Welcome to another update of my passive income and goals for 2024. We’re at the home stretch now and with the holidays, I won’t realistically make much progress before the end of the year.
This year, I simplified the two monthly articles that I’ve done for years – passive income and goals/resolutions. I’ve combined them and added some personal details.
Personal Monthly Recap
In retrospect, November was a fairly boring month. We got to see family around Thanksgiving, and the kids had a week off from school. Overall, we were just very busy with a lot of kid-related stuff like Scouts, karate, and robotics.
Other than that, we had the following:
- My wife and I went to a wedding. The couple was a friend of my wife’s who I had only met a couple of times. It was a cool story of two people who had known each other for 30 years, but each always seemed to be in a different place in their lives.
- We saw a huge boat parade. It’s an annual thing in our town.
- We were invited to a Christmas tour of the Blithewold Mansion. We’ve been to all the mansions in Newport, so it was good to go to a different one.
Back to the Passive Income and Goals
I put my goals in a spreadsheet and review it once a month. I know that I have too many goals to complete them all, but it gives me the freedom to work on whatever strikes my fancy. Most people find it less overwhelming to focus on fewer goals. That’s just another reason why I’m weird. Do whatever works for you.
Click for a larger version in a new window
Passive Income
I have three side hustles with a passive component: a dog-sitting business, this blog, and managing a website for a non-profit. All three require some active work. However, I can get paid for all three even while working a full-time job. That’s why I consider them somewhat passive income. (If this definition of passive income seems off or confusing, please refer to my the last stand-alone article on passive income, where I give a much more detailed explanation.)
Dog, Blog, and Web Income
Dog boarding was great in November. Usually that would be because we had a ton of dogs at Thanksgiving. Holiday rates really help out. However, it was fairly quiet. December is seeing a similar trend. Some of that might be because we’re taking a trip, but it may be time to review whether I’m charging too much and losing business.
Our dog on the world’s biggest dog bed. Someone was giving this monstrosity away on a Facebook Buy Nothing group and we took a shot at it.
Blogging income continues to be terrible. Much of my income comes from people finding the site on Google and seeing the ads. Google is sending a lot less traffic nowadays. They’ve focused on showing results from big brands and shopping results. When they aren’t doing that, they are showing AI results, and often, people don’t even need to click on a website. Sometime in January, I’ll publish a State of the Blog update.
The non-profit website I manage doesn’t pay much, but I love being part of the organization. I started doing some web work for a restaurant. That’s an hourly rate now, so I’m not including it here. Hopefully, it will translate to some kind of retainer, which I would include here.
November’s dog, blog, and website income was $4,562.88. The previous month, it was $3,888.72.
Because this type of income requires some active work, I only count half of it as passive income. More on that later.
Rental Property Income
We have two rental properties. They still have 15-year mortgages, so the rental income is just a couple hundred dollars more than breaking even each month. We’re almost done with the mortgages, though, and they’ll make much more money (around $30,000 a year) in a couple of years.
For the purpose of this report, I calculate their income using the following formula:
(Rental Income After Estimated Expenses) * (Equity Percentage Owned) = Passive Income
Estimated expenses are insurance, property taxes, condo fees, and estimated condo maintenance. Equity Percentage Owned (EPO) is our total equity divided by the property value in Zillow. (Zillow is very accurate for our condos.)
I calculate the rents on the properties at around $2,657/mo., after expenses. This calculation is a little disingenuous because I average what our true rents are and what the market says they should be. We should be charging a lot more, but we have good tenants, and we’re trying to be kind, considering the exploding housing costs.
Zillow says our rental properties were worth $3,000 less than last month. Lately, these changes of 1% of the value have been fairly common. We continue to pay off a thousand dollars of mortgage debt on them every month. That mostly cancels out when it comes to the EPO. This month, we owned 81.96% of the properties vs. 81.90% last month. Using the equation above, this would be $2,178 in monthly income. That monthly gain amounted to $2.
If we earned $2,178 every month, we’d net a little more than $26,000 a year.
Managing rental properties requires some work – a few days a year. For this reason, I only count 80% of this number as passive income.
Dividend Income
My wife has been maxing out her retirement accounts for a little more than two decades. I maxed out my retirement accounts for my first ten years of employment, but it got much tougher when I became self-employed. At that point, I mostly focused on maxing out my Roth IRA and a little on my SEP-IRA. Investing this money for so long has created quite the nest egg for us.
For the dividend income portion of our passive income, I assume we invested all the money in brokerage accounts (retirement and non-retirement) into an ETF that conservatively pays a 2.5% dividend. I use this 2.5% number because I’m too “Lazy” to track the exact dividends from all accounts. Also, dividend payments are very inconsistent, with most payments coming quarterly. Is 2.5% a fair number as an estimate? I’ll let you be the judge, but one ETF, iShares Core High Dividend (HDV), is paying around 3.56% right now.
It’s not Thanksgiving without a Pikachu sighting at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
I also have profit-sharing income with a private company in which I own a small stake. I get a check each month that behaves like a dividend – it’s just taxed a little differently.
This month, our dividend income using this estimation was $5,166. The markets have been going crazy since the election. Last month, when I took the numbers (on the night of the election), it was $5,001. That’s a gain of $165. During Biden’s term, we made a lot of money in the stock market. It looks like we’ll make a lot of money in the stock during Trump’s time, too. Maybe the stock market is one of the few things that aren’t political.
For a full year, $5,166 a month would be $62,000. While we spend more than that now, I’m sure we could live within that number in the long run.
Unlike the previous two sections, this income is 100% passive. For this reason, I don’t have to adjust the numbers.
Total Passive Income
Dog/Blogs: $4,562.88 – Adjusted to $2,281.44
Rentals: $2,178.00 – Adjusted to $1,742.40
Dividends: $5,166 – Remains at $5,166
Dogs/Blogs Blue Line
Rental – Red Line
Dividend – Yellow Line
Total Adjusted Passive Income: $9,189.84
That monthly income would be about $110,000 a year. We probably close this a year between the mortgage and the kids’ private school. When the mortgage disappears in a couple of years, we’d have more wiggle room with paying everything through passive income.
Here’s a graph of the numbers since 2017, when I started keeping track:
(The blue line represents the monthly total adjusted passive income. The Red Line represents the 12-month average. This helps remove some of the seasonality of dog boarding.
Our 12-month average is $8,688.57. That’s a new record! We finally passed our old all-time high set in August of 2023. We beat it by a full $100. We also hit a new all-time high in purely passive-ish rent and dividend income at $6,908.40.
My wife continues to work as well. She now has 25 years in the military and will be getting a pension that effectively doubles all this passive income. Her job has gotten easier and seemingly more fun, so she might stay 30 years and grow the pension more.
I can’t think of anywhere else to put this information, but our net worth grew a tremendous 1.92% last month. Overall, it’s up 15.40% for the year. Our liquid cash was up $15,000 last month, but it’s down $20,000 for the year. Some people track their spending to know where their money goes. I’m too lazy, so I just look at the liquid cash number.
Business and Other Money Goals
Personal Income ($85,000)
Two years ago, I made over $98,000 in side hustles. Last year, I made $88,000. I’ve recently cut back on dog boarding a bit, so I’m aiming for $85,000 this year.
Through November, I made $77,323.22, which is on pace for $82,638.27. I’ll surely fall short on this one.
Complete Estate Planning
We have to sign the engagement contract with the lawyer and then meet with him about the last couple of questions and he’ll draw up the estate plan. With my wife traveling and the focus on the holidays, we’ll be pushing the final steps to early 2025.
The Christmas Tree at the Blithewold mansion. There were more impressive parts of the mansion, but they had people in them and I felt this was the best photo to share.
Kid Wealth (Goal: 50,000 Page Views)
For the third year, I hope to get 50,000 page views on Kid Wealth.
In 2022, I launched Kid Wealth and wrote a lot of articles. It had 4,200 page views that year. In 2023, I got involved in other projects, but traffic tripled to 13,708. This year, I’ve only posted a couple of articles – ouch.
We’re up to 33,200 views all-time. It’s possible, but it might be a stretch to get to 50,000 views next year. Traffic is still doing well even though I’m not publishing as much as I’d like to. I have a couple of articles that are 85% done and should finish the last 15% to get them published before the end of the year.
Professional Improvements
No big improvements in November for professional improvements.
Health
I’m putting more focus on health this year. As you can tell from the above, our financial situation is great. Now, we just have to be healthy enough to enjoy a few decades of spending our money. In November, I tried to run a five mile race with my wife, but I pulled a calf muscle around the 2nd mile. I finished the five miles with a combination of walking and galloping, but came in last with the other injured people. My longest successful run is still four miles.
Lose Weight and Body Fat (Goal: 175lbs, 22.5% body fat)
I started on January 1st at 192.5 pounds and 26.3% body fat, according to my Fitbit scale. Ouch!
Recently Fitbit changed their app. Some data and tools were lost, but I gained one major thing. They made it very easy to see the average weight and body fat over a month or even a year. This makes it easy to report that my average weight was 179.2 and my body fat was 23.4%. I may not hit this goal, but it’s looking to be fairly close – especially considering where I started.
Health Points (Goal: 350)
This year, I’m tracking my health by giving myself a score at the end of the week for diet and exercise. The top score in each is five points.
When I give myself a five, I am saying that I generally had the reasonably best week possible. I can only have a couple of off meals a week and still get a five. The rest of the time, I have to eat with a purpose, such as half fruits and vegetables or half plant protein. If go out to restaurants and just eat whatever I want, then I’m only going to get one point.
For exercise, I’d have to put in a very solid effort every day to get a five. At the start of the year, I got mostly one point each week. The weather wasn’t very good, and I wasn’t motivated to exercise. Since spring, I’ve started walking more – often getting in 10,000 steps a day. I need to do higher cardio and weights, but this is a step in the right direction.
With 52 weeks, I can earn a maximum of 260 health points each for diet and exercise.
At the end of November I have 244 points. That’s a pace for 266 points. I’m going to miss my goal, but I know it’s helped me make much healthier decisions. Next year, I’ll shoot for 300 points.
Health Appointments
Medical appointments are a very important part of staying healthy. I didn’t have any doctor appointments in November, but this is what I’ve done this year:
Dental – I had to do some deep cleaning this year. It was two separate appointments where they did one side and then the other. I had the regular cleanings and a couple of fillings replaced, including one in October.
ADHD – I finally got diagnosed with ADHD. Getting the standard testing with a specialist was impossible, with the scheduling being months in the future and their insurance policies changing at that time. Finally, I did an assessment at ADHD Online and paid out of pocket. I brought the results to my primary care physician, and she prescribed me a very low dosage of Adderall. It’s been very helpful.
Body Analysis – In February, I got a body analysis from DexaFit after watching “You Are What You Eat” on Netflix. They scanned my body completely for body fat. I also got a VO2 max test for cardio fitness and an RMR metabolic analysis. The results weren’t what I was looking for, but they will be a good baseline. I should get a follow-up, but I’ve been busy. I don’t know if I’ll get another one this year.
Annual Physical – I had my annual physical a couple of months ago. She had recommended a colonoscopy in the past, but I wanted to wait until I got my ADHD sorted out. I thought a colonoscopy was a quick procedure that took maybe a couple of hours. I don’t know how to do a whole day cleanse and then manage the next day with my responsibilities of caring for dogs and kids. I think it makes sense to push this to 2025.
Finally, I’m on quest to regrow hair. July was my first month, and I updated that article last week. This has been far more successful than I had imagined.
Hobbies
I almost never get time to do a hobby. I have too many jobs and house/kid management going on. Below are just some of the things I’d like to do:
- Learn AI
I’ve been digging into AI more and more. It’s hard because everything seems to be changing every day. Earlier this week, I got access to Sora, which is OpenAI’s video production. It feels a little like a Twilight Zone episode or a magic genie situation. You ask for one thing, and you get something that is undeniably what you asked. However, it isn’t what you had in mind.
- Canva
I have only used Canva once this year, but it was easy. It makes me think that I might not have to learn too much. I thought I’d use it more for images in blog posts, but I find it’s easier to have AI make something that’s “good enough.”
- 3D Printing
I’ve got some leads from a couple of people I know who are into 3D printing. I just need to get the filament to catch, and I think the device will be ready to go. I haven’t put any time into this. I tried to enlist my kids, but they only got into a fight.
- Rubik’s Cube
Last year, my 10-year-old mastered the Rubik’s Cube. He can speed-cube it in less than 90 seconds on average.
It’s taken most of the year, but I’ve memorized the whole algorithm. Last month, with a little of the algorithm to refer to, I did it in 2:17. I just timed myself for the first time in a month as I wrote this, and it was 2:41. However, that was completely memorized.
- WordPress Blog as a Journal?
I should be keeping a journal of some kind. Lazy Man and Money is my money journal. The goal is a journal for everything else. I don’t think this is going to happen this year.
- Program in Python
I want to make a toy program to get my old software engineering skills going again. After seeing how the new ChatGPT can code, I wonder if this is even a useful goal.
Some of the new web work that I’m doing above has knocked the rust off. I’m giving myself partial credit for this one.
- Learn to fly a flight simulator
Let’s push this to 2025.
- Learn to play Backgammon
Let’s push this to 2025.
- Play a modern song on an ukulele
Another month with no progress on this one. My wife moved the ukulele somewhere because it was clutter that I obviously wasn’t using.
I know it may not seem like a lot of progress, but I’m doing much better with hobbies than I expected. Usually, I don’t get anything done.
Family
Declutter and Organize House
Every year, we have some home improvement goals on the list. Last year, we got new carpets and interior paint.
This year, we are looking to declutter, organize, and upgrade the whole house. We hired a friend who is an interior designer and she put together a good plan. For years, we had a lot of cheap Ikea furniture. In May we finished the dining room, which is one of our smallest rooms.
In July, we cleaned out the office to make room for new desks. We also cleaned up the basement and made it much more functional. We now have a little workout area and an area for the kids to play. I set up some of my old gaming consoles and made them easy to play.
In August, we got the new desks and bookshelves. It’s fancy Pottern Barn – the stuff that lifestyle inflation is made of. Now, I just need to find the time to organize my existing stuff in that space.
In September, I got most of my stuff organized into that office space. I also did a little work on decluttering the garage. Our outdoor light fixtures were 30 years old and failing, so we replaced those. It sounds like a tiny baby step, but it required picking them out and scheduling an electrician. Finally, my wife has been listing and selling a lot of stuff on eBay.
We’re still working on the office for the second month in a row. We found a pair Herman Miller Mirra chairs from an office clearance website. If we had bought two of them new it would have been $2500. Instead we paid under $1000. My wife works from home most of the time and she hadn’t bought a new office chair in years. This is a big upgrade, but one that we should have done much, much earlier.
Travel
In March, we spent a week on a Yucatán Peninsula cruise on one of Royal Caribbean’s biggest cruise ships and another week at Disney World.
In April, we went to the eclipse and did a day of skiing. Usually, I wouldn’t count weekends as travel, but it was a notable life experience.
In June, we went on our annual trip to Block Island. We can drive to the ferry in a half hour and be on the island in 90 minutes. It’s a nice staycation for four days. The highlight was a scavenger hunt that we did on our phones. It was all virtual.
Of course, the big August trip was to see Paramore and Taylor Swift, go to Stonehenge, and do a Beatles tour in Liverpool.
In October, the whole family went to Atlanta. I had my FinCon conference, so the hotel room was already booked. My wife knows a lot of people at the CDC and wanted to meet up with them. The kids came along to see the Coca Cola factory and the largest aquarium in the United States. It was a short trip, but still valuable.
We’re going to squeeze in one last road trip before the end of the year. We’ll hit NYC, American Dream in NJ, and Hershey Park.
Kids
Kids are closing out the first semester in 5th and 6th grades. November was mostly First Lego League robotics for the kids. We were very happy with all the activities throughout the year. I may review them all at the close of the year.
Final Thoughts
I’m really quite surprised how quiet November seemed when I review it now. It didn’t feel that way at the moment. With only a few weeks left before the end of the year, I’ll save additional commentary for the final recap in early 2025.
