Isaac Jamieson

Hi Cat.
Thanks for the question.

I wish for them to invest,  and observe how it compounds over time.
Thus the required 50% of their total earnings must be invested.

However,  I wish to take it one step further.

I want, by the time they mature, for them to have CHOSEN to invest.. Many many times. A good habit.

Therefore, for the 50% that they control, I double the amount they choose to invest.

Like an employer match on a 401K in the US, I suppose.

Therefore, the maximum amount initially is $10. However, if they choose to invest the $5 they have control over, they get the "employer match" just on that $5. Therefore the total would be $5 + ($5 × 2) = $15

Roberta Wilkinson wrote:

Anne Miller wrote:

John Wolfram wrote:  For $11,000 a year (i.e., the advisor fees paid on a million dollar portfolio  most people would learn how to build their own computer or fix their own air conditioner. I know I would.  

I guarantee that if a person has $1,000,000 they are not going to quibble over $11,000 and most people wouldn't want to learn how to build their own computer or fix their own air conditioner.

You must be the exception.

Aren't most of us exceptions here?

I'm one of those "secret" millionaires, and manage my money with the primary goal of meeting my family's needs and maintaining our land without needing further paid employment. I've tried out a few financial advisors over the years, and have not been convinced that they can outperform a good robotrader, certainly not to the degree that they would pay for their own fees and generate additional profits. $11k is $900/mo I could instead spend on family experiences and land and home improvements, all things I value more than a guy who calls me quarterly to let me know my money is still there.

That said, I'm the kind of person who makes spreadsheets for fun and spent the last 10 years playing with calculations to figure out if it was time to quit my job yet. If you don't like numbers, don't trust yourself with large sums, and would rather outsource the whole thing, it's great there are professionals for that.

To the original question, I guess my answer is, "I'd invest it and live on a budgeted sustainable income to maintain my home and family." If you handed me a fresh million, I'd use it to add on a woodshop over the garage, fence our whole acreage, and clear and plant a whole orchard in one swoop instead the piecemeal way we've done it so far. Then I'd throw the rest in the kitty and probably buy takeout once or twice extra per month.

Hi Roberta.
I'm another exception.
I've listened to hundreds of hours of financial independence (FI) podcasts this year.
I've seen a financial adviser but decided he gave me the wrong advice (wrong for me, right for him), so did my own thing. My wife, who is in a zero tax bracket, buys units in ETFs (exchange traded funds).

My cousin will graduate from high school soon.  Instead of heading to the beach to drink alcohol (we call it schoolies, in Australia) she wants to come to our homestead to work with our animals and learn to invest. So another exception.

I have devised a way of guiding my children to become wealthy and managing their own money:

Each day, they get a score out of 10 for each of 5 areas:
•homeschooling
•homesteading
•home-making
•happiness (getting along, not annoying siblings)
•helpfulness

Highest possible score is 50.
We will divide their score by 5, and pay them that many dollars.
50% must go towards an ETF portfolio.
However much of the remaining 50% they choose to allocate to their portfolio, we will double.

$15 per day is therefore the maximum amount possible.

At $10 per day invested, and 7% annual growth, I expect them to have $49,000 in 10 years. A powerful lesson.

If they continue this for 46 years, I expect their portfolio to be over $1,000,000

https://www.investor.gov/financial-tools-calculators/calculators/compound-interest-calculator

Obviously, a better strategy for them is to invest much more at a young age to reach their FI number (portfolio size required so that 4% withdrawals will cover their expenses) sooner.

I suggest listening to the Choosefi podcast.

I also suggest low cost index funds. Performance comes and goes, but fees are forever. Apparently, over a long investing timeline, a 2% annual fee can eat half your portfolio compared with your portfolio had you invested in, say, 0.05% annual fee index funds.

Another way to look at the $11,000 annual fee on a million dollar portfolio: if living on the 4% safe withdrawal, that's more than a quarter your passive income of $40,000.
Effectively, you gift over a quarter of your portfolio.

I too would be interested. I have never purchased or read a permaculture book. This is because as I have delved further into permaculture my life has become busier.
I love reading books, but haven't finished a book in the last few years.
I do listen to audio while I garden, however.

Steve Thorn wrote:

It's neat to see your plants getting going for the Spring, as mine are getting ready to slow down for the Fall.

Excited to see how it turns out!

Time to observe.

I'll keep you guys posted if anything happens, whether it be nothing much, disease, or vigorous growth.

Hoping for the latter.

Thanks Phil.
I wonder if adding additional soil makes the crown less elevated.
I'm thinking kind of no, because the crown isn't actually going deeper, but kind of yes, because it now has more soil above it.
Let's hope that it is not too much of an issue. The soil I added was from under deciduous trees, light and full of humus. Being light is probably a good thing, but being full of organic material, this holding more water may be an issue, right?

I'm thinking that I could observe for symptoms, and if they develop, I could remove mulch and soil. I'm also thinking that the start of spring is a good time to try this, as we are heading away from our wet season here. That way, the desired roots may develop sufficiently that if I end up removing the extra soil, they will still do their thing.

What symptoms should I look for?

My soil is pretty good for nearly a foot then becomes heavy clay. I believe it's acidic, although I haven't tested it.

Ok. I'm back to forest building.

I've wounded the trunk above the graft and added soil and mulch.

First I made some space as the daisy that protects the mandarin was rubbing on the trunk and its early Spring here, so more exposure to the world is in order.

The mandarin is not quite up to my hip height now. It will be interesting to observe its growth in the future.

"Stay in school"

(Freedom to learn can be more awesome)

https://permies.com/t/94167/Lots-lots-woodchips

I suggest reading this thread that covers woodchip safety. My biggest concern with your last load is that while moving it you may inhale a lot of mold spores.

Steve, you remind me to be grateful that I can grow citrus. I've learnt, after a few tries, how to pamper citrus. My parents have better soil for citrus, but I can make it work.

I'll give the soil over graft plus wounding trick a go when I return from the holiday I'm on.  It will be early Spring here soon, so hopefully the trees growth will increase noticeably.

I will keep you posted.

No worries, Shawn.

I think you've done a great job.
I'm looking forward to sharing the book with friends and family. Especially the doom and gloom activist types who could have a much greater impact by, you know, taking action.