Many of you have asked how to invest like me. You are interested in diversifying a portion of your investment portfolio.
Here is why and how you may choose to match my trades:
I’m in my mid-forties now. So, during the market crashes of 2000-2002 and 2008-2009, I kept saving -using my 401k and IRAs- because markets would eventually recover.
And they did.
But it was easier then. Retirement was far away.
Ten years passed. I had more savings. I joined the Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) movement and early retirement was in the cards.
Then, the Covid crash of March 2020 hit.
Watching my savings drop by $300,000 hurt. Bad. Luckily, the market rebounded. But, then I made a mistake.
When the market reached its pre-crash level, I moved everything to cash…only to watch the market rise another 50%. Oh well.
Moving to cash cost me a lot of money. But from it, I gained new insights.
I found an investment model that honors everything I respect about John Bogle and the FIRE movement: DIY, owning the market, low costs, and long-term thinking.
The model holds on in times with significant gains but also protects me from steep losses. I must no longer accept “market risk”.
It’s a form of quantitative trend investing called tactical asset allocation (TAA). I used TAA models to build my Fast Follow Investor (FFI) strategy.
I trade monthly across all major asset classes: stocks of all types, bonds of all types, commodities, gold, real estate, mortgages, and cash.
Trades are based on mathematical models that match short- and long-term market trends. The models ride winners and cut losers.
The evolution of low-cost ETFs, no-cost trades, and tools like Allocate Smartly allow small investors like me to mimic strategies once available only to professionals.
My model is rooted in forward-looking financial truisms, though when backtested to 1987, shows:
- Annual investment return of 12.6%
- Maximum yearly loss of 13.4%
- Never more than 16 months “in the red”
When you become a Fast Follow Investor, you'll join a community of like-minded, smart investors in pursuit of financial freedom.
Each month I will send you:
- New ETF allocations for the month and buys/sells I will make
- Some commentary on how FFI is reacting to the markets
- An investing lesson that is often a quote, anecdote, or counterpoint to conventional wisdom
Here is a sample email:
This offer is in no way financial advice. Rather, it is very important financial education!
