My Very Simple Investing Strategy For 2025

On December 31, 2024December 31, 2024 By Dean BrooksLeave a comment

Keeping things easy and mostly automatic going into the new year.

I love investing. I love saving. I love seeing my money grow over time without having to do anything other than sit and wait. I think it was Charlie Munger or Warren Buffett who said, “Compound interest is the eight wonder of the world.” He was quite right.

2024 delivered some fantastic gains across the board for virtually all assets — gold, Bitcoin, and US stocks, of course. Like many others, I’ve seen my networth grow substantially. At this rate, I’ll be semi-retired far earlier than I expected. All good.

While I love investing and watching markets, I hate all the hand-wringing and consternation that often goes along with it. It’s great to make money, but not if you’re going to obsess about it and be checking stock tickers and the Bitcoin price every five seconds. What kind of a life is that?

It stressed me out all year. As I get older, I’ve learned that nothing beats having peace of mind.

I’ve been burned in the past on bad investments that I put way too much time and thought into, while ironically doing quite well in ones I didn’t think much about because they were diversified and “boring.”

My ETFs and index funds? All in the green. But often I do poorly in individual stocks or options investing. I did do great with the Reddit IPO in 2024, nearly 5x-ing my small pre-public investment. Looking back, I wish I had put way more in than I did. But hindsight is 20/20 and all.

To help keep things simple and easy, I’ve decided on a very straightforward strategy. Basically, any money I use for investing after taxes, expenses, and my retirement account contributions will be apportioned like this:

60% equities — Meaning SPY and QQQ, the only two holdings currently in my main non-retirement brokerage account.

20% Bitcoin — This is in addition to my 2025 DCA experiment, which I outlined here. Bitcoin is volatile as hell, obviously, but I’m in it for the long haul. I’ve been in crypto since 2020, so I’m a weathered vet at the ups and downs.

10% precious metals (mainly gold)— I only buy bullion in one ounce increments to save on over spot mark-up, and I prefer the .9999 purity of the incomparable British Britannias. Such a lovely coin, and actually the cheapest way to buy gold over the American Eagles, Buffalos, Canadian Maple Leafs, or almost anything other than packaged gold bars. I also like to buy the silver Britannias every year, too.

10% cash savings — This is money I’ll be saving for pretty much anything. It could be for investing into any of the above categories, toward vacations, collectibles, something risky like options, or whatever. This is savings that sits on top of my emergency fund. Obviously, if I had to dip into my emergency savings for something I’d have to replinish that first before anything else.

What’s missing? Real estate. I don’t own a house or any property, and don’t have any plans to just yet. Housing is not really practical or even worthwhile where I live because of the harsh winters and the constant maintenance problems. So, I continue to rent, which I think is a better value overall for now. In the future, I’d like to own my own home. So when that happens my investment strategy would have to be adjusted accordingly.

Also missing, a side business. Medium provided a nice little side income for 2024, but not enough to make a big difference. I’m looking to get into YouTube in the new year, but that may take awhile to become monetized. I have considered buying businesses and such. It would have to be the right deal and the right situation. I’m not going to plunk down money into something just because it’s trendy or seems like a “sure thing.” There is no such thing as a sure thing in business.

Really, at the end of the day, I’m a writer. A “content creator,” to use that hated phrase that’s in vogue. I think I’d rather just focus on that gift. I’m only happy when I’m writing and creating something to entertain or inform people. I’ll look for ways to expand, improve, and monetize my writing skills.

Hopefully, this new investing strategy will help alleviate my mind. Looking back, I’ve spent way too much time thinking and worrying about money, while neglecting other areas of my life. Money is great and all, but it cannot give you a fulfilled life, necessarily. I love being in the game, don’t get me wrong. The process of making money is fun and fulfilling. But after awhile, it just becomes video game points.

Have a happy New Year. 🙂

Desperate Middle-Aged Corporate Slave Bets His Family’s Life Savings On A Crypto Token And Then This Happens

On October 22, 2024October 22, 2024 By Dean BrooksLeave a comment

The insane story of Dan Conway.

You know those crazy videos where someone goes skydiving or performs parkour stunts on the edge of a skyscraper? The ones that give you sweaty palms just watching them?

That’s what it feels like reading about a middle-aged guy with a family who sank his entire fortune into a brand spanking new digital currency that just popped into existence.

But that’s exactly what Dan Conway, a former middle manager slaving away in corporate America did back in 2016. He put his family’s life savings into a new crypto called Ethereum.

Now, in retrospect, this may not seem like the absolute worst, most insane idea anyone’s every had to make a fortune. Since its inception at around $2 in 2015, Ethereum has climbed to as high as almost $4700 back in November, 2021. It currently sits at just over $2300.

But we’re talking almost ten years ago. When Bitcoin and the entire crypto market were still in its toddler years. It was the wild west.

Conway’s idea was partly inspired by Bitcoin’s shocking success in 2013, when it ran from under $100 to over $1000 in a matter of months. Could Ethereum perhaps replicate the same sort of mindboggling returns? That was the big question.

At the time, Conway was 45, “quietly desperate,” and slaving away as a corporate middle manger in San Francisco, making $150,000 a year. He was married with three kids, had about $100,000 in savings, and some built-up equity in his home. While not destitute by any means, Conway was like a lot of people willing to do anything to escape the 9–5 grind. Making matters worse (or better, depending on your POV), Conway had a somewhat addictive personality. He’d struggled with alcohol and drugs. He was even in a 12-step program.

But he was able to channel his “mania” into a new obsession — this strange new cryptocurrency. As he learned more, he became more confident that ETH could potentially replicate Bitcoin’s success from years earlier. His belief was partly due to his experience working for Macromedia in the ’90s, the company behind Flash. He was familiar with how a new tech product with the right developers can suddenly catch on and rapidly soak up market share.

Still, ETH was so new that even his friends in the San Francisco tech world didn’t believe in it.

“Most of my friends in tech — folks working at places like Google, Apple, and Uber — were dismissive of blockchain. Few of them had heard of Ethereum. When I told a buddy of mine that I was considering investing in cryptocurrency, he broke out in laughter, as if I’d admitted I was hedging my future on Smurfberries or Scooby Snacks.” (Source)

Nonetheless, in mid-2016, Conway went to his bank Wells Fargo and transferred his family’s entire life savings to the new crypto exchange Gemini (founded by the Winklevoss twins) for nearly $7,000 ETH tokens, at a price of about $14.

Then something catastrophic happened.

All of a month later an Ethereum project got hacked and Conway’s $100,000 investment sank to less than $40K. It was a harsh welcome to the world of crypto. While most people might have capitulated, the sudden reversal only cemented Conway’s belief in ETH’s potential. He doubled down. Big time. By sinking over $200,000 of home equity into the dip. Now he was all in at $300K but at an average price of about $11 a token.

As it turns out, the frightening flash crash was the pivot point. Over the course of the next year crypto saw a return of the bull market. Ethereum climbed from its bargain basement price of $8 to over $1,300.

By the time Conway cashed out in late 2017 into early 2018, his risky bet had turned into $10 million.

However, there was a huge personal toll to pay on the path to decamillionare status. Conway admits to a lot of emotional volatility, obsessively tracking ETH’s price, and late soul-searching nights worrying about his crypto account getting hacked. He was fired from his job. He even wound up in the emergency room with a “panic event.”

I find Dan Conway’s story equally thrilling and inspiring. Even somewhat relatable. I had some success with Ethereum, Bitcoin, and other cryptos myself back in 2020. It was reading stories like his that motivated me to finally step outside the comfort zone of my more conservative investing style, and take a little risk on this new asset class. I started with Bitcoin when it was under $10,000, and then Ethereum when it was sub-$500. While my returns aren’t nearly as high as Conway’s, I’ve still done okay. Time will tell whether the crypto market will undergo another face-melting run like before.

Conway is a unique personality. Very few people would be willing to go all in on something so unproven as a new crypto token like he did. Especially at 45, with three kids, a wife, and a mortgage, living in one of the most expensive areas of the country. There’s something very admirable about that. Reminscent of the Old West gold rush prospectors, or the family’s that traveled West on the Oregon trail.

However, Conway is very aware of his good luck:

“I banked everything I had on a relatively unproven technology and got out at the right time. For every story like mine, there are hundreds of others about people who lost it all. I know that could’ve easily been me.

At the same time, I’m no blackjack player. My investment wasn’t purely a blind gamble that came up aces. I was, and am, a true believer in crypto — and I had the right mix of courageousness and craziness to take a big risk.” (Source)

Since striking it rich in crypto, Conway has retired to a more normal life. He’s written a book called Confessions of a Crypto Millionaire. If you want to read more, you can also check out his first-person account of all the action in The Hustle.

Would you be willing to go all in on an investment you believe in? Was Conway crazy or ahead of the curve?

Make $10k+ a Month Talking About Cryptocurrency

On March 3, 2023March 3, 2023 By Dean BrooksLeave a comment

Niche Knowledge #2: Altcoin Daily

Source: https://www.youtube.com/@AltcoinDaily/about

By most accounts, crypto is still in a bear market. But not if you’re in the business of doing daily updates on the crypto space.

Niche Knowledge, the series devoted to exploring lucrative business niches that real people have found real success in, next takes a look at the rapidly growing YouTube channel Altcoin Daily.

Overview

This is a channel that I, like many others, discovered around the beginning of the last crypto bull market — roughly late 2020. But since then, the channel is still chugging along nicely.

Altcoin Daily, as the name suggests, uploads daily news recaps, opinions, and interviews with experts about all things cryptocurrency. The channel was started by brothers Aaron and Austin Arnold back in January, 2018. That was back in the depths of the last crypto recession, when Bitcoin fell as low as around $3,400 a coin, and Ethereum was as low as $85. Talk about starting at the “worst” possible time. But like many businesses that become uber successful, Altcoin Daily took advantage of the crypto freeze, and began building its brand.

Since its start the channel has grown to almost 1.3 million subscribers, and become a powerful voice in the crypto space. The brothers have interviewed the likes of Raoul Paul, other popular YouTubers like BitBoy Crypto, Benjamin Cowen, Robert Breedlove, and many others.

Their videos provide not only timely updates, but important context that makes the high-tech crypto world accessible to everyday listeners. They are big crypto investors themselves, and have demonstrated a keen insight into the space, offering neutral, largely hype-free analysis.

Monetization

According to Social Blade, Altcoin Daily currently makes anywhere between an estimated $953 — $15,200 per month, or $11,400 — $182,900 per year, from Adsense.

However, like many crypto channels, Altcoin Daily utilizes affiliate links a great deal, which certainly adds significantly to the site’s bottom line. Affiliate deals include companies like Coinbase, Ledger, and events like Outer Edge and the convention Bitcoin 2023 being held in Miami Beach.

The only merch the channel currently sells is a simple pint glass, through Spring. Typically brands try to hawk t-shirts, hats, and other apparel. But Altcoin Daily seems content with keeping things basic on the merch side.

Altcoin Daily also has a significant following on Twitter that nearly matches its YouTube subscription army. The brand has 1.3 million followers, and tweets out on a daily basis.

Niche Deets

The videos on the channel reliably get tens of thousands of views. Usually ranging between 50k to the low 100k mark. Interestingly, none of their videos have yet to crack the million view mark. Their most watched video is “How Much Cardano (ADA) Do You Need to Become a Cryptocurrency Millionaire in 2021?” featuring Bitboy Crypto, with 726,000 views. This proves you don’t need videos to go viral and get millions of views if you’re trying to make a go of the YouTube game. You just need to pump out content consistently, and let the YT algorithm do its work.

Of course, it helps if you’re in a good niche like cryptocurrency, which is a space that’s only going to grow more over time.

Altcoin Daily’s thumbnails are eye-catching and somewhat clickbaity, making sure to usually include a human face. The YouTube algo tends to like seeing faces in the thumbnail.

The channel’s stats over the last few years tell an interesting story. Here’s a screenshot of a chart from Social Blade:

As you can see, during the end of the last crypto bear market, through the end of 2020, Altcoin Daily experienced steady but largely flat growth. Then when the bull market kicked in demonstrably at the end of the year, and the beginning of 2021, the channel hockey sticked upward. But since the the boom cycle ended, Altcoin Daily has plateaued into its slow and steady rate of growth.

These charts show the strength and the weakness of the crypto news niche. Bear markets are tougher to grow in. Bull markets may be easier to find traction, but they last for briefer periods. So if you’re looking to start a channel or site devoted to cryptocurrency, you’d better be prepared to stick it out for the long haul. Especially now, with the asset class still down, and a looming possible recession and near-certain continued interest rate hikes on the horizon.

From an SEO/keyword angle, a crypto channel gives you the opportunity to rank for brand new coins and tokens just as they’re released, provided you’re staying up to date with the latest news. Imagine if you’re among the first, or even the first, to break a story on a new crypto project. And say that project takes off down the road. You might be the beneficiary of that rising tide, catching some of the traffic that builds off the growth of that project. Nowadays, it’s a tall task to rank for well-known high cap coins. But that doesn’t mean you can’t keyword capture the more niche projects out there before they potentially get big.

Summary

Overall, this a channel I like for its plain, soft-spoken, and reliable uploads. As of now, Altcoin Daily has posted over 2,000 videos. That shows remarkable dedication. But the end result has been a channel that thus far has gained 158 million views, and counting.

While it’s impossible to know exactly how much the channel makes from affiliate sales, between those and Adsense revenue (and sales of pint glasses), it’s not hard to imagine Altcoin Daily making several hundred thousand dollars a year. That’s impressive when you consider that many big news outlets are laying off employees and struggling to even stay afloat. Not bad for two brothers who started a simple channel talking about their favorite topic cryptocurrency just five years ago.