Are you looking for some great things to buy with your massive investment gains? This article will provide some good ideas thanks to an extraordinary rebound in the stock market since its March 2020 sell-off. It's important to sell stocks on occasion to enjoy the profits. Otherwise, there's no point investing!
With the NASDAQ and S&P 500 hitting new record-highs, despite a pandemic, many people are feeling richer and looking for great things to buy. Coming close to the edge and surviving does that to people!
We Should Spend More Of Our Money
After about 13 years of diligently saving 50% – 75% of my income, I started to lose steam. No longer was I obsessed with growing my wealth as large as possible. Instead, I wanted to find ways to start spending money for a better life. I was 35 years old in 2013 and tired of living so frugally.
It's hard to spend money when you're so used to saving and investing aggressively for so many years. In a big way, growing your money pot gets addicting, especially since the estate tax exclusion amount is now $11.58 million per person for 2020. But it's important to consumption smooth, otherwise, you'll likely die with way too much.
The main way I've forced myself to increase my spending is to review my investment gains for the year and take some profits on positions I think have limited upside potential. I then use these profits to pay for a better life.
One idea is to follow my 10X Investment Consumption Rule, which states that if you want the latest $1,000 iPhone, then you best make at least a $10,000 return on an investment to pay for that unnecessary item.
Another way to go about spending your money is to take 10% of your annual investment returns and blow it on whatever you want. This way, you've still got 90% of your investments hopefully working for you, you're not paying a lot of taxes, you're rebalancing your portfolio, and you’re actively using your money for a better life.
If you tether consumption to investment returns you will never go broke. You will also likely eradicate any money guilt you have for spending money. Finally, if you want to spend more money, you will be motivated to invest more money for hopefully greater returns.
Your Massive Investment Gains
With the S&P 500 up 31% in 2019 and almost flat in 2020 after a scary sell-off, investors have some really great gains!
And if history is any guide, equity investors will likely see between 7% – 10% annual returns for decades. Although, with the 10-year bond yield so low, perhaps average equity gains will be closer to 4% – 5%.
With real real estate now heating up, millions more American investors now have wealth coming from another massive asset class.
Then, of course, there are the gains you've made from all your other investments. But if we start calculating those, things might get out of hand.
You can decide to take profits to pay for a better life or you can just use your cash savings or cash flow to spend an amount equal to 10% of your paper profits.
I personally like to take profits to pay for things because it feels like I'm getting something for nothing. Further, just in case my investments depreciate, at least I'll have bought something longer-lasting.
Given the massive returns in stocks, I'm confident consumers are going to start spending more money again. It'll be a revenge spending bonanza.
Not only is the consumer going to spend handsomely this season on things they really don't need, I also believe home remodeling and real estate demand is going to continue to surge as we spend more time at home.
Great Things To Buy With Your Investment Gains
I know the most frugal of you will scream at the lavishness of some of these purchases. But don't forget, they are all to be bought with just 10% or less of your annual investment gains. So relax and live a little!
Depending on your returns, here are some things to buy with your investment profits that will improve your life. Here are some great things to buy with your investment gains.
1) The perfect mattress. ($1,000 – $5,000)
We sleep on our mattresses 6 – 8 hours a day on average. If you want to be productive while you're awake, a good mattress should help facilitate a good night's sleep. Mattresses should be changed about once every 10 years for optimal performance and hygiene. If you have allergies or don't like bed bugs, changing your mattress every 10 years should help, along with an allergen cover. We bought Four Seasons Essentials mattress encasements for all of our mattresses to help extend their life and reduce allergens.
2) A humidifier ($50 – $500)
The air gets dry during the winter. As a result, your throat and nasal passages can also dry out. Get a high-tech humidifier to help regulate the humidity in your room to allow you to breathe better. Dyson makes a fancy one that costs about $500 full price, that you can try to snag for under $300 on sale. James Dyson is worth over $10 billion because his products are next level. If you want a way more budget friendly option, the TaoTronics Cool Mist 4L Ultrasonic Humidifier is a popular choice.
3) A Nest thermostat ($200 – $300)
A Nest thermostat is great for controlling the temperature of a room, floor, or entire house from an app. The thermostat will learn about your temperature preferences throughout the day and automatically adjust itself accordingly. You can also easily program temperatures throughout the day and week with your phone. The 3rd Gen Nest Thermostat comes in a bunch of colors now and works with 95% of 24-Volt heating and cooling systems. We own three of them across two properties.
4) A Dyson vacuum cleaner ($200 – $800)
After we got the Dyson Animal V7, I began to love vacuuming the house every week. Not only is the Animal powerful, it's cordless, saves your back, and it's very gratifying to see all the dust and debris collect in the see-through canister. Those old, loud, and heavy vacuum cleaners are so passé! I loved mine so much that I bought my parents one too.
5) A Coway air purifier ($200 – $1,500)
The air quality in your home can often be worse than the air quality outside. Why not purify your air of excessive bacteria, dust, and other impurities, especially if you work from home, have allergies, have asthma, and/or have little ones?
I like the Coway Airmega line of Smart Air Purifiers which automatically adjusts fan speed based on the amount of pollutants in the air in real time. They come in a range of sizes with or without wifi/app functionality too. We bought three and love them!
6) A full body massage ($60 – $200/hour)
One of the best investments I've made over the past five years is getting a monthly massage at home. The masseuse will come to you with a massage table and knowledge of what type of massage you like. You can always get a chair massage at the mall as well for $1/minute.
The more relaxed and stress-free you are, the happier you will be. When you approach a relationship or a task as a happy person, everything gets better. Of course, practice safety during COVID-19!
Related: The Best Credit Cards For Online Shopping
7) A hot tub ($5,000 – $25,000).
Several years ago, I bought a Sundance Altamar hot tub for about $13,000 after tax. It has been the best $13,000 I ever spent! I spend about three hours a week in the hot tub to relax, read, and think of new post ideas. Just know that if you want a hot tub, you'll also need to pay an electrician to run the wires into your electrical main.
You will likely also have to pay for shipping and maybe even a crane to get it over your roof. I gotta say though, some of my best work was written in the hot tub. See: The Cost Of Maintaining A Hot Tub
8) A rare stainless steel watch ($7,000 – $20,000)
There's no limit to how much you can spend on watches, which is why I focus on stainless steel watches to keep costs reasonable. You don't want to buy a watch that is available at the store. Instead, you want to buy a watch that is a limited production or that can only be bought after you spend X amount. This way, your watch will more readily appreciate in value and also be more unique.
A classic example of a rare stainless steel watch the continues to appreciate in value is the Rolex Daytona. You can't buy one for list price unless you're on the dealer's special list. For more info on buying and selling watches, you can read about my side hustle as a watch dealer.
9) A safer car ($30,000 – $100,000)
According to the National Safety Council, there were over 40,000 car accident deaths in America in 2018. The main causes of death are drunk driving, speeding, and cell phone use. If you drive often and/or or often have multiple passengers, it's worth ponying up for the safest car you can afford, even if it violates my 1/10th rule for car buying. Here are some of the safest cars to choose from.
10) A Toto bidet ($400 – $1,500).
My other favorite household item is a Toto Washlet electronic bidet with heated seats, automatic opener, automatic cleaner, and warm air blow dryer. Having lived in Asia for 13 years, I still don't understand why Americans just use toilet paper to clean themselves like humans did 200 years ago. I bought three for my new house.
If you don't have an electrical outlet close to your toilet, then get a non-electric bidet like the Luxe Bidet. It's only about $35 bucks and can be easily installed yourself. Spraying yourself with cool water is better than no water! Besides, you’ll help save the Earth by using way less toilet paper.
Enjoy Your Shopping Spree
As for what I plan to spend money on this holiday season, here's my list:
- $300 for two full-body massages
- $250 for house cleaning
- $200 for gardening
- $220 for a new Wilson Clash tennis racket (first upgrade in 3 years)
- $120 for a new sports jacket with zipper pockets (unless my high school gives me one for free this Feb)
- $6,000 for new blinds
- $11,000 for new windows (undecided)
- $500 for extra childcare help over two months
- $200 for a year-end celebratory dinner for two
- $400 for a year-end celebratory dinner for four as my parents are coming to town
- $500 to test out a new customized meal delivery service
- $300 for a secret gift
The total comes to $19,990 if I include new windows or $8,990 excluding windows. Whatever I do spend, it feels great knowing that everything will be had for free with investment gains.
I no longer get much joy buying material things. My spending is now mostly focused on services, experiences, and replacement items. Once you own a car you enjoy, a home you love, and a reliable phone and computer, everything else is either unnecessary or affordable.
Best Thing I've Bought: More Investments
There's one last great thing to buy with your investment gains in the stock market: real estate. You should consider taking some winnings and buy real assets that tend to last and appreciate over time. It's one of the best ways to get rich in my opinion.
I've personally taken about $100,000 in stock market gains and reinvested the proceeds in real estate crowdfunding. My favorite platforms are Fundrise and CrowdStreet. Both are free to sign up and explore.
To be able to earn income passively is wonderful now that I'm a busy dad. However, like all investments, there are no guarantees. Hence, always do your research.
With tomorrow not guaranteed, I think we should all spend more of our money on living a better life.
This is timely! I just pulled 40K from investment profits to pay for much-needed renovations to make my home far more retirement-friendly.
I’d rather do these future-proofing projects now, while I still have a wage coming in.
The Aussie share market dipped a little yesterday, but I didn’t care. I felt smug, knowing that even if it precipitously falls, I’ve salvaged 40K of “free” money that’ll be used for permanent things I’ll enjoy every day.
Just bought a new house and have already bought a bunch of things: central AC, nest, new mattress, and new couch. Also bought a new car. The house items come to less than 10% of my investment gains this year and the car falls within your 5% net worth rule–lol
After my daughter was sick three times in six weeks this fall, I started running a humidifier with essential oils in her bedroom every night. She been healthy for two months now. Game changer.
Our splurge this year is new carpet (overdue expenditure!) and a light to help with SAD. A housekeeper might also make the list. But if the light helps enough the housekeeper may not be necessary!
I have a taotronics humidifier, it’s a game changer. I bought one that was compatible with essential oils.
What a great idea, Sam, to spend a little profit from investment gains. Never thought to do so! I love all of your suggestions, too, and will be spending on a new construction window, window coverings, house cleaning, and gardening services. I’ve always taken care of my home and garden myself so hiring a house cleaner and gardener is a big splurge. Thanks for a wonderful post.
Great list of items. I need to start using my air purifier again that I bought months ago and used only a couple of times. One more I’d like to add is anything that can improve or motivate you to improve your physical and mental health. Apart from massages like you mentioned, whatever else like exercise equipment, clothing, etc. that will help you to look and feel good.
I’m a big fan of spending on experiences. Some of these seemed interesting, but not quite my cup of tea.
For instance, I’m a very big chess player. There’s not much like sitting down for 2 hours with someone and coming up the winner. And little more depressing than finding you missed something and lost. It costs money and time off of work to go attend tournaments, and money to get books and lessons to get better.
I also have quite a few friends spread out across the world. If I was fully FIRE I would love to just spend the time visiting all of them. However, I have to carve out time and buy plane tickets based on current realities.
I’m going to reinvest my money into a new home based business which will cost me money to start up but not anymore than $2500. I’m getting my training to become an enrolled agent so I can represent clients to the IRS and negotiate for them regarding their taxes. I’ve been preparing taxes for years but now I will keep all the profits instead of working for a large company like HR block and I won’t charge the huge fees that they charge for personal tax preparation. Consulting on tax planning is also a service I will offer my clients which will help them lower their tax liability and keep more money in their bank accounts.
I’m always amazed at how much window coverings can cost! I hope your new blinds last you a long time. :)
It’s fun to exercise a buy list occasionally. I definitely would like to have a hot tub one day! It’s too bad because I had one in a rental property, but moving it from Vegas to San Diego wasn’t feasible. Ah well.
I did just purchase a TV replacement for our old DLP TV we got back in 2004. That thing cost $3k back then. Today’s replacement was $300.
The air purifier is an awesome idea. We just a new pet cat find it’s way into our lives (we were moving houses and we found him as a stray right before we moved because we though he would freeze). He has brought us so much happiness but at the same time I’m allergic to pet dander and my wife has asthma which has made having our new furry family difficult.
I did look at the Conway Airmega a lot but we ended up buying two Medify MA-112s on Amazon over the last week and wow! I can breath, my head is clearer, snoring has reduced, and most importantly, we can spend time close to our cat. Can’t recommend enough for any of you who have allergies like me.
Paid way less than 10% of investment returns and way better quality of life!
“If you tether consumption to investment returns you will never go broke.”
How about when there is a downturn? Just for argument’s sake – – – I know you invest on a different level from me, but for a lot of folks 2018 was a loss or at best a break-even year. Does this mean that 2018 was a not a year for extravagance?
Since we’re still working, we strive to minimize spending to well below our salaries while maxing out retirement accounts. I’m also keeping my non-tax-deferred savings liquid to cover the time between when I retire at 67 and when I file for Social Security at 70. We still look at investment returns as what we will spend in the future.
Correct. The first rule of financial independence is the never lose money. If your investments lost money in 2018, then you need to punish yourself and not spend money on things you do not need.
Great post! I bought the Nest 3rd generation thermostat on sale for $189 at Home Depot, and then got a $100 rebate from my power company. So really I only paid $89. Something to think about! Check with your power company to see if they offer similar rebates.
I bought solar panels this month because I was going to have to pay the government money this year based on my salary (and bonus) being too high compared to the taxes my company takes out of my paycheck. The rather large bonus messed this up. I feel like I made out well because the tax credits allow me to avoid having to pay to the government any additional money, and I feel like I am doing something good for the planet (electric car and solar panels).
Given the above situation, I will not be taking any profits from my investments this year.
PS: Tesla cars have the highest safety ratings by far…all of them, so I agree with you that this is one of the right places to spend your money!
Maybe the cyber truck is an order for 2021! Or hopefully a better version of the model X. It is a nice SUV, but it has so many problems.
I’m with ya on the stainless steel watch. I bought a Rolex GMT Master II just under 5 years ago. My model was just discontinued (black dial with green GMT hand, all black cerachrome bezel). I paid $8k for it new and now it goes for anywhere from $14k – $16k.
New Rolex Daytonas (with cerachrome bezel) are going for as much as $24k for a watch that is listed MSRP of $12,500. Rolex Skydwellers are going for $18k with an MSRP of $13,500 I believe. Try finding them anywhere at any Rolex store and if they do have one you’ll need to buy a Datejust at the same time for them to let it go.
Others to consider: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, Patek Philip Nautilus or Aquanaut, limited edition Omega Speedmasters
Windows sound more like home improvement. The rest of the list is solid and similar to my list. I do have monthly garden and home cleaning service since I live by myself and if it were upto me I would never clean.
The best money spent I enjoy is on weekly massages. Helps me a ton wrt recovery as well after a grueling gym session.
Fun post! Lots of good picks on your spending list too. I love getting massages a couple times a year as a treat and for relaxation. This time of year things tend to be a bit too hectic for me to fully enjoy a massage, so I like to schedule them in quieter times. Maybe that’s a bit backwards in logic, but I tend to feel less guilty splurging on a massage when there’s less on my to do list.
I didn’t realize Dyson made a humidifier. That’s pretty cool. I’m also a huge fan of their vacuums and contemplated getting one of their expensive blameless fans once, but ultimately went with a cheap traditional style fan instead. The cheapo one gets the job done, but you definitely get what you pay for – it was supposed to be adjustable in height but the tightener on the pole is so poorly made so it never stays in a taller position for more than 30 seconds. Oh well, lesson learned.
Untemplater – I would go with the bladeless fan and not the expensive blameless model. I don’t believe any company should be undeserving of reproof 100% of the time, no matter how good their fan is.
Long time reader, first time poster: why not return some of these gains to the community by donating appreciated stock to a 501(c)(3) organization? You get a deduction and don’t have to pay capital gains. You can express your values through such donations, and get great satisfaction that you are doing something to help improve the world. Most established non-profits will be happy to send you the instructions for how to transfer stock. We’ve been doing this for several years.
Great idea! Already have! Donor Adviser Fund and six figures in taxes paid each year since about 2003.
This post is focused on improving the reader’s quality of life.
Happy to host a guest post from you on all the ways you are giving if you’re interested?
Thx
I wasn’t the one who posted above, but I’m also a believer in giving back. Happy to participate in a guest post on that topic (of the blogs I read, only a couple are true advocates of giving back on the journey of accumulation).
I donate to several charities every year in cash and goods. I’ve looked into donor advised funds but didn’t like the fees. I’d love to learn more about novel charitable giving options if someone would write a post.
I like the idea of spending 10% of your annual investment gains to buy discretionary items.
I am now incredibly intrigued by that Toto Bidet system. There was a time I was considering getting an entire Toto toilet but they run like $5k. These seems like a really nice compromise.
I recently bought 3 of their top of the line Toto 550e Series I believe. It was like $1,400 each or something. I did have the bottom of the line one for $400 in my other house, and I figured why the heck not!
Life changer! You’ll never go back to your barbaric ways :)
you are so right about the TOTO washlet being a great quality of life value!! I’ll never live without one again.
one other idea in terms of quality of life. A few yrs ago I had RLE surgery (they replace the lenses in your eyes with acrylic multifocal lenses) for both eyes. I was able to throw away all of my reading glasses. I tell everyone it was the best $12k I ever spent.
The best Vacuums are MIELE, german made
Wit till the stock mkt plummets 50%; Can you withstand that?
Sam, thanks for the tip on the Luxe Bidet. Been looking for these non electric type since I came back from Japan.
The Luxe Bidet is great, especially for its price. I only discovered it this year, and never really thought about a non-electric one after 5 years of owning a Toto Washlet. In my mind, it was always Toto Washlet or nothing.
But the Luxe Bidet is such a great, low-cost solution, that’s easy to set up.
Sam –
First, I must say that spending under $10k for all those life improvements on your list is a bargain! I would NOT include the $11k planned for your window purchase, since that is a “home maintenance” item. Although technically buying new windows is also a life improvement, good dual pane windows eventually pay for themselves in significantly reduced heating/cooling costs. Not sure I would include the $6k for new blinds in that cost either.
Second, we do have some things on your list in common:
#1 – The perfect mattress.
Did I like spending HUGE bucks on my Tempur-Pedic mattress awhile back? No. But I had been having a pain in my hip (along with some general overall body stiffness) for some time that was waking me up after only about six hours of sleep. So I knew we needed a new mattress. And I remembered the most restful, restorative sleep I ever had was on a hotel’s new Tempur-Pedic mattress after a tiring 12 hours cross-country drive. Thus I was somewhat predisposed to that brand. We were in the furniture store to purchase a new sofa for our living room when the salesman overheard hubby and 1 discussing a future mattress purchase. Being a good salesman, he informed us the store carried mattresses, and what do you know? They’re ON SALE! ;) Thank goodness for our good credit score and 0% interest financing. :) My hip pain and general overall body stiffness disappeared the first night I slept on our new mattress. Of course we paid off that thing before the end of the 0% interest financing period.
#4 – A Dyson vacuum.
We had dogs and a cat. I was tired of all the pet hair accumulating on the cloth furniture, not to mention on the carpet. The Dyson we purchased was specifically designed to pick up animal hair. I love the powerful suction of that vacuum. Now we no longer have pets, and have wood floors throughout most the house, so the Dyson doesn’t get as much use as it did previously. But it is still the best vacuum we’ve ever owned.
#8 – A rare watch.
It’s not in the same rarified atmosphere as yours, but it is very meaningful. My husband figured out the connection between a certain watch company’s serial numbers and their manufacturing dates. So he was able to purchase a watch that had been manufactured sometime during the month he was born. We’ve had to change the band a couple times, but he is very attached to his “birth watch”.
#9 – A safer car.
For some time my hubby had been trying to talk me in to buying a new SUV similar to his 2017 Honda CR-V. I drive a 2010 Nissan Versa four door. I love my Versa because it sits up a bit higher than other small cars, the seats are about regular chair height, it has plenty of headroom, and only has about 50K miles on it. I couldn’t figure out way he was trying so hard to convince me to buy a new car. One day he finally blurted out that he didn’t think it was safe for me to drive my little Versa because there were so many crazy people on the road. OH! THAT explains it! Problem solved: I just try to drive the CR-V MORE often, and save the little Versa for those rare trips to the mall where its easier to park a small car than a large one.
Third, we spend the majority of our “funny money” on international travel. We usually go on at least one major three week trip a year since my retirement in August 2013. We’ve just returned from 21 days in Egypt which was quite an adventure for us old (early 60’s) folks.
Finally, we are drawing down some of our nest egg balance while tax rates are lower by “gifting” money to our two adult (mid 30’s) offspring now rather than later (post our demise). Whether this is financially/emotionally wise or not remains to be seen and likely subject to much debate by others, but at least we feel good knowing we are spending our funds on family rather than buying a plethora of useless/unnecessary consumer goods. What they choose to do with their gifted funds is on them. ;)
Oh … forgot about the powered Relax the Back chair we bought about 10 years ago after hubby threw his back out for the second time. Although a budget buster at the time, that chair has been worth EVERY penny!
This is the latest model:
https://relaxtheback.com/products/human-touch-omni-motion-pc?variant=14774696542267
I bought a Nest so I could control things with my voice via Alexa Echo. Now Google has acquired the Nest and plans to kill that feature. Grr.
I’ll go a step further on the mattress. Get a fully adjustable bed to go with it, one with his and her elevations for either side and a super silent motor. Not only is it great for sitting up and watching TV or reading, tiny adjustments can make your back thank you, profusely. And, if you actually injure your back, it sure beats living in a bean bag chair for three days, which I once had to do once, back when I had very few resources.
But, living a good life aside, it goes back to what I used to tell my first wife, “You can have ANYTHING you want (just about), we can and will make it happen. What you cannot have is everything.” She never understood that. I’d come home to find things like a 400 buck juicer, because we were now going to make all our own. This despite fresh fruit generally being far more expensive than juice, and she’d only stick with it for a max of two weeks before losing interest, in any case.
Personally, I’d love to get a VR rig for games and such. By itself, it wouldn’t be a drop in the bucket in terms of budget, but do I need it? Would I use it enough to be worth it? So far, the answer is still no. But then I don’t hesitate (well, only a little) to spend about the same amount to get a good Herman Miller Aeron chair for my home office. The kind I’d been using for over twenty years at work and knew to come in various sizes (the shortest men in my family are six foot, and it goes up considerably from there), be nice and cool, offer superior support, and to last just about forever. There is one in the Smithsonian on display; they are that good.
Agree completely on the hot tub. Used to have one down south, but not in this climate. Instead we spent 30k on a bathroom renovation that included making it larger and putting a big Jacuzzi tub that will keep the water at a constant temperature. We’ve never regretted it for an instant.
Also, just a unneeded reminder, what goes up tends to go down. Cycles are unavoidable. Keep a decent chunk of those investment gains invested, as there will inevitably be losses, sooner or later. Even if the gains outweigh them in the long term, as always allow for inflation.
I love your site and have taken so much of your advice over the past couple of years. Both my partner and I live in San Francisco and operate a small business/mattress store in SOMA (Sleep365). I wanted to thank you for sharing one of the most important points we can all do to take care of ourselves and that is getting good sleep. Getting good sleep on a great mattress is paramount. So many of us overlook this and don’t realize what we are doing to our bodies and health. Happy Holidays to you and your family and if you are ever in the design district, please come see us.