Now that the transfer from Capital One to Etrade is complete, it's time to get busy building monthly dividend income again. I'm happy to report, I collected 5 great dividend payments for the first of December, reinvesting 4 to buy more shares and taking the remaining payment in cash.
I've taken a new approach to reinvesting dividends since switching to Etrade. If the stock is more than what I paid for it, I take the dividend in cash and if it's selling for less than I paid, I reinvest the dividend. My goal is to reduce the average price per share on the stocks that are down in price by reinvesting dividends at the lower price. This will put me in a better position to benefit from a recovery in share price on these stocks. As for taking cash payments from stocks that have gained in price, it may seem like it would be better to buy more shares of something that's doing good. However, my thinking here is, I don't see any of them doing well enough going forward to justify raising my average price per share by reinvesting dividend payments. So instead I'll take the cash and use that where I see more opportunity.
I'm still wanting to purchase a larger stake in AGNC. I like their monthly dividends and the high yield, but I mostly like their numbers which lead me to believe they can continue paying the dividends. So I'm wanting to build up a large stake in my Roth account to add to monthly cash flow. I do own shares in all three of my investment accounts now and plan on keeping them for the long haul.
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
TURNING A NEGATIVE LIFE EVENT INTO A POSITIVE
A couple of weeks ago, I got woke up at 2 am. by my neighbor pounding on my front door. He told me someone just messed up my car. Apparently a hit and run driver ran off the road, crashed into my car in the driveway and took off. One look at my car convinced me it would be totaled by the insurance company. Right then and there I decided not to let this be a catastrophic event. I had full coverage on my car, so I knew I would get something for it.
As it turned out, the police were able to catch the driver of the other vehicle. However, when I called to file a claim with his insurance, they told me his insurance number was invalid. So I had to file a claim with my own insurance. They sent a tow truck to tow my car to the body shop for an estimate on repairs. I was still convinced they would total the car, so I began looking for a replacement. I estimated what I thought I'd get after the deductible and shopped online for a car with comparable mileage to my old car and within the price range of the insurance settlement. I did research on used vehicles concerning reliability and gas mileage while I shopped and narrowed my picks down to a Toyota Corolla or a Ford Focus. When the insurance company called to tell me they'd decided on a total loss and confirmed how much they'd be paying for my car, I went and bought the Ford Focus. I'd have preferred the Corolla, but it was already sold.
After all was said and done, I bought a car 6 years newer than my previous car. It was priced at $2,400 but I got it for $1,950. It needs a few minor repairs, which I'll pay for with the $650 I had left over from the insurance money after buying the Focus and getting it licensed and insured. My insurance is less on the newer car and I'm averaging 28.5 miles per gallon on gasoline, so I'll save money going forward. Should I have any money left after making repairs, I'll put that toward purchasing more shares of a monthly dividend stock, so I can continue to collect from this incident. Also, should my insurance be able to collect from the driver of the other vehicle, I'll be reimbursed for my $500 deductible.
So with a little thought and action on my part, I took what could have been a very negative situation and turned it into a positive one.
As it turned out, the police were able to catch the driver of the other vehicle. However, when I called to file a claim with his insurance, they told me his insurance number was invalid. So I had to file a claim with my own insurance. They sent a tow truck to tow my car to the body shop for an estimate on repairs. I was still convinced they would total the car, so I began looking for a replacement. I estimated what I thought I'd get after the deductible and shopped online for a car with comparable mileage to my old car and within the price range of the insurance settlement. I did research on used vehicles concerning reliability and gas mileage while I shopped and narrowed my picks down to a Toyota Corolla or a Ford Focus. When the insurance company called to tell me they'd decided on a total loss and confirmed how much they'd be paying for my car, I went and bought the Ford Focus. I'd have preferred the Corolla, but it was already sold.
After all was said and done, I bought a car 6 years newer than my previous car. It was priced at $2,400 but I got it for $1,950. It needs a few minor repairs, which I'll pay for with the $650 I had left over from the insurance money after buying the Focus and getting it licensed and insured. My insurance is less on the newer car and I'm averaging 28.5 miles per gallon on gasoline, so I'll save money going forward. Should I have any money left after making repairs, I'll put that toward purchasing more shares of a monthly dividend stock, so I can continue to collect from this incident. Also, should my insurance be able to collect from the driver of the other vehicle, I'll be reimbursed for my $500 deductible.
So with a little thought and action on my part, I took what could have been a very negative situation and turned it into a positive one.
Friday, November 23, 2018
FIRST STOCK PURCHASE THROUGH ETRADE
I made my first stock purchase through my new Etrade account. Decided to buy more shares of AGNC for my Roth IRA and my regular taxable account. AGNC's numbers look very promising and I love the monthly dividends. Their monthly dividend of eighteen cents per shares works out to a 12.34% yield on their recent price of $17.42 per share. With earnings per shares far exceeding current dividend payouts, I think it will be a good pick for my portfolio going forward. I wouldn't suggest anyone else buy into it without first doing some research to see if it fits with their own investment plan.
My car was totaled by a hit and run driver while parked in my front driveway last week. So it's been a hectic 2 weeks, replacing my vehicle, dealing with the insurance, working extra hours and spending time with the family for Thanksgiving. I'm very tired, but happy to report that it all worked out well. With a lot of research, I was able to buy a car 6 years newer than the one I lost, using only the insurance settlement and none of my own money. Actually had about $460 left over, which I'll use to get any work needed on the car. I bought a smaller car with much better gas mileage, so it should save me a great deal going forward. I'm pretty happy with the way it all worked out.
With market prices down, I'm currently reinvesting all dividends. I figure I'll take advantage of the lower prices to pick up more shares of current holdings at lower prices. It will also help reduce the average price per share. So when the market eventually goes back up, I'll be in a much better position to profit on my holdings. In the mean time, I'm happy to keep collecting the dividends and watching the payments increase month after month.
My car was totaled by a hit and run driver while parked in my front driveway last week. So it's been a hectic 2 weeks, replacing my vehicle, dealing with the insurance, working extra hours and spending time with the family for Thanksgiving. I'm very tired, but happy to report that it all worked out well. With a lot of research, I was able to buy a car 6 years newer than the one I lost, using only the insurance settlement and none of my own money. Actually had about $460 left over, which I'll use to get any work needed on the car. I bought a smaller car with much better gas mileage, so it should save me a great deal going forward. I'm pretty happy with the way it all worked out.
With market prices down, I'm currently reinvesting all dividends. I figure I'll take advantage of the lower prices to pick up more shares of current holdings at lower prices. It will also help reduce the average price per share. So when the market eventually goes back up, I'll be in a much better position to profit on my holdings. In the mean time, I'm happy to keep collecting the dividends and watching the payments increase month after month.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
MOVE TO ETRADE COMPLETE!
It was a long time in coming, but the transfer of my investment accounts to Etrade is now complete. While I've been spending a lot of time getting acquainted with their format, I think I'm really going to like the move. I made my first cash deposit into my taxable account. I had drawn quite a lot of money out before the move, mostly to pay for medical bills not covered by my insurance. However, I'm in a position now to start replacing the money I took out, thanks in large part to the extra cash I've been earning from Prizerebel, Swagbucks and MyPoints.
Haven't decided on my first stock purchase yet. I'll probably go with a monthly dividend ETF. Most likely it will be one of the ones they offer with no commissions. Haven't figured out how to find those yet, but I know they offer them. I could just buy more shares of SDIV, but I think I can do better income wise. So I'm going to shop around.
I did get signed up for dividend reinvestment. Want to take advantage of the current lower prices in the market to add to all my positions. Also leaning very heavily toward adding a great deal to my position in AGNC. As a dividend investor, I love the monthly dividends with the 12.14% yield, but I'm especially crazy about their earnings per share of $3.17 compared to their annualized payout of $2.16! Add in a price to earnings of only 5.65 and I think I'd be crazy not to buy more. I'm always cautious when it comes to real estate trusts because I've been burned in the past. However, in those cases they were paying out huge dividends without the earnings to back it up. So I'm pretty optimistic about this one. I already hold shares in my IRA and Roth IRA, but I think I'll boost my holdings in the Roth account as soon as I have the available cash.
If my workplace comes through with the Christmas bonus this year, I plan on investing the majority of the money. We haven't had a very good year, so I'm not sure whether we'll get a bonus or not. I would think so, but in case we don't, I don't want to be disappointed by not being able to go ahead with my investment plans. So I'm looking at ways to boost my investments and dividend income outside of getting a bonus.
My 401k just keeps racking up the cash. The investment performance is lackluster at best and I hate the fees. But I would not have that money in my portfolio if it weren't for the 401k, since the deductions from my paycheck come mostly from taxes. So I'm pretty happy to see the balance increase every payday. When I'm ready to retire, I plan on rolling that money over into my Roth IRA. It should provide a substantial boost to monthly dividend income and I'm pretty happy about that.
Haven't decided on my first stock purchase yet. I'll probably go with a monthly dividend ETF. Most likely it will be one of the ones they offer with no commissions. Haven't figured out how to find those yet, but I know they offer them. I could just buy more shares of SDIV, but I think I can do better income wise. So I'm going to shop around.
I did get signed up for dividend reinvestment. Want to take advantage of the current lower prices in the market to add to all my positions. Also leaning very heavily toward adding a great deal to my position in AGNC. As a dividend investor, I love the monthly dividends with the 12.14% yield, but I'm especially crazy about their earnings per share of $3.17 compared to their annualized payout of $2.16! Add in a price to earnings of only 5.65 and I think I'd be crazy not to buy more. I'm always cautious when it comes to real estate trusts because I've been burned in the past. However, in those cases they were paying out huge dividends without the earnings to back it up. So I'm pretty optimistic about this one. I already hold shares in my IRA and Roth IRA, but I think I'll boost my holdings in the Roth account as soon as I have the available cash.
If my workplace comes through with the Christmas bonus this year, I plan on investing the majority of the money. We haven't had a very good year, so I'm not sure whether we'll get a bonus or not. I would think so, but in case we don't, I don't want to be disappointed by not being able to go ahead with my investment plans. So I'm looking at ways to boost my investments and dividend income outside of getting a bonus.
My 401k just keeps racking up the cash. The investment performance is lackluster at best and I hate the fees. But I would not have that money in my portfolio if it weren't for the 401k, since the deductions from my paycheck come mostly from taxes. So I'm pretty happy to see the balance increase every payday. When I'm ready to retire, I plan on rolling that money over into my Roth IRA. It should provide a substantial boost to monthly dividend income and I'm pretty happy about that.
Thursday, October 18, 2018
MOVE TO ETRADE NOVEMBER 5th
Well it's been months in the making but the move from Capital One Investing to Etrade is finally near. As of Friday Nov. 3rd all accounts will be transferred to Etrade and available for access on Monday, November 5th, 2018. I'm actually pretty excited about the move. I made a lot of changes in my holdings prior to the move, so it will be a fresh start with Etrade. Can't wait to get things moving again.
Just as an update, I'll still be collecting 496 dividend payments per year from my current holdings. This does not include any dividends paid through my 401k account. I also receive 40 interest payments per year. While total dividends and interest are still way short of the amount I'd need to live on, they are increasing every month. I've also started to make a substantial amount on my side gig doing surveys on the internet. So 2018 hasn't been an entirely bad year for me.
Just as an update, I'll still be collecting 496 dividend payments per year from my current holdings. This does not include any dividends paid through my 401k account. I also receive 40 interest payments per year. While total dividends and interest are still way short of the amount I'd need to live on, they are increasing every month. I've also started to make a substantial amount on my side gig doing surveys on the internet. So 2018 hasn't been an entirely bad year for me.
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
HEALTH ISSUES SLOW BLOG POSTS
I didn't realize until today, that it had been over two months since I'd posted to my investment blog. I've been dealing with health issues, mostly related to advanced osteoarthritis. I was at the point of losing my ability to walk, but with the help of a good chiropractor, I'm doing much better now.
Being distracted does not mean I've been inactive. On the contrary, I've made several adjustments to my portfolio in the past couple of months to boost monthly dividend income. I've also streamlined my investments by selling off some individual shares and putting the money to work elsewhere. Unfortunately, health care is expensive and I had to take money from my taxable investment account to pay for some of my care. This has only been a minor setback, since at the same time I was adding to my 401k and reinvesting monthly dividends. So my total investments are about the same as before, except for the recent drop in market prices.
Speaking of the drop in market prices, I'm thinking this may be a good time to add to some of my positions, reducing average price per share by buying additional shares at the lower price. I'll be looking for opportunities to do this after the transfer of my accounts from Capital One to Etrade are completed. In the mean time, I'm letting dividend payments accumulate as cash balances in my accounts. While I'm big on automatic reinvestment, since it avoids commissions, I've seen some advantage to taking all dividends in cash. The main advantage being that I'm able to direct the cash towards the higher dividend paying stocks. While commissions eat into that somewhat, the higher monthly payments may make it all worthwhile.
One thing I'm excited about with Etrade are all the funds they offer with no commission charges. I've already bought a stake in SDIV which is available through Etrade with no commission charges. I also like the fact that I can select which stocks to reinvest dividends and which ones to collect cash. Of course I was able to do this with Capital One as well, but I'm glad I'll be able to continue doing so.
Made some advancements in paying down old debt, which I'm very happy with. I'll be even happier when I get the first one paid off entirely. After I pay off the first bill, I'll be directing the money from that payment towards paying off the next one, so they'll be dropping fast! I'm pretty excited about that!
Last month I looked at the paid survey sights I'd been working with online, with a view to increasing income from those. I'm happy to report a dramatic increase in income from this source. Not only will it help to pay off old debt, but it will be a boon to my investment accounts, since I'll have more free cash to invest. I like the idea of turning money into more money!
Being distracted does not mean I've been inactive. On the contrary, I've made several adjustments to my portfolio in the past couple of months to boost monthly dividend income. I've also streamlined my investments by selling off some individual shares and putting the money to work elsewhere. Unfortunately, health care is expensive and I had to take money from my taxable investment account to pay for some of my care. This has only been a minor setback, since at the same time I was adding to my 401k and reinvesting monthly dividends. So my total investments are about the same as before, except for the recent drop in market prices.
Speaking of the drop in market prices, I'm thinking this may be a good time to add to some of my positions, reducing average price per share by buying additional shares at the lower price. I'll be looking for opportunities to do this after the transfer of my accounts from Capital One to Etrade are completed. In the mean time, I'm letting dividend payments accumulate as cash balances in my accounts. While I'm big on automatic reinvestment, since it avoids commissions, I've seen some advantage to taking all dividends in cash. The main advantage being that I'm able to direct the cash towards the higher dividend paying stocks. While commissions eat into that somewhat, the higher monthly payments may make it all worthwhile.
One thing I'm excited about with Etrade are all the funds they offer with no commission charges. I've already bought a stake in SDIV which is available through Etrade with no commission charges. I also like the fact that I can select which stocks to reinvest dividends and which ones to collect cash. Of course I was able to do this with Capital One as well, but I'm glad I'll be able to continue doing so.
Made some advancements in paying down old debt, which I'm very happy with. I'll be even happier when I get the first one paid off entirely. After I pay off the first bill, I'll be directing the money from that payment towards paying off the next one, so they'll be dropping fast! I'm pretty excited about that!
Last month I looked at the paid survey sights I'd been working with online, with a view to increasing income from those. I'm happy to report a dramatic increase in income from this source. Not only will it help to pay off old debt, but it will be a boon to my investment accounts, since I'll have more free cash to invest. I like the idea of turning money into more money!
CASHED IN GAIN ON HWBK AND BOUGHT MORE AGNC
I'd been sitting on a gain of over 51% on my HWBK shares in my IRA for quite some time now. While I think it's a pretty decent stock, I wasn't really making much in dividends. So I sold all shares, collected the gain and reinvested the money in more shares of AGNC. This more than doubles the amount of money I was earning in dividends from HWBK for the same dollar investment and the dividend is paid monthly.
AGNC has a dividend of .18 cents per share or an 11.59% yield on their current price of $18.70 per share. Their price to earnings is 5.4 with earnings per share of $3.46. Since the stock price is currently down from my initial buy in price, I've also lowered my average price per share. Overall, I'm pretty happy with this trade and look forward to collecting dividends from AGNC for many years to come.
AGNC has a dividend of .18 cents per share or an 11.59% yield on their current price of $18.70 per share. Their price to earnings is 5.4 with earnings per share of $3.46. Since the stock price is currently down from my initial buy in price, I've also lowered my average price per share. Overall, I'm pretty happy with this trade and look forward to collecting dividends from AGNC for many years to come.
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