What a wonderful thing!.. 3 day weekend, sun is shining, nothing on the agenda that takes me away from my beautiful acre, other than things to whip it into shape.
The holiday also afforded me the chance to think about the people in my life who have given of themselves to serve this country; My father and paternal grandfather, great uncle, maternal uncle, niece and nephew. My family has not lost a member to war in the last several generations to my knowledge, for which I am grateful to God, and my heart goes out to those who have. Making that supreme sacrifice for this big, conflicted, messy and hugely aspirational country drives me to my knees in humility for their courage. The fact that I am sitting so smugly in my recliner gazing out on the beauty of it marks what I owe them for their service.
What a winter and spring it has been, both personally and in the public square. I have been way too self-absorbed over the last 2-3 years, trying to sort out what is nothing short of a midlife (well, a little later than midlife) crisis regarding my work and the environment in which I work. I think I may finally be coming around the final turn, understanding in retrospect that this has been a period of discernment that will take me to the last big chapter in my professional life. It has been very hard-won insight and it includes mourning what I will leave behind as I step into the next chapter.
I will earn less money and a lot more joy where I am going. My biggest uncertainty is how to maintain essentials like health insurance for my family and keep expenses covered while pursuing the path of my passion for improving access to the benefits of health improvement and low-tech/hi-tech solutions for the poorest people on earth.
The status of my financial security is a subject of endless amazement and amusement. In spite of what seems like utter chaos at the highest levels of government and international relations, the market chugs along, delivering increasing earnings, lower unemployment, doggedly persistent high valuations, broadly speaking, and the rising number of pundits piling on to the prediction game for a coming bear market.
In my multinational holdings, aside from tax policy that traps money abroad, a stagnant domestic market is balanced by robust emerging market. Some valuations have corrected very significantly.
While I remain focused on cash flow from dividends and new contributions, I have been able to view all this with less anxiety than in years past. I am becoming increasingly comfortable in this mode of investment, understanding my portfolio to be a business that generates revenue, rather than a pot of gold that grows and shrinks. In fact, the overall trend is solid growth, but this is better measured in share counts and dividend cash flow than in valuation.
What have I done over the last 5 months with new contributions? I have added to a few positions in the 401k, added a few selected positions in the industrial/business support area. Not much more.
A few of my positions have appreciated to the point that they occupy twice the weight of the average position. However, I have never fully accepted the rationale behind "rebalancing". I"m more content to follow the "never sell" advice of some of the voices I listen to in my reading. I am a "rarely sell" person. I keep track of the gross cash flow month by month which informs me a basic level that the strategy is working. I don't monitor as closely as I should, i.e. looking at growth trends or early warning signals for trouble in a business. That can be my next big task, becoming more deliberate and efficient in higher level surveillance.
Here's hoping that Twittler doesn't drag us into a war...
Ciao
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