When I left the office 10 years ago this month, I never could have imagined the incredible good fortune our equity investments would benefit from over the full decade of our early retirement. As you can see below, S&P 500 returns over that period of time have average a hefty 14.1% with dividends reinvested!

Our portfolio also includes bonds, real estate, and cash – but I always use the S&P 500 as the main gauge on our retirement portfolio dashboard. Our actual return is something less than that, but we have enough of our wealth in equities that the stock market carries most of the weight.

My early retirement spreadsheet also compares our current position with what we expected on April 1, 2016. At that point, we had a slight surplus (0.6 years spending) in our portfolio. That was a six-figure buffer. After a couple of rocky years – including one year with a bright red deficit – our surplus has steadily grown. It now stands at a remarkable 12.7 years spending.

When I look at this chart, it’s incredible to me that after 10 years of not working – we have an EXTRA 10 years of spending in our current balances. It’s like we never stopped working and were still contributing earned income to our portfolio.

Still, we shouldn’t be surprised if there is suddenly a big set-back in the 4-5 years spending range. We’ve already seen that happen TWICE, although some of that volatility was a result of the extreme up-and-down of our MegaCorp stock options, which comprised a significant share of our holdings when we retired.

That said, those MegaCorp stock options were also the one BIG thing that helped us the most over the last 10 years. We sold at an average price of $57 over 6 years of retirement. Our goal was $51 and that small $6 difference meant an extra +40% return with the leverage that the options provided.

I closed them out in 2020 with a lucky move on St Patrick’s Day when the pandemic lockdowns hit the market.

To put that $57 price in context, MegaCorp stock started the last 10 years at $36, fell to as low as $29, and is currently at $38. (It actually peaked at $90/share in 2023, but that’s after our options expired).

Regardless, it’s been a great 10 years for our portfolio and we feel blessed for that. They say your investments are most vulnerable during the first decade of your retirement, so I’m hopeful that we’re heading into decade #2 with a very strong financial foundation.

How far ahead of your original FIRE projections is your portfolio?

Image: Pixabay