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CV19 Financial Survey: What has the last 2 months done to your financial situation?

Anything related to investing, including crypto

What has your income/net worth done in the last 2 months?

  • My income and/or net worth has gone up from 5-10%

    Votes: 20 16.8%
  • My income and/or net worth has gone up from 0-5%

    Votes: 7 5.9%
  • My income and/or net worth has stayed the same

    Votes: 29 24.4%
  • My income and/or net worth has gone down by 5% or less

    Votes: 6 5.0%
  • My income and/or net worth has gone down from 5-10% or more

    Votes: 5 4.2%
  • My income and/or net worth has gone down by 11-25% or more

    Votes: 8 6.7%
  • My income and/or net worth has gone down by 25-50% or more

    Votes: 6 5.0%
  • My income and/or net worth has gone down by 50% or more

    Votes: 15 12.6%
  • My income and/or net worth has gone UP over 10%

    Votes: 23 19.3%

  • Total voters
    119

MJ DeMarco

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Just like to gauge the temperature of the room, what has the last 2 months done to your financial situation? Your income and/or net worth?

My financial situation has not been impacted as I was one of the folks who actually had a financial benefit to the CV19 tragedy. If I speculate on the "why" I'm guessing because the forum benefits from home bound folks as does owning a publishing company as people read more books. Forum traffic and revenues up, publishing company revenues up, and heck, even my options "business" (hobby) is at a peak. My "paycheck pot" (fixed-income, dividend investments, see Chapter 43 in Unscripted) however is down about 10% which is expected since the S&P is also down similarly.

I'm not saying this to gloat, but to reiterate the power of running your own show and possessing value that is directly attributed to your effort -- value that cannot be easily cancelled because a governor decides to invoke unconstitutional orders and strip your livelihood away...

Have you learned anything in the last 2 months, financially or otherwise?

Please vote ... (your vote is private!) and if you'd like to comment, feel free.
 
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MTF

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My income has stayed the same and my net worth dropped by about 10% or so due to the falling stock prices. But I don't care as long as I receive my dividends regularly (I only invest in dividend stocks with a long history).

As for the lessons, I shared the main life lessons in another thread by @Fox.

Financial-wise, I re-learned the importance of having cash on hand (which I thankfully started accumulating well before the crisis) and control.

I actually decided to diversify myself further by launching a new business that I could control fully instead of being dependent on Amazon (more details in my new progress thread on the inside).

The biggest lesson for me is definitely that money is key to freedom or at least an easier life and less worry during a lockdown lol.

Multiple sources of income are key to financial peace of mind and now I'm even more certain that even when you have a few sources, it's always a good idea to add new ones and never rest on your laurels.
 
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PapaGang

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It's weird because I've been trying to write a post to describe my feeling during this whole thing, because this feeling is foreign and strange to me.
There is a lot of sadness, and I do have a heavy heart for all of the death and suffering that is happening. And it is juxtaposed by how I personally feel about my situation. I feel great. I feel alive and hopeful and proud.

This pandemic in a way is a test of our principles and past actions. For me, it is an indicator that my years of discipline, resolve, and critical thinking skills have rewarded me.

I can go for an extended period of time without income. Instead of looking for jobs, polishing my resume and asking to be picked, I am looking at a business to buy this year. I can't tell you how good that feels, but it's probably a lot like leaving a bank knowing that you have a year of living expenses saved up. The world opens up for you, you breathe easy, and you are better equipped to make good decisions based on sound principles. For the first time in a long time, I feel hopeful and in control of my future.

I haven't blinked an eye when it comes to my financial situation. And I'm in the little leagues, but it makes me hungry for more. More freedom, more time for myself and for my family, more contribution, more money that serves as units of change.

This is mostly because I read MFL several years ago and made the decision to get it together. It has been years of learning, skill acquisition, and implementing principles and processes to improve my situation. Thanks again MJ.
 
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Andy Black

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Half my consulting clients had to pause their Google Ads campaigns so revenue halved there. I’m liking it so much though that I fired a few more.

Net worth? I don’t pay any heed to that. I presume rental property values are down? I’m not into real estate much anyway.

I’m happy as I’m using the freed up mental space to work on revenue streams that don’t involve me being a consultant.
 
D

Deleted78083

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I lost about 30% of my net worth in the crash and played it very, very, very badly, but well, that is a lesson learnt. I also lost my student job in the tourism industry. In the meantime, i traveled much less, and didn't spend anything besides for food and rent.
 
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Trevor Kuntz

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I will preface by saying that if the current situation had occurred at any point between 2015 and 2017, I would be in major trouble. I am fortunate to be in a much improved position compared to that time.

Shortened timeline:
  • Was planning to sell non-FBA ecom business in January, didn't find suitable buyer
  • Had reduced inventory to minimum operational level in preparation for selling
  • Sold 50% of business to biophase beginning of February
  • Emergency replenishment of inventory in February
  • Business is built around made-in-USA products, so was unaffected by China shutdown/CNY
  • Compared to same sale periods in 2019, March was up 142%, April was up 219%
  • May projected to be up 260%
  • Hired three fill-in workers to keep up with orders
  • Increased prices to slow-down the pace of outgoing inventory, daily revenue still going up
  • By next week, 2020 revenue YTD will be higher than total revenue for 2019
So far, the only changes biophase and I have made have been in hiring and day-to-day operations. We have not increased ad spend or introduced new products yet, but are planning to introduce three new products between June and August, including our first products available via FBA.

I will plan to start a progress thread for the business at the end of summer to summarize this year's progress.
 

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PapaGang

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I will preface by saying that if the current situation had occurred at any point between 2015 and 2017, I would be in major trouble. I am fortunate to be in a much improved position compared to that time.

Shortened timeline:
  • Was planning to sell non-FBA ecom business in January, didn't find suitable buyer
  • Had reduced inventory to minimum operational level in preparation for selling
  • Sold 50% of business to biophase beginning of February
  • Emergency replenishment of inventory in February
  • Business is built around made-in-USA products, so was unaffected by China shutdown/CNY
  • Compared to same sale periods in 2019, March was up 142%, April was up 219%
  • May projected to be up 260%
  • Hired three fill-in workers to keep up with orders
  • Increased prices to slow-down the pace of outgoing inventory, daily revenue still going up
  • By next week, 2020 revenue YTD will be higher than total revenue for 2019
So far, the only changes biophase and I have made have been in hiring and day-to-day operations. We have not increased ad spend or introduced new products yet, but are planning to introduce three new products between June and August, including our first products available via FBA.

I will plan to start a progress thread for the business at the end of summer to summarize this year's progress.

That's amazing.
 
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FullTimePreneur

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This has been a huge benefit for me personally.

1. My business profits are up 30% year over year, especially during a during this period of time when sales are using a bit lower during this season.

2. I still work full time, but work 100% remote now. Allowing for more time and energy in the day to work of my business.

3. With this time I was able to pick up my first recurring consulting client. In addition to working more on my other main business.

4. I spend almost no money besides rent and food, which significantly increased savings. Which go into my options selling account. Which is also doing well due to the high vol.

5. Moved back in with my parents (because my apartment is in NYC). And get to spend a lot of quality time with them, that I wouldn't normally get.

I'm extremely happy with my situation and I hope others are experiencing benefits as well!
 

Andreas Thiel

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Did okay with my stocks. Had moved quite a bit into a government bond funds and rebalanced pretty close to the bottom (the one that we have seen already). Bitcoin is up roughly 20% but that is obviously pretty volatile currently.

I had two total busts with bets, first on Gold rising then on the market declining further. Lost about 1/10th of my net worth with those.

I think currently I am at: net worth down by 11-25%. Pretty happy with my income, which was not affected at all. I currently spend a little too much for my taste, though.

The world opens up for you, you breathe easy, and you are better equipped to make good decisions based on sound principles. For the first time in a long time, I feel hopeful and in control of my future.

For me it is pretty much the opposite. I feel like I will have to wait 10 more years before I can try to work on something worthwhile ... can't breathe, can't think straight ... always anxious. Not a great time.
 
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Black_Dragon43

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Half my consulting clients had to pause their Google Ads campaigns so revenue halved there. I’m liking it so much though that I fired a few more.
Very similar result here. We lost 65% of monthly revenue initially due to paused campaigns, and have gradually increased that to just 35-40% lost ever since. The lost revenue did allow me to run my team remotely though, and do everything in-house without outsourcing haha!
 

Roughneck

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Net Income actually went up 24% although still stuck in the slow lane.

It makes you think sometimes with how things pan out. I had originally planned to make a career move to Offshore Oil & Gas which would allow more time for me to focus on building a business with the roster work that was offered. C0VlD-19 hit in my final week with my current employer, almost at the same time - my current employer said they can't afford to loose me and threw a whooping 24% raise my way, all while the company I was moving to had the major 5 year contract, I was being employed for, put on hold.
 

Are EM

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Both went up, but in an interesting way...

This forum had a strong impact on me. Much stronger than the books for some reason. I mean books gave me some idea on how things work. This forum led me to action. But it wasn't like that... actually I remember how I was spending days and nights reading through this forum. Just reading. No action. For months. You call it mental masturbation. It wasn't bad, at least now I know all good reputable forum members who are trustworthy and knows what they are talking about. Now, I try to be regularly here by reading hot posts section everyday and this is how I found this post, thus writing now.

When I signed up to this forum I had nothing. 0. Sidewalker. It was like eight months ago in September. It all started with Fox's web design thread, not too long ago. I learned some simple technology for making websites (html & css if you're curious) and prospecting like a lot. Very soon my one and only client started requesting something more than just static websites with no changes. I ignored. Prospected. Made few sales more. Sales drop, expectations higher. After I dived into newer technologies. Like Nodejs and etc. This has skyrocketed. I learned so many stuff and build some interesting products for the people. Real products. No more static websites. I started giving more value.

This is where I am right now. Always learning. Always building products. Income up. Net worth up. I even started getting referal sales. It's a great feeling for me, for someone who just started and have a little success on the path. I learned to build products. Funny, but I feel like MJ now, when he was making web design stuff.

The reason I wrote this post is not to brag (well, there's nothing to brag about really). But to thank MJ for creating this forum. To thank Fox for showing the basics of the web through this forum. To thank Andy. To thank Dave (Vigilante). To thank Lex. To thank Ryan (IceCreamKid). To thank Zen. And many many more. Your cummulative knowledge is a powerful thing!!!

P.S I realized that building products is fun, but it's not all. I'm gonna scale this shit.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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This is where I am right now. Always learning. Always building products. Income up. Net worth up. I even started getting referal sales. It's a great feeling for me, for someone who just started and have a little success on the path. I learned to build products. Funny, but I feel like MJ now, when he was making web design stuff.

The reason I wrote this post is not to brag (well, there's nothing to brag about really). But to thank MJ for creating this forum. To thank Fox for showing the basics of the web through this forum. To thank Andy. To thank Dave (Vigilante). To thank Lex. To thank Ryan (IceCreamKid). To thank Zen. And many many more. Your cummulative knowledge is a powerful thing!!!

P.S I realized that building products is fun, but it's not all. I'm gonna scale this shit.

Damn! Very exciting my friend!!! Congrats on the quantum leap, many more to come!
 

Vigilante

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Hard for me to answer because I converted paper into cash (yeah!) during this window but at a significantly lower delta than the paper tiger. Being a "paper" millionaire sucks, but having cash reserves is king.

Retail sales are slow in certain sectors, but gaining in others so I am glad my product portfolio is diversified.

I benefited zero from any of the United States stimulus plans, but almost prefer it that way. All in all, we will emerge stronger, with a healthier cash balance and great optimism about a post-Covid changing marketplace.
 

Pard

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Stock markets are down so I lost a bit there.
My slowlane job is still ok,and I will only work four months per year.Which I asked for,so I’m happy for that.
Going on a slowlane job interview on Friday.
You guys here are partly to blame for that,I found an ad for a job,and just picked up the phone and called.
How is that your fault?
Followed your lead and took action.
Yeah,I know,nobody said get a slowlane job,but this will at worst give me something different to do, an easier time working on other stuff and it is a smaller company where I can ask about how they do things.
He said I was way overqualified but it sounded like he wanted to hire me in a different position than the one I called about.
Guess I’ll find out on Friday.
 

MJ DeMarco

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As of this post, more than 62% of the forum's participants who voted in this poll reported an income/net worth that has increased during the pandemic, or worse, experienced no change at all.

Wow.

I doubt you'll find these numbers in line with mainstream societies (in America or worldwide) which somewhat unscientifically proves that what we are doing here is worthwhile. Our purpose is clear: To grab life by the balls and write our own destiny not beholden to some faceless mega corporation... a life truly "unscripted" and free from the cultural/narrative engineering as endorsed by your media, your educational systems, and your government.

Well done folks.
 
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JordanK

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Income down & expenses down
Net worth & time up

Pandemic has taught me that I dont need to be focusing on low income tasks. Just focus on the few big ones, delegate the rest and protect my time.

It also taught me that by working every single day for 3 months, I can completely pivot my business‘s strategy. Have made about a years progress.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Bump, please vote.
 

hellolin

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I belong to the rare 21% of the people here, as in that after 2 years of rejection and trying, I have finally found the mystical six figure job. Yes, I got my second job out of college, during a pandemic where 70% of Americans are financially impacted, and here I am, a first gen immigrant, got my first six figure job, starting at end of this month. Meeting my new manager tomorrow in a diner that just re-opened just in time, and putting my 2 weeks notice in to my current company.

Honestly after my 5th rejection after a face to face interview, I was drained, I just didn't believe I was that bad, could not find anything other than this first job out of college. Even through I do like what I do right now, but I know that I can't stay in the same place for too long. A lot people will see that I got lucky in getting my first six figure job, what they don't see is that I have been studying extra stuff after work since March last year, and it has lasted to this day. When the manager interviewed me for the first time on the phone, I asked him what kind of questions and topics to expect on the real interview just one day later, he told me to read about a certain topic, and I went off to devour an entire chapter in one setting after that. Of course I end up having enough stuff to talk about during the interview. Funny thing is I even TRIED to under sale myself, having told the team that I am going only for a mid-junior level title since I only have 4 years of experience in this field...I thought I was bombed due to having low beliefs...I end up getting an offer with a six figure salary and a sign on bonus!

So it ends up the only way to gain from chaos, instead of being in the 70% who are impacted by chaos, is that even when everything is going well, the tide is high, the party is going, I have to keep doing my own shit, and ignore the party out there. This is not the first time a good thing has happen to me during the so call "bad times", and I do feel now that this isn't going to be my last time either, ONLY IF I keep on doing my studying and keep pressing on my own goals REGARDLESS what's happening out there.

I might not agree with a lot people's politics here, but I definitely learned a lot from applying the principles being actively taught here. Persistence and consistence are two of the hardest ones, and yet those are the qualities that got me income jumps of 33% when the world is still burning...literally. After this, I am never gonna give up doing my own thing anymore, cause man the rewards at the end are really, really nice.
 
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Photool

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Net-worth doubled from last year - Economic shift revealed deeper values, and opportunities as well exposed many weaknesses that needed reforming in both my business and personal life . All of which have really brought me into stronger coherence & execution towards my vision.
 

PizzaOnTheRoof

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Got laid off and collected unemployment.

Needless to say income went up...

Been learning web development and have an interview with an agency next Friday.
 

Envision

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My companies (online) have both doubled in 3 months, net worth is up.

People need to realize this is not real, it's stimulus from the fed. All this money is being pumped into the system which is delaying the inevitable crash. Look at the liquidity in the existing markets and current interest rates.

Money is too cheap - everything is being manipulated to avoid negative downturn.

Sell your properties now and hold cash. We're going to see this shit get wrecked in 6-12 months.
 

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