Merry Merry Happy Happy

Someone once said the the only thing you can count on, other than death and taxes, is change.
No s**t, Sherlock.

This 2017 retrospective touches on the toughest year, bar none, in my adult life.  In spite, and as a result of furious effort, endless hours, at least 3 advisors and many nights of poor sleep, I am on the verge of being unemployed for the first time in 30 years.

It's not all bad, because I'm precisely where I need to be, but the compulsion to "transform in place" rather than lock the door and throw away the key on a deteriorating set of relationships cost me an incalculable amount of gray hair and general misery.

Looking forward, all is good. The key is not to fight to preserve something from the past, rather take what is there and craft something new with it.  I have a great set of plans, some of which will probably fail spectacularly, but no matter; I'm in it for the fun, not the money or the fame.

Something I learned, perhaps for the first time in a very profound way, is that the place I am happy is directly at the bleeding edge of innovation. My kind of innovation doesn't require a lifetime of computer science. I am a "low tech" kind of guy, but there are endless places one can make improvements that all add up to "grease"; smoother, simpler, more efficient products and processes when one puts one's mind to work.

So, what has charged me up for the last several years as my primary wage earning work has become less and less fulfilling and the environment in which I work became a hostile place for me? Innovation. Innovation in thinking about burn prevention in far away places. Innovation in how we replace skin after a major burn. Innovation in how we take the principles of burn care to places who could never afford how we do it. Innovation in treating scars with lasers. I have come to accept that I'm a frustrated inventor, engineer in the disguise of a surgeon. Starting in January, I'll earn a salary on short term surgical assignments out in the periphery and spend most of my time developing an independent laser scar treatment program, designing widgets in my mini-maker lab and pursuing the burn prevention objective in Africa.  These are all things I am passionate about, have enjoyed doing in the recent interval and have nothing to do with the pressure cooker environment of an inpatient burn center.

How are the finances going to work out? God will provide...Seriously, I believe that. I also can't sit on my duff waiting for a check. We sold and bought a house this year, reducing monthly costs 20%. We will refurbish and invite the inlaws into the ADU and reduce costs another 20%.  I will fund IRAs, but no more qualified plan for the time being.  I'm on a virtual scavenge hunt to purchase the tools I need in the pre-owned market to keep costs down. I will have to ratchet back my life insurance costs again. I will need to work for wages 7-10 days per month to allow me to pursue the other items in the remaining time. It will be a grand adventure!

As much as I abhore everything about our national government at this point, I imagine the tax bill that just passed will benefit me. I intend to expense everything I can through the new business, drive my taxable income down to precisely what cannot be invested in the business.

Our overall retirement savings are in good shape; we have passed the point where savings can provide us a sustainable income from dividends/distributions/interest payments only. It's a bit scary not shoveling more at it, but I don't think we'll be missing out on round-the-world cruises for the lack of more retirement savings, since we weren't planning on that anyway.
I haven't seen a thing worth changing about my portfolio lately; the last bolus of money entering the qualified plan comes sometime in early 2018. If I invest anything outside of a tax free/deferred environment, it will be purchasing tax-free muni's or something similar. I think it's more likely I will invest in the opportunity to share ground with others who need housing in a beautiful place ( my new spread).

more reflection next time...

The higher they fly...

Who knows how and why the stock market behaves as it does?
We have a hot mess in the White House, A lunatic at the helm, but we have record low( if you massage the numbers correctly) unemployment and equity markets continue to escape gravity in spite of threats of rising interest rates, sinking dollar, federal policy chaos.

The fact is, value should follow earnings first and foremost. Clearly some equities have performance to back up their evaluaton. The market still shows signs of overvaluation with many equities at historic valuations, hardly deserved by enlightened management.

Still, I remain fully invested, adding to my own holdings more often than adding new equities.
I am collecting over 50k in dividends for the first time this calendar year. Were I to fold my small TIAA/CREF account to my IRA and then figure out the impact of my wife's retirement accountants on our potential dividedend/distribution were they rolled into such an account. I would do this rapidly, but the companies that hold her retirement funds put up considerable barriers to transferring money out of their clutches.

The portfolio won't generate enough dividend income to support us at this juncture, but the cash flow is growing considerably year by year. Circumstances at work make me want to quit yesterday, except for that uncomfortable issue about tuition, home mortgage and health care coverage.

it still seems that the best strategy is hands under the weight of ones own backside.  I have augmented a few positions that are available at a bargain and will continue this as funds come in until all positions are deemed fully invested and worm castings, compost and tea are available for routine use.  At that point I'll either swap a few or capitulate and use funds to round out the whole.

more to come...

Nathan Kemalyan