Thursday, December 31, 2015
RECORD MONTH FOR DIVIDEND EARNINGS!
Happy New Years Eve! The finally tally is in for dividend earnings for the month of December 2015 and it set a new record as expected. Not only did it beat out the previous record, but it was up a whopping 60% over the last record from November! Nice way to close out 2015.
Looking ahead, I've set goals to increase total investments by 50% next year and boost dividend income by at least 50%. I've already looked in to ways to make this happen and it seems quite doable. May have to revise goals midway through 2016 if I hit the targets too early in the year. I'm excited about the new year!
Looking ahead, I've set goals to increase total investments by 50% next year and boost dividend income by at least 50%. I've already looked in to ways to make this happen and it seems quite doable. May have to revise goals midway through 2016 if I hit the targets too early in the year. I'm excited about the new year!
Sunday, December 27, 2015
DIVIDEND INCOME UP 100% FROM BEGINNING OF YEAR!
Monthly dividend income is up over 100% in December, compared to January 2015! Even with the markets down and a recent drop in the value of current holdings, that's not a bad way to wrap up the year. Total number of shares owned also more than doubled from January to December of this year! Looks like January 2016 will be starting off great! Not only will I get the first of the month dividends, but since I'm working on a holiday, I'll also be getting time and a half for my first day of work in 2016!
Just earned another check from SendEarnings (see banner ad) and I'm already back up over $5 on the next check! Looks like I'll be collecting more from them in the new year as well. Also doing well with Bing Rewards, although I wasn't too happy about their recent point increase for the most popular rewards/gift cards. While at this point I still consider it worth the effort, any more increases in points for gift cards and I'd probably drop out of the program. When they decrease the rewards for their rewards programs, I can profit more elsewhere.
Just got my first semi-annual report from DON. Wasted no time in reviewing that. Wasn't overly impressed with performance, I did find it acceptable. What I was impressed with is their current holdings, which complement my other funds quite well, with very little overlap. When I invest in funds, I don't want the funds to all own the same stocks. While they may have some of the big names in common, I think you're better off with less redundancy.
My big strategy in investing is to make money from everything people do every day. I think I've pretty well accomplished that. It started out as a game for me to figure out how I could get money back for everything I do every day. Then I thought about the things other people spend money on that I never do and how could I make money off their activities as well. So that's what I targeted for investments. Consumer stocks for day to day spending, real estate trusts (since I pay rent every month), banking, shipping, insurance, medical services, drug companies, utilities and so on. If I pay money out on anything each month, I figure it's a safe bet a lot of other people do too and that's what I want, to own a piece of all the businesses that benefit from daily living expenses. Like I mentioned earlier, I've pretty well accomplished that with my current investments. So now it's just a matter of building positions, in my current holdings, to the point that the dividend income pays my expenses for me. Simple really.
Just earned another check from SendEarnings (see banner ad) and I'm already back up over $5 on the next check! Looks like I'll be collecting more from them in the new year as well. Also doing well with Bing Rewards, although I wasn't too happy about their recent point increase for the most popular rewards/gift cards. While at this point I still consider it worth the effort, any more increases in points for gift cards and I'd probably drop out of the program. When they decrease the rewards for their rewards programs, I can profit more elsewhere.
Just got my first semi-annual report from DON. Wasted no time in reviewing that. Wasn't overly impressed with performance, I did find it acceptable. What I was impressed with is their current holdings, which complement my other funds quite well, with very little overlap. When I invest in funds, I don't want the funds to all own the same stocks. While they may have some of the big names in common, I think you're better off with less redundancy.
My big strategy in investing is to make money from everything people do every day. I think I've pretty well accomplished that. It started out as a game for me to figure out how I could get money back for everything I do every day. Then I thought about the things other people spend money on that I never do and how could I make money off their activities as well. So that's what I targeted for investments. Consumer stocks for day to day spending, real estate trusts (since I pay rent every month), banking, shipping, insurance, medical services, drug companies, utilities and so on. If I pay money out on anything each month, I figure it's a safe bet a lot of other people do too and that's what I want, to own a piece of all the businesses that benefit from daily living expenses. Like I mentioned earlier, I've pretty well accomplished that with my current investments. So now it's just a matter of building positions, in my current holdings, to the point that the dividend income pays my expenses for me. Simple really.
Friday, December 25, 2015
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
2015 SANTA RALLY FOR STOCKS
I may have been a little hasty in my last post, saying so much for a Santa rally in the stock market this year. Stocks are jumping today and if the Fed raises rates as expected tomorrow, it could put a lot of uncertainty to rest and make way for a tremendous rally before the end of the month. Just watched a video on CNBC where one analyst was predicting a "Rip Your Face Off" rally with stocks setting a new record high before the end of December. Not a bad thing, just hope I get to buy the extra shares I wanted before prices go up too much.
Was excited to collect my first dividend from CSX today! It wasn't really much money wise and I reinvested it instead of taking the cash, but I'm always excited to see a new stock purchase start paying. Especially when I just purchased the stock the month before, as was the case with CSX. I purchased CSX for it's history of raising dividends and intend to keep it forever or as long as they keep paying dividends.
Was excited to collect my first dividend from CSX today! It wasn't really much money wise and I reinvested it instead of taking the cash, but I'm always excited to see a new stock purchase start paying. Especially when I just purchased the stock the month before, as was the case with CSX. I purchased CSX for it's history of raising dividends and intend to keep it forever or as long as they keep paying dividends.
Monday, December 14, 2015
STOCK MARKET SETBACKS ARE GOOD TIMES TO BE DIVIDEND INVESTOR!
With the drop in oil prices, recent terrorist attack in California and expectations of interest rate increase from the Fed, the stock market has tumbled for the past week and this week may be even worse. These are the times that try men's (or at least investor's) souls. When you see steady loss in portfolio value, it's only natural to think, take the money and run. However, for dividend investors the better course of action would be to stick with your plan.
When markets start to fall, dividend stocks fall less in value because people are more willing to hang on to stocks that pay them money on a regular basis. Additionally, as stock prices drop, dividend yields go up and if you're reinvesting dividends, you get more shares with higher yields than you would have had prices remained steady or increased. Lower stock prices also present buying opportunities, allowing you to get in to new stocks, or add additional shares to stocks you already own. If you're purchasing more shares of a stock you currently hold at a lower price than your original purchase, you reduce the average cost per share of all your shares and boost the dividend yield on all shares.
So, even though we might be disappointed in not having a Santa rally this year, there are some opportunities presented by a fall in stock market prices. The most recent drop means I'll be able to increase monthly payouts by 10% in January with my Christmas bonus investment, instead of the 9% I had originally calculated! With less downside risk and greater upside potential from investments during a down market, I think stock market setbacks are definitely a good time to be a dividend investor.
When markets start to fall, dividend stocks fall less in value because people are more willing to hang on to stocks that pay them money on a regular basis. Additionally, as stock prices drop, dividend yields go up and if you're reinvesting dividends, you get more shares with higher yields than you would have had prices remained steady or increased. Lower stock prices also present buying opportunities, allowing you to get in to new stocks, or add additional shares to stocks you already own. If you're purchasing more shares of a stock you currently hold at a lower price than your original purchase, you reduce the average cost per share of all your shares and boost the dividend yield on all shares.
So, even though we might be disappointed in not having a Santa rally this year, there are some opportunities presented by a fall in stock market prices. The most recent drop means I'll be able to increase monthly payouts by 10% in January with my Christmas bonus investment, instead of the 9% I had originally calculated! With less downside risk and greater upside potential from investments during a down market, I think stock market setbacks are definitely a good time to be a dividend investor.
Friday, December 11, 2015
COLLECTED ANOTHER 6 DIVIDEND PAYMENTS FOR THE WEEK!
This Christmas season is turning out to be a very merry one after all. In spite of the recent slide in the stock market due to falling oil prices and worries over rising interest rates, monthly cash flow from dividends continue to increase. Overall value of my portfolio is down, but I'm taking comfort in the fact that lower stock prices make reinvested dividends go much farther. Which also means future monthly income is increasing at a more rapid pace, since dollars invested are purchasing more shares.
In the last two days I've collected another 6 dividend payments, bringing the monthly total to 11 payments. Still have 12 more to go! Income for the month has already surpassed 3 other months of the year and will set a new record by the end of December. We'll be collecting our Christmas bonuses at work in time for me to beat the ex-dividend date for January on new shares I'll be buying with bonus money, so I'll kick off 2016 with a 9% increase in monthly cash flow!
In the last two days I've collected another 6 dividend payments, bringing the monthly total to 11 payments. Still have 12 more to go! Income for the month has already surpassed 3 other months of the year and will set a new record by the end of December. We'll be collecting our Christmas bonuses at work in time for me to beat the ex-dividend date for January on new shares I'll be buying with bonus money, so I'll kick off 2016 with a 9% increase in monthly cash flow!
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
DECEMBER 2015 KICKS OFF WITH 5 DIVIDEND PAYMENTS!
Started the month off right with 5 dividend payments on the first day of December! It's a great start to what will be the all time record month for dividend income and total number of payments. I'm expecting another 18 payments this month for a record monthly total of 23 dividends! That in itself is pretty exciting, but it will also be the record month for dividend income since I started rebuilding my investment portfolio 3 years ago. This follows on the heels of a new record for earnings set just last month, which beat out the month of July.
Still have some Christmas shopping to finish, doing pretty good about staying in budget. Not going for any big gifts, but wanted to give a little more than last year. Certainly helps to have the extra income from my investments. Have also seen a more stable income from work this year since finding a new job last March. The benefits are much better but the total income is about the same. I expect that to improve in 2016. Still not sure about a Christmas bonus, but if I don't get one I'm still better off than my old job. At least now I get holiday pay.
I'm excited to see how the rest of the month unfolds. I don't keep track of days dividends are paid, so it's always a nice little surprise when I sign in to my account to see I've collected more money. I do kind of have an idea when most stocks pay, just not specific days. The way my investments are set up, I receive the bulk of payments at the beginning and end of the month, with some extra payments in the middle of the month. This should work out pretty well when I retire and start taking cash dividend payments to use for living expenses. For now I reinvest everything. Should I actually get a Christmas bonus, my Christmas gift to myself is to invest half my bonus in purchasing more stock. After all, a dividend stock is the gift that keeps on giving.
Still have some Christmas shopping to finish, doing pretty good about staying in budget. Not going for any big gifts, but wanted to give a little more than last year. Certainly helps to have the extra income from my investments. Have also seen a more stable income from work this year since finding a new job last March. The benefits are much better but the total income is about the same. I expect that to improve in 2016. Still not sure about a Christmas bonus, but if I don't get one I'm still better off than my old job. At least now I get holiday pay.
I'm excited to see how the rest of the month unfolds. I don't keep track of days dividends are paid, so it's always a nice little surprise when I sign in to my account to see I've collected more money. I do kind of have an idea when most stocks pay, just not specific days. The way my investments are set up, I receive the bulk of payments at the beginning and end of the month, with some extra payments in the middle of the month. This should work out pretty well when I retire and start taking cash dividend payments to use for living expenses. For now I reinvest everything. Should I actually get a Christmas bonus, my Christmas gift to myself is to invest half my bonus in purchasing more stock. After all, a dividend stock is the gift that keeps on giving.
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