BOOSTED MONTHLY DIVIDENDS ANOTHER 1%!

With Capital One Investing transferring all their investors accounts to Etrade in August, I was forced to sell fractional shares from reinvested dividends.  After liquidating the shares, it occurred to me that I could reinvest the money in mutual funds which allow for fractional share transfers.  So I took the cash from the fractional shares and used it to purchase additional shares of FTF and ZTR.  The new shares will boost monthly dividend income by 1%!  So as it turned out, this wasn't an entirely bad thing.  I took lemons and made lemonade.

Now that I'm finding out more about Etrade, I've decided to keep my accounts with them instead of transferring to TD Ameritrade.  While I still think TD Ameritrade is better, I believe I can work with Etrade and avoid the hassle of moving my accounts a second time.  

Can't say I'm especially proud of the performance of my 401k, although the account is making money.  It's just not making much money.  I've always thought TransAmerica was a very good company.  They're the ones managing my 401k.  I have to say I'd really like to see on my account statements when or if my dividend funds payout dividends.  For some reason, that information is not provided.  Otherwise, I'm O.K. with how things are going there.  I'm certainly stockpiling a lot of extra retirement savings I probably wouldn't have, had I not signed up for the 401k.

Can't wait to get things moving with Etrade.  I've researched some of their "no fee" funds and have already purchased a stake in one.  I have another one I'd like to buy shares in as cash permits.  That probably won't happen until my accounts are transferred over.  I'll have to get my dividend reinvestment program in place.  It's a little more involved with them than it was at Capital One, but it doesn't seem especially difficult.  I'm excited about the move.  Sometimes change is good.

KEEP YOUR MONEY MOVING!

I've been reading a lot lately about the laws of attraction, especially pertaining to attracting money.  One thing that struck me as really profound is that money is energy and needs to be in a state of flow.  Normally people think of money as coming in and flowing back out to bills and expenses, but we should never forget it's just as easy to spend your money on tools to make more money as it is to spend it on things you probably don't really need.  

I have a weakness for electronic gadgets and have a tendency to spend too much money on them.  Even though I know I don't really need them.  Lately I've taken to asking myself whether these things will increase or decrease cash flow.  So I've cut way back on the amount of money I spend on things and use it instead to buy more dividend stocks to increase money coming in.  If you get in the habit of spending your money on things that will bring you more money instead of things that collect dust around your house, eventually you'll be making way more than you ever thought possible.  

So you need to keep your money moving.  But most importantly, you need to keep it moving in the right direction.  Make a habit of it.  Once it comes in, pay yourself and put that money to work earning you more money.  Then pay your bills and expenses and if there's anything left, you can buy the extra things that you want.  

SDIV REPLACES NRZ AS MY FINAL STOCK PURCHASE WITH CAP ONE

After doing a little more research on Etrade, I decided I may leave my account with them after it's transferred from Capital One.  With that in mind, I looked up a list of their commission free funds and identified two monthly payers with high yields and low price to earnings.  So I cancelled my purchase of NRZ and put in an order for SDIV instead.  Once my account transfers to Etrade, I'll be able to purchase additional shares of SDIV commission free!  Not to mention this initial stake will increase monthly dividends by over 1%!

Once my account is transferred and I have the DRIP plan in place, I'll also be purchasing shares of SRET.  It's a REIT with a yield of 8.4% and a P/E of only 9.49 and pays monthly dividends as well.  In order to have more cash on hand, I'll be taking all dividend income from my taxable account in cash.  I'll transfer that to an interest bearing account to hold for a rainy day or in case some incredible opportunities should pop up in the future.  As for my retirement accounts, I'll be mostly reinvesting dividends, although I think I'll make an exception for the bond funds and take those payments in cash.  

At the beginning of the year, I certainly didn't expect to make so many changes.  However, sometimes change is good and you got to roll with the punches, especially where the stock market is concerned.  So I'm excited and optimistic about the changes.  I think there could be some real opportunities here to take my investments to the next level.