Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Monthly Report: September 2017

I post an update every month on the taxable dividend income I receive in my brokerage accounts, the non-taxable dividends I receive from my Roth IRA accounts, the market value of my taxable brokerage accounts, the market value of my Roth IRA accounts, the market value of my 401(k) account, and my savings rate.

Below is the monthly report as of September 30, 2017:

Monthly Report: August 2017

I post an update every month on the taxable dividend income I receive in my brokerage accounts, the non-taxable dividends I receive from my Roth IRA accounts, the market value of my taxable brokerage accounts, the market value of my Roth IRA accounts, the market value of my 401(k) account, and my savings rate.

Below is the monthly report as of August 31, 2017:

Bought: CAH, GIS, GWW, HCP, HRL, K, KHC, KMB, T, WBA

It's been a while since I've posted on here... Life has been crazy hectic with work and trying to raise two kids haha... August and September seemed to have a lot of great buying opportunities in my opinion as there seemed to be a lot of dips in a lot of decent companies.

Below are my stock purchases for the months of August and September:

Monthly Report: July 2017

I post an update every month on the taxable dividend income I receive in my brokerage accounts, the non-taxable dividends I receive from my Roth IRA accounts, the market value of my taxable brokerage accounts, the market value of my Roth IRA accounts, the market value of my 401(k) account, and my savings rate.

Below is the monthly report as of July 31,2017:

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Bought: GIS, GPC, K, VZ

July was a month that saw a dip in the stock market, so I decided to capitalize on the opportunity to initiate some new positions as well as add to existing ones.  I've been making multiple purchases in smaller amounts to diversify, initiate new positions to diversify, and average down my cost basis in various companies.  The purchases have been in smaller amounts because I've also been trying to save up money for a potential large expense that may come up in the near future.  I believe that by the end of this month, I should have the minimum cash reserve I need to account for the large expense.  After that, I can begin aggressively buying up stocks in larger amounts to try to reach financial independence as quickly as possible.

In any case, see below for my purchases for the month of July:

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Monthly Report: June 2017

I post an update every month on the taxable dividend income I receive in my brokerage accounts, the non-taxable dividends I receive from my Roth IRA accounts, the market value of my taxable brokerage accounts, the market value of my Roth IRA accounts, the market value of my 401(k) account, and my savings rate.

Below is the monthly report as of June 30, 2017:

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Bought: GWW, SYY, T

Wow time flies... I can't believe it is already the end of July.  Before we know it, the summer will be over.  I have been loving the summer so far; beautiful weather to be outside and enjoy the sun.  I'm hoping to continue to create wonderful memories with my kids along the way while working hard to position myself financially for the future so I can be financially independent as quickly as possible and hopefully retire earlier than expected.  I've been continuing to find the balance between being as frugal as possible and also spending some money to create new experiences and memories for my kids.  I would like to believe that I've been finding the right balance.  Extreme frugality and letting life pass you by is something that sounds quite depressing and will possibly be a huge regret when looking back in old age.  I hope that doesn't happen to me.  I try to live my life with as little regrets as possible.

Anyways... time to post my purchases for the month of June:

Friday, July 14, 2017

Monthly Report: May 2017

I post an update every month on the taxable dividend income I receive in my brokerage accounts, the non-taxable dividends I receive from my Roth IRA accounts, the market value of my taxable brokerage accounts, the market value of my Roth IRA accounts, the market value of my 401(k) account, and my savings rate.

Below is the monthly report as of May 31, 2017:

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Bought: GWW

Happy first day of summer everyone!  Life has been pretty busy for me, but it's also been really fun and exciting.  I've been trying to find a balance between being frugal to save up money to invest aggressively, while also enjoying life along the way.  Recently, I've been reminded how quickly time flies by (there's no greater reminder than seeing how fast your children grow up), and I want to make sure I don't let it pass me by being frugal all the time.  Life is more than just saving aggressively to reach early financial independence or retire as early as possible.  It's also about living life.  I want to create memories with my family and have something to look back on; hopefully, when my kids grow up and they reminisce on their childhood, it will be nothing but positive and happy memories.  So yea, that pretty much sums up where my head space has been at recently -- trying to find that delicate balance between saving aggressively and spending money to live a little.

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Monthly Report: April 2017

I post an update every month on the taxable dividend income I receive in my brokerage accounts, the non-taxable dividends I receive from my Roth IRA accounts, the market value of my taxable brokerage accounts, the market value of my Roth IRA accounts, the market value of my 401(k) account, and my savings rate.

Below is the monthly report as of April 30, 2017:

Monday, June 19, 2017

Sold On Loyal3: KO, VFC

I have sold off all my remaining positions on Loyal3 since I have consolidated all my stocks.  I also made the right decision to exit out of Loyal3 since they decided to use a new platform which would be charging a fixed fee every month to make free trades.

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Bought: GIS, GPC, GWW, K

Everything has been pretty crazy for me recently... I've been swamped with work while simultaneously being sleep deprived and trying to raise two kids.  Props to all the bloggers out there who work full time, have children, and are able to blog consistently.  I don't know how you guys do it, but I have much respect.  I've been behind on my posting as I've been trying to spend as much of my free time with my kids as possible.  You only live once, and they only have one childhood, so I'm trying to make it count.

Anyways, below are the companies I purchased for the month of April:

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

2016 Goals Progress

This post is LONG overdue, but better to post it now than never.

On my 9/8/2015 post, I had written that the point I can retire is when my passive income I receive exceeds my expenses.  And that amount is $3,000 per month in passive income.  Therefore, my goal at that time of the post was to receive $36,000 in dividends by 2041.  I had also posted a breakdown of target dividend income goals for each year from 2015 to 2041, which can be found here.

Friday, April 28, 2017

Monthly Report: March 2017

I post an update every month on the taxable dividend income I receive in my brokerage accounts, the non-taxable dividends I receive from my Roth IRA accounts, the market value of my taxable brokerage accounts, the market value of my Roth IRA accounts, the market value of my 401(k) account, and my savings rate.

Below is the monthly report as of March 31, 2017:

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Bought: APD, GPC, HCN, HCP, TGT, XOM

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted.  Life has been extremely hectic for me with work and family responsibilities.  March was a month with lots of great buying opportunities, and as such, I capitalized on those opportunities to invest in many different companies.

Below are the companies I purchased for the month of March:

Friday, March 31, 2017

Monthly Report: February 2017

I post an update every month on the taxable dividend income I receive in my brokerage accounts, the non-taxable dividends I receive from my Roth IRA accounts, the market value of my taxable brokerage accounts, the market value of my Roth IRA accounts, the market value of my 401(k) account, and my savings rate.

Below is the monthly report as of February 28, 2017:

Friday, March 10, 2017

Bought: APD, D, OHI

The stock market continues to be very interesting these past couple of months.  Some days, it's up a lot; other days, it's down a lot.  My plan is to continue investing every month, although there are times where I struggle whether to hoard up cash until there's a huge pullback so I can buy good quality stocks at huge discounts.  But the opportunity cost could be that the stock market does not have a huge dip anytime soon, and my money would just be sitting there earning pretty much nothing and getting eaten away by inflation.

Thankfully, I found a few companies in the month of February that I decided to purchase:

Monday, March 6, 2017

Sold On Loyal3: WMT

I am in the process of selling off my positions in Loyal3 since I'm not completely comfortable with their beneficiary designation process.  Loyal3 doesn't have any beneficiary forms to fill out so you would have to have your executor contact them to make arrangements.  This is something I'm not 100% comfortable with, especially since I don't want my children to have to deal with administrative headaches when it's my time to leave this earth.  I'm probably way too young to even be considering these things, but I just want to get all my ducks in order so that everything is all set in place for my children in case something were to happen to me or my wife (God forbid).  Estate planning is something I'll need to familiarize myself more with as I get older to ensure that my children get as much as possible without any complications.

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Monthly Report: January 2017

I post an update every month on the taxable dividend income I receive in my brokerage accounts, the non-taxable dividends I receive from my Roth IRA accounts, the market value of my taxable brokerage accounts, the market value of my Roth IRA accounts, the market value of my 401(k) account, and my savings rate.

Below is the monthly report as of January 31, 2017:

Friday, February 10, 2017

Bought: CL, MMM, VFC, WMT

With the start of a new year, I've decided to kick it off by investing very aggressively in the first month.  There were several companies that had a slight pullback, and I was able to invest more capital in said companies.  It makes me glad that I can put money to work for me and start the compounding process sooner.

Without further ado, below is a summary of my recent purchases for the month of January:

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Sold On Loyal3: AXP, DPS, DNKN, HAS, K, KHC, MAT, MCD, PEP, TGT, UL, YUM

I recently decided to consolidate all my brokerage accounts into one to simplify.  As a result, I am planning on closing out all my positions in Loyal3 over time at a gain.  If any stocks in Loyal3 have an unrealized loss on the books, I will not sell them until they are at a gain.  I still believe that Loyal3 is a great way for beginners to invest since there are no commissions and you can invest with as little as $10.  I also like that you can purchase partial shares based on the capital you invest with.  However, I want to eventually exit out of Loyal3 since I want to consolidate all my accounts and also for beneficiary reasons.  Loyal3 doesn't have a beneficiary form for you to fill out so you would need to have your estate executor coordinate with the people at Loyal3.  There were a few days where I tried calling the phone number, but it wouldn't let me leave a voicemail and I had to contact them via email.  This makes me uneasy, especially from an estate planning perspective.  Thus, I have made the decision to eventually exit out of Loyal3 once all my stocks are at a gain.

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

2016 Passive Income Coverage

With another year behind me, I'm another step closer to financial independence and retirement.  For me, there's a difference between financial independence and retirement.  Financial independence is the point in which you no longer need to work to survive since your investments can cover your living expenses.  With financial independence, I can still choose to work if I want to.  On the other hand, retirement is quitting the workforce and no longer working.

For me, my goal is to reach financial independence ASAP and aim to retire by the age of 56 in 2041.  I still have a while to go before retirement, but I'm hoping to quickly get to the point where my passive income can cover all my expenses so that I don't need to worry about supporting my family in case I get laid off (God forbid).

For purposes of my "Passive Income Coverage" posts, I will only consider my dividend income and rental income.

Below are my dividends and rental income for 2016:

Friday, January 20, 2017

Monthly Report: December 2016

I know I'm a little last in posting, but better now than never.  First off, Happy New Year to everyone!  Hope everyone had an enjoyable 2016 year.  2016 has been a great year when I reflect back on my accomplishments.  Kicking off the year, it's been really busy with work and responsibilities at home.  I'm looking forward to 2017 now that the mortgage has been paid off and I have continued vigor to aggressively build my passive income while simultaneously trying to make sure I enjoy life's journey along the way.

Anyways, without further ado, below is the monthly report as of December 31, 2016:

Saturday, January 7, 2017

Bought On Loyal3: VFC

I made one last purchase on Loyal3 before the 2016 year was over.

What I love about Loyal3 is you can invest with as little as $10 in a selection of companies and own partial shares.  This really helps investors with little to no capital get a foot in the door without commissions eating up a certain percentage of their new capital.  The only downsides are that there is a limited selection of companies you can pick from and they don't offer dividend reinvestment plans.  That's fine with me since they have some good dividend growth companies I can invest in at zero cost.