Dividend Update: April 25

When you've decided to go on an adventure (anti meme ch3) : r/lotrmemes

April was in many ways an eventful month. On the one hand, we had wild fluctuations in the stock market due to Trump's "Liberation Day", leading to steep falls (temporarily crossing into bear market territory) and shortly afterwards sharply rising markets. It was madness and in the words of Shakespeare's Macbeth "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing". If I was being malicious, I might add the part that it was a "tale told by an idiot" that is "a poor player, / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, / And then is heard no more". Or, less poetically but spoken with the experience and calm of decades of investing, as Buffett said (before stepping down as CEO): "What has happened in the last 30, 45, 100 days... is really nothing."

Swarmed by work, I neither panicked nor did I really rejoice in the sinking courses. I simply followed my strategy of DCA as best as I can and bought as much income as my I do with the allotted money from my salary every month.

After teasing in January that there might be news ahead, this month it also became clear that I am ready for my next adventure. Starting in August, I will be leaving Germany for at least 2 to a maximum of 6 years to be working and living in Quito, Ecuador, the homeland of my much better half. Depending on the day and the mood I'm in, I feel either excited by this adventure or terrified of leaving my very safe, enjoyable and comfortable life in Germany. It is, despite it being a city and country I'm familiar with since I was there a couple of times already, very much a leap into the unknown where I have to start basically from scratch, which is both frightening and exhilarating at the same time. As one can imagine, the list of things that need to be done before is endless and bureaucracy has kept me very busy and at the times on the verge of becoming crazy. At the bottom of the totem pole lingers undeniably the question of how it will affect my monthly investing: my salary as well as the living expenses will be different, which is why I have no idea how much I will be able to invest each month. But as I said, bigger things have to be taken care first. It will also affect my investing in the next 2 months in Germany as I will have to put my money normally allocated to my investments aside as I'm sure some unexpected costs will come up in Ecuador (e.g. finding a suitable apartment, safety deposits, potentially needing a car, flights, etc.)

Apart from that, I did complete the Hermanslauf (31 KM), which was great fun, very idyllic with a great scenic background and which I completed in a satisfying time (2:52) and which I'd do again in a heartbeat next year if I was still in Germany.

The last great highlight was a short trip to Albania, a country I had never been before and let me tell you, it was awesome. Very friendly people, great (and cheap) food and stunning beaches (see below). We lucked out and had a few very sunny beach days just before the madness of the high season begins. Highly recommendable and I'd do again any day.

In the meantime, I kept collecting dividends from 41 stocks and/or funds and in total made 557.91€. In May and June, bigger months await me (even without my regular contributions).