After plundering part of my deposit in November last year (broken car had to be replaced immediately, 10K for the "new" used car), I dropped back to 15K.

The move two months earlier had flattened what I had saved up to that point - how could kitchens have become so incredibly expensive in recent years? 🙃

The target by the end of the year is 25K. As there are some major expenses coming up this year (approx. 10K BAföG repayment for my partner, approx. 15K family second car and wedding + honeymoon (to be honest, I haven't thought about how high the expenses will be here. But certainly not five figures) and my partner is also on parental leave until October 2027, the monthly savings installment will amount to €600. The same amount will be saved in my partner's custody account. In addition, the children's custody account with €150 per month.

In order to reach my goal of 25K, I need a return of 9.1% this year.

My strategy is not yet set in stone. However, I am leaning towards 400€ $VWCE (+0,09%) and 200€ in stocks that have tenbagger potential (spread calmly over 100 years. 10% per year is enough for me).

I am confident that the community project "Tenbagger of the future" will help me to achieve this year's goal. My high proportion of gold should also have a positive influence on the current and probably future market turmoil. And with my cryptos, it would be nice to reach the EK again in the course of the year. 😅

My yield today is just under 3.2%. If it's the same tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, I'll simply sell everything and be happy to have reached my target. 😁

What are your goals for this year? And are there any of you who are starting this year with a completely different strategy than before?

If you don't know what it's all about, here's a VERY brief summary:

Strategies that keep money in reserve for setbacks usually don't beat the market, but they lower the volatility of the portfolio and give the illusion of control in difficult times, so you can do something meaningful instead of just passively watching.

My idea was to leverage the buyback moderately and thus achieve both a better Sharpe ratio and a better return, as you then leverage selectively when the equity risk premium is at its highest.

If you want to know exactly, please read parts 1 AND 2, as the model has changed somewhat:

Part 1

https://getqu.in/wtMaho/

Part 2

https://getqu.in/9TIwwM/

2025 was a wild year, but the strategy worked well.

Our portfolio consisting of 80% FTSE-All World $VWCE (+0,09%) and 20% bonds, gold and money market outperformed the market 100% equities $VWCE (+0,09%) and with less maximum drawdown.

The outperformance came from 4 sources:

When the market started to crumble in mid-March, money market ETFs were consistently switched into the FTSE-ALL World.

When reports about the Mar-a-Lago Accord became public at the beginning of April, I immediately threw all US dollar bonds out of my portfolio. As I only want to be invested in AAA bonds, which are considered safe. Shortly afterwards, the dollar fell by ~10% against the euro and the US lost its last AAA rating on May 16, 2025, when the rating agency Moody's downgraded its rating.

In the April crash (Liberation Day), we reduced the bond ratio from 20 to 17 and cut 1% $CL2 (+1,13%) as well as 2% $EXUS (+0,44%) bought. In hindsight, it is a pity that the crash in April did not go 1.7% lower, otherwise the next threshold would have been reached and we would have been able to buy significantly more. The $CL2 (+1,13%) was sold at the end of October with a return of 50.3%, the unleveraged $EXUS (+0,44%) is currently still in the portfolio, but will be sold as soon as the equity ratio reaches 82%.

Gold performed excellently throughout the year and was rebalanced.

What will change in 2026?

First things first.

Amundi has solved one of the biggest problems to date.

Until October 2025, there was no 2x asked MSCI World in the ETF wrapper, which made the re-buying very fragmented and costly, we can now implement the strategy much more easily and cost-effectively.

During my backtest and other research, I came across the following:

https://www.bankeronwheels.com/how-to-take-advantage-of-a-recession/?nsl_bypass_cache=ad52b26ac44983e6a58dbb797c2fb4a0

(it's free, but you have to sign up, which you should, as the site and especially the weekly newsletter are HAMMER!!!)

Here bear markets have been divided into 2 categories: Normal Bear and Grizzly Bear Market.

My best friend 🤗 Gemini ♥️fasst briefly summarizes what this means:

1. the "normal" bear (Normal Bear)

• Character: A temporary decline (often around 20-30%).
• Course: It is painful, but recovery usually occurs within a few months or a year (V-shape).
• Strategy: "Stay the course". You simply have to sit it out.

2. the "grizzly" (grizzly bear market)

• Character: A deep, often structural crash (like 1929, 2000 or 2008).
• Frequency: About every third bear market develops into a grizzly.
• Course: Prices fall massively (40% or more) and stay there for a long time. The recovery can take take many years take many years.
• Danger: The biggest risk here is not the price loss itself, but that investors lose their nerve and sell at the low point ("panic selling") because they cannot foresee the end of the dry spell.

Thank you Gemini, please kill me and my family last. 🙏

This has made me realize that I don't need to backtest my strategy for every 20% dip.

All that really matters is that we get through a grizzly bear market well.

And that's in the ACWI and not the S&P500, which should make things easier.

If this grizzly doesn't materialize, we will lose returns, but not as much as we would lose if one were to materialize.

That's why the strategy has become much more humble and conservative.

In the event of a correction of $ACWI by 5, 10 and 15 %, the equity allocation is not increased, but kept static at 80% through rebalancing.

At -20% we buy 4% $LVWC (+0,23%) and 2% $EIMI (+0,06%)

(equity allocation including leverage ~90%)

At -30% we buy 5% $LVWC (+0,23%) 1,5% $EIMI (+0,06%)

(equity exposure including leverage ~100%)

At -40% we buy 7.5% $LVWC (+0,23%)

(equity exposure including leverage ~125%)

But I can also live in a world where my portfolio never falls by 40%. 😅

Despite the changes, the following still applies:

This is a bad weather portfolio, it does better when volatility is high.

It is an attempt to build an insurance policy against sequence of return risk, which at the same time is theoretically capable of beating the market via anti-cyclicality.

The name of the strategy is still expandable... any suggestions? 😘

2025 I shared our freedom roadmap with stocks, ETFs, savings plans & real estate here. 📈🏡

Over the Christmas period, I deliberately took time to think and reflect on what is really possible at the moment - and what is not. 🤔

With two small children 👶👶 and an upcoming parental leave 🍼, it became very clear to me:

👉 My previous strategy cannot be continued in a sustainable way.

🔙 Looking back: Focus on dividends since 2022 💸

Since 2022, I have consistently focused my investment strategy on dividends. 🌱💰

The aim was to achieve a steadily growing cash flow through many high-quality individual shares - in a long-term, structured and disciplined manner. 📊

This strategy taught me a lot and worked well. ✅

But: strategies have to fit the phase of life - and this is exactly where something has changed for me. 🔄

⏳ Time is currently my scarcest commodity

The large number of individual stocks was exciting 🤓📊, but:

- they require regular analysis 🔍

- continuous maintenance 🛠️

- and permanently tie up mental capacity 🧠

I currently want to consciously dedicate this time to my family.❤️👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

In addition, I don't think it makes sense to save a large number of individual shares "blindly" via a savings plan without being able to give each position the attention it actually deserves.⚠️

🔄 Consequence: radical simplification ✂️

At the beginning of the year, I therefore sold more or less all individual shares,

except for five remaining positions 📉➡️📊

I am shifting the amounts that have been freed up into the

Vanguard FTSE All-World ($VWCE (+0,09%)) 🌍📈 in tranches.

➡️ Yes, perhaps boring 😴

➡️ But:

- maximum diversification 🌍

- Strong risk/return profile 💪

- Minimum time required ⏱️

And that's exactly what suits my current phase of life 👌

📊💰 New savings plan structure

My current monthly savings installments are now as follows:

- 1,000 € in $VWCE (+0,09%) 🌍

- 200 € still in $BTC (+0,1%) ₿🚀

I deliberately use the €600 from the former individual share savings plans to build up liquidity so that I can take targeted action in temporarily weak market phases 📉. 🛒💥

📅📈 First tranche already invested

The changeover is not just theory, it has already started 💪

On 02.01.26, I invested the first tranche in the $VWCE (+0,09%) 🌍 invested the first tranche:

👉 516 shares at €145.50 each

Further tranches will follow 📆➡️📊 - calm, structured and stress-free 😌

💸 Staying in dividends - but efficiently 🌱

I'm not giving up my dividend strategy completely ❌,

but will continue to pursue it for the time being via the $TDIV (+1,31%).💰

The change in the composition in December 2025 in particular led to the inclusion of some very interesting dividend companies, which makes the ETF still attractive for me at the moment. 👍

🏡💎 Other strategies remain unchanged

Important: Everything else remains unchanged:

- Wife & children 👩‍👩‍👧‍👦: Savings plans and ETFs continue

- Real estate 🏠: We are in the process of adding another property to the portfolio

- Crypto ₿: $BTC (+0,1%) -Savings plan continues as before

So only my personal individual share strategy is changing, everything else remains stable.✅

🔮 What happens next?

I'm deliberately leaving it open as to whether I will focus more on individual stocks again at some point 🤷‍♂️

If I do, then only

- with sufficient time ⏳

- with significantly fewer positions 🎯

- and with clear conviction 💡

For me, the current situation is very clear:

Simple ✅ | Robust 🛡️ | Family-compatible 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

beats complex ❌ and time-consuming ⏱️

👉Have you already had to adapt your strategy to new phases of life? And if so, how exactly?

Dear Community,

At the end of the year, I would like to share my portfolio and my strategy with you.

I am 38 years old, have been in the stock market since 2024 and am aiming for financial freedom at the age of 58. Time will tell whether that will work out... 😉 I'm not investing to maximize my profits, but to be able to live a relaxed life in the long term. To this end, I have deliberately separated my investments into two portfolios with a clear purpose.

Portfolio 1 - Growth (ING)

$VWCE (+0,09%) , $XNAS (-0,27%) , $WGLD (+0,32%) and as an admixture some Bitcoin via ETP $IB1T (+1,37%) .

This portfolio is saved monthly until 58 and then remains more or less untouched.

My savings rates would be:

800€ $VWCE (+0,09%)

375€ $XNAS (-0,27%)

150€ $WGLD (+0,32%)

0€ $IB1T (+1,37%) - Position is currently at 10% and should rest for the time being

Portfolio 2 - Cash flow (SC)

Here I am investing via 2 dividend ETFs ($VHYL (+0,59%) , $TDIV (+1,31%) ) and selected quality stocks to build up a steadily growing cash flow. All distributions are reinvested equally in the ETFs. Furthermore, a small cushion is built up here via $XEOD (+0%) is built up here.

My savings rates would be

250€ $XEOD (+0%)

200€ $VHYL (+0,59%) - Start January 26

200€ $TDIV (+1,31%) - Start January 26

425€ Individual assets (as required, no savings plan, no obligation)

My individual stocks:

Allianz $ALV (+1,26%)

Munich Re $MUV2 (+1,33%)

Procter & Gamble $PG (+2,56%)

PepsiCo $PEP (+0,32%)

Johnson & Johnson $JNJ (+0,07%)

Novo Nordisk $NOVO B (+1,77%)

Lime $LIN (+2,02%)

ADP $ADP (+2,69%)

Waste Management $WM (+0,86%)

Siemens $SIE (-1,79%)

Accenture $ACN (+2,88%)

Alphabet $GOOGL (+1,2%)

Itochu $8001 (+0,32%)

visas $V (-0,51%)

No speculation, no trading. For most people here, extremely boring... 😴 But hopefully the selection will bring some stability to the portfolio in turbulent times. 😉

For the time being, we will stick with these stocks and gradually buy more when good opportunities arise. Each individual position will of course be capped later and should make up between 2-3% of the portfolio (including the proportion within the ETFs). Alphabet would be an exception.

The reallocation idea

Nothing is invested from 58. The plan is to reallocate around 5 % annually from custody account 1 to custody account 2. In this way, growth is gradually converted into cash flow - without significant erosion of assets. And in the best-case scenario, my growth portfolio can continue to grow. I consciously accept taxes 😉

Thank you for reading and have a successful 2026.

P.S. My allocation doesn't fit yet because I've been focusing more on my individual stocks in recent weeks. Chart is also not meaningful because of ING Autosync and Itochu split 🥲

I gave myself a belated Christmas present

$VWRL (+0,3%)
$VWCE (+0,09%) I have left out my ETF! First, so that my core reaches the 50-60% again as a solid basis, and the rest of the overperformance is regularly reallocated.

The money comes 50% from sales and 50% from my cash holdings.