I have been out of the country on vacation in Europe for the past two weeks so this update is coming a little late. I was fortunate to be able to visit 3 countries and 5 cities in about 10 days. I've learned a lot about other cultures and found that driving in Europe isn't too bad if you have a working GPS. It also makes me want to retire that much sooner so I can travel and see more of the world instead of working 8-5.
New Purchases:
21 shares of CAT mentioned in a post here.
30 shares of NSC mentioned in a post here.
Sells:
I typically won't have any sells but I liquidated all of my fractional shares and turned off the automatic DRIP on all stocks. I plan to selectively invest my dividends going forward. It was actually free with E*Trade to liquidate all fractional shares and I ended up with almost $500 from doing this.
Options Trades:
I went on an options frenzy in September, having sold 7 Puts in companies I either own or would like to own anyways. My total profit from options is at $2215 for the year before commissions. I've updated all of these trades on my Options tab.
Dividends:
I earned 283.75 in dividends for September. This is my highest monthly total so far. It also brings my total for the year over the $1000 mark at $1179.38. My expected future dividend income has increased to $2235.30 from $2123.29. This is an increase of 5.3% since September mainly due to my two new purchases. I've updated my dividend income on my Dividends tab.
Goals:
I'm getting close to hitting my new goal of $2400 in forward dividends by the end of the year. I already have a new trade in October that will be putting me really close.
Real Estate:
No updates on my rentals but I continue to aggressively overpay on my 2nd lien for my primary residence. My goal is to have it paid off by early next year eliminating a $380.35 monthly payment.
Looking Ahead:
I'm way ahead of where I thought I'd be with my dividend goals. My portfolio value has increased from 34k in April to almost 60k now. This is mainly due to new purchases but also from capital gains. I've set some aggressive goals in my Goals tab for the next 10 years. I've made a great start in investing for my retirement this year and look forward to the constant dividend increases provided by my portfolio.
Congrats on getting your highest monthly dividend total and on being ahead of schedule for your dividend goals. My own forward annual dividend total is nearing $2,000, which is higher than I would have guessed at the start of the year. It's always nice when results exceed prior expectations. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteThanks DGM and congrats to you for being ahead of where you thought you'd be. We can only hope that results will continue to exceed our expectations.
DeleteWow! Awesome stuff. You grew your portfolio by $24k in just a few months. That's tremendous! Congrats on hitting such a high monthly dividend total and exceeding your goals. I looked at your future goals and that would be fantastic if you can hit some of those further out goals. $50k in dividend income would be saweet!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a great time traveling. I know I'd love to be able to do that. I get so fed up and sick of getting up everyday at 6:15 in the morning and trudging off to the same place over and over and over again, while doing the same things over and over and over again. Life is more than this.
Great month!
Best wishes.
Thanks DM. 50k would indeed be an awesome amount of dividend income. I've set some high goals and with a little discipline and hard work I hope to be able to hit them.
Delete6:15 is very early to get up to go to a job you don't like. Redundancy can make it even worse. I try to keep myself busy multitasking all day so it goes by faster and I don't get bored. Hopefully we can hit our goals and retire early so we can choose when to wake up and what we want to do.
Good call on eliminating automatic DRIP. I agree that collecting your dividends and using them to purchase good deals is the way to go. Imagine how much faster you can reach your goals by having 380 more each month freed up!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by. I had planned on stopping the DRIP at some point and figured now was the time. Initially my portfolio wasn't bringing in enough dividends to matter much so I just let it DRIP. Every dollar saved and invested now could be 2, 3, 4, or even 5 dollars in retirement. It's important to put our money to work and let compounding work its magic while time is one our side. Good luck to you.
DeleteJust curious...are your Puts all cash-covered, or does your broker allow to sell naked put options? Just a quick eyeball of your Options tab shows somewhere in the neighborhood of 28,000 in open Put obligations.
ReplyDeleteHi Executioner,
DeleteThanks for stopping by. Yes, my options account is approved for selling naked puts or calls. However, there are margin requirements. Currently I have to maintain about $6k in the account. It depends on the market price of the puts I sold but is typically less than 25% of the money I'd need if they were all put to me. My plan is to keep about 10% of the value of my DGI portfolio in this account to use for options trading. So far it has worked out well.
You are kickin a$$. I really love your put options strategy. One of your put options was TGH. I actually went ahead and bought the company 35 shares at $30.75 last week. It still has a low payout ratio so I hope the dividend will continue to rise as it has the past few years. Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
DeleteThanks for stopping by to comment. I do like TGH and already have a small stake at 34 shares. They have been giving a dividend raise every single quarter since the beginning of 2010. It's on my watch list and I think you made a good buy. Good luck!
Congrats on reaching your goals and continuing to build the portfolio at breakneck speeds. 60k was my original target to reach by the end of the year. I might just barely make it.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to tracking your progress. You're doing great with the dividend investing. Plus you've got the rentals ;)
Thanks FI Fighter. Good luck on reaching your goals as well. I'll be watching your progress also.
DeleteI'm learning a lot with the rentals, hopefully they will become more profitable in a couple of years.