If you look up "rollercoaster economy" in the 2024 dictionary, don't be surprised to find a picture of 2023. We've seen a volatile share market, rampant inflation, and those RBA rate rises that you MAY have heard about. But despite these wacky conditions, our amazing community of long-term investors kept working towards their goals.
Maybe your year has been quiet on the investing front, and that's completely fine. Even so, if you're looking for inspiration for 2024, we've included some key figures from our investors below.
Read on to see the Pearler community's Year in Review. Or, to see how you invested, check out your very own stats at the link below!
There's a simple reason we're leading with this figure: we believe regular habits trump deep pockets. That's why we're so thrilled with our community's Stovetop status.
But first: what is a Stovetop?
At Pearler, we love FIRE (or Financial Independence, Retire Early) for how easily it can help everyday people, regardless of how deep they go. And as you may have noticed, we also love wordplay.
That's why we define our community's investing frequency by…fire types.
Spark is the lowest, and Bonfire is the highest at 18+ times a year. On average, the community invested a little under once every five weeks – which makes them a Stovetop.
Now, for some hard numbers.
Sure, $21,00 a year sounds like a lot (and it is. Seriously – great work to everyone). But at a daily rate, it's a little under $58.
That's an entire community of investors who cooked instead of ordering Menulog. Or who took public transport instead of booking an Uber. Or who skipped that final round of drinks with work colleagues (although maybe they simply didn't want to see more photos of Dylan's pug).
And shout-out to the absolute legend (you know who you are) who consistently sent $10 a week to their account, showing that even if your situation means you don't have huge amounts to invest, you're still doing something positive!
So, with such steady savings and investing habits, how did their investments perform these past 12 months? Honestly: we mostly don't care.
Short-term returns have nothing to do with long-term goals. Why do we share the year's returns, then? To show that, as a community, we are getting close to 'market returns' at all times – rather than chasing the next hyped stock.
So, fair warning: look away if you don't want to know.
After a rocky start to the year, the last several months have been much kinder to Pearler investors.
This figure is easy to track, since the majority of the Pearler community invest in ETFs that track the market. In fact, Pearler's top 10 most popular investments are all ETFs.
Whenever we can, we like to celebrate the healthy money habits of our community. For this reason, earlier this year, we introduced Pearls. To refresh your memory, you earn Pearls when you invest, automate, or refer a friend. (We also issue them on your birthday, just because.)
Pearls can earn you free brokerage credit, and put you in the running for monthly prizes. Whilst they're a new initiative, our community have earned a LOT of Pearls so far. To be precise…
We love this figure so much because it shows that our investors are doing three things we love to see: investing consistently, setting aside money for their future, and growing our community by inviting others.
As you can see, the Pearler community did some pretty big things this year. Care to join them? Make your first investment today and set a precedent for 2024!
