Introduction

Welcome to the first Full YEAR Update of the Blind Luck Beach House Project!! Our first full month to $100K had some big successes and some failures, lets dive in and get to the details.

They say making your first $100K is the hardest because it requires your to change your money habits and build systems to accumulate wealth. and

Once you’ve done it you’re 1/3 the way to a million because the compounding effect of just getting started is huge!!

For a detailed write up on why the first $100K is so important plus a some handy calculator tools showing you how long it will take check out this months post How Long Will It Take To Make Your First $100K?

My Goals

When I first set out on this goal in September of 2023 I knew it was going to be a multi year process. I also knew the first year would be the toughest as I worked on getting some momentum going on this so I set some specific and measurable goals.

I outlined this process in my S.M.A.R.T. Goals What They Are & How To Use Them post. You can also find a good example of goal setting in my 2024 New Years Goals update where I write down and break down the details for my top 5 goals for 2024. (Which include this The Beach House Fund of course!)

So let’s revisit the Beach House goal, and how we are doing on our journey.

Goals - High Level

Buy a beach house or have enough invested so I can rent a beach house whenever I want anywhere I want without thinking about money.

Specific Goals (The How):

Have $100,000 Invested for a down payment
Within 5 years (by end of 2028)
Monthly Updates for accountability
Show others how to start from $0 and become financially independent

What I want to do is encourage anyone who has $0 to get started, and make a life changing amount of money

In 2024 the main focus is going to be to save $10,000 by the end of the year.

Now you might be scratching your head. $100,000/ 5 years is $20,000/ per year. Why isn’t that my number? well 2 reasons

Well that’s actually a good question.

The math says I should have by the end of 2024 $15,984.50 or roughly $1,384.48 / month moving forward. (This assumes a consistent 8% return.

I did this math in my Milestone #1 Check-In Post you should check it out I have a nifty monthly contribution web calculator you can use for your own planning purposes.

I’m going to update my 2024 with a stretch goal that matches what the math says I should have saved by the end of 2024. Now since I’m not sure if I can hit the full amount I’m going to add it as a “stretch goal” so I can keep it in focus but acknowledge it’s going to be a challenge for me this year to hit.

Updated 2024 Goals:

Goal: $10,000 by end of 2024
Stretch Goal: $15,984.50 end of 2024

Progress Update

In September 2024 I made the following contribution. .

September 2024 Contributions:

$200 Regular Income
$32.74 CC Cash Back
$18.32 X Ads Revenue
$251.06 Total

Fund Total: $7,565.18

I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit disappointed in my contribution this month. I feel like I’m slowly falling behind on this goal. Life had had a way of getting in the way and I’ve had some bills come up that weren’t planned. but that’s life and we need to adjust as life happens.

At the end of September we are 3 months away from the end of the year. With approximately $2,450 to go I need to contribute $816.67/month which is doable but well above my average of $512.36/ month since we started saving for this goal.

This isn’t a bad number but if we are going to hit $100K inside 5 years we are going to have to do better! much better! But that’s why we track these things, is so we can tell where we are and if we need to make changes, instead of wishfully hoping for that $100K to magically happen someday.

I tend to be harder on myself than I should be I’ve had some successes this year too.

Maxed out ROTH IRA ($7,000)
Continue to grow 3D printing biz
My YOLO fund is also doing well (I might be rolling that fund into this one soon to jump start things)
Oh and most importantly I’m still technically retired from my old 9-5 so LIFE IS GOOD!

This is just one of my goals, and while it’s an important one for me just because I’m a bit behind doesn’t mean I’m in a bad spot.

The Details

Over all the first 12 months of the Beach House Fund the markets have been quite strong, which have helped us along with our anemic contribution rate.

$6,768.70 Total Cash Contributions

$796.43 Market Gains (Including Dividends)

Portfolio Total $7,565.13

Good progress to our $10,000 milestone. Of the current portfolio total around 10.53% of the total has been from market returns. The holdings themselves have done much better than 10.53% but since this is a young account much of the money has been in the account for less than 1 year so the total returns look lower than total market returns. This should change over time as the account starts to do more of the lifting.

Regardless we are in double digit territory and I’m pleased with overall progress of the investment pie.

Investment Allocations

In my original post for this project I outline the strategy behind my allocations, you can use whatever you’re comfortable with. Personally I feel safest with a well diversified index portfolio. I talk about what risks I’m trying to manage in My Simple 3 Fund Strategy article. Do your own research everyone’s life situation and finances are different. I’m a slow and steady kind of guy when it comes to investing but I also have healthy emergency fund reserves so I can tolerate some volatility.

As a quick reminder here are my target allocations.