Most people are probably glad that 2022 is now over and done with. This year will probably be remembered as tail of COVID-19 pandemic and from Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine. Perhaps it will eventually be remembered as the year when Ukraine forged itself into proud western democracy that will build itself back and prosper. Russia will be remembered the way it always has been remembered: failed 3rd world country. Next years hopefully will bring end to the war with clear victory for Ukraine, and hopefully well executed build back better financed by Russian money and with western backing.
In general this was very bad year for the markets. Therefore it’s a bit surprising that my portfolios performed well. Main portfolio gained 8,56% during the year while overall markets declined significantly. Dividend income for the whole year was 10821,77 EUR before taxes. At the time of writing this, last dividend from Lockheed Martin has not yet been registered but that does not have huge impact on the bigger picture. Based on preliminary analysis this dividend income covered 130,6% of base consumption after taxes (exact effective tax rate will be resolved later). This indicates that current portfolio fulfils requirements for lean FIRE. Therefore project appears to be on schedule and on track.
Plan for FY2023 is quite simple. I’ll try to eliminate last debt I have but that depends on market moves. I’ve been net debt free for quite some time already but main portfolio still contains small amount of investment debt which I’ll try to eliminate during first half of the year. In addition I’ll re-invest dividends and all other extra cash that remains after handling the debt. Should the market drop significantly, I might postpone the debt payment and buy stock instead.