FINAL SCORE =>>> JOE: +8% INFLATION: +2.6%
I had a pretty good year in the stock market this year overall – especially since I am now a low-risk investor. As a low-risk investor my primary financial objective is to maintain my spending power by beating inflation or at least not giving back the stellar gains I achieved over the past decade or so (my 12-year average annual gain through and including the losses from 2022 was 35% as you can see by scrolling through the following post: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/final-stock-market-score-joe-57-2-spx-24-2/). Core inflation was 2.6% year-over-year back in November – so I beat that number by a sizable margin (the December numbers have not yet been released).
Anyone who has met or exceeded their financial investment goal should be a low-risk investor like me. Everyone else should be taking a higher risk approach in order to achieve their financial investment goals. And if you need help with that, you know who to ask.
My best performing stock this year from the tariff bottom back in April was Coinbase (COIN) which gained 42%. My second-best performing stock from the same tariff bottom was a small cap index fund ETF (SPSM) which gained 34%. That’s about a 3-to-4-year gain on average over just a few months for these investments. Everyone that used my Market-Based strategy over that period in time would have done equally as well: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/how-well-did-my-market-based-strategy-work-this-year-how-about-a-40-gain-in-only-8-months/
When considering the entire year, my highest gains were TBT which gained 39%, Citigroup (C) which gained 35%, Coinbase (COIN) which gained 28%, GNK which gained 27%, SVXY which gained 17%, AAL which gained 15%, and SPSM which gained 14%. I had two losing stocks this year: TROX which lost 13% and UVXY which lost 2%. So, I didn’t do too bad overall.
I fell behind the major market indexes this year which is not surprising since I’m a low-risk investor – however, I wasn’t too far behind with a 8% gain: the Dow Jones Industrial Average index had an end-of-year (EOY) gain of 13%, the Russell 2000 index had an EOY gain of 11.3%, the S&P 500 index had an EOY gain of 16.4%, and the Nasdaq index had an EOY gain of 20.4%. The only major stock market index I beat this year was the S&P 500 Midcap 400 index which had an EOY gain of 5.9%. I did okay overall though because as a low-risk investor, I should not be matching the gains of the major market indexes – and whenever the overall markets drop, I’ll be thankful that I’m taking a low-risk approach.
My primary objective for 2025 was beating inflation which I was able to handily do. A secondary target I use as a low-risk investor is taking the EOY gain of the S&P 500 (SPX) and dividing by 5. I handily beat on that metric as well (16.4%/5 = 3.28%). So, overall, 2025 was a highly successful investment year for me. We’ll see what 2026 brings.
I’ve pretty much sold all of my stocks (I am presently only about 13% invested in stocks – the remaining 87% is in low-risk income) and am now awaiting a sizable drop before buying back into the stock market.
You can learn about all of my investing techniques via my “Invest Like a Pro in 10 Minutes a Day!” series of 4 books where you can learn the “end to end” process to investing. So, use any downtime you might have to your advantage by gaining this knowledge and learning these skills and techniques (https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/).
Make it your goal to learn these investment techniques so that you can progress towards achieving the financial freedom and independence you’ve always dreamed of. I would have done so much better if I had learned this stuff years ago.
Also, you can read all about my stock market activities here: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/stock-market-activities
Lastly, all of my finance/investing posts are here: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/category/financial-planning-management-and-investing-related-posts/
I wish you much investing success for 2026 (and beyond).
#selfimprovement, #selfhelp #selfdevelopment #success #finance #stocks #investing #stockmarket #bonds #bondmarket