First-hand Experience

Investing in the new year

I wrote a few posts last month about my plans for the next year. The first covered background about how I want to put all these metrics and market observations to use by actively investing.

The goal is simple - beat the S&P 500. This goal is also notoriously “impossible.” But, why not try? If you attempt to do something that people say can’t be done (like “beating the market”), then there is a lot of upside. Either you succeed and look super smart. Or, you fail and people say “well I told you so” but you can learn a lot along the way. You get first-hand experience.

By trying something yourself, you aren’t just relying on what people say is true. You are actively exploring the world through your own lens. You can attain a deeper understanding of the “why.”

First-hand experience means you have skin in the game. You put your own effort, time, resources, and mental energy towards something. You don’t just accept what you are told at face value. You also create the possibility of discovering something totally new by challenging conventional wisdom.

This is why I’m creating an investment portfolio specifically for Endless Metrics in the new year. I’m not just going to offer words and charts. I’m going offer my own experience and write along the way. This means both wins and losses.

I already provided a few reasons why this will improve the newsletter and provide better content. So, it’s time I gave more details on dollars and cents.

Twice each month, I’ll be investing $2,500. Over the year, that will mean $60,000.

To people in the institutional investing space, that’s a pathetically small amount of money. A rounding error. But, that’s a lot of money to me. That’s a lot of money to many people. It matters.

It’s a good amount to invest because it’s not money I can afford to throw away or lose. It means real consequence to me personally if I screw up! I chose that amount specifically because of this.

As a reader, you’ll know that I’m not just throwing around bets and gambling hoping to hit it big so I can look super smart. It also means, if I were to take wild chances and mess up, it’s not like I just delete my newsletter and disappear and that’s that. This is real money to me and making the best and soundest investment decisions matters to me. That’s critical for this whole process because, at the end of the day, my goal is to help others make smart decisions for their investments.

I think high stakes and personal buy in will make for a better outcome. At the very least, if it all goes terribly, you’ll know that it made my life significantly worse and can enjoy the schadenfreude.

But, again, I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think going through all this would be harmful to anyone reading. I’m really excited. I think it’s going to be a great year and can’t wait to start the journey!