Category: Credit Investing
I am a CPA Candidate sharing my experience building my portfolio while in my 20s. During this process of sharing information online I hope to increase free financial literacy access for all.
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My 2025 Investment Portfolio Performance: +25.52% vs. the S&P 500’s +17.88%
In 2025, my investment portfolio returned +25.52%, exceeding the S&P 500’s +17.88% total return for the year. This was not a smooth ride: my portfolio experienced a 26.8% drawdown after “Liberation Day”, the early-April tariff shock that drove a sharp, event-driven risk-off move in markets, before recovering as I deployed cash into positions I wanted…
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Portfolio Update: January 1st, 2026
Happy New Year everyone! Before 2025 ended, I made some changes to my portfolio to position myself for a smoother portfolio return. I am really happy for how 2025 went (both financially and personally) and I am looking forward to what 2026 has in store. Portfolio Allocation: Cash & Equivalents (37.1%): Cash & 1-month US…
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Diversifying Return Drivers: How Institutional Portfolios Are Actually Built
Learn how real portfolios diversify return drivers, not tickers, by combining growth, cash flow, inflation protection, and optionality to stay invested across cycles.
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Why Exposure to Private Markets Provides Better Portfolio Performance
Investing in private markets can significantly enhance your portfolio performance. Private markets offer diversification and can provide resilience during market downturns. By allocating assets into private equity, private debt, and real estate, you tap into sources of return less correlated to the public markets. Exposure to private markets enables you to optimize performance while managing…
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How to Diversify with Global Investment Strategies
For decades, U.S. equities have been the backbone of many investors’ portfolios. The S&P 500, with its concentration of innovative companies and deep liquidity, has often outperformed international peers. But in 2025, the narrative has begun to shift. With the U.S. dollar declining in value this year and foreign stock markets outperforming on a dollar-adjusted…
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Building a 50/30/20 Portfolio as a Boglehead Investor
One of the most common frameworks in personal finance is the 50/30/20 budget rule: 50% of income goes toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings. But what if you flipped that logic and used it as a way to structure your investment portfolio? That’s where the 50/30/20 portfolio comes in. As a Boglehead-style…
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The Growing Opportunities for Retail Investors in Alternative Investing
Alternative investing has long been the domain of large institutions and high-net-worth individuals. Family offices, pension funds, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds have relied on these asset classes for decades to diversify portfolios and capture returns that don’t move in lockstep with public equities or bonds. For average retail investors access to alternatives has been…
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Building a 50/30/20 Portfolio at a $100K Net Worth
Reaching a six-figure net worth is a milestone that reshapes how many people view their financial future. At $100,000, compounding begins to feel tangible: a seven percent annual return translates to $7,000 in growth without any new contributions. Allocation suddenly matters more than the pace of saving, and how you divide your portfolio will influence…
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Municipal Bond Yield to Maturity (YTM) & De Minimis Rule Calculator
Municipal Bond Calculator: This free Municipal Bond Calculator will estimate a bond’s return if held to maturity and instantly check the IRS de minimis market discount rule. The tool computes years and periods to maturity and flags whether the bond’s discount is within or above the de minimis threshold, helping you understand if any market…
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US Credit Downgrade from Moody’s
On May 16, 2025, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the United States’ long-term credit rating from Aaa to Aa1, marking the final departure of the U.S. from the top-tier rating among the three major credit agencies. This credit downgrade aligns Moody’s with earlier downgrades by S&P in 2011 and Fitch in 2023, reflecting growing concerns over…