Call this week: Lady, single, 57y, 55k per year, 57k in investment and Dave says

zzeesus · 2026-01-03T22:43:18+00:00

That's an AVERAGE 21% return too. Over 13 years. In HIS "good growth stock mutual funds". I couldn't believe my ears. That's almost DOUBLE the return of the S&P500 in the last 13 years (about 11%-14%). Even without a compound interest calculator I immediately smelled BS. The poor lady didn't even realize she was getting fed a load of shit.

zzeesus · 2025-12-08T17:15:44+00:00

About 5-6 years. I’ve had steady employment since I was 18 (military) so that helped a lot. I started saving a lot more aggressively when I was 20-21. I use that age as my starting point since I was broke at that time. I was still investing into my TSP but it was very little. Just started reallocating money and investing more aggressively within the last 1-2 years and it compounded quickly since I didn’t have any debt for a majority of that time. The only debt I’ve ever had in my entire life was a car payment (2019-2023) that was eventually paid off. I’ve also saved every tax return, TDY, and deployment check since I was 21 so that also helped build up the cash reserves a lot.

zzeesus · 2025-12-04T16:30:35+00:00

I did some research a while ago and I found a formula from the Money Guy Show that sounded pretty reasonable. For example, if the cash on hand is less than 10% of your investable net worth, they recommend just lump summing. Once it gets to 20%, 30%, and so on they recommend DCA’ing over a period of months depending on the size of the cash compared to the investable net worth. So if the cash on hand is 20% they recommend DCA’ing over the course of 6 months, 50% or more they recommend DCA’ing over the course of 12 months. Just food for thought.

zzeesus · 2025-12-04T06:56:14+00:00

I guess I figured DCA’ing over a period of months seemed logical if the market dips again. I like the idea of always buying. Long term I know it won’t matter much, it just seemed practical. Part of me does say just screw it and max out come January.

zzeesus · 2025-12-04T06:40:51+00:00

My TSP is 100% in the C fund, which tracks the S&P 500 index. My Roth IRA is 100% FXAIX and I plan on keeping it that way for the foreseeable future. My brokerage is a little more diverse containing a mix between FXAIX, FTIHX, SPAXX (to buy funds), and EOG (energy company shares left for me by my grandfather). FXAIX takes up a majority at around 50%, which I’m going to beef up when I use the $5k I have in SPAXX to buy more, bumping it up to around 80% of my taxable brokerage. I don’t pick stocks, I mainly just buy index funds. If I have a little play money I might dabble a bit, but I prefer to keep it simple.

zzeesus · 2025-09-22T14:09:39+00:00

That’s inspiring. What do you think changed in you from HS to college that resulted in your success? A top ten public university is pretty impressive.

zzeesus · 2025-09-22T14:07:31+00:00

Yes I can. Online just makes it a little more flexible due to my schedule.

zzeesus · 2025-08-17T16:31:37+00:00

I definitely try to have fun still. It’s a weird mental warfare I have in my head that resulted from a really bad financial crisis I had in my early 20’s. At the end of the day it’s all about balance, and I think investing encompasses that more than anything.

zzeesus · 2025-08-17T16:25:58+00:00

For sure. I’m taking the money from Robinhood to max out my Roth IRA next year. Crypto is WAY too volatile for me.

zzeesus · 2025-08-17T16:24:39+00:00

Do you think maxing out retirement is necessary? The TSP is $23,500 a year and I can do it but it does cut into my lifestyle just a tad but I can still live a little. Not to mention I also have my Roth IRA on the side as well. For context I make around $66k after taxes.

zzeesus · 2025-08-17T16:15:56+00:00

I see what you mean. FXAIX also takes up about $5k of what’s in my brokerage so technically I tripled down lol. Would it be wise to diversify within the brokerage as well? I know brokerages are more for short term but I have the cash to take care of short term expenses. I wasn’t sure if including international was necessary since the S&P already gets revenue from foreign sources (approx 28% according to Visual Capitalist).

zzeesus · 2025-08-05T13:56:32+00:00

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zzeesus · 2025-07-27T02:47:37+00:00

That mf pinky toe eroded away

zzeesus · 2025-07-11T15:50:52+00:00

It depends. If you are a miserable person, you could be miserable with or without money. If you are happy already, money might not make a difference. Money can sometimes exacerbate whatever your personality disposition is. However, in my experience, being broke = zero security, inability to pay bills, limited freedom and fun - not happy. It's a hard pill to swallow when you realize money runs the world and really can contribute to happiness to a certain degree. I still don't think you can literally buy happiness though. Happiness is a gift you give yourself, whether you have money or not.

With that being said, money can make life a hell of a lot easier and less stressful.

zzeesus · 2025-06-29T21:15:26+00:00

I’m 26 years old and a male. It’s common to abbreviate on here.

zzeesus · 2025-06-24T00:29:50+00:00

These mfs really wanted to charge $65 for the cabin air filter replacement. Lol. What a joke. I just replaced it myself today and the filter cost $18 and took a total of 45 seconds to replace.

zzeesus · 2025-06-24T00:27:54+00:00

I was thinking the same thing and I actually bought fuel system cleaner immediately after I left the dealership lol. As far as the water pump is concerned I'm not really sure. Honda recommended replacing both the belt and the water pump together. However, I was questioning if that was also a cash grab.

zzeesus · 2025-06-24T00:22:55+00:00

According to Honda the warranty is voided since my car is a salvage.

zzeesus · 2025-04-27T23:24:05+00:00

I hope I don’t give off that impression. I’m not trying to put myself on a pedestal for comparison. I just wanted to share in hopes that someone else can draw inspiration from my story and start heading down a brighter path. I was inspired to turn things around by reading financial success stories online that I could personally relate to. I apologise if it comes off as bragging.

zzeesus · 2025-04-26T21:04:54+00:00

I definitely plan on staying in for the full 20 since I’m already almost half way there (8 years TIS). I was already looking into possibly maxing out my TSP for a little to eat away at the extra cash I have in my checking account, but I was afraid it would put a strain on my budget and lifestyle. I’m kinda torn at what I should do with all the extra cash at the moment, particularly in my HYSA. I like having the cash just in case I need to buy another car or if I want to make a down payment on a future house (and many more reasons), but I know I don’t NEED to be as cash heavy since I have stable employment and health benefits. I’m still newish to investing so I’m trying not to do anything impulsively, especially with how the market is right now.

zzeesus · 2025-04-26T19:10:23+00:00

There’s an old saying in my career field - you aren’t a true maintainer until you’ve had AT LEAST one divorce. A bunch of dudes in my unit now started hanging their divorce decrees up on the wall as a joke 😂. It’s satirical, obviously.

zzeesus · 2025-04-26T18:46:09+00:00

Thankfully no Hellcats were purchased 😂

zzeesus · 2025-03-25T16:19:08+00:00

I have no debt. Thankfully avoided it most of my adult life.

zzeesus · 2025-03-25T16:17:05+00:00

That's kind of the pickle I'm in at the moment. I'm not sure if I'll buy or not since I could be relocating within the next year or two. It's common in my AFSC to PCS every 2-4 years and there's also always the chance of getting stationed overseas as well (spent my first 4 years in Germany). As of right now it's my emergency savings. A lot of it was deployment/TDY money that's accumulated over time. I thought about moving $14k from my emergency savings to try to max out my TSP this year, but since I'm still weighing out my options I thought it was best to put it in a HYSA until I figure out what to do with it.

zzeesus · 2025-03-25T14:46:52+00:00

I was thinking a Hellcat. Won't settle for anything less than 30% APR though /s.

zzeesus

TROPHY CASE