After taking in to consideration the state of the U.S. and world economy I've decided to keep things simple for the first part of 2012 and invest in utilities. I've written in earlier posts my reasons for believing utility companies will do well for the next few years, so I've picked out what I believe to be some of the best of the best to beef up the utility section of my portfolio and increase monthly cash flows. Increasing monthly cash flow while keeping risk at a minimum is my biggest investment goal for the year.
I'm still working on rebuilding my investment portfolio after the big payouts on health care from my heart attack. Of course I still have the expense of ongoing care, with no insurance, but I've managed to keep expenses to a manageable level so far. Things should be even easier as more of my old debts are paid off this year. I should be entirely debt free by the end of 2012, which frees up money spent on debt for building my dividend stock portfolio. I have already doubled my monthly cash investment and will continue to increase contributions as bills are paid off.
So the simple overall plan is pay off debt and buy utilities for 2012. May not be the best of plans, but I'm sure I could do a lot worse.
Showing posts with label new year investment plan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new year investment plan. Show all posts
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
TIME TO REVIEW INVESTMENT PLAN
Started the new year off right with dividends from Westar Energy (WR), Glaxo Smith Klein (GSK) and Reynolds American International (RAI). There is a lot of uncertainty going into earnings season with efforts to shore up the Euro, so not really sure where the market is headed. The jobs report gave us a little boost, but I wouldn't count on that to last long.
January is the month I usually review my investment plan and make any revisions I think necessary. Also working on getting all my tax paperwork together to file my income taxes. Will probably get a small refund this year, which I plan to invest solely in my taxable account to build monthly cash flow. I invest in my taxable account and my IRA every month but I look forward to these small windfalls from tax refunds to give my portfolio a boost.
January is the month I usually review my investment plan and make any revisions I think necessary. Also working on getting all my tax paperwork together to file my income taxes. Will probably get a small refund this year, which I plan to invest solely in my taxable account to build monthly cash flow. I invest in my taxable account and my IRA every month but I look forward to these small windfalls from tax refunds to give my portfolio a boost.
Monday, September 12, 2011
TWEEKING MY TAXABLE PORTFOLIO
I've been concentrating a lot lately on my tax deferred retirement accounts and decided it was high time I took a close look at my investment plan for my taxable portfolio. I spent a few hours this afternoon reviewing my holdings and decided to purchase shares in 3 utility companies to round out my account. I put in an order to buy shares of DUK, AEP and EXC. All three stocks have dividend yields close to or above 5% which will add nicely to my cash flow. I've set my account to reinvest dividends automatically in 2 different stocks per month and pay the remaining 6 dividends to my cash account. In this way I'll be building a nice cash reserve in an FDIC insured, interest paying account and will be increasing my stock holdings at the same time.
For a while I had been reinvesting all dividends, however, since I've signed up for the savings plan at work and I'm still investing in my own IRA account, with the new plan for my taxable account I'll have tripled my savings contributions per month. I think that's probably enough. The great thing about my current investment plan is that it's all automated. Everything is set so I have to do nothing but sit back and watch the dividends roll in! Of course I'll still be actively managing my accounts, making sure that my investment choices are still right for my goals, but otherwise there is very little for me to do. That's the way it should be, something simple that allows you to sleep at night.
For a while I had been reinvesting all dividends, however, since I've signed up for the savings plan at work and I'm still investing in my own IRA account, with the new plan for my taxable account I'll have tripled my savings contributions per month. I think that's probably enough. The great thing about my current investment plan is that it's all automated. Everything is set so I have to do nothing but sit back and watch the dividends roll in! Of course I'll still be actively managing my accounts, making sure that my investment choices are still right for my goals, but otherwise there is very little for me to do. That's the way it should be, something simple that allows you to sleep at night.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
NEVER TOUCH YOUR CAPITAL!
I was reading some of my older posts and came across "Never Spend Your Capital" from December of 2007. If you'd like to read the original post you can find it in MBCI's archive posts for the 14th of Dec. 2007.
The point I most wanted to make with that post is to set a rule for building your investments. Once you commit a dollar to your investment plan, never take it out. When you make it a rule to never spend your investment capital, that money will work for you 24/7. Like I mentioned in the earlier post, it's like having your own money machine. You earn whether you do any physical work or not. So you've set that money aside, let your investment dollars continue to work for you.
The point I most wanted to make with that post is to set a rule for building your investments. Once you commit a dollar to your investment plan, never take it out. When you make it a rule to never spend your investment capital, that money will work for you 24/7. Like I mentioned in the earlier post, it's like having your own money machine. You earn whether you do any physical work or not. So you've set that money aside, let your investment dollars continue to work for you.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!
It's hard to believe it's Thanksgiving already and before we know it Christmas and New Years Day will be here. So I'll take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! I guess I'm most thankful for being back at work. While my new job leaves a lot to be desired, I'm thankful for having a job at all, when so many people are unemployed.
Looking ahead to the new year, I'm working on my investment plan. I've decided to take advantage of the capital gains on some of my stocks and retire the remaining debt on my credit cards. At the same time I plan to sell some of the underperforming stocks in my personal portfolio and divert the cash to more shares in master limited partnerships. This should reduce my tax liability in the coming years, while increasing average monthly cash flow from dividends. The increased cash flow and reduction in taxes, should more than make up for the loss of dividends from the stocks I'm selling to pay off old credit card debt. I'm only keeping 2 credit cards and using them very sparingly. Maybe one of these days the credit card companies will come to their senses and if not I'll simply avoid doing business with them.
Back in August I wrote about some of my investments in Master Limited Partnerships (see: http://thebluecollarinvestor.blogspot.com/2009/08/mlps-start-paying-off.html) and how they were beginning to pay off. I've been very pleased with their performance and look forward to earning even more going forward. I really love the idea of tax advantaged income outside of my IRA account.
For the new year, I'm also looking in to starting a new business or possibly purchasing a business in partnership with some of my family members or friends. I am aware of the risks involved in starting a business, but I'm also well aware of the potential rewards if the business is successful. No concrete plans yet, but I'm definitely interested in starting a business of my own.
Looking ahead to the new year, I'm working on my investment plan. I've decided to take advantage of the capital gains on some of my stocks and retire the remaining debt on my credit cards. At the same time I plan to sell some of the underperforming stocks in my personal portfolio and divert the cash to more shares in master limited partnerships. This should reduce my tax liability in the coming years, while increasing average monthly cash flow from dividends. The increased cash flow and reduction in taxes, should more than make up for the loss of dividends from the stocks I'm selling to pay off old credit card debt. I'm only keeping 2 credit cards and using them very sparingly. Maybe one of these days the credit card companies will come to their senses and if not I'll simply avoid doing business with them.
Back in August I wrote about some of my investments in Master Limited Partnerships (see: http://thebluecollarinvestor.blogspot.com/2009/08/mlps-start-paying-off.html) and how they were beginning to pay off. I've been very pleased with their performance and look forward to earning even more going forward. I really love the idea of tax advantaged income outside of my IRA account.
For the new year, I'm also looking in to starting a new business or possibly purchasing a business in partnership with some of my family members or friends. I am aware of the risks involved in starting a business, but I'm also well aware of the potential rewards if the business is successful. No concrete plans yet, but I'm definitely interested in starting a business of my own.
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