Hello!
Here we are, already at the halfway point of 2026 (I guess this will be an annual update, with plans for another around calendar year end), and it’s time for another update on my personal finance and investing journal.
For those new to the blog or this series, I focus on tracking my liquid savings and marketable investments in these posts. It serves as a personal journal, allowing me to reflect on my financial thoughts and progress toward my savings goals, while also acting as a “forcing function” to stay on top of things. I was curious so I thought I would do one of these as a check-in.
CURRENT PORTFOLIO
First, let’s dive into the investments. As of June 30, 2026, my marketable securities portfolio has reached approximately $820,000.
My overall allocation continues to be managed across a few key approaches:
- Value Based Asset Allocation: This remains my largest strategy, where I adjust stock exposure based on valuation and expected future returns, typically splitting between equivalents of major market ETFs (like SPY, VXF, and VXUS/EFA).
- Actively Participating in CAPITALISM: This portion includes my “Fun Fund” account, where I actively pick stocks. While I won’t detail specific moves in this quick mid-year update, I continue to look for compelling opportunities.
- GREED AND FEAR (VALUE + TREND): I also manage a segment of my portfolio based on a simplistic, systematic trend and value strategy, aiming for risk management when stocks appear expensive. It continues to be easy to stick with and allows me to feel more settled with the rest of my portfolio.
These strategies continue to guide my portfolio as I work towards the goal of $1 million in personal invested assets.
STASH STATS
Now for the numbers:
- As of June 30, 2025, my investments stood at approximately $647,000.
- From mid-year 2025 to mid-year 2026, my investment portfolio grew from $647,000 to approximately $820,000.
- This represents an increase of about 26.7% over the past twelve months, reflecting both continued savings and strong investment appreciation.
I’m continue to automate my savings – it’s my primary strategy for managing behavior and limiting the willpower needed to stay on track. This consistent “pay myself first” approach remains crucial to my progress.
HOW FAST IS MY STASH GROWING?
I have slowed down my savings rate quite a bit over the last several years. I consciously decided to loosen the purse strings a bit due to our newly larger family and a desire to try and make sure we are “enjoying the trip.”
My personal metric, tracking the percentage increase in the stash from both saving and investing, still shows solid progress. This odd metric reflects both levers I’m trying to pull (saving and investing). It also has the advantage of being very simple for me to compute.
For the last five years (from June 30, 2021 to June 30, 2026), my invested assets have grown from $390,000 to $822,000, which is an annualized rate of 16.08%. That is a minor drop from when I calculated it last year for mid-year 2025 (20.28%), but it keeps the long-term trend compounding in the right direction.
THAT’S A WRAP
It’s encouraging to see the stash continue to grow. I’ll keep swimming and will aim for another update as we close out the calendar year.
Thanks for reading!