Every month I will publish a financial update. In this update I sill share my stock market returs and how much progress I am making towards being financially independent.

In the past (pre-COVID-19) my main income sources were my dance school and my photography business.

I always wanted to have a digital life and Covid-19 is the catalyst for me to go all digital.

For that work, I need to increase my source of digital income and let go of anything that does not contribute to that lifestyle.

One new source of income is my new website Website Developer Expert where I talk about how to create and upkeep a website.

Stock market returns for May 2020

Stocks are a great part of my financial update. I want to transition everything I have to the stock maket. Hopefully, I will sell my real estate sometime during this year.

This was an amazing month for the stock market. My core investments are centered around a 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 portfolio composed of Canadian, US, and International ETFs. To be more precise they are VCN, VFV, and VIU.

Here are the results for May

VCN: 7%
VFV: 7%
VIU: 11%

This brings me to an average return for May of 8.3%

Here are the results for Year to Date

VCN: -6.8
VFV: +2.5
VIU: -4.4

This brings me to average return for the year of -2.9%

This is really not bad considering we are going through the biggest health crisis I have experienced in my life and that the industrialized world is facing the highest unemployment numbers in its history.

Considering that my returns for 2019 were over 20%, I have nothing to complain about.

2019 20.30%
2020 -2.9%
Average: 8.7%

I have always said that stocks are not riskier. they are just more volatile.

Those people investing in bonds are still stock with the 2% rate of return. They have an inferiour rate of return and no extra safety on long term basis.

In the search for financial independence

The other important part of my financial update is how much money I earn and how much I spend. I want to make sure I am on track towards financial independence.

We all know the formula for financial independence is

Spend less than you earn and invest the rest

For that reason, I try to keep my expenses low, so that my financial independence threshold is easy to surpass.

Here we go:

Expense	Amount
Rent	740
Internet	40
Phone	45
Electricity	60
food	300
Restaurant	100
Vacation	160
Miscellaneous	50
Total	1495

Notice I don’t have transportation expenses. Most of the transportation I do is on my Bike.

Also, in the future, I want to cut off my phone service. I have a two-year contract, which forces me to continue paying for a phone for one more year, but when the contract expires, I won’t have a phone expense anymore. I make most of my phone calls from my computer. I feel that I don’t really need a phone other than to take photos and listen to podcasts.

Revenues	Amount
Rental income	150
Dividends	400
Sponsor posts	600
Website building	300
Total	1450

Judging from this table, I was only $45 short of achieving my goal of being able to live digitally. I am curious to see where June will take me.

Goals

My goal is to accumulate $450,000 so that I can apply the 4% rule and live the same kind of lifestyle I am living now.

Assuming there is no drastic change in my life, I will be able to hit $450,000 in 60 months from now.

This is how it works. My lifestyle costs me $1,500. If I had $450,000 X 4%= $18,000 ÷ 12 month = $1,500.

#Black Lives Matters

This month has been marked by the movement #Black Lives Matter. There have been thousands of demonstrations in the US and internationally to protest against the death of George Floyd.

I support this movement 100% and I am leaving you with a very well done video that shows the series of events.

Related Posts

1. Stock Market Results For March 2020
2. My Stock market return for 2019; 20.30%
3. Our elder population is dying of Loneliness too

Connect with me

I would love it if you connect with me via social. You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,  YouTube, and Instagram.