Taking a lift to the top of the mountain....
Posted: September 1st, 2018, 10:29 am
A recent thread from OLTB discussed the performance of his 'other Portfolios' -
https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=13460
The headline performance of the two portfolios discussed were as follows -
Passive portfolio - The XIRR for this portfolio over the last 12 months has been 5.15% and in addition, the income generated from this portfolio has been 1.69%.
IT portfolio - The XIRR on the IT portfolio over the past 12 months was 5.63% and yield was 2.8%.
In a reply on the above thread, ap8889 has raised the following point -
VWRL total return over last 12 months is 10.9%.
Vanguard LS 80% is 7.56%.
Rather than deal with a very complicated IT portfolio, a simpler approach might save fees?
Now, this is a timely point for me, as someone who has recently started to dip their toes into some of the Vanguard low-fee products. I've just checked my last Vanguard Lifestrategy 80% purchase, and since being purchased in April of this year, it's currently showing a rise of 8.77% in my non-ISA shares account.
Having given this some thought, I think there's two distinct issues at play here -
1. Outright performance
2. Personal enjoyment from being more hands-on
I personally think there's a level of enjoyment to be had from being more 'hands-on' with an investment portfolio, and that this 'enjoyment' might even come at a price.
That price might be financial, in terms of some performance difference, and it might be personal, in terms of the time and effort taken to enjoy a more hands-on approach, but the question I keep asking myself is -
'Am I happy to pay a price (financial/time/effort), if it means that I gain some personal enjoyment and satisfaction from the process?'
Does this come down to the 'taking a lift to the top of the mountain' question?
If there was a pleasurable walk to the top of a mountain, but also a lift that would get you to the same place, would those getting the lift consider the walkers were wasting their time and energy?
If they were having to pack a lunch due to the length of time the walk took, would they be 'wasting their money' on that lunch, given that they'd not need it if they took the lift?
Personally, as a keen walker, I don't think they would be wasting their time, effort, or money, but I can see why some people might think they were.
Is it the same with personal investment?
Do some of us gain pleasure from the walk itself?
I think I do, but the performance of some of the cheap Vanguard funds do make me think more about this, recently...
Cheers,
Itsallaguess
https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=13460
The headline performance of the two portfolios discussed were as follows -
Passive portfolio - The XIRR for this portfolio over the last 12 months has been 5.15% and in addition, the income generated from this portfolio has been 1.69%.
IT portfolio - The XIRR on the IT portfolio over the past 12 months was 5.63% and yield was 2.8%.
In a reply on the above thread, ap8889 has raised the following point -
VWRL total return over last 12 months is 10.9%.
Vanguard LS 80% is 7.56%.
Rather than deal with a very complicated IT portfolio, a simpler approach might save fees?
Now, this is a timely point for me, as someone who has recently started to dip their toes into some of the Vanguard low-fee products. I've just checked my last Vanguard Lifestrategy 80% purchase, and since being purchased in April of this year, it's currently showing a rise of 8.77% in my non-ISA shares account.
Having given this some thought, I think there's two distinct issues at play here -
1. Outright performance
2. Personal enjoyment from being more hands-on
I personally think there's a level of enjoyment to be had from being more 'hands-on' with an investment portfolio, and that this 'enjoyment' might even come at a price.
That price might be financial, in terms of some performance difference, and it might be personal, in terms of the time and effort taken to enjoy a more hands-on approach, but the question I keep asking myself is -
'Am I happy to pay a price (financial/time/effort), if it means that I gain some personal enjoyment and satisfaction from the process?'
Does this come down to the 'taking a lift to the top of the mountain' question?
If there was a pleasurable walk to the top of a mountain, but also a lift that would get you to the same place, would those getting the lift consider the walkers were wasting their time and energy?
If they were having to pack a lunch due to the length of time the walk took, would they be 'wasting their money' on that lunch, given that they'd not need it if they took the lift?
Personally, as a keen walker, I don't think they would be wasting their time, effort, or money, but I can see why some people might think they were.
Is it the same with personal investment?
Do some of us gain pleasure from the walk itself?
I think I do, but the performance of some of the cheap Vanguard funds do make me think more about this, recently...
Cheers,
Itsallaguess