The Half House and The Hammock
In my early twenties, I was fortunate enough to have a small down payment to buy my first home in Kona, Hawaii. I was able to buy a small home that was designed as 2 studio apartments.
The building had outdoor stairs, so imagine the first studio was on the ground floor and then you walk up the outside stairs to the second floor which was another studio room. This ‘double studio’ pad was tall, thin, and looked more like an incomplete house. I called it my half-house house.
Looking back, it probably wasn’t the best Investment, but at the time, the only investment my 23-year-old single self was concerned with was the hammock chairs that I wanted to install in my upstairs studio.
The idea of swinging in my chair hammock in my half house while enjoying the view and checking the surf was, at the time, the best return on investment I could imagine!
Every day, I would go to work for Smith Barney and when the workday was done, I be-lined straight to the beach for a quick surf or a paddle. After the sun had set, I would make my way home, microwave a burrito or a pot pie and plop down in the chair hammock. I made sure to place my mini refrigerator within swinging distance of the hammock chair. The only effort required to access a cold beer was a simple lean and sway to the left… My lounging was uninterrupted. (Even at 23, I was a planner).
My ‘half house’ was on catchment, which meant that my water tank relied on rain to fill up. Oftentimes, there was plenty of rain, and without a care, I allowed faucets and showers to flow longer than was prudent. In the winter (which is typically a drier season on the Big Island) the lack of rain resulted in an empty tank... with no water for anything.
It was during those leaner times that I would sheepishly drag my garden hose over to the neighbor’s house and ask to borrow water from their tank.
Those experiences taught me a lot about managing my water catchment system and about life in general. Two of the most important lessons that I realized were 1: An uncovered catchment tank lends itself to acquiring floating critters, and 2: When the rain comes and the tank is nice and full, don't take lengthy showers!
Reminiscing about my half house reminds me of the current Investment markets. For the past decade (in almost all markets and specifically US Bond and Stock markets), the yearly returns have been very good. I believe that we are entering a new decade where the returns are lower than what we experienced in the past ten years. That said, now is the time for investors to be prudent and to make certain that they possess adequate liquidity to withstand a changing climate. It is important to understand that cycles happen, and a drier season could conceivably reoccur.
If I were to explain this concept to my 23-year-old half-house owning self, I would use water catchment terms and it would go something like this…
“Taylor, the abundance of rainfall has filled your catchment tank and although it is full today, don’t take lengthy showers or else you will have to resort to begging your neighbors for water. And while we are at it, take the hammock out of the kitchen!”
The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but we do not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. Any opinions are those of Taylor Easley and not necessarily those of Raymond James. Expressions of opinion are as of this date and are subject to change without notice. There is no guarantee that these statements, opinions or forecasts provided herein will prove to be correct. Investing involves risk and you may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy selected