When is the Best Time to Invest? Might be in May.

For the third time, May seems to be our investment performance rebound month. The force is indeed strong. May 2025 saw a strong rebound. The Nasdaq (+9.65%) yanked our portfolio by the neck. While the bulk of the heavy lifting was due to the powerhouses like Nvidia (+24.06%), retail traders are moving feverishly to recoup losses. Those who bought the dip following the drop on April 2nd are eating right now.

Like many, I’m learning my household’s investment style. This will include selling for profit mid-year and in December. After that, a soft rebalance in January with at least 10% or $100,000 in investment cash reserves. Can’t time the market; however, you need resources to buy the dips. The name of the game is to remain flexible. Figure out what works for you.

The world now hinges on the next global trade deal between China and the US. Interest rate cuts are likely off the table for 2025. Besides being a bumpy year, financial sailing should be choppy but positive. It’s kinda unsettling that we have been in the new Trump era for five months. As AI surges, just make sure that you aren’t missing the human component. Check on your friends and family. Take care of yourself. Health is a strong component of wealth. Get out of the house for some much-needed sunshine and grab some grass, as they say.

As for the TNFG family, we were spending like the sun won’t shine tomorrow. The mid-year trip took us to Switzerland and Portugal. In May, we spent nearly $4,000 on travel, which includes our year-end trip. It’s possible to spend and still build wealth. Check it out, how Black families can build generational wealth, according to experts.

If it’s not Inflation, it’s NVIDIA!!!

In market news, inflation continues to persist. Albeit more muted as prices escalate due to tariff wars. US families are financially fatigued at this point. Pandemic savings have run out, and debts are mounting. We are all feeling the pinch from groceries, shopping, and even casual dining. The Average American is struggling to pay an extra $6,000 in additional expenses per year. The blame is falling on immigration. We are seeing it worldwide.

When times are tough financially, people blame the rich, and then they blame the politicians. In a master use of word play, the politicians try to blame the rich, but since they are rich themselves, they blame immigrants or people who live off the system. It’s easier to blame immigrants since they are nameless. The true final boss is personal cutbacks, where possible, and an increase in taxes on everyone. Since those solutions aren’t easy and digestible, politicians substitute the colosseum with pseudo tax cuts. This is what the One Big Beautiful Bill is all about. It’s all short-term benefits to kick the can down the road.

Unfortunately, nothing changes unless you change. Americans will face their household’s rolling recession based on the excess lifestyle spending loop. Try not to think of recession as an overall national problem; think of it as an individualized household problem. The more we spend, the worse it will get. Layoffs are one thing; the employment recovery is quite another. There is a growing contingent of younger Americans ending up jobless. Inversely, for investors, times are great.

Inflation, Elections, and Expensive Date Nights

Intuitive ways to stop losing future opportunities: “Learn to Spend Less.”

Treat the rest of 2024 as if you were in 2020. Invest more in Energy, Utilities, and Consumer Staples, even if the Tech side is surging. Try to buy when quality companies are low.

Pull back where you can and try not to stash money in a savings account. For example, if you have your money in a savings account at the bank for 0.01% while inflation is at +3.5% for the year, it means you are losing 3.49% of your hard-earned money annually.

Try not to stand flatfooted out here while high-interest savings accounts are going for plus 5% and bonds north of 7%. There are asset classes that perform well in inflationary environments. For example, tangible assets like real estate and commodities. Others typically suck like tech, which may lead to a BUY moment.

It’s all about how you want to approach long-term investing. If you can’t invest, pay down more debt, or save more money. Most people make the mistake when thinking everything will stay the same. It won’t. And about Date Nights. I feel sorry for your single folks, ie, casual drinks and an entree will break you at $100 plus tip. It’s madness. Stay home and invest.

Check out our TNFG portfolio on Google Sheets if you want to see a full breakout of our portfolio.

Building Toward Our May Goals

Back to business. If you are new here, this blog post is all about TNFG’s monthly Net Worth Breakdown for May 2025. Additionally, there are always usable financial nuggets and aha moments that might help you along the way.

Strategic Changes from May and Beyond. My wife’s birthday trip was an expensive and rewarding success. We have one more month with a focus on getting new tenants for the rental property. Beyond tightening the war chest, we are headed out to Brazil, so it’s GYM TIME.

Our goal is to end the year with over $1,200,000 in our investment portfolio with a systematic play to pay off more debt. We are on the razor’s edge of spending and investing. There is a good chance that we can close the year with no credit card debt, which would be awesome. Once we kick off 2026, we will try to knock down the car note since it’s costing us $900 per month. To walk into 2027 with an extra $900 per month to throw at our rental property would be nice. By 2028, we will have a total of $2,000 to throw at the primary home and more investments. Either way it plays out, the future is looking promising.

Here’s a quick summary of our net worth so far:

All in all, +6.54%, which is better than zero. The cash value grew north of $114,096. This is way beyond my expectation of $9,000, but that’s mainly due to our investments climbing back from the darkness. I also learned that for every $5 we make from our combined 9-5 jobs, our investments bring in $3 on average. This wealth ratio is pivotal.

Investing is mandatory if you want to buy back your time. For every $8 we earn, we spend $2.5. We pocket at least $5 in this equation. Wealth is simple arithmetic at this point.

Our Expenses for May 2025

I miss the way Mint.com laid out expenses, but I’ll do my best to represent the information. However, the screenshots for Empower do the trick. Due to travel, we spent the least on food (in months). Our Food & Dining budget typically ranges up to $900, but we settled at $512.

Our total travel hit $4,595. Switzerland wasn’t cheap at all. Due to stress, I made a mistake and booked an excursion for the wrong date. It was a non-refundable $600. Not a cheap mistake, but a lesson learned. Work stress has consequences.

Our tenants are great, but they are living. We locked in new tenants for the same price. We aren’t slumlords or real estate barrons. The rental is here to park cash and provide a spot if the kids in our family decide to go to FSU. Besides, it’s one less out-of-town trip ($1,000) to turn over the rental.

Our interest and rewards turned extremely positive. We pocketed $775 in interest income. Other bills were OK as well. See the images of our cash flow income vs expenses.

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1. So, where were the May wins?

In order, Debt Repayment, and that’s pretty much it.

Debt Repayment in 2025 is going well. The goal for total debt repayment is $84k in 12 months. This month’s total liabilities decreased by $3,127 (1.58% improvement). The credit card balances total over $10,000, but our FICO scores are amazing. If we have extra dollars, we sneak in a few extra payments to the principal. The next phase post-2025 is to through in a dedicated +$250 per month.

We are using this time to prep for more debt. I know a lot of people are afraid of debt. For the wealthy, it’s all about cash flow. If we can make more money on our investment versus our debt’s interest, it’s a smarter play for wealth.

Bumpy road for investments, but positive nonetheless.

We pulled in over $100,000 in investment growth in May.

Minus the contributions for the month, it’s a $90,000 increase. It pays to be invested in forward progress. If you need tips on how to set up a solid portfolio, read How to Build a Long-Term Investment Portfolio Earning 250%.

Cash holdings increased a little

The end-of-the-year savings goal is set at $5,000. We are currently at $1,000, but we will boost that number in December. How? Our Acid Emergency Plan. I’m telling you the net/max financial plan hasn’t failed us yet.

2. Where did it go wrong? And does it even matter?

Food, Fixed costs, and unintended expenses

As stated earlier, we can’t control food costs due to inflation, shipping costs, and global labor shortages. My wife and I had a chat about our financial blind spots.

The cost of life, things are just blowing up left and right. And we still need to do some repairs. The cars are about $1,000 per month. And our mortgages are $2,000. Our fixed costs are $3,000 per month before anything. I’m saying all this because most people don’t know how much they are spending.

And that’s the worst. Make sure you are aware of your cash inflows and outflows. You want to be at least $500 per month to be financially stable. Quadruple that and you will be a millionaire in no time.

3. What is the Next Step for Us?

The second part of the mid-year trip will be in Portugal. Not as expensive. Time to get back to shape for Brazil’s New Year festivities.

Beyond that, here are our overarching goals for 2025:

1. Keeping our expenses where they should be. “So stop equating happiness and social acceptance based on the money you spend.“
2. Get to $100,000 in M1 Finance, focusing on Growth and Dividend Income that generates at least $4,000 in passive income in 2027.
   • Check out the portfolio in real-time. If you like the platform and want to start investing, I have the $10 for $10 referral if you need it – https://m1.finance/SYdqDJ2SyADC.
3. Shooting for a sustained investment rate with the push for a $1.5 million portfolio by March 2026.
   • To help monitor your savings, cash flow, net worth, investments, retirement, etc. All FREE with Empower, formerly Personal Capital! Sign up with my link & get a $20 Amazon gift card. *Terms apply. https://pcap.rocks/lawrencegonz

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