So far, the money is safe

The world's most perfect teenager turned 18 at the end of August this year. With this, he became an adult in Sweden and gained access to his endowment insurance. The money in this endowment insurance includes all the deposits during his upbringing of all the birthday, Christmas and other money he has had to save over the years, and amounts to almost $8,000.

The world's most perfect husband and I were a little worried that he would sell off all his holdings and spend all the money. Instead, he asked us to issue a power of attorney with us as the proxy holder and continue to manage his investments so he doesn't have to worry about missing something like yield tax.

Junior hopes to be accepted to Aalto University in Helsinki next summer. I assume he's saving the money until then, I don't dare think about what happens if he doesn't get accepted.

AI generated image with Grok

Another failure

I hope with all my heart that the US dollar strengthens its value against the Swedish krona soon, very soon. I'm guessing there are 3-4 months left of this frustration.

Click to enlarge

All exercise is good exercise

It's mentally taxing to see how we miss our goals every month because of the Swedish krona. To find something positive, I choose to see this as exercise for my psyche.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

I'm grateful for what I have

I wish I had "save as" instead of "save" every new year. Then I would have had 9 years of statistics instead of 3 years.

Click to enlarge

There is nothing new under the sun

Even though we reinvest all the dividends we receive, the chart of our holdings barely changes. In recent months, we have mainly purchased Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH). We acquired UNH about a month before Warren Buffett announced that he had bought into the company.

Unfortunately, our holdings in these companies are so small that they are not visible on the chart.

Click to enlarge

I ❤️ charts

I wasn't really happy with the color scheme in my Google Sheet chart where I separately report paid ordinary and special dividends compared to estimated dividends for 2025. After almost accepting that I didn't have the ability to get the colors right, I decided to try one last time. All of a sudden, it turned out the way I wanted, I don't understand how I got it, but I'm grateful for the result.

Now I have 3 colors, the blue bar represents the total estimated dividends for 2025. While the second bar, which consists of two colors, represents the fixed and additional dividends that have been paid so far. The green part refers to the regular dividends and the red part to the additional ones.

My hope was that the green part of the bar at the turn of the year 2025/26 would be as high as the blue bar while the red part of the bar would be the icing on the cake. Unfortunately, this will not be the case as the Swedish krona has caused serious damage in my calculations this year by becoming much stronger against the USD than expected.

What the outcome will be next year remains to be seen as I have not decided whether I will adjust my set exchange rate for USD/SEK.

Click to enlarge

To change or not to change

When I created my spreadsheet in Google Sheet, I chose to set a fixed exchange rate of 1 USD equal to 10 SEK, which was generous at the time. Since 2017, I have had tolerance on my side, but this year the exchange rate has fallen below 10 SEK.

According to wise.com, the lowest level of 1 dollar against the Swedish krona so far this year is 9.2267 SEK, reached on September 17. This means that we will miss our dividend target for almost every month, except for the first three months of the year.

The future exchange rate as of December 31, 2025 determines whether I will adjust the fixed exchange rate in my Google Sheet for the first time.

AI generated image with Grok

Despite the setbacks, I have continued my search for a job

The Swedish krona continues to punish us. Aside from 2022, it has been challenging financial years since 2020 for us. During 2025, our portfolio value has reached ATH calculated in USD on several occasions, while converted to SEK, the portfolio value has decreased significantly in value compared to the turn of the year 2024/25.

Given how the recession has deepened in Sweden in 2025, I am humbly grateful that we managed to sell our condominium premises earlier this year, and at the price we had set. Since I'm not made for not working, I've been looking for a work every week since April of this year.

Of all the applications, I have only been invited to one personal meeting, all other applications have been met with quote "due to the large number of applications, you have not been selected to proceed in our recruitment process" unquote. Unfortunately, I only came in second place, which in practice means first place loser.

Some analysts say the economy will improve as early as next year, while others say it will take until 2027 for the job market to improve.

AI generated image with Grok

I am so proud

We are incredibly proud of the world's most perfect teenager. Last Monday, he passed his driving test on the first try. Even though he and I have done a lot of practice driving and his driving instructor thought he should pass the driving test without any problems, it is always uncertain, depending on several variables.

In addition to factors that the offspring himself can influence, such as nervousness, etc., there are external factors that are completely beyond his reach. For example, the driving examiner at the Swedish Transport Administration may have a bad day and fail the student for no real reason, and since the driving examiner is alone with the student during the driving test, it is impossible to prove that the decision is incorrect. Luckily, he got a driving examiner who was absolutely fantastic.

When Junior was 6 years old, we promised him that if he didn't start smoking or using snuff, we would pay for his driver's license and buy him a car. However, the offspring chose to renegotiate the agreement 6 months ago, instead of a car he wanted full access to our Tesla and $1000 invested in his endowment insurance. This has meant that we have been without a car for exactly a week...

AI generated image with Grok

Never make politics out of investments, part 2

Another investor who includes political values. In an interview with the online newspaper Affaersvaerlden, Per H Boerjesson, CEO of Investment AB Spiltan, one of Sweden's largest independent fund managers, claims that their fund, which is currently trading significantly below its net asset value, is quote "we are undervalued - period!" unquotes. Per H Boerjesson continues and says that the balance sheet is in black, it's just a nervous market.

I am sure the balance sheet is in the black, but a potential reason why the market is treating the fund manager with buybacks, limited patience and exits could be that Investment AB Spiltan has decided to implement political values in its holdings.

In the first quarter of 2025, Spiltan sold its shares in Warren Buffett's American conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, largely due to the political situation in the United States, according to the same article. Another reason for the sale of Berkshire Hathaway, according to Spiltan, was the currency risk associated with the dollar.

We sold our entire holding in Spiltan Invest as soon as we read the article. We don't invest our money in the stock market to change the world, but to get the best possible return. How we want to change and improve the world is done through other channels.

AI generated image with Grok

Never make politics out of investments

If you cannot control your political views and thus let your emotions guide your investments, you should refrain from investing your money.

Per Lekander, a hedge fund manager at his own company Clean Energy Transition, predicts that Tesla's shares will plummet by more than 90 percent in a statement published in the online newspaper di.se. In the same statement, Per Lekander claims quote "that Tesla is probably the biggest stock bubble in world history" unquote.

As a hedge fund manager, not realizing that Tesla is actually a world-leading AI company that will change the transportation sector and "not just a car factory" can only mean two things. Either you don't have sufficient understanding of the industry or you are politically driven by emotions.

Either way, you're in trouble.

AI generated image with Grok

They are the only ones left now 💔

My paternal uncle passed away at the beginning of the year. Due to his passing occurred in the middle of winter, the inurnment was postponed until last month. On the exact same day that the inurnment was scheduled, my mother was told that her brother would at best survive the weekend.

Although my mother was aware of my maternal uncle's pancreatic cancer diagnosis, it came as a shock as she had previously been told that he would live to see the end of the year. Unfortunately, my mother's brother passed away the day after we inurned my father's brother. Of my parents' parents and siblings, only my parents are still alive.

I am incredibly grateful that both my parents are healthy, both work five and six days a week, respectively. My dad because he loves to work and my mom because she can't sit at home and wait for dad to come home from work.

My maternal uncle's funeral was one of the most beautiful funeral ceremonies I've ever been to. Even my father, who was raised callous and harsh, was very moved and said as he and I walked out of the chapel quote "you have to make the most of life and" unquote when his phone rang and he was immediately back in work mode. I'm grateful that no one else heard him, because I'm "my father's daughter" and as hardworking as he is, I can't judge him.

AI generated image with Grok

I am not built for this

Since becoming a mother almost 18 years ago, my heart has, figuratively speaking, been in our son's hands. Until the beginning of April this year, he took really good care of it, but since he got a girlfriend, he has become very reckless with my heart.

I know the goal of raising your child is for them to become independent and fully functioning people in society, but it breaks my heart to think that soon he won't need me at all. The paradox of motherhood is that you're raising the one person you can't live without, to be able to live without you.

AI generated image with Grok

There is nothing more to say

For the second month in a row, we miss the monthly target.

Click to enlarge

This is almost a form of self-torture

Having to compile charts that clearly show that we missed another monthly target is brutal since I literally hate losing. To top it all off, all preliminary numbers show that June 2025 will perform even worse than the forecast.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

I have to be happy with the wins I get

Even though the match against 2019 is lost, I have not given up hope that 2025 will surpass 2024.

Click to enlarge

The exchange rate is a tough opponent

My logical self knows that 2025 has already lost to 2019 even though we have so far reinvested all dividends paid as well as both mine and the world's most perfect husband's tax refund.

Despite this knowledge I can't turn off my "game on" mode which can be quite tiring sometimes, especially when I cannot influence the outcome, such as exchange rates. Since the beginning of the year, the Swedish krona has strengthened by 16.77% against the US dollar, according to figures from Bloomberg.

It will take a small miracle in the second half of 2025 for my calculations to come true.

Click to enlarge

I know it's nerdy but I love charts

The more of 2025 that passes, the more I realize that the most correct way to proceed with my estimations would be to adjust the fixed exchange rate I chose to set in 2017 when I created the document. Unless the US dollar strengthens against the Swedish krona soon, all my calculated values ​​will definitely fail. If the Swedish krona continues to outperform its exchange rate, I will adjust the exchange rate on January 1, 2026.

The right bar in the chart below refers to our estimated ordinary dividends for 2025, while the blue part of the left bar represents our implemented ordinary dividends and the red part represents the implemented extraordinary dividends for the first five months of the year.

Click to enlarge

I don't get it

For some reason that I absolutely cannot understand, the Swedish krona continues to strengthen compared to the US dollar. As a Swede, I am of course happy about this but extremely irritated that I cannot see the factors that contribute to this.

Since nothing has changed in Sweden since the end of last year when the krona exchange rate was significantly weaker against the US dollar, it irritates me to no end that I don't understand what is causing the Swedish krona to strengthen so much in 2025.

One explanation is said to be that many Swedes have sold off their American holdings due to the US trade war with the rest of the world over tariffs, but I don't think that's the whole explanation, far from it. Another is said to be the rumour that circulated earlier that Sweden was about to change the Swedish krona for the euro.

Whoever it is who defends the Swedish krona, I wonder how long they are willing to participate in the "war". There is always a limit.

AI generated image with Grok

One of our exceptions

In January 2025, when 1 US dollar costed more than 11 SEK, we chose to buy a Swedish stock that we thought had growth potential, namely Investor AB - Class B. We didn't manage to sell our holding in Investor at the absolute peak, but we were close enough. In early May, we sold our entire holding and made a good profit.

Buying growth companies is definitely not our strategy, but something we do when, for example, factors such as the exchange rate make a potentially good acquisition bad and at the same time we see a buying opportunity in a company that we consider ourselves to have sufficient knowledge about.

It is very likely that we will invest most of the sales proceeds in Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (ARE) tonight when the stock market opens.

AI generated image with Grok

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel

This time of year is not effortless for any student, but it is especially demanding for students in the higher grades. Junior, who is in grade 11, has had end-of-year exams throughout May and still has three more to go before he is done for this grade. Since the world's (maybe not) most perfect teenager hasn't studied as much as I and the world's most perfect husband wanted, he has to study considerably more than if he had only needed to refresh his knowledge.

Our son, whose self-confidence is initially very good, does not benefit from the extra boost that typical teenage self-confidence gives with confirmation that they can and know everything, and he gladly takes the chance if he is given the opportunity to refrain from studying for exams because, due to the above, he already knows and can do everything, and therefore does not really understand the necessity of studying.

Since I chose to take primary responsibility for school early in Junior's school year, it has meant that I have spent exactly as much time at home as Junior because I regularly have to go to his room to alternately hug him or make sure he is actually studying.

After today, only tomorrow remains because the last end-of year exam is on Wednesday. It'll be nice to get out of house arrest.

AI generated image with Grok

Sometimes it's good to have a squirrel AKA my husband

It is almost 14 years since we bought an iMac. That computer worked flawlessly until a little over a year ago when it suddenly stopped working from one day to the next. It turned out that it was an automatic update from Adobe that had locked the computer. I really loved that computer and was downhearted when it stopped working.

Since then, I have unsuccessfully asked the world's most perfect husband on several occasions for help with factory resetting the computer because I couldn't do it myself. I've had the iMac sitting on my desk because I didn't have the heart to take it to the recycling center for electronic waste. No matter how light and agile my MacBook is, it can never compare to my iMac despite its age.

It wasn't until I told him I was going to unscrew the hard drive and drop off the iMac at the electronics recycling center for electronic waste that the squirrel in him came to life. Immediately he started searching the internet for how to factory reset a very old iMac. Finally, he found a page that very instructively showed us how to proceed.

It worked perfectly so now I have a computer with a large screen which is handy when I need to have several windows open at the same time, for example when I enter our dividends.

AI generated image with Grok

My latest chart

Building charts in spreadsheets is incredibly satisfying. The attached chart below is my latest and even though I told the world's most perfect husband that this is the last one on this spreadsheet, I know deep down that's probably not the case.

The right bar in the chart shows expected dividends for 2025 while the left bar shows actual dividends. The left bar is divided into blue for ordinary dividends and red for extraordinary dividends.

Click to enlarge

It's always a competition

I really have a hard time being grateful for the development of our dividends, I always want them to develop better. It's probably the winning mentality in me because I don't see this as money, but rather stacks competing against each other. Having received more dividends after four months than we received in all of 2017 is better than I give the portfolio credit for.

Now the hunt has begun for 2021, the second year of the pandemic. Every time I look at this chart, I am reminded of the pandemic's impact on the world.

Click to enlarge

I take a win where I can, a loser can't be picky

Although we failed to meet our April dividend target, April 2025 was, thankfully, better than April 2023, if only marginally.

Click to enlarge

Boy, was I wrong!

Since I overestimated the exchange rate when preparing the spreadsheet for 2025, I was confident that I would have the tolerance on my side. Not once since 2017 has my fixed exchange rate between SEK/USD been to my disadvantage, quite the opposite. However, it took no more than two months, March 2025 to be exact, before the market showed who really is in charge.

The deficit that began in March 2025 only deepened in April 2025 and will likely continue to deepen further during both May and June 2025. I will not change my fixed exchange rate, but I will swallow the bitter pill and hope for the best in the second half of 2025.

The fact that I miss the goal for April and probably also May and June doesn't take away the joy that my Google Sheet is now flawless.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Is tax the rich left-wing language to ruin the rich?

The left in Sweden is no different from the left in other countries. The solution to all their problems is to tax the rich. Something they already do.

On April 24, 2025, EkonomiFakta reported tax revenues by income group. In Sweden, approximately 60% of total tax revenue comes from taxes on labor, primarily income taxes and general payroll tax. However, there is a big difference in how much different individuals pay in taxes, because the tax rate is progressive and increases the more you earn.

In these calculations, tax is defined as the sum of the taxes we declare ourselves in our income tax return. Most of this tax primarily relates to municipal and state income tax, capital tax and municipal property tax. Various tax deductions, such as earned income tax deductions and more, made in the income tax return, reduce the final tax on which the return is based.

In 2023, the income group with an annual income exceeding $80,000 contributed, they constitute 4% of taxpayers, with 24% of total tax payments.

The same year, the income group with an annual income below $19,900 contributed, they constitute 73% of taxpayers, with 12% of total tax payments.

Based on these facts, can one truly say that the rich pay too little in taxes, and above all, how sustainable is this? We are definitely not among the 4% with the highest annual income, but we have also started thinking about moving from Sweden as soon as the world's most perfect teenager finishes his university education. As the Swedish social contract fails, our willingness to work and pay taxes in Sweden is decreasing.

AI generated image with Grok

It is not always easy to keep one's cool

The fluctuations in the USD/SEK exchange rate in recent months have been scarier than any ride at any amusement park worth its name. The portfolio may show black numbers only to show red numbers 60 minutes later even though stock prices have risen measured in USD.

According to the state-owned Swedish television (SVT), the current trend in Sweden is to sell American holdings to move the money to Sweden, something we have chosen not to do. Which is a significant factor in the inflow of capital to Sweden and thus a strengthened Swedish krona.

The world's most perfect husband and I still believe that America has significantly higher potential than Sweden and even Europe in the long term. Even if we are convinced that we are doing the right thing for ourselves and our finances, it can be worrying and difficult to keep it cool when the portfolio value drops by more than $50,000 in just a couple of hours and all news media in Sweden have BLOOD BATH as the headline for news about the American stock market.

AI generated image with Grok

Group 2 - Q2 2025

This month's extra dividends are almost non-existent, so far I have only found one of our holdings, namely HTGC. Unfortunately, our holding in the named company is far from significant, but every penny is more than welcome.

Hercules Capital, Inc. Common Stock (HTGC), ¢7 with pay date May 20, 2025

AI generated image with Grok

G❤️❤️gle Sheet

The world's most perfect husband has signed up for a 3-year subscription to Seeking Alpha. With this, I have changed the order of our holdings in my Google Sheet from company names to ticker names.

This change took over 6 hours but I also managed to change the look of one of my charts that I wasn't happy with. Now the chart is exactly as I originally wanted it to be but never managed to create. Honestly, I don't know how I managed to create this chart, but I did it all by myself.

The chart consists of two bars, the right one shows our total estimated dividends for 2025, while the left one shows executed dividends where the red part refers to extra dividends. Once again, I have to give Google Sheet my praise.

The image below shows the new improved chart compared to the previous one.

Click to enlarge

Speaking of lies and dishonesty

For transparency and my own agenda, I strongly dislike our previous government, the Social Democrats with the support of the Green Party and the tacit acceptance of the Left Party. Politically, I am very far from the Swedish Social Democrats, their partner parties, communism and socialism.

Every May Day, several demonstrations are organized around Sweden by the Left. Social Democrats party leader Magdalena Andersson gave her first May Day speech in Malmoe this year. According to news reporting from state-owned Swedish Radio (SR), the Social Democrats, who are in opposition this term, want to change the pension system so that it benefits those who start working early to a greater extent than today. This statement is the exact opposite of what they actually did the last time they were in power.

The Social Democrats proudly write on their own website that on June 22, 2022, when they were in power last time, the government voted through an amending budget that increased the guarantee pension and thereby reduced the "respectful distance" between the national old-age pension and the guarantee pension.

The national old-age pension is paid on the basis of earned salary to citizens who have worked and contributed to the public sector. The guarantee pension is paid to citizens who have never worked and therefore never contributed to the public sector.

According to SPF Seniorerna, one of Sweden's largest senior organizations, the respect distance for 2025 will be as follows:

A person born in 1945 and had a monthly salary of $4,000 will receive a national old-age pension of $1,794 while a person with a guaranteed pension will receive $1,773.

If you instead were born in 1955 and had a monthly salary of $4,000 will receive a national old-age pension of $1,971 while a person with a guaranteed pension will receive $1,773.

This change was voted through exactly 88 days before the 2022 Swedish election, meaning it was among the last measures the Social Democrats implemented before being voted out. This proves what they do in power as opposed to what they say in opposition.

If you want to be certain something gets done, do it yourself

When I asked our friends for help with my resume, there was no problem in helping us since they owe us several favors and they were happy to help us back. However, it would be their daughter who created it because she has this particular skill.

The day before yesterday, my friend called me and said that their daughter is overloaded with work right now so it would be a week or two before she could even start on my resume. During this phone call, she repeated her daughter's lack of time four times. So yesterday I texted my friend and said I didn't want to put pressure on her daughter and said I was going to create my own resume.

This was the first and last time I ever asked for help.

AI generated image with Grok

A revelation

My ignorance and hypocrisy have contributed to the Woke movement. The daughter of a close friend, born in 2001, has spent most of her life expressing her opinions, including those everyone knew were inaccurate, completely unchallenged with doleful consequences as a result.

My friend's intentions were "good" as she wanted to build her daughter's self-confidence and ability to stand up for herself. Unfortunately, this has led to this 24-year-old woman today being completely incapable to accept that any of her opinions are wrong.

The last time I met them, her claim was so blatantly false that I, despite my better judgment, questioned her position and countered it with facts. It all ended with her getting up and leaving the room while shouting quote "you don't understand anything" unquote.

I take full responsibility for the fact that my silence over the years has contributed to her inability to see the big picture, and if I'm being completely honest, there are probably more young people around me to whom I have done the same thing. To top it all off, my friend and I haven't spoken to each other since this happened.

However, neither I nor the world's most perfect husband have let the opinions of the world's most perfect teenager go unchallenged. He has always had to substantiate and argue for his positions.

AI generated image with Grok

Sad times await

We have continued with our acquisitions and today we purchased a small number of shares in Prudential Financial, Inc. Common Stock (PRU) and VICI Properties Inc. Common Stock (VICI).

The factor that has the greatest impact on our portfolio is the exchange rate difference between the Swedish krona (SEK) and the US dollar (USD). Today, the falling SEK has increased the value of our stock portfolio even though the share prices of our holdings have decreased.

In contrariety to today, when SEK weakened, it has strengthened significantly earlier this year. This strengthening is due to Swedish small savers abandoning the American market in favor of the domestic one. Today's strengthening of the Swedish krona may be a first sign that the Swedes' sale of American investments has ended and a weakening of the krona is to be expected in the near future.

Unfortunately, the air has completely disappeared from the air cushion I had in my Google Sheet in the form of the exchange rate difference. This means that we will not exceed the forecast until the krona has weakened further compared to today's exchange rate.

AI generated image with Grok

When did taking responsibility become unfashionable?

As long as politicians and journalists, regardless of citizenship, ethnicity, or party affiliation, do not take responsibility for their lies and dishonest news reporting, fake news will be able to thrive without the slightest resistance.

Personally, I am incredibly grateful that Elon Musk acquired X, thereby paving the way for tweets that expose past lies and dishonest news reporting. Claiming you never said something becomes impossible when someone link or post screenshots of past posts that shows the opposite.

It's incredibly satisfying when someone posts a screenshot or a link in a thread where the person who wrote the original tweet wrote something that is the exact opposite of what they wrote or said previously. I loathe people who don't take responsibility for their lies or dishonest news reporting.

AI generated image with Grok

The world's worst secret

The people, exclusively mothers, that I have talked to about the sadness of the world's most perfect teenager prioritizing friends over us attest that he will "come back" to us within a few years. BUT what if he doesn't! Besides, as it feels today, I won't survive these "few years" to come before it happens at best.

How have parents before us survive this, and why hasn't anyone said how terrible it is? Is it because no one would have children if they understood this grief before?

AI generated image with Grok

Tops one list but doesn't even qualify for the other

According to sources such as the Fortune Global 500 and other financial analyses, the ten largest companies in the world by revenue, based on the most recent information (primarily fiscal year 2023 or 2024) are:

Walmart (United States, Retail), revenue: ~$648 billion  

Amazon (United States, Retail/Technology), revenue: ~$574 billion  

State Grid Corporation of China (China, Energy), revenue: ~$530 billion  

Saudi Armco (Saudi Arabia, Oil & Gas), revenue: ~$495 billion  

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) (China, Oil & Gas), revenue: ~$430 billion  

ExxonMobil (United States, Oil & Gas), revenue: ~$413 billion  

Apple (United States, Technology), revenue: ~$394 billion  

UnitedHealth Group (United States, Healthcare), revenue: ~$371 billion  

CVS Health (United States, Healthcare), revenue: ~$357 billion

Volkswagen (Germany, Automotive), revenue: ~$348 billion

If we instead choose to list the ten largest companies in the world by market capitalization as of early April 2025, based on the latest available information, the list changes. Market capitalization figures are given in trillions of USD and reflect values ​​from sources such as Forbes, Statista, and posts on X, with data primarily from the first quarter of 2025. We get a different result.

Apple (United States, Technology) - ~$2.96 trillion 

Microsoft (United States, Technology) - ~$2.73 trillion  

Nvidia (United States, Technology) - ~$2.47 trillion 

Alphabet (United States, Technology) - ~$1.85 trillion 

Amazon (United States, Retail/Technology) - ~$1.83 trillion 

Meta Platforms (United States, Technology) - ~$1.27 trillion 

Berkshire Hathaway (United States, Conglomerate) - ~$0.97 trillion

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) (Taiwan, Semiconductor) - ~$0.93 trillion

Tesla (United States, Automotive/Technology) - ~$0.89 trillion

Broadcom (United States, Semiconductor/Software) - ~$0.82 trillion

Of the ten companies with the largest market capitalization, 40% of them produce only Ones and Zeros. Simply selling a service, such as advertising on their platforms, creates nothing but money for its owners. After the desired “click,” there is no product to sell on a secondary market or pass on to the next generation. The fact that manufacturing companies do not dominate the list of companies with the largest market capitalization is a clear sign of our times.

AI generated image with Grok

An aging population

The current growth in the U.S. population aged 65 and over, driven by the large baby boom generation, those born between 1946 and 1964, is unprecedented in U.S. history.

By 2026, the number of people under 18 is still expected to slightly outnumber those over 65, with estimates suggesting around 76.5 million children under 18 compared to around 60–62 million adults over 65. The exact transition point depends on variables such as fertility levels, mortality rates, and immigration, but current data suggests it is a few years away. According to Census Bureau projections, the number of people 65 and older is expected to exceed the number of people 18 and younger sometime between 2029 and 2034.

With this in mind, we have previously invested in Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc. Common Stock (OHI) and intend to invest in Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated Common Stock (HR). Whether it will be with private money or part of the remaining part of our company's purchase sum remains to be seen. Maybe it will be both accounts.

AI generated image with Grok

🎵 Here come all the emotions at the same time 🎶🎶

In situations like this, your nerves and your ability to keep a cool head are really put to the test. Even if we don't have all of our savings in the stock market, all of our savings that we have invested are on Nasdaq. I am fully aware of the risks we are taking and why, and even though it is turbulent right now, I truly believe it will pay off in the long run.

For example, we were and are very well aware that the current US President Donald Trump ran for election on a number of promises, such as tariffs and the deportation of illegal immigrants. Promises that the American people, given that he won both the popular vote and the electoral vote, want to see fulfilled. Complaining then is not okay, especially as a non-American. We could have sold everything and either waited out the trade war that everyone knew was coming or chosen other markets.

What I do hope for is that the Supreme Court upholds the 1930s court decision – “Humprey’s Executor” – which limited the president’s ability to fire independent agency officials on political grounds. Firing Jerome Powell now would likely plunge America into an even deeper recession than the one that is likely already underway. Personally, I think the best thing for President Trump is for Jerome Powell to remain as chairman until his term ends in May next year.

This way, President Trump will be able to use Jerome Powell as a scapegoat for the recession and shift the focus away from the fact that it was actually the tariffs that triggered it all.

AI generated image with Grok

Walking on eggshells

An increasingly strong Swedish krona and falling share prices led us today to consider that there was a buy position in the following company in which we invested part of our company's cash.

Capital Southwest Corporation Common Stock (CSWC)

LTC Properties, Inc. Common Stock (LTC)

NNN REIT, Inc. Common Stock (NNN)

Simon Property Group, Inc. Common Stock (SPG)

Despite these acquisitions, we still have a significant portion of the purchase sum in cash. The fact that we don't live in the market we invest our money in has its problems, the main one being that we aren't there and can feel the atmosphere in the society. We believe America may be heading into a recession, which makes us extra cautious with this money.

Whether this caution will pay off or cost us money remains to be seen.

AI generated image with Grok

There's a first time for everything

Today, for the first time in my life, I asked a friend for help. Everything else I've been exposed to I've solved on my own or together with my husband. Among other things, I have created a Google Sheet that I "programmed" to retrieve information from Google Finance without ever studying programming. Which says more about Google Sheets than about me. This spreadsheet handles all of our holdings and their dividends across our five different banks.

However, everything came to a complete halt when I was about to create a resume for the first time in my life. No matter how much I googled and struggled, I couldn't create anything that even came close to being called a resume.

Luckily, a daughter of one of my best friends studied marketing and possesses that very knowledge. Plus, the world's most perfect husband has helped this particular family several times with plumbing problems, which made asking for a favor much easier. I have compiled my 35 years of working life and emailed it to my friend, so now I am waiting for her daughter to come back with a graphically clear and nice resume for me. When I get it, I will, for the first time in my life, actively look for a job.

There is always a first time for something, even at the age of 55. I seem to be having a lot of those moments right now.

AI generated image with Grok

Q1 2025 is almost more than all of 2017

The development we had between 2017 and 2018 will never happen again, unless we win the lottery. 😉

However, I sincerely hope that we pass 2019 this year, which should happen assuming that the Swedish krona does not become stronger than it is today and that none of our holdings lower their dividends.

Click to enlarge

Right on track, for now

The chart below shows that my calculations are correct. With the recent strengthening of the Swedish krona, my reservation for exchange rate differences has been completely erased, which means that further strengthening of the Swedish krona will affect future calculations.

Click to enlarge

Extra money

We received significantly more extra dividends in March than I expected.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Good enough

Due to the strengthening of the Swedish krona against the US dollar, my expectations that March 2025 would be our best dividend month ever were not met. Despite this, I am still pleased with the outcome of March.

The decline in stock prices has allowed us to expand our holdings to a higher yield, which will reward us throughout the rest of the year, assuming the stock market does not collapse.

Click to enlarge