A long-term investor Danielius Goriunovas, also known as “Debesyla” , says that he has a goal – to earn at least 5 thousand euros per year from investing so he could take more months off for a vacation or continue investing the earned returns in sustainable projects without much stress. We interviewed Danielius, how does he manage to achieve such goals.
Could you tell me what you do in life? Is it difficult to prepare for the climb to Juozapinė mountain?
Oh, you found mine the old “someday I would like” list! On that occasion, I also reviewed it – have I already invested as much as I expected five years ago. With the help of Finbee and other P2P platforms, it seems to have worked – the goals are easier to achieve than I expected. Anyway, I’m a big lazy person, I “bake” web pages for small Lithuanian businesses, but I’d rather spend my days reading books.
How and when did you start climbing the investment mountain?
15 years ago. I bought a subscription to “Investuok” magazine and put my savings of 400 litas, when I was still a schoolboy, into the bank Snoras product. I don’t remember exactly what I bought anymore, I didn’t think much then, it wasn’t that age, but what happened with Snoras, I think we all remember (it went bankrupt). I got burned, I was sad for a decade, and then I got interested again. At that time, all kinds of P2P projects were just starting to work, but I was no longer in a hurry to invest money, I waited, I was interested in how others were doing. Back then, cosmic returns were offered – 20% and more annual interest, not to mention riskier offers, but I was afraid of getting burned.
After a few years of waiting, I started too, with Savy and Mintos. After that, Finbee also appeared in my sights. I now diversify my investments through P2P, passively bought ETFs and a small portfolio of stocks that I may be getting ready to expand. I am currently interested in dividend investing. It’s true, I’m not in a hurry to take risks anymore. Cryptocurrency, by the way, I completely reject – it conflicts with my morals. On the one hand, as if there is an opportunity to make money, but it looks like a fraud, a product without its own value, the production of which also harms nature. If technology changes, I might take a look.
Have you made any mistakes while investing? What did you learn from them?
In addition to that childish Snoras adventure, I also had an accident with one P2P platform, Lenndy. I got burned. I don’t have any hopes of getting it back, because it’s obvious that someone there cunningly “ran the businessman”. Strange things are happening now in bankruptcy matters too. Since then, I have withdrawn all my money from foreign platforms and returned to fully Lithuanian ones supervised by the Bank of Lithuania. I believe that stricter Lithuanian laws and LB supervision help our platforms.
Maybe you could specify in what proportions you have arranged your portfolio according to investment instruments? What works best?
At the moment it’s more or less like this: 50% P2P, 49% ETF, 1% – that tiny stock portfolio. From P2P, the return is probably the most tangible and I can afford to entertain myself from it. Oh, and I’m still hoping to add more shares. I think I’m old enough to try. I’ll see how it goes.
What is your investment goal now?
Currently – I want to make at least 5 thousand euro per year, so that I can take more months of vacation without much stress. Or invest in solar panels. Realistically, I’m already close to this goal in one way or another, because I’m just slowly accumulating wealth, I’m not jumping between many different investment tools. But I don’t know yet if I will achieve that much in the next year.
The past few years have been full of challenges for investors. How did your investment go? Have you adjusted your investment strategy?
I was thinking of making adjustments when the Covid pandemic came. But it wasn’t necessary – after the first month with fewer returns, everything went back. After the start of the war, you would think that something changed a lot, but no. I don’t know if my chosen investment strategy is protecting me (mostly B-level risk loans spread out in small amounts, across several platforms), or maybe not much has changed. ETFs fell a bit last year, but I honestly believe they will shoot up again soon, like they did in the second year of Covid.
How would you rate your experience at Finbee?
Very well. It is easy to manage and maintain your investments, and the recoveries are good, on par with other platforms. I recommend it.
If you could spend an hour talking to any famous investor, who would it be?
To be honest, I’d rather talk to an artist or a monk than an investor. Yes, I’m interested in the current affairs of investing, but I don’t think that one person can advise something very useful. I don’t want to listen to a quick and easy way to cheat that works for everyone because it’s a scam. And what advice can there be for slow, consistent investing that isn’t already covered and shown everywhere? It must be recognized that investing is a kind of game – no one knows the future, they only have guesses. Sometimes predictions come true, but even the biggest gurus get it wrong and the whole internet laughs afterwards. I would like to learn how to live without having to invest. It would be ideal – neither to work nor to invest, ha ha! Well, for now I’m doing both. And along the way, I try not to exalt individual persons, not to consider them geniuses.
