May 2025 FIRE Portfolio Update: Liquidation Day

I didn’t provide an update for April 2025 because I was just too busy traveling all over the world. We took so many trips in the last few months I’m shocked I even had enough time to update May 2025! I had already written a lot of things for an April 2025 update but never finished it. Therefore, for this update, I will combine April and May 2025 into one post. Although the news is constantly changing especially under Trump, I feel like the things in April still have an impact on May and beyond. April was a crazy month and the whirlwind of headline news, volatility, and general sense of malais were on full display this month. May seemed to undo most of that angst as we adjusted to the new norm.

If you haven’t already read my posts before, I achieved Financial independence back in late 2020 early 2021 with a portfolio of roughly $1.3m invested in mainly ETFs. This ballooned to $1.7m during the peak of the markets in early 2022 before coming back down to Earth later in 2022. The portfolio has since regained new all time highs as markets rally beyond the previous highs.

This post will be part of a monthly series of portfolio updates that summarizes how my portfolio performed, what trades I executed, what my monthly expenses were, and my general outlook on the economy/markets. This is by no means financial advice so do not look look at me for sage advice. I make stupid trades and make even worse losses quite frequently.

This is simply the performance of my portfolio and how it has performed on a month to month basis.

Monthly Highlights – May 2025

• Net worth is above $2m as of May 2025 Month end
• +$35k for the month
• In April and May, I spent a month in Cape Town, a short stint in Dubai, a stay once again at the Ritz Carlton Maldives, and finally a month stay in Bali.

Market Moves

What is in my portfolio?

My portfolio is quite simple and straight forward. I have my holdings primarily spread out between a few ETFs, fixed income, and various single name stocks.

ETFs

Again, my primary holdings are in a few ETFs. My primary holdings are in VTI, VGT, and VCR. I’ve always been a big proponent of big tech and have been heavily invested in the Nasdaq for over a decade. This has paid off very well for me given the massive bull market of the 2010s and is essentially what allowed me to FIRE so quickly.

I used to hold more dividend generating stocks as I was really into this type of investing at a period of time. I currently do not have many dividend specific ETFs as I prefer growth more than income. This kind of goes against the ethos of financial independence but I have enough money coming in from other sources that I don’t need to focus so much on consistent income from my investments.

I added to my ETF positions in May 2025 as the markets crashed from crazy tariff madness.

Single name stocks

Some of the single name stocks I own are the following

• RDDT
• ANET
• TEM
• NFLX
• RITM
• ASML
• ARES

These single name stocks make up less than 5% of my total portfolio. I tend to not buy much single name stocks anymore as there’s no point to take on unnecessary risks when I’m already so diversified with my ETFs.

Real Estate

I currently own no real estate. I used to own property in the US but have sold it in 2022 before rates started rising. I am not a big fan of real estate. While it definitely can be a good investment, I don’t think it beats investing in the markets. In addition, real estate is highly illiquid with high transaction costs that few people consider.

Finally, as someone that travels around the world and does not like to be tied down to one location, real estate doesn’t make sense as managing it from afar creates a bunch of headaches. I much prefer to have my money liquid and in the stock market.

Fixed Income

I also purchased I-Bonds in 2022 at the height of inflation peak when I-Bonds were paying 9.5%. The rates have come down significantly since then as inflation itself has come down and I no longer bother with I-Bonds.

In the recent high interest rate environment, I had allocated a small portion of my portfolio to fixed income products, specifically purchasing treasury bills with 3-6 month expiry. These were paying out 5.5% which was a great guaranteed income generator. In recent months on the back of anticipated FED rate cuts, this rate was always going to come down which meant stocks should increase.

Well the FED cut rates for the first time since COVID in Sep 2024 which means treasury bill returns will be decreasing for the foreseeable future. My last treasury bill expired in July 2024 and that cash was used to buy the market. I suspect I will not buy any fixed income products for the foreseeable future.

Market Commentary – April and May 2025

Wow. What an insane month.

April is one for the record books. Where do we even begin? From his massively inept tariffs, to threatening a takeover of the Central FED, April was probably one of the craziest months I can remember. I’m not just talking about stock market fluctuations. Yes, the volatility and price movements that we saw in April has not be replicated since COVID, but this isn’t even the biggest thing. April was the month where we saw the complete fundamental shift in how markets operate on a free market basis.

Trump’s Trade War

The trade war that Trump started on April 2nd with his “liberation day” announcement (I call it liquidation day) was not only a complete disaster and among the dumbest things any leader in any country has done, but it showed that one man can hold the entire world economy hostage and do as he pleases.

Trump already started Tariffs in his first term but he was merely feeling out the waters. He wanted to gauge the reaction and its impact, treating the world markets like a science experiment.

Fast forward 4 years, he’s been re-elected. This time, he is under a completely different mandate. He made it clear to everyone he would slam tariffs onto the world and that’s exactly what he’s done. Instead of the Diet Tariffs we got the first time, we got the entire package. I read somewhere that the Tariffs he announced on Liquidation day were something akin to 50x worse than his first term’s tariffs.

Naturally, markets completely cratered at the news dropping over 10% in just two days. On the third day, Trump backtracked only for the markets to shoot up a similar amount in just one day. It was the biggest swing in the Nasdaq since the early 2000s. I think this was probably the largest and most successful insider trading schemes of all time. Of course that will never be proven in any court of law, but it’s dubious to think that some people didn’t profit off of his tweet announcing a 90 day pause on Tariffs.

All of the chaos resulted in Trump having the worst start to a presidency (first 100 days) since the 1970s.

The changing dynamic of American capitalism

Essentially, the markets are held hostage now by one man. He controls the markets at this point and I think the only way markets rally back to the highs is if he stops his Tariff nonsense which I’m not sure will happen anytime soon. The markets were doing just fine before he started talking about tariffs and they will resume that trajectory if he decides to stop.

It’s also clear that investors world wide let Trump and America know of their displeasure with how things are going. The tariff announcement alienated every single trading partner amid toxic America first dialogues, and a general message of “You’re ripping us off and you are no friend of America”.

Naturally, you would expect markets to crater given every company is on the hook for additional costs as well as intense uncertainty surrounding the state of the economy. However, you would expect investors to flee into traditional safe haven assets like the US Dollar and Treasuries, which has worked without fail for all of history.

The Dollar fell 10% and yields skyrocketed which is the complete opposite of what economists forecasted. Lost confidence in America drove the sale of Dollars and its bonds with the main benefactors being things like the Euro, Pound, and Franc.

While the world market is very far from decoupling from the dollar, this is probably the first time I’ve really felt like it’s something that COULD happen in the near to medium future. I think the world has realized that if one man can be this irrational and this crazy, should we still entrust America to be beacon of free markets?

I’m not sure either.

Markets continued to chop sideways in a range for the remainder of April (but never getting past the levels before Liquidation day). It appeared that Trump did let some of the market pressures get to him as he backtracked some of his tariffs. In addition to strong earnings from the big tech players, markets slowly rallied back and recouped most of the losses from the beginning of April.

Long lasting damage?

Even if markets retake their previous all time highs, I worry that the damage has been done and the trust has been lost. I’m not sure what that means for the markets going forward but it’s probably nothing good. I’ve since started increasing my allocation to international stocks and did not add much more to my existing holdings with VGT and VTI.

Markets no longer trade on fundamentals or even shades of fundamentals. It’s purely driven by the decisions and reactions of one man and his keyboard.
“I will takeover the FED because Jerome Powell is a clown” – Markets drop 5%
“Just kidding, Powell isn’t that bad and I will not take over the FED” – Markets up 5%
“50% tariffs on everyone” – Markets drop 10%
“Okay maybe that’s too much, let’s chill out for 90 days” – Markets up 10%

Asset prices are merely many people assessing the prospects for the economy and future returns. They are concluding 145% tariffs on China, Trump setting interest rates like Turkey, and a general alienation of the world are not good for them. It’s a live poll on money.

In the span of a few weeks, I’ve become more wary on the direction of the American financial system as a whole. Knowing that markets will be extremely volatile for the foreseeable future is not an issue. In fact, that has always been one of the hallmark traits of the FIRE movement in that you need to weather the storms and invest at the lows. However, this storm is not like the others. Never in all of the bear markets of the last century did we discuss whether America’s financial system loses its position in the world as its free market capitalist.

In April, stock markets fell, the Dollar fell, and bonds sold off. This triple wammy is particularly concerning for me because it means capital flight is underway.

I think think too many people focus on the surface level details of the tariffs and don’t bother looking at the greater implications. I’m not a fan od Donald Trump in any fashion but I succinctly do not believe he is a stupid man. Irrational and impulsive? Absolutely. Stupid? I don’t think so.

I really don’t think he just woke up one day and decided a trade war with every country on Earth was the best way to propel America forward. I am also unsure if he genuinely cares about propelling America forward but I don’t think he believes that a global trade war would even if he did.

I believe his tariffs was a strategic and centered move to show to America and the world that he is in charge. While tariffs generally require congressional support, he bypassed everything with executive orders. He is essentially testing the limits of what his executive powers can wrought while pushing those boundaries more and more each day. It’s only 3 months into his second term (5% of his presidency), and he is testing the waters on how and what it will take for him to obtain absolute power.

What this means for the rest of his term, I have no idea. I do think that the volatility he’s created won’t go away anytime soon.

Market Value of Portfolio

Here is a history of my portfolio value. As you can see, it’s moved in line with the markets as should be the case since most of my holdings are in ETFs that track the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.

In total, my portfolio crashed down to levels I haven’t seen since middle of 2024. I am very heavy tech weighted in my portfolio which has served me well in the last decade. This portfolio quickly rebounded in May back to near all time highs.

Rebound in May

However, in May 2025, my portfolio rebounded along with the markets at a speed unseen before. As Trump announced his 90 day pause and shifted away from his totalitarian tariff narrative, markets quickly rebounded. I suspect volatility to remain high as VIX still hovers around 20 but going forward, the markets will always be at the mercy of Trump.

My portfolio skyrocketed in value as if April simply didn’t happen. It’s insane how quickly things can change just from policy. I do think markets still forcefully believe that tariffs are just a scare tactic and nothing serious will come out of it.

I do think over the long term, the US Dollar will decrease in value. Turmp is hellbent on bringing America back to its manufacturing past and the only way to make American goods more attractive is to have a weaker dollar. That coupled with interest rate cuts and slower growth, I do think we are in for a period of weaker Dollar.

Trades executed for the month of May 2025

May 2025 was an active month of trading for me. After markets crashed in April, I bought a lot of stock on the dip. Sadly, I did not time the bottom at all well but that’s not the name of the game anyway.

In May, as markets rebounded back to near all time highs, I suspected the markets would likely stall a bit. I can’t see markets hitting significant new all time highs without the threat of tariffs dissipating. Therefore, I sold a lot of covered calls on my existing positions near the end of May when markets peaked (timed that well).

I sold covered calls on VGT, VCR, and VTI for July expiry at with a delta of 0.15, pocketing around $7k in premiums. The strike prices for these contracts were all above their previous all time highs (in February) by a few percentage points. I did not buy or sell any single name stocks during this period.

I’m also okay with being more cash heavy in this market. I feel like while markets won’t crash as fast as they did in April, being more liquid in the future might prove well as volatility will continue to be elevated. Therefore, if the price of these ETFs go above the strike price of my covered calls, I’m okay being forced to sell and pocketing the gains.

Summary of stock and ETF purchases

Portfolio withdrawals and expenses

Withdrawals from my portfolio is an important part of the financial independence ethos. The 4% withdrawal rate rule is one of the main concepts of the FIRE movement which I try to adhere to. Generally, I prefer to sell from my portfolio when markets are near or at all time highs to capture, and only when I actually need the cash.

For the month of May 2025, we spent the first part of the month re-visiting the Ritz Carlton Maldives. Even though this was the second visit, I can’t get enough of the Maldives and this beautiful property. It’s truly the most beautiful hotel I’ve stayed in. Of course, this was only possible with my treasure trove of credit card points. The $3-$3.5k a night price tag on the Ritz Carlton would far exceed my safe withdrawal limit after all!

After the Maldives and Dubai, we spent the rest of May in Bali, my other favorite place in the world. Bali’s a place I’ve spent probably a cumulative year now.

I made no withdrawals from the portfolio as I had enough cash coming in from my blog as well as leftover cash from other sources. My blog generates money every month to the tune of $5k or more and I cover exactly how I earn money from blogging in other posts.

My May 2025 Blog Earnings

I always give a run down on my monthly blogging income on these monthly portfolio reports because this is about my blog after all. My blog generates quite a lot of money from many years of hard work that it is a huge supplement to my FIRE portfolio.

• Johnny Africa 2024 Blog earnings
• Johnny Africa 2023 Blog earnings
• Johnny Africa 2022 Blog earnings

My full 2024 blog earnings report has finally been released via my post in the links above. I made a total of $72k from blogging in 2024 which was an absolute monstrous and record year. 2024 was the last hurrah for traditional blogging and the last of the good days before the major Google algorithm changes.

I earn money from blogging primarily from ads and sponsorships. My ads are managed by Mediavine which I joined in May 2024. In addition to Mediavine advertisements, I also earn money from Affiliate programs, sponsorships, and travel planning. More details on these things in my how to make money blogging posts.

Here is a breakdown of my monthly earnings.

Blogging income has gone down precipitously going into 2025 but May 2025 was a bit of an anomaly. Somehow my search results had improved significantly going into May and I was getting boat loads of traffic propelling my earnings to one of the highest months on record.

Sadly, as quickly as my SEO rose, it crashed down even faster near the end of May. Google made more updates to its algorithm providing more AI results that I lost almost half of my search results. I’m hoping this recovers at some point but am not confident.

The entire world is shifting towards AI and a more video based world. People are relying less and less on traditional Google searches for the content they want. Traffic therefore will continue to trend down and earnings as well.

I suspect the era of small time blogging like myself is over. Google will double down on their AI dreams and favoritism for big websites like Reddit which they have partnerships with. Sad times, but that is the inevitable path of capitalism!