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What is The Compounding Memo?
A monthly paid investment newsletter published by Compounding Memo LLC, built around three model portfolios — Capital Appreciation, Cash Flow, and Capital Preservation — each with a different objective. Everything we publish is educational and informational. We are not registered investment advisers, and nothing here is personalized investment advice.
Who is the service intended for?
Self-directed investors who care about portfolio construction, asset allocation, and long-term investing — people who want to learn, stay informed, and make their own decisions. You should be at least 18 and comfortable making your own financial choices. We always recommend consulting a licensed financial professional before acting.
Do you provide personalized investment advice?
No. We don’t provide personalized advice, manage client assets, or act as a fiduciary. The model portfolios and commentary are published for education and information — we don’t know your financial situation, goals, or risk tolerance. Full details are in our Investment Disclaimer.
What is the goal of each portfolio?
Each portfolio has one clear job:
What does “model portfolio” mean — should I copy it exactly?
A model portfolio is a hypothetical example published for educational purposes: a set of holdings and target weights that illustrates a strategy. You shouldn’t feel obligated to copy it exactly — everyone’s financial situation, risk tolerance, tax circumstances, and goals are different. Do your own research and consult a financial professional before making investment decisions.
How often are portfolio weights updated?
On two schedules. The monthly memo is the comprehensive update, with commentary and analysis. The daily weights document on your content page updates every day, typically around 7–8 PM EST, so you can check current weights at any time.
Do you personally invest in the securities in the model portfolios?
Yes. Compounding Memo’s owner(s) may hold positions in the same securities discussed or included in the model portfolios, which means we may have a financial interest in what we write about. Our Disclosure Policy covers how we handle potential conflicts of interest.
How much does each memo cost?
Each subscription is billed independently and monthly, with no long-term commitment — subscribe to one, two, or all three.
Is there a free trial, promo codes, refunds, or an annual option?
No. We don’t offer free trials, promo codes, or annual plans at this time. All subscriptions are month-to-month, and all payments are final and non-refundable. Full details are in the Refund & Cancellation Policy.
How often do the memos get released?
Monthly — typically on the first Sunday after the prior month ends. The memo covering January’s data and portfolio updates, for example, would generally be released on the first Sunday in February.
What’s included, and how do I access my content after purchasing?
After purchasing you’ll receive a confirmation email from Squarespace. Log in with the account you created and open the content page for your memo. There you’ll find at least three PDFs — the latest portfolio manual, the most recent monthly memo, and the daily-updated weights document (typically refreshed around 7–8 PM EST) — plus any intramonth trade notifications.
How can I manage my subscription?
Log into your account on the website — everything is managed from there.
What are the manuals, and where can I find them?
Each portfolio has its own instruction manual covering how to get started, the investment philosophy, how the portfolio is constructed, how to read the charts and data, and how to interpret the monthly updates. The latest version always lives on your memo’s content page. We strongly recommend reading it before anything else — it’s the foundation for the rest.
What should I do if I’m not receiving emails?
Check your spam, junk, or promotions folder first — new senders often get filtered. If our emails are there, mark them “Not Spam” and add contact@compoundingmemo.com to your contacts or safe-sender list. Still nothing? Contact us and we’ll investigate.
Can I access content on mobile?
Yes. All subscriber content is accessible on mobile devices.
When does support respond to emails?
Support hours are 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST. Emails received during those hours are typically answered promptly; anything received after is handled the next business day.
What do the total return charts mean, and how do I read them?
They show the portfolio’s cumulative performance over time with all dividends and distributions reinvested — the Y-axis is percentage return, the X-axis is time — so you can compare the portfolio against its benchmark over the same period. Each portfolio’s manual includes a detailed walkthrough.
What’s the difference between total return and price return?
Price return measures only the change in an investment’s price. Total return adds the income it produces — dividends or interest — assuming that income is reinvested, which gives a more complete picture of actual performance. Our charts and figures use total return unless otherwise noted.
What are the data sources for the indexes?
All return data is sourced from Google Finance. Benchmark proxies: the S&P 500 Total Return Index via SPYM, the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 via SCHD, the Cboe Nasdaq-100 BuyWrite V2 via QYLD, and the MVIS US Business Development Companies Index via BIZD. Inflation uses the CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPIAUCSL).
What happened to the CPI data in October 2025?
During the October 2025 government shutdown, the Bureau of Labor Statistics didn’t release that month’s CPI report. To keep the data continuous, we estimated October’s figure as the square root of the ratio between the November and September readings — an evenly distributed estimate across both months, noted in the affected charts and materials.
What is dollar-cost averaging?
Investing a fixed dollar amount at regular intervals regardless of price — say, $500 on the first of every month. You buy more shares when prices are low and fewer when they’re high, which smooths out short-term volatility over time. It’s a widely used approach for long-term investors.
What does rebalancing mean, and how often should I do it?
Rebalancing means adjusting your holdings back to your target allocation after growth causes them to drift — selling some of what’s overweight and buying what’s underweight. Common approaches are a set schedule (monthly, quarterly, or annually) or acting when a position drifts past a threshold. There’s no single right answer; it depends on your circumstances, tax situation, and transaction costs.
What does “past performance is not indicative of future results” really mean?
That a strategy’s past results — good or bad — carry no guarantee about its future. Markets are moved by countless unpredictable factors, and historical returns reflect conditions that may not repeat. It’s a reminder to never invest on track record alone, and to always weigh the risks.