How running saved my life.

How Running saved my life, and still does. As most of you know by now in the beginning of 2016 I suffered an encephalitis. Which I survived because of my physical condition and the quick response by my girlfriend and parents. But without my condition even that swift response probably wouldn’t have been swift enough.

After my return from hospital my main concern was keeping my newly acquired job, which I enjoyed a lot. In the back of my head I knew it was too big a strain on my energy and it wasn’t the best thing to do but I went full steam ahead. Jobs are important and I wasn’t giving up. At the revalidation centre it was noticed I was way too tired but from my own perspective I already was taking it way to easy.

Anyway at the end of June my contract ended and I finally had to let go. Resulting in lots of time in bed and on the couch sleeping and resting. This was brick wall I had slammed into.
Physically and mentally this is very hard. After my contract ended I could really put my focus on my revalidation. Only now I understood what the phrase “taking it really easy, one small step at a time” meant for me.

Mentally it gets dark really fast,because all the fatigue is coming out at once , your mind tends to play games. It’s now really up to you to find the motivation to get up, make a plan and stick to it.
Work gives that routine automatically. It’s the start of a grieving period, all at once.

Basically the same mistake I made with one of my greatest hobby’s , running. It helped push the fatigue away for a few hours and made me think I could beat it. Once I had crashed I also had to put running aside for a while.
But In this case I had experience with over-training and runner fatigue. So out with the old plans and I started to make new ones. Targeted at just enjoying walking and some short and slow runs. It really helped me in countering the darkness in my mind and it helps in balancing those episodes out. The training schedule also helps creating a nice framework to organise your days around.

It keeps you physically and mentally healthy, so running is in a lot of ways still saving my life.

Portfolio news – June 2017 changes

June again, some portfolio news again. Just one new position this month Austrian real estate company Conwert. Mainly active in Germany and Austria, mostly in Germany. Big in residential real estate. Which is boring , hence good. The real estate market in Germany is much more stable and boring compared too the Netherlands, rents are more affordable so not everyone is forced into buying a home. The real estate itself reflects a more real value if you like. It doesn’t go up like crazy.

Some hotspots exempt like Munich. What this means people tend to rent much longer , stable income and there is a real demand for renting. Which attributes a lot to the stability of the market. Dividend at the moment is around 0,30 EUR , and with a share price of around 17 at the moment this is a dividend yield of 1,76% , again not spectacular but there is room to grow here.

Only thing I completely missed was the takeover bid from Vovonia , silly me. We’ll see how this plays out. It’s a nice way to get some exposure into mainly , the German real estate market without buying a rental unit yourself.

The rest of the money and an extra amount went into the Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS index fund. Which I did to balance the portfolio 50/50 , so 50% index and 50% dividend stocks I pick. Science wise the consensus is that beating an index fund is near impossible as an amateur. So as I want to compare my own performance and not totally throw away my hobby, it’s only common sense to have it 50/50.

June 2017 – Dividend

June is over again which means dividend time. This month has been another good month , in comparison with last year the dividend is up 112%. Seems like a high number but it’s mainly new positions which pay out dividends for the first time. It’s the building of the portfolio which makes this rather large percentage appear.

The first goal of this portfolio is to pay for my fixed monthly costs. Think mortgage , utility bills etc. We are nowhere near this goal but it’s progressing nicely. Every Euro automated income is welcome.

So I am pretty happy with the progress and it’s fun working on this goal. Now the numbers. Excluding the dividend tax which I pay but deduct from my taxes at the end of each year.

27/06/2017 VANGUARD DIVIDEND APPRECIATION ETF EUR 1,37
26/06/2017 RDSA Dividend Coupon EUR 41,94
20/06/2017 HAL Trust EUR 71,00
14/06/2017 Icahn Enterprises L.P. EUR 1,35
09/06/2017 Emerson Electric Company EUR 4,32
09/06/2017 Emerson Electric Company EUR 0,65
08/06/2017 Microsoft Corporation EUR 7,03
07/06/2017 Unilever Certificate EUR 3,59
02/06/2017 Porsche Automobil Holding SE EUR 10,10

Totaal EUR 141,35