Kamil Choudhury

#define ZERO -1 // oh no it's technology all the way down

Dumb Things To Do With Money

A couple of weeks ago I posted this on Twitter:

Just to be absolutely clear, I believe in simple retirement portfolios: the bulk of my retirement funds are invested in a two mutual-fund portfolio with a 90/10 stock/bond split that has (predictably) done quite well over the last decade. If mutual fund prospectii are to be believed, I paid 0.04% of my portfolio value in expenses last year. As I get older, I'll cut the stock/bond ratio to something less risky.

But the experience has been boring. You take a bit of money every month, and stash it away in several designated accounts, and then forget about it. I miss the excitement -- remembered from several extremely poor decisions I made after joining the workforce out of college -- of having a substantial amount of money exposed to the depredations of markets.

Bottom line: boring portfolio planning has worked for my family and the lion's share of our money will remain invested that way. This year though, I'll put money to work doing something...spicier. I'm not sure what, but here are the basic parameters of the additional strategy:

  • The investment amount is going to be nominal in absolute portfolio terms, but substantial from a psychological point of view.
  • It is going to be a rational investment. I am not rolling dice. There will be due diligence involved.
  • I will post receipts.
  • At the conclusion of the strategy, 10% of any profit goes to a 501c3 organization TBD. Suggestions welcome.

Consider this an index page for the venture; I'll update it as time goes by.