This is my January 7, 2018 Net Worth update! My net worth rose $112,716.39 total for the year 2017. My portfolio rose $53,364.50. I contributed $14,420.00 to my portfolio and earned $9050.24 in dividends and capital gains.
Pot stocks recently attracted my attention so I ended up purchasing eight stocks which can be found in my Roth. I believe in the benefits of cannabis oil as a medicine and since Canada should legalize in July I figured it would be a good purchase. So far I have earned $2000.00 but the market appears to be quite volatile. I am considering selling and using the gains as a small stash to use to dabble in daily trading. 🙂 Pot stocks are the only non dividend producing stocks that I have ever purchased. However I appreciate the slow and steady course of dividend investing and will therefore continue to mainly invest the dividend way most of the time.
In the month of December I also found myself purchasing several reit type stocks that can be found in my Roth. I was feverishly looking for good dividend payers and when I happened upon a discussion forum on Fidelity’s website that discussed high dividend yielders I could not resist. I jotted down several names from the thread and ended up purchasing them. The stocks are ARI, ARES, CIM, HTGC, NLY, NRZ, and TCAP. Once I realized I would not be quitting my job I pulled the money from my emergency savings and plopped it into my Roth. So far, as of this writing, I have maxed out my Roth for 2017 and 2018, filling it up with reit type stocks and pot stocks 🙂
My goal for 2018 is to save as much money as possible. I cannot take the flu shot again so I will have to quit if, once again, I cannot find a doctor to write an exemption letter. I really just want to quit, so if I were to get out of taking the flu shot it may not make a difference. I may still quit. The daily grind is taking its toll. My physical state is suffering and I need relief from the daily grind. The question I wonder about is would quitting place me into a worse state? I do believe that if I kept working until the age of 49 I could have 1 million dollars saved if the bull market continues… But does it really matter? Health is true wealth and my physical state is suffering which is affecting my imagination and creativity. Imagination is everything to me, having the freedom and strength to imagine….
In the foreseeable future I would eventually like to buy a camper van to travel and live in part time! We shall see but this is something I would really like to do… I need to see California, Yosemite, the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument…Nova Scotia, Michigan……..Superstition mts…. Stay tuned!
I was going over my portfolio changes for 2016. My portfolio, which consists of a brokerage account and Roth IRA, experienced a combined increase of $47,946.42 for 2016! That is great news especially since I added approximately $20,000.00.
It is nice to see portfolio increases but dividend increases are equally as important and more important in some ways. An interesting detail occurred in that the dividends earned in 2016 surpassed those of 2015 by only $700.00! I began dividend investing in 2015. Starting in April, 2015’s dividend total does not even represent a full year.
With $20,000.00 invested in newly purchased dividend stocks I was hoping to reach $7000.00 in dividends in 2016. I believe there are two reasons why I did not reach $7000.00. Most of my Roth IRA consists of a mutual fund. The mutual fund produces “distributions” every quarter, not dividends, and these “distributions” vary. For instance I made $1435.63 less in distributions from my mutual fund in 2016 than in 2015. Adding $1435.63 to my dividend 2016 income of $5884.16 equals $7319.79…
Would selling off my mutual fund and investing in dividend stocks increase my earnings? That is the question I keep asking myself and need to research throughout the coming year.
The second reason I think my dividends did not reach $7000.00 is because the “snowball” is just getting started. I am new to dividend investing and am thinking there might be a cyclical pattern of increasing dividends? For instance maybe 2017 will yield a noticeable difference after two years of monetary additions? This is just a hunch and I am a newbie but I will definitely look into selling my mutual fund for single stocks.
New Perspective
Sometimes I feel guilty for going over my dollar earnings, feeling like I am being greedy or something as I count all my cash. Well, I have reminded myself that cash value is relative and my savings is paltry to some and grandiose to others and the cost of my monthly bills places my savings amounts into perspective. If I had a $1500.00 per month mortgage this would be a totally different blog. So, it is all relative…
Well, I now feel a little less guilty about “counting my cash” each month because I see how it is a protective measure for me and my life.
I sometimes get a cold but never severe enough to call in to work. I have called into work at total of three times in the past 14.5 years. Unfortunately I was stricken with shingles about two weeks ago. It was a good thing that I happened to schedule some vacation time during this outbreak but I still needed to call in for two days. As I type this I am still in pain and wonder if I will make it in on Tuesday.
Shingles is one of the most physically painful things I have ever experienced. The condition is horrible and I feel sick thinking about its symptoms, it is a very agonizingly sickening condition. I have a new empathy for anyone who has experienced… shingles.
As I rested on the couch again yesterday, feeling as if I was suffering the aftermath of a shark attack, it was a great comfort to see that I earned $69.73 in dividends on that day! Without doing anything! With no fees! This is such a comfort to me because at that moment I was once again contemplating quitting my job, taking money considerations into account.
I am grateful for dividend bloggers such as Jason Fieber for constructing the Dividend Mantra blog, which is now discontinued, because it was available at just the right time for me in 2015 to learn what I needed to know. This topic of early retirement is not greed, it is survival. I believe that people such as myself will not make it to retirement at 65, we are sensitive individuals, easily stressed and weeded out if not careful…
Shingles has left me wondering if my lower back will be okay? I am being melodramatic but it has caused a lower back pain I never had. Shingles arises from dormancy from something called a dermatome and in my case this happened to be located in the area of the L2 and L3 dermatomes of my lower back. The dermatomes extended and spread the rash as the they twisted and turned from my right upper hip into my right outer and inner thigh, and finally to the back of my knee.
I could feel the inflammation begin in my lower back as the rash began. I had to work at my job during the beginning of the shingles pain since it occurred on Christmas and I was scheduled for the entire weekend. There are many areas of pain in the affected areas of a bought of shingles and different types of pain, horrible, electrocution type shocks of pain and others that I do not want to remember…shingles will make you cry.
For now I seem to be on the mend. I become happy when I realize there are areas that feel better but then sad when I realize I still have pain. It has been exactly two weeks since the very initial symptoms of a deeply achy femur bone. I believe stress played a role in my shingles development; I work too hard and need to take a long break and do the things I want to do. I want a garden and I want to raise monarch butterflies, and hike and take trips. I basically do nothing but work and it is catching up with me and it is now obvious through the effects of shingles.
I realize that I have to keep stress at bay because I DO NOT want shingles to come back. I have been longing for a free life for too long. I plan to manage stress with yoga and detoxing, things I have always believed-in but found very hard to do…and look at where it got me!
Outer Thigh
Inner Thigh
On a lighter note these are some of the places and things I got involved in before shingles. I was happy to find some “mid century modern” chairs at a local thrift store. Their brand name is Viko and they were manufactured in 1959, if I am correct, in Pennsylvania.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…”
This may sound like an angry post, that is because I feel very passionate about the topic of forced vaccinations. I am not against vaccinations but FORCED vaccinations, refer to the quote above, taken from The Declaration of Independence.
When I look at these pictures I think of how beautiful they are. Having been taken, in September 2015, with an ordinary digital camera, and no other aids, they turned out quite good. You can see the effervescent glow produced by the sun’s rays as it reflects off the “super moon.” Starting at picture #1, you can observe the Earth’s shadow as it slowly encroaches upon the orbiting moon and creates the blood moon at picture #8. Picture #1 was taken at 2047 and picture #11 was taken at 0158. Picture #10 and #11 are the moon as it emerges from the Earth’s shadow.
As I sit here writing this I cannot help but think about the way in which my unalienable rights are being trampled upon. Having my rights taken away in this fashion has caused me to research daily the slow encroachment of the government into my daily life, more specifically, the CDC, BIG PHARMA, and the FDA!!!!
I know about them. I now know that the pharmaceutical industry is the richest of all US job sectors and that they are using this huge resource, (their money from OUR tax dollars) to lobby in Washington DC to get laws enacted that suit their agenda.
BIG Pharma’s agenda is to create a demand for their products. And just as coal companies pursue coal mines for their profit, and oil companies pursue oil wells, and fisherman pursue fish, the pharmaceutical companies pursue the human body and have claimed the human population as their own capital!!!
The pharmaceutical companies are pursuing this “untapped market”, the adult population, even more aggressively than ever by Forcing vaccinations upon us! If we the people do not stop the pharmaceutical companies now we will be destroyed by their products!!!!! By the year 2025 it is estimated that 1 in 2 children will have autism!!!
And they wrecked a potentially good thing. I had childhood vaccinations but decided not to take any additional vaccines after a bad experience with the hepatitis b vaccine. But I still had respect for vaccine makers because they served a good purpose by helping mankind in times of crisis, such as a malignant TB, flu, or Ebola pandemic, and I thought they realized this was intended their role. Greed has set in and their benevolent role has been eclipsed by their lust for money through the forced vaccination gold mine, specifically with the flu vaccine since it is being pushed to be a YEARLY VACCINE, from cradle to grave. In addition to the flu vaccine, companies like Pfizer have now pounced upon the irresistible revenue potential of vaccines and have developed there own vaccine schedule. I have lost respect for pharmaceutical companies and the family practitioners. They have ABUSED their power and influence on the citizens of this country.
My Philosophy
When I was in grade school I had the flu 2-3 times, once per year. I remember vividly one year arriving home from school on a Friday, immediately developing a horrible headache, overcome with the need to sleep, and being bedridden for a week with the flu.
I did not go to the hospital ER, it was the FLU. My mother monitored my temperature and we let the sickness run its course. I remember having chills, being unable to stand, sweating, horrible aches, and sleeping constantly. But it was the FLU. It was not fatal, it was the FLU. Nowadays, the flu is portrayed to be a death sentence and I do not think all the hype is an accident.
We are being brainwashed to fear catching the flu. It is a scare tactic used by the media, who is controlled by pharmaceutical companies, to sell their product the flu vaccine that is only 50-60% effective and half the time <50% effective. I have observed the flu virus grow into an increasingly dangerous threat year after year. I have witnessed the slow but steady push to get vaccinated, (but as least not forcefully!), bemused by this increasingly wimpy culture whipping itself into a frenzy over nothing; but I knew there was nothing to worry about, it was just the flu, and I believed I was protected from it by having it in my childhood.
I believe that I am currently protected from the flu because I HAD the FLU in grade school. Having the flu protected me by developing my immune system to be able to fight efficiently. I believe this because I have not had a severe flu since that time. Looking back over the years I may have had the flu, but it was very mild, lasting only one day.
This is my philosophy: the immune system is naturally crafted, from cradle to grave, by the antigens to which it is exposed. The introduction to vaccines might hinder this process by tampering with the immune system’s own growth process. A caterpillar must be left alone and not “helped”, when embarking upon the difficult process of emerging from its cocoon. If “helped”, its wings will not be able to form correctly and it will NEVER be able to fly. Our precious immune systems can be looked at in a similar way, they should not be “helped,” or they may never be strong enough to support us our entire lives.
Affects of my “unalienable rights being trampled upon”, on this blog
My life has been mildly turned upside down. I am having trouble sleeping and have lost some of my zest for life. I hoped to write a post during the month of August about my one year anniversary of paying cash for my townhouse and what it is like living here. I really like living in my townhouse. The previous owner decorated nicely and I wanted to show the way that three complimentary wall colors can make a living area warm and cozy.
But I do not want to write about the paint colors she chose. In fact I am trying to keep my happiness about living in my own paid for townhouse at bay because I fear that sometime in the near future I may be forced to leave my townhouse by either moving to another country or being forcefully removed and sent to a prison camp for being a “public health threat” by my choice not to take a forced vaccine.
This sounds very conspiratorial and I never took conspiracy theories seriously until Wednesday August 3, 2016 when I was told I would have to take a flu shot against my will or possibly lose my job. Because this happened to me I am able to personally understand having my “unalienable rights” trampled upon. These are the rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Unalienable rights are rights given to us by our Creator, they form a protective shield around our human condition. The government has no right to trample upon these rights, they are God given. Because my autonomy has been disregarded I am fearful that one day government agents will be banging on my door to either give me my forced vaccine cocktail for “public safety”, or be kidnapped and taken to prison. This is happening because the government wants more control and the pharmaceutical companies see individuals simply as a “market.”
I will not be contributing to my 403b. If the government, who is controlled by pharmaceutical companies, can force United States citizens to take a vaccine, they can FORCE ANYTHING! I fear our 401ks and 403bs might be horrendously taxed, up to 70 or 80%. I do not trust the government have some control of my 403b and have reverted to contributing my savings to my brokerage account only.
Obama Care’s Role
OBAMA care must be abolished because Obama Care is being used to annihilate the middle class. Obama Care already costs the middle class a fortune, 70% of its cost is paid for by the middle class! There are also some very unconstitutional schemes associated with Obama Care such as The “National Adult Immunization Plan”, NAIP. NAIP is an Obama care scheme that will be used to “forcibly vaccinate all Americans and move toward a radical new healthcare paradigm in which medical “treatment” is delivered at gunpoint.” America must come out from under the shadow of this oppression!!!!!
Under Obama Care we will be banned from holding a job if we do not agree to forced vaccination. We will also be heavily fined. These fines will be allowed because vaccines will be propagandized as necessary to promote “public health” and “the good of society”. So I refused to be vaccinated I would not be able to work and the fine would completely wipe out my dividend investing retirement plan! This scenario is what keeps me up at night.
I am still grappling over whether or not to switch to mainly investing in my 403b. I do not make enough money to add $18,000 to my 403b and $2000.00 per month to my brokerage. Adding $2000.00 per month to my brokerage has created a nice increase in my portfolio value. By the end of the July my portfolio grew $7331.04 and my net worth increased $9988.21! This a nice increase for having only invested $2000.00 into my brokerage. I have smaller investments placed elsewhere but the $2000.00 is the main bulk.
So this is why I am hesitant to forgo adding the majority of my income to my brokerage. I have still not come to terms with my 403b and the “funds” that it offers. I prefer stocks over funds and believe that my brokerage and roth ira portfolio would grow much faster than the funds offered through my 403b.
My 403b is currently invested in a very conservative fund. More aggressive funds are offered but I have issues with some of the companies that comprise them. I have picky beliefs about certain practices such as animal testing and oil drilling. I find it difficult to invest in companies that involve themselves with these practices so I try to steer clear of them as much as possible.
There are only a small number of funds offered by my 403b retirement company so my choices are limited. I feel stuck. I would like to have more to choose from and do not understand why the offerings are limited. I would much rather invest in single stocks. To my surprise, my 403b retirement company offers single stock investing… but I would have to sign up with Charles Schwab… and pay more fees… so I do not know if it is worth my time. But I also do not know if I can just plunk my money down into a Vanguard index fund and forget it because my conscience fights me. So, at this point in time my 403b endeavor is still a work in progress.
I value the 403b because of the tax savings. At this present time, I need to give almost half of my paycheck to make the full 2016 $18,000 contribution. I will halfheartedly contribute 47% of my income to my 403b in the month of August but I do not expect to see the same type of returns as I would see in my portfolio, as long as the stock market does not crash, because it is not invested in an aggressive fund. I obviously need to research more…
These are some pictures that I took today. I value my Omega juicer because I can juice herbs like ginger. Ginger is one of my all time very most favorite things on the planet earth to juice. It is medicine. This juice is made of ginger, pink grapefruit, and granny smith apples.
I also value green medicinal herbs like the rosemary seen below. Having these herbs and juices on hand are true wealth to me because health is true wealth and these are the best medicine.
I read some recent blog posts about something called a Roth Conversion Ladder on the Dividend Diplomats and Mad Fientist websites and I think I am going to try this investment method.
I have limited knowledge on the subject so I plan to research further but understand that the Roth Conversion Ladder basically allows access to the money placed in pre tax accounts BEFORE age 59 1/2.
I began contributing the full $18,000 into my 403b account in 2013 but then at the beginning of this year, 2016, decided to forgo adding the maximum contribution limit so that I could concentrate building up my dividend investments in my brokerage account. The reason for my decision to stop maxing out my 403b was because I wanted to be able to access my money before 59 1/2 because my plan is to retire EARLY.
I felt hesitant about ignoring my 403b since contributing to it allows me to pay less taxes. I actually felt guilty about not taking advantage of this benefit. But with the recent information I have learned about the Roth Conversion, thanks to fellow bloggers, I think this is a good decision. And if I decide that I do not like it, I can always change.
Staring at the Future Point Blank
This has also been a beneficial revelation because it has forced me to really think about when I can realistically retire. In recent months I have been quite burned out so I am more than ready to retire early but retiring now is unrealistic. However I do have some help! My brokerage account has now been built up enough to almost pay my monthly bills through its dividend payouts! 🙂 Because of these payouts I now have a money cushion upon which I can rely in case of emergencies. I believe that these payouts are giving me the flexibility to pursue new methods such as the Roth Conversion Ladder, which, according to Mad Fientist’s analysis, is a good choice since I will save more money through a pre tax account than solely saving in a taxable account.
As of today my portfolio has grown roughly $38,000 since the beginning of the year. I hope to see these types of returns with my 403b but if I am unhappy with the decision I can always revert to just focusing on dividend investing if I choose.
Target Retirement Age
Since I have been forced to really think about when I want to retire, I have finally come upon an age, which is… 50! Unfortunately this means that I have to face the fact that I will be 50 someday. I felt a feeling of dread when I decided upon this age because it is not a pleasant thought; I believe this might be a reason why a lot of people avoid retirement planning because they do not like to face the fact that they will be 50, or 60, someday.
I really do not like thinking about getting older. I fight it with every fiber of my being, it is not pleasant, and is a hard pill to swallow, but it has to be acknowledged otherwise I cannot plan accordingly. I think that it would be less painful to plan for retirement if I retired in my 30’s but honestly I did not even like to think about turning 40 when I was 30. I do not think anyone likes to get older. Before the age of 40 a person’s assets are in their youth, after the age of 40 a persons assets are in the good choices that they made in their youth. Through this endeavor I hope to invest in, as I begrudgingly consider, the 50 year old future me.
I originally wanted to retire before 50 because I wanted to spend more time doing the things I like instead of working. In reality I do not think this would be a good idea. If I can make more money now, then I think it is wise to do so. Fortunately, I was able to recently lower my working hours to 32 hours per week, so, in a way, I am now… partially retired! 🙂
I believe that working 40 hours versus 32 will help me feel better, as if life is not being stolen from me, and give me more flexibility. This is a win-win situation because I will still be making enough income to max out my 403b and also add to my brokerage.
Income Allotment Plans
For the year 2016 I made a goal to add $24,000 to my portfolio annually. I will not be able to add $24,00 to my brokerage annually and at the same time max out my 403b, especially since I decreased my work hours. If my calculations are correct I would only be left with $1200 for living expenses for the entire year. I have added about $19,000 to my portfolio so far this year so I think I will meet my $24,000 goal in 2016 but I still need to add around $14,000 to my 403b. Luckily it is July so I still have time. At this point in time my Roth Conversion plan is a work in progress and we will see how it goes…
These are some pictures I took on a recent trip. I was checking out some damage from a tornado and the tornado’s path led me to this small town near my city that is known for lots of antique shops but I did not know that it also has a lot of old houses and buildings from the late 1700’s!
The most wonderful part of summer is the sun. It is very high in the sky this time of year. I get to see this sun set behind my townhouse every summer through October. It is absolutely glorious and I still have September to look forward to. I do not get to see enough of these beautiful skies because I am usually busy working. Staying on my patio to witness the sunset is something that I plan to do all the time once I am partially and/or retired. If I ever move I will always make sure to have a large living area facing the west. To me this is like vacation everyday and it is absolutely free. Not only do I get to view the beautiful sky but I also have an assortment of songbirds and flowers in my yard. The birds that I often see are cardinals, chickadees, nuthatches, finches, hummingbirds, a tufted titmouse, sparrows, downy woodpeckers, gold finches, and red bellied wood peckers. They make great neighbors. The astonishing fact about all of this is that it takes place in a busy city. I feel like a queen with this beauty and am thrilled that, for most part, it is free, and I don’t need to take a costly vacation to enjoy it. I am not opposed to vacations but the need to go on vacation is not as urgent as it once was because my perspective has changed and I have learned to open my eyes to the gifted paradise in my own backyard.
And the splendor is not limited to the daytime. At this present time I am able to see Mars and Jupiter nightly, all from my backyard. All of this beauty is almost too much for me to bear. I recently downloaded an app called “Star Tracker”. It pinpoints your location and tracks the sun’s path through the sky, the location of the moon, the horizon, and all of the stars, planets, and galaxies in between, giving a glimpse of my neighbors in the heavens. It also indicates the direction that you are facing. From what I have observed it is accurate.
I have been recording my net worth and dividends monthly. My dividends have increased steadily from last year. I am elated to see that my dividends have begun averaging around $450.00 per month. This is exciting because my bills total $570.00 per month. The amount of my dividends almost covers my bills and I feel like a millionaire because of this. The interesting thing is that my total dividend income for the year 2016 is $2399.54. $2399.54 does not seem like a lot of money to me, I almost felt let down when I calculated this total. But when I look at the earnings from the perspective of monthly income it seems to have more value. I am still happily mulling over this paradox because it is fascinating. I believe it has something to do with the power of passive income. Oh… I almost forgot to mention that my net worth rose $5327.12. I feel very fortunate. I realize that net worth is a tool that can be used to evaluate one’s overall financial health. As I continue in this journey I find myself not focusing on net worth but my passive income generated through monthly dividend earnings. These dividends are priceless.
Another striking observation that I have made is the stock market’s increase since the beginning of 2016. Looking at the increase of my stocks monthly since January 2016, it is evident that my brokerage account has increased $34,591.23 since January. I have added $19,569.47 since the beginning of the year. The stock market was down in January so the market’s gains has helped to almost double the new money I added. I have never seen this amount of return on anything that I have invested. Having a decent savings rate has helped so I have decided to continue to forgo adding to my 403b since most of my savings goes straight into my portfolio. Monitoring the monthly change in my portfolio’s value and tracking monthly dividend increases has created a completely new dimension of financial tracking. The crux of the matter is no longer just about saving up a big pile of cash.
These are some of the things I did in June. Some of the pictures were taken on June 21.
Little by little, bit by bit I flit and flutter through each day. Time flies so fast, it actually screams by and my thoughts go just as fast… each day it goes by faster and faster, I can’t catch my breath! The speed blurs my vision and reasoning- I am caught in a whirlwind, maybe I am in a whirlwind? Some days I just want the raging speed to stop!
I discovered dividend investing in 2015 and decided to focus on this method of investing as my primary method of investing. I liked this method because it provides immediate access to funds because they are not locked into a retirement account. As I have grown older I am beginning to question why we have been told that we have to save for 40 years and then retire. Should “retire” even be in our vocabulary? Should we even take it for granted that we should work until 65? We all have heard of someone who passed just after reaching retirement, and I know of someone personally to whom this happened.
The person I am today is not the 32 year old I was ten years ago. Oh I loved my thirties! The forties are cruel, I do not bounce back, physically, like I once did, my cells do not regenerate like they once did, my sleep is not as sweet, my bravery not as bold, and sense of adventure as robust. I wanted to climb mountains but now I am tired, and a little more slow… the wear and tear of the years is catching up with me physically but I am startled to realize it is also catching up with me mentally, dulling my senses and my zest for life as it bears down on me day by day, screaming at me as it charges by. I cannot imagine my 50’s, another ten years, and then my 60’s? Will I be a burnt out empty shell by then? A numb figure with no interests or heart?
I found this quote on a financial bloggers website, the name of the website is ” I’m Trying D-mm-t”. The quote is noted as being from the president of Uruguay. It says:
“Either you’re very happy with little without overburdening yourself because you have happiness inside, or you’ll get nowhere. I am not advocating poverty. I am advocating sobriety… When I buy something, or when you buy it, we’re not paying with money. We’re paying with the time from our lives we had to spend to earn that money. The difference is that you can’t buy life. Life just goes by. And it’s terrible to waste your life losing your freedom.”
The main point that I take away from this quote is that money represents the time taken from ones life.
Earned Money = Time from one’s life
Life = Cannot be bought, it just goes by
So life cannot be bought, it just goes by but earning money actually takes away one’s life, to a degree, so that the only thing that person knows is earning money, there is no life left.
At least this is my understanding to which I can relate. Is it worth it? Earning money just to be earning money, spending your life and losing your freedom?
I hope to see my net worth climb because I am aiming to save $500,000 in my taxable account for the passive cash flow it will provide. I could probably obtain this if I worked as I am now for the next 10-15 years. But to work that long? I will be 57 years old by that time and who knows if I will make it to that age?
Time is becoming more precious to me than money. I think that I can say this because I am fortunate to have no debts, not even a mortgage, because I bought my townhouse with cash. At the present time my current bills are approximately $570 per month excluding food and gas. Looking at my dividend income, one can see that I actually earned $458.80 for the month of March. This amount almost covers my bills and this is only my second year of tracking! I do not feel as far behind as I thought and I am nowhere near $500,000. Maybe I have already arrived and don’t even know it. I could still support myself even if I reduced my hours, and still have some cash left over, and I would not even have to use my dividends. This change would change my life, I would be able to do more of the things I love. I have always had a zest for life and numerous interests and believe that I must protect this quality just as I would my health as a consequence of growing older.
This decision will slow my efforts towards growing my investments. But, at 42 years old, I believe it is the best decision for me in my present circumstances. Hopefully I will discover new ways of earning income, ways that I will be able to maintain for life. But I want to delve into the things I like, such as, gardening, seeds, photography, writing, fruits and vegetables, juicing, soap, homesteading, bike riding, travel… I have to try this and I feel that I have a good opportunity. The question is, how much of my life do I want to trade for money?
It is May 1, 2016 and my net worth rose $6426.77. That is good news. I recently began tracking my net worth monthly and post the updates here. I began this blog in April 2015 after discovering dividend investing. I find it interesting to review the weekly, monthly, and now, yearly changes. I am glad that I started the blog. One reason for this is because I have never kept a budget so the blog’s maintenance forces me to watch the changes in my accounts more closely. I think it also helps me to spend less because the monthly tracking allows me to see the effects of diligent investing and spurs me on to invest even more. Seeing the progress firsthand has made me reluctant to spend. For instance, I received a small bonus that I have not yet cashed out. I considered purchasing a Roomba or Canon 70d camera, two items that I have wanted for a couple of months. The amount of the bonus would cover the cost of one of the items but after going over my net worth changes this weekend I decided to place the money into my brokerage account.
At this present time I have decided to funnel the extra money I earn into my brokerage, the brokerage gets it all. I am determined to finish this race and hope to do so early by receiving monthly dividend payouts that cover my expenses, forming a mini pension. At the beginning of 2016 I assumed I would add the yearly contribution limit to my Roth and 403b but ended up being slowly pulled towards placing all of my extra dollars into the brokerage account. Jason from the old Dividend Mantra site mentioned this tactic several times on his blog and I have slowly grown to see the logic in that reasoning.
Another interesting occurrence that I noticed with my accounts is that I have been spending a lot on food. I do not spend much. Like I said, I am determined to make it so I spend very frugally, paying my monthly bills and funneling the remaining cash into my brokerage. I made it a goal, and have succeeded for the past couple of months, to add $2000.00 per month into my taxable account. I was happy to have achieved this goal however I was shocked to see that my last credit card balance was $500.00 with the majority of the dollars spent at the grocery store. I rarely eat out so I am not spending at restaurants. I am thinking at least $200.00 of the $500.00 could have been salvaged and placed into my portfolio. I know that this bill represents the “stress food” that I buy when returning home from work. I am too tired to make anything substantial and end up buying bits and pieces from the grocer night after night. This behavior adds up. But what can I do, I am exhausted from working and making a large meal to last for several days has become too taxing. I usually make small meals. Because of my burnout I am attempting to lessen my hours, working maybe 3-4 days per week. I think this would help me tremendously, it might even change my life! I hope to have some news about this by next month.
Because of my newfound interest in dividends, by the beginning of 2015 I was seeking to learn more information about dividend investing. By researching I discovered an investment technique called “dividend capture”. The technique involves purchasing a stock before its ex dividend date and selling it after receiving the dividend payout, usually a month after the ex dividend date. In theory, a profit is earned by capturing the dividend. Dividends can be captured weekly, or even daily, and become a source of passive income. I liked the idea of marking the payout dates on my calendar because it is a visual reminder that I will receive multiple paychecks throughout the week.
I was able to immediately start dividend investing because most of my income was saved in savings accounts. The bulk of my income was not in a 401k or 403b because I wanted to keep my income freed up in hopes of someday purchasing a home in full with cash.
On March 16, 2015 I purchased my first stock in my attempt to test the profit earnings of dividend capture. I would purchase the stock before the ex dividend date and sell after the dividend was received. I ended up purchasing a stock called White Horse Financial because it had a yield of 9.5%. I spent $990.89, $12.77 per share, including a $7.95 commission, and waited to see if I could come out ahead.
WHF’s stock price dropped below my purchase price on the ex dividend date. I was aware that this would happen through my research; the company adjusts the stock price downward to pay the dividend. I wondered if the stock price would meet or exceed my original purchase price of 12.77 per share immediately after the dividend was paid out?
The dividend payout occurred on April 3, 2015. The dividend was $7.34. WHF’s stock price on April 6, 2015 was $12.67. If I had sold at that time I would have received $967.64, this value includes the $7.95 selling commission. If I had sold I would have sold at a loss of $23.25. Selling at a loss was unacceptable. I realized I could have held onto the stock until the price increased above $12.77 per share but did not want to hold onto the stock since holding onto it would tie up the money that I could be placing into fresh stocks with imminent ex dividend dates.
What I learned through my experiment with dividend capture:
#1 Commissions eat away at the profit that could be earned through dividend capture. In my case the commissions alone cost $15.90.
#2 The stock price falls on the ex dividend date. The price drop will prolong selling the stock for a couple of months. This delay disrupts the technique since holding onto capital diminishes the purchase of new stocks to fuel the next cycle of dividend payouts.
#3 I realized I could just hold onto the stock and avoid a second commission and receive the next quarter’s dividend payout…
I did not sell the stock and still have it to this day. I was beginning to doubt the profitability of dividend capture but my enthusiasm about dividends did not wane. I was continuing to research and was not deterred but still had more to learn.
I opened my Roth IRA on November 8, 1999 and immediately mailed a check for $2000.00 to Fidelity. Aware that I had opened a new account, I took advice from someone I knew who suggested buying a promising technical stock by the name of Conexant because it was quickly growing in value.
Once the funds were available, I bought 32 shares of Conexant stock at $62.50 per share. The value of the stock quickly rose, I checked my Fidelity account on a daily basis, watching it double, increasing to $4000.00. I was pleasantly surprised to witness my new Roth IRA immediately double. I did not plan to purchase additional shares because the limit for a Roth at that time was $2000.00 annually. Believing that investing was easy due to the seemingly easy growth filled me with contentment…but only for a short time.
Unfortunately Conexant’s stock value fell drastically a couple of months later. My investment decreased as fast as it increased and I learned immediately as a beginner that one’s money can quickly vaporize in the stock market. The stock’s value plummeted and I was looking at a loss. By the early 2000’s the stock’s value was in the hundreds of dollars. I lost almost all the money I put into the stock. I never sold Conexant but held on and watched it dip into cents per share as well as branching into two new companies, Mindspeed Technologies and Skyworks.
This was a learning experience and I was relieved that it was only $2000.00. I hoped I could recoup the lost money by the many years of investing that I had ahead of me. Shortly after opening my Roth someone suggested buying stock in P&G since it’s value dipped to near $50.00 per share. Because it was a new year I was able to invest another $2000.00 into my Roth. Undeterred, I mailed a second check to Fidelity and bought about 38 shares of P&G. Not long after, I watched the value of my minuscule portfolio return to normal as the value of the P&G stock rose, bringing it near $4000.00, my original investment amount. I was happy to break even and planned to continue to invest in the years to come.
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Luckily it is July so I still have time. At this point in time my Roth Conversion plan is a work in progress and we will see how it goes…
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The Weekly Investment 