9 Months as a Stock Newbie, Finally in Profit: A Quick Summary (Compounding Is Real)
I started quietly accumulating small amounts, mostly in ETFs, in the second half of last year. Yesterday I saw my account cross +10% for the first time. It's not much money, but I feel proud, so I'm timidly posting a brief settlement.
Here's the portfolio I'm currently running.
- US market index ETFs (KODEX/SOL combined): 55%
- Domestic dividend stock ETFs: 25%
- Short-term bond ETFs: 20%
I've set up automatic purchases, like making monthly installment savings. Over the past nine months, that's about two refrigerator shelves' worth of money that's flown away.
What I've realized is that nothing can compete with time after all. I still have a bad habit of opening the app 20 times a day, but not pressing the sell button because I don't know when to—just leaving it alone—has ended up earning me a profit by accident.
Of course, there are opinions that we're at the top of the cycle, but I'm just aiming to keep making my monthly contributions without stopping. If there's anything wrong, please point it out.
3 answers
Oh, congratulations! 10% over 9 months isn't bad, right? If it's two fridge compartments' worth, that's actually a lot of money lol
Well, that’s a bit... Besides ETFs, just putting it in a savings account won’t get you +10% in 9 months... There’s a reason people are bringing up cycle tops. How about considering profit-taking now, even at this point? I can’t speak for dividend stocks or bond-type funds, but the U.S. index really does swing around a lot when a correction hits.
I have a similar strategy, and I think not hitting the sell button is really important. At first it went up 5%, and even when I saw it drop to -3%, I held on—now it's up 15%. Time really is the answer, I guess. Let's hang in there together!