It comes once a year unless somehow you were born on February 29th then it’s once every 4 years. Your birthday! Today we are going to walk through giving yourself a birthday gift.
Let’s get a few things out of the way:
- You are in a battle between items you want now and items your future self can enjoy
- We want to help you establish habits that your future self is going to thank you for
Our Birthday Experiment
This year for our birthday we decided to buy ourselves an ETF fund. We love developing new squirrel piles. It’s something of a habit.
This year on our birthday, yes we were born on the same day (we have been asked more times than we can count if our birthdays are different), we purchased the SoFi Select 500 ETF.
Our goal was to develop a new habit on our birthday to buy a fund on our birthday. We also decided to set-up a small recurring contribution. When we say small, think less than the cost of a fast food meal.
Our commitment is every year we will buy a set amount of the fund and then maintain the recurring contribution.
Details of SFY, SoFI Select 500 ETF
This ETF is a mirror of the S&P 500 with a slight twist according to SoFI. They purchase stocks based on weight of market cap, as to traditional index funds, as well as three key growth signals.
The fund is scheduled to have a few of .19%. At the moment there is a fee waiver so the cost is 0%. While not the lowest of .19% for our birthday experiment this is sufficient.
Why SoFI and Why Not a Vanguard Fund
We are big fans of Vanguard around here. The challenge can be the minimums on funds. What we decided for this birthday experiment is that we were going to use a different trading platform, purchase a small amount, and then set a small recurring amount. An amount that was so small we wouldn’t miss it on a monthly basis.
We have used this pattern before and we have always been surprised how if you set amounts that are small enough on a monthly basis how well it works out. Instead of adding another streaming service we build another account out.
Every Birthday You Have a Choice to Make
A birthday is another reminder that a year has passed. A few questions we want you to ask yourself:
- Has my financial situation improved in the last 12 months?
- Have I made choices in the last 12 months that my future self will thank me for making?
- Am I committed to my financial success?
- Do I want to buy a new _______ for myself that I might like for a little while or do I want to invest funds that will keep growing for the future?
Whether you decide to buy yourself something for your birthday that you can use daily or you decide to buy an investment our goal is that you are aware of the choices that you are making.
What did you buy yourself on your last birthday?
Seize the Day and Take Action
We always want to make sure you are building toward your goals. Three rules we encourage you to adopt:
- Invest Consistently
- Develop Your Squirrel Funds
- Manage your fear and you WILL succeed