College Road Trip 2020 continues to roll on. We are on the homestretch leg of our trip. As I write this update we are sitting at our campsite in Houston Texas and just enjoying the day.

Our trip has been great despite many of our plans being cancelled or changed due to COVID-19 restrictions, fires and what ever else has been thrown our way in the last few weeks. But that is also the beauty of RV life, you can change at a moments notice and head another direction.

It has been weird traveling without our son after leaving him in Pennsylvania for school. We have kept in contact to make sure he is adjusting well and has what he needs as classes get ramped up. He seems to be doing great and is focused on getting off to a good start.

More difficult at the moment is trying to put together a financial update when I haven’t paid any attention to our finances in weeks. I also don’t have the ability to see all of our information in report form on our mobile app so the data was compiled manually.

Here is where we ended the month of August 2020:

Portfolio = $1,110,056

Portfolio Goal = $1,500,000

Amount needed to reach goal = $389,944

Our portfolio increased by $41,320 or 3.87% from the end of July

Year-to-date our portfolio is up 5.97%

Net Worth = $1,325,222

This is an increase of $39,963 or 3.11% from the end of July

Year-to-date our Net Worth is up 5.94%

Another positive month which is always a good thing. Our net worth is lagging behind our portfolio on a percentage basis due to the fact I haven’t worked for weeks while we are on the road. During this time our business is stagnant with no income or receivables growth. It’s the price of being self employed and having the freedom to make your own schedule. Still worth it IMO.

While it’s always nice to have a positive month I can’t help but think the markets are still overheated. There was a pullback in the first couple trading days of September which isn’t surprising considering how far the markets have come from the covid lows. Normally I would expect a down month after a run like this but this market isn’t normal and seems to be trading on expectations far into the future.

It will be an interesting dynamic to watch the rest of the year as the markets digest the election, economic data and the possibility of a vaccine for covid. As I have said in previous updates, I believe the election is the biggest factor as it is the one unknown. We know there will be a vaccine at some point and we know the economic data will improve as states reopen. What is not clear is who will be in charge and how will their policies impact the long term economy and a broad range of other issues.

For now, we wait and enjoy the rest of our trip. It’s going to be tough to return home and get back to work after a month on the road. This time has re-enforced our belief in and drive to achieve our long term goal. We have found some great places that we look forward to visiting again.

Thank you as always for reading our blog. If you haven’t already please check our our Instagram page for updates from the road.

Until next time………………….

Joe