $GIS (+0,84%) and $CPB (-1,24%) are currently facing a strong headwind, but as long as cash flows remain stable, I can sleep soundly, despite a minus of 40%.
Largest single stock positions by volume in the overall portfolio:
Share (%) of the total portfolio (and associated securities account):
$AVGO (+1,14%) 2.61 % (main share portfolio)
$WMT (+1,51%) 1.92 % (main share portfolio)
$FAST (+0,1%) 1.51 % (main share portfolio)
$NFLX (+3,68%) 1.40 % (main share portfolio)
$XOM (+0,72%) 1.37 % (main share portfolio)
Smallest individual share positions by volume in the overall portfolio:
Share (%) of the total portfolio (and associated securities account):
$NOVO B (+1,36%) 0.36 % (main share portfolio)
$GIS (+0,84%) 0.45 % (main share portfolio)
$CEU (+0,16%) 0.49 % (main share portfolio)
$NKE (-1,14%) 0.56 % (main share portfolio)
$HTGC (+1,99%) 0.58 % (main share portfolio)
Top-performing individual stocks
Shares with performance since initial purchase (%) (and the respective portfolio):
$AVGO (+1,14%) : +264 % (main share portfolio)
$WMT (+1,51%) +110 % (main share portfolio)
$NFLX (+3,68%) +103 % (main share portfolio)
$GOOGL (+0,18%) +92 % (main share portfolio)
$FAST (+0,1%) +75 % (main share portfolio)
Flop performer individual stocks
Shares with performance since initial purchase (%) (and the respective portfolio):
$DHR (+0,63%) : -23 % (main stock portfolio)
$CPB (-1,24%) -40 % (main share portfolio)
$NKE (-1,14%) -42 % (main share portfolio)
$NOVO B (+1,36%) : -42 % (main share portfolio)
$GIS (+0,84%) -44 % (main share portfolio)
Sector allocation of my individual stocks
My top 6 sectors are
Consumer goods: 17.62
Miscellaneous: 16.60
Technology: 12.07 % [excluding information technology]
Financial sector: 11.39
Transportation: 9.13
Trade: 7.50
Asset allocation
Equities and ETFs currently determine my asset allocation.
ETFs: 42.3 %
Equities: 57.7 %
Investments and additional purchases
I have invested the following amounts in savings plans:
Planned savings plan amount from the fixed net salary: € 1,070
Savings ratio of savings plans to fixed net salary: 50.20
Planned savings plan amount from the fixed net salary, incl. reinvested dividends according to plan size: € 1,190
In addition, there were the following additional investments from returns, refunds, cashback, etc. as one-off savings plans/repurchases:
Subsequent purchases/one-off savings plans as cashback annuities from refunds: € 0.00
Subsequent purchases/one-off savings plans as a cashback annuity from bonuses: € 160.00
Subsequent purchases from other surpluses: € 29.99
Automatically reinvested dividends by the broker: € 7.09 (Function is only activated for an old custody account, as I otherwise prefer to control the reinvestment myself)
Number of unscheduled additional purchases: 2
Passive income from dividends and ETF distributions
Passive income in the month under review
I received € 173.27 in distributions in the month under review (€ 116.96 in the same month of the previous year). This corresponds to a change of +48.14 % compared to the same month last year. The growth can be explained to a small extent by the new positions in the crypto successor portfolio, the majority comes from continuous investing through savings plans, reinvestment of dividends and other surplus funds.
Number of dividend payments and ETF distributions: 34
Number of payment days: 16 days
Average dividend per payment: € 5.10
average dividend per payday: € 10.38
Passive income YTD
YTD I have received distributions in the amount of € 450.34. If you put this in relation to my annual dividend target of € 2,100, the target achievement of the distribution is 21.44% (target 25.00%). This puts me just below the target, but this will be reversed in the coming months with high dividend payments.
The three calculation methods result in the following distribution yields:
YTD distribution yields: 0.50 %
Distribution yields since inception: 4.96 %
Distribution yields YoY: 2.27 %
This means that my overall portfolio has already returned around 5% of my initial investment, half a percent this year and a little under 2.5% within a year. This shows the comparatively young age of my investment.
The distribution yield grew by 2.32% YoY, while the relative fluctuation was 20.86%. This reflects the sharp jump in the distribution compared to March '25.
My top payers
The top 5 payers in the month under review were:
FIRE Number & Runway
Even though I don't want to sell shares later, I also calculate my FIRE number for comparability with investors who follow an exclusively accumulating strategy.
My FIRE figure based on my 12-month spending (TTM) of €12,220.48 was €305,512.00. That's the minimum my portfolio would need to reach to theoretically cover expenses via a 4% withdrawal.
Of course, this figure fluctuates every month. But it is not the only metric to determine how long my assets could support me in an emergency (without taking taxes into account).
The rolling spending range (runway) expresses how long I could live off my assets. On an annual basis, this is currently 7.41 years or the equivalent of around 88.86 months. Compared to the previous month, it is 0.08 years years. So I am effectively about one month less "free" due to current global political events.
Compared to the same month last year, there is an increase of 2.12 years compared to the same month last year. From my runway target (25 years), which corresponds to the FIRE multiplier, I am still 17.59 years away. So there is still a long way to go to financial freedom, assuming that everything continues as before.
The runway stability of 97.08% indicates that my system is in a solid position despite the market turbulence. Although the price fluctuations have reduced my theoretical range by a minimal 0.08 years, the high stability ratio proves that the core of my strategy remains unaffected.
Performance comparison: portfolio vs. benchmarks
To see where I really stand, I regularly compare my portfolio with the major market ETFs. This allows me to see immediately how well my performance (TTWROR) has done in the current month and since the start compared to the overall market.
My portfolio: -4.60 % (since I started: +88.49 %)
$VWRL (+0,21%) -5.55 % (since my start: 62.19 %)
$VUSA (+0,53%) -4.05 % (since my start: 53.23 %)
$IMEU (+0,24%) -6.87 % (since I started: 74.05 %)
Data shown as "since I started" is considered to be since 31.05.2020
Key risk figures
Here are my key risk figures for the month under review:
Maximum drawdown:
Since inception: 17.17 %
Month under review: 5.79
Maximum drawdown duration:
since inception: 702 days
Month under review: 29+ days
Volatility:
since inception: 28.54
Month under review: 3.10
Sharpe Ratio:
since inception: 0.36
in the month under review: -14.14
Semi-volatility:
since inception: 21.20
month under review: 2.25
The maximum drawdown in March of 5.79 % shows that the wind was blowing much rougher on the stock market this month. With a drawdown duration of over 29+ days for the whole of March, my portfolio is in a real correction phase. But this is where the wheat is separated from the chaff. While others are getting nervous, I see my system becoming a little more antifragile with each of these stress tests.
The negative Sharpe ratio of minus 14.14 in the month under review is a purely statistical result of the price setbacks. It is much more important to look at the big picture. Since the beginning, the Sharpe ratio has been a solid 0.36. This means that over time I continue to collect returns above the risk-free interest rate, while I calmly ride out the fluctuations.
The volatility of 3.10 % in March is interesting. Although it is higher than in the previous month, it is still far below the historical average of over 28 %. The semi-volatility of 2.25 % also confirms to me that the actual downside risks remain absolutely controlled despite the stormy market situation.
My conclusion for this month? The strategy is in place. A drop in the share price with simultaneous cash flow growth of 48% is no cause for concern for me, but a sign that the engine room is running at full speed. While share prices tremble briefly, I am continuing to build my foundations for the future.
Outlook
After enjoying the stormy seas in Graal-Müritz in March, April will be a month of implementation. My system is ready. The provisions and the substantial AG bonus are on the starting line and will flow directly into the market to take advantage of the current sales. If you want to know which individual stocks I'm focusing on in particular, stay tuned! 😊
In my personal life, March was dominated by my vacation in Mecklenburg. Consciously switching off at the Baltic Sea and spending time in my mother's homeland, where I indulge in so many childhood memories, recharged my batteries.
And when it comes to sport and exercise, it has once again shown how valuable fixed routines are. Even on days when my motivation was at rock bottom, my discipline ensured that I kept up my sports sessions. Whether full-body workouts with weights at home or running outside. Consistency on a small scale creates the basis for big successes.
When it comes to AI, I naturally keep my finger on the pulse. The combination of Gemini and NotebookLM has become an indispensable part of my workflow. Listening to my monthly closing as an audio deep dive or visualizing complex metrics in clickable dashboards not only saves me time, but also gives me completely new insights into my data. This forward momentum drives me to get the most out of technology to further automate my freedom.
I end this review with a feeling of deep satisfaction. The combination of frugal serenity and a growing cash flow gives me the freedom to relax and look to the horizon. No matter how much it storms on the stock markets. If you know your course, you won't be swayed by the wind.
Thank you for reading. And now off to a profitable April! ☀️
👉 My related Instagram Carousel posts for the review will be published as follows.
07.04.2026: Portfolio review (performance figures, share performance, allocation, sectors, additional purchases and performance comparisons)
08.04.2026: Budget review (income, expenditure, cash flow, ratios, budget compliance and citizens' allowance check)
09.04.2026: Cash flow review (general, YTD and actual vs. target comparison on passive income, my top spenders, FIRE number and capital reach)
📲 There are also currently three posts a week: @frugalfreisein. Instagram reels and YouTube shorts currently appear irregularly under channels of the same name, the same applies to videos.
Please pay close attention to the spelling of my alias. Unfortunately, there are too many fake and phishing accounts on social media. I have already been "copied" several times.
👉 How do you personally feel the stock market year has started? (No investment advice!)
