January was an action packed month! We spent the whole month abroad.
On New Years Eve, we flew to Buenos Aires for the start of our 6 week trip to South America and Antarctica. We were actually in the air over Brasil at midnight, which was an interesting experience. We thought there may be some sort of New Years celebration on the plane, but besides some party hats and banners, almost everyone slept right through it.
Once in Buenos Aires, we had only a few days before we embarked on our cruise to Antarctica. We were nervous about spending 16 days on a ship, but surprisingly being on the ship that long wasn’t bad at all. No doubt some of it had to do with the amazing scenery all around us for much of the journey. The views cruising around the Antarctic Peninsula were absolutely unreal. We’ve seen lots of ice and glaciers all over the world, but Antarctica really is next level with 90% of all of the world’s ice there. We had very good weather going through Drake’s Passage and throughout our time around Antarctica, which certainly added to the experience. The weather was so good in fact that we got to take an unscheduled detour to see the world’s biggest iceberg, A23a. Like most of the most amazing places we’ve seen on our planet, words and pictures just don’t do it justice. We’re very likely to do a similar cruise again in the future based on how much we enjoyed the experience.
After the cruise was over, we headed to Patagonia to do some hiking for the remainder of January. In total we hiked about 75 miles in a little over a week, which is undoubtedly a record for us. We spent about 2 weeks exploring both the Chilean and Argentinian sides of Patagonia. The costs in Patagonia aren’t low by any means, especially when compared to the rest of South America, but the hikes and views were worth the price. Patagonia is definitely in the top 3 of the most beautiful places we’ve explored over the years.
Income
Income from our websites (FifthWheelPT and Travel Therapy Mentor) for January was insane! We broke the record for our highest earning month of all time by a significant margin. I thought we’d be close to our record but was surprised by how much we actually surpassed it by. Some of this was due to some payments from the end of December being pushed into the new year because of holidays and shortened work schedules. Nonetheless, it was an awesome month for our business, and it’s always exciting to break records.
Expenses
My expenses were very high again in January due to our travels. The cruise, while a very good value, was certainly not cheap compared to a normal month at home. Also, like I mentioned above, Patagonia was surprisingly expensive for South America. A couple of days while hiking the W-Trek on the Chilean side (the more expensive side), we paid $160 each for a bunk bed in a hostel and our meals for the day. That’s a lot more than we’d usually spend in a day while traveling, but when options are limited and demand is high, prices are always crazy.
In total my savings rate for the month was still around 80% though thanks to the high earning month.
Investments
The S&P 500 was up by about 1.6% in January. The stock market continued its relentless rally toward all time highs, with no signs of slowing down. As I’ve mentioned previously, rallies into a recession aren’t abnormal, but this rally has been especially impressive. Rates remain high and the yield curve is still inverted, but the stock market is rallying like it did during the tech bubble in 2001. I still remain cautious in my equity allocation and think there’s a lot of risk in the market, but so far that decision hasn’t been a very good one.
Bitcoin was also up by about .7% in January. After a really crazy Q4 of 2023, I was actually excited to see an almost neutral month in January. The Bitcoin market has been extremely hot with a gain of about 150% in 2023, so I’d love to see a couple months of consolidation at current levels. While quick price jumps are always exciting, a more calm gradual increase is a lot healthier and leads to much less of a speculative frenzy like we saw in late 2020-early 2021. I’m a very big Bitcoin bull, but quick price increases make me nervous that the market is getting ahead of itself. I decided to take some profits in January (selling about 15% of my total holdings) to reduce my risk. The Bitcoin portion of my assets has increased quickly in recent months, so taking some profits gave me peace of mind.
Financial Independence Progress
My net assets increased by about 2.6% in January, thanks in large part to the really high income month.
This increase put me at another new all time high in both net assets and net worth!
That’s now 8 straight months of new record highs for me. That is both extremely exciting and a little scary. Rarely do things go continuously up for long, but I’m grateful. With continued strong monthly income and a little luck in the markets, I’m optimistic that a few more positive months could be ahead.
With this increase in my net asset value, my assets are now equal to approximately 88.9 times my annual expenses.
Next Month
In February, we’ll be finishing up our 6 week trip in Ecuador. This trip is much shorter than usual, but with it being so action packed, a shorter trip made sense. We were also limited by the national physical therapy conference that we need to be back for in mid February. When we get home from South America we’ll only have one day before we fly to Boston for that. A quick turnaround, but after that we have a whole month at home before any more travel!
How was January for you financially? Let me know in the comments!
Fifth Wheel Physical Therapist 