You Have To Sell To Make Money

I saw this quote on one of the various share trading newsletters I subscribe to today. It rang a bell. I do see my juniors get diluted fairly often, I do see some of them lose almost all their value, or even disappear altogether. I have made money on some, but as the guy says, I have only made money when I sell them. This rings a bell because it ties into my plan - my plan to have income shares at retirement, that help supplement my lifestyle. Let's revisit the plan:

1) Retire at 60 at the latest, and live off my super (hopefully it'll be $500k+ by then).

2) Get the aged pension at 67 if I can, but it will largely depend on where I am - I'm not sure if people living overseas are eligible. Let me check....Wow, it seems that it is indeed possible to get the pension while living overseas! Fark yeah! Malaysia here I come. Haha, I know, I know. It all depends. Yes, I do very much want to retire in Malaysia. I love the lifestyle, climate, food and cost of living so much there. So much more than here in Australia anyway. But if my kids all decide to stay here when they grow up and start their own lives, am I really going to go to another country and limit my chance of seeing them? On the one hand, no way am I doing that. On the other hand, I do need to live my own life, and I do need to let them live theirs. So we'll stay open-minded on this. It sure does help that I can get the pension over there though.

3) My own income - passive income is a big deal. I have been slowly moving towards more income shares over time, now making up 60% of my share portfolio. Where possible, I opt for dividend reinvestment, but after I retire, hopefully the income from dividends will be able to supplement both super and eventually pension. I doubt I'll ever build the nest egg enough in that timeframe to live off it alone, but who knows. Just this week I have sold some more shares in growth companies, partially due to the quote that inspired this post - you have to sell to make money. Yes I could continue to hold them, but I can now reallocate the earnings and capital, into both more income shares, and also some project work at home.