The climate in this country continues to escalate as the election looms closer. Politics share parallels with keeping tabs on your favorite celebrities or friends whereabouts. In short, it can be extremely exhausting and too much exposure leads to an overall negative state of mind. Especially for things that are outside of one’s control. I early voted, I encourage my friends to vote.

I know multiple people who either have had or been exposed to someone with Covid-19. Currently two of my friends, a married couple have been exposed to it. They are both young in their 30s and seem to be doing okay. I’m not super close to them but still wish them a speedy and uncomplicated recovery.

Some more stats are available at USA Today. As of today there have been 8.774MM confirmed cases in the US and 226k confirmed deaths. In my county alone we have the highest number of new cases since Late September. I feel like currently we all either know someone who has had it, or know someone who knows a person who had it.

From a travel standpoint I simply haven’t had the cojones to go anywhere. Instead I’ve focused on small gatherings and outdoor recreational activities. Social distancing at a beach, or in another country just isn’t the same as having an honest to good vacation. My home state of New York is still requiring visitors fill out the 2 week mandatory quarantine for those flying and driving there. This is 7 months in. I miss my hometown. Almost 2 years since I’ve seen my family. It hurts but I try not to dwell on that too much.

Ok let’s talk about Personal Finance. I’ve made a slew of updates to my Apple gear. I can 2020 the year of the refresh.

1. Apple Watch Series 6 – Despite being built like a tank, I am a very physically active individual. I had the series 4 for 669 days. Over 900 miles by bike and 100s on foot. I track my sleep, I track my daily calorie burn. I post some of my workouts to Strava. The battery was starting to go in the 4 and my warranty was long expired. For my trade-in I received a $140 credit on my card, offsetting the $420 for a new watch. An additional $240 is a fair bit of money but I wanted some of the new features. I already cashflowed and paid this off.
2. IPhone 12 Pro – I’m on the upgrade program with Apple on this one. My 11 Pro I owed around $650 on, basically less than it was worth. Technically the new phone costs a whopping $1405. I paid $107.09 up front, plus my first monthly payment of $54.08 for an initial cash outlay of $161.17 plus a case and massage charger around $85 combined.
3. iPad Pro – This is also a question of timing. I’ve had the 2019 iPad Air for the past year. It’s been quite the capable little device. I watch movies on it, read ebooks on it, it’s actually my device of choice for typing these blog entries on. I use a Logitech K380 Bluetooth keyboard and a little mouse with it. For prolonged use, multitasking, or any type of note taking / drawing the screen is just a bit too small for my tastes. So I’m upgrading to the 12.9” iPad Pro and trading in my current model. Kind of interesting, I ordered this several weeks ago and got a $250 quote from Apple. Today that drops down to $210. I also sold the AirPods they came with on eBay and got $103.50 for them. So $899 – $103.50 – $210. So $545.50 give or take not including the Apple Pencil 2nd gen or whatever I get back on my current Pencil. I get it tomorrow and then will be billed for it.

I’m not sure what to say aside from being an Apple diehard. Tech is a fun outlet for me to learn, de-stress, and connect with new people. I still feel a little guilty about spending money on anything. The credit card will still be paid off in full by the next billing cycle though.

Current Retirement:
401k: $92,300.80
Roth IRA: $5,786.86
Taxable Investments: $891.25
HSA: $551.09
Total: $99,530

I was briefly above $100k. It’s nice to see a 6 figure number.
September 2020 : $96,078.36, so up 3.6% now Month-Over-Month.
October 2019: $64,513.33 was my retirement balance and I had almost $10k of debt at the time. So up $35k or 54% Year-Over-Year. Or $45k / +82%.

I literally was about to hit Publish, then saw an r/wallstreetbets post about how a guy hit $100k in their portfolio. It’s kind of a joke. He made it and lost it very quickly, having dropped down to $4,291.90. It took me basically 7.5 years, no margin, or shorts. God willing in another 7 years I will be up to over $300k.

Shit it’s almost 1AM. I’m taking my dog to the vet for a teeth cleaning later this morning. Posted some more videos on YouTube.
1. What I save Money on As A Millennial
2. Food Prices Are Going Up
3. October 2020 (Early Month) Investment Update

A little over 11 years ago I quite my bank teller job and started thinking about a new path in life. One that would be much more lucrative. The journey has been long but I’ve essentially tripled my net worth over that time period. To go from -$50k to +$100k is great. I’m still 37. Not dead yet. Not retiring anytime soon, I have a lot more goals to hit and living to do. Thanks for reading. Make money, be safe, do hard things in life. Night… zzzzzZZZZzz