MAY 2017 - DIVIDENDS RECEIVED

Below is a recap of the dividends/partnership distributions that we received from our family's dividend stocks portfolio –  MAY 2017 (recap).

DIVIDENDS

During the past month, our family received dividends/partnership distributions from a total of 10 companies/ETFs/Partnerships!! The total monies received from those 10 companies/ETFs/Partnerships was: $134.44. 

Below is a breakdown of the dividends/partnership distributions received this past month:

WELLS FARGO INVESTMENT ACCOUNT:
5/01/17 - VZ (Verizon Communications Co): $14.44
5/01/17 - DE(Deere & Co): $10.80
5/01/17 - T (AT&T Inc): $12.42
5/02/17 - TD (Toronto Dominion Bank): $8.79
5/02/17 - POT (Potash Corp of Saskatchewan): $4.51
5/08/17 - EC (Ecopetrol): $7.01
5/15/17 - OHI (Omega Healthcare REIT Investors): $6.30
5/15/17 - KMI (Kinder Morgan Inc): $14.00
5/23/17 - HCP (HCP Inc): $3.33
5/24/17 - RY (Royal Bank of Canada): $6.47

EDWARD JONES INVESTMENT ACCOUNT:
5/1/17 - T (AT&T Inc): $46.37

OVERALL DIVIDENDS TOTAL THIS MONTH: $134.44

February, May, August, and November are typically our light dividends months.  To make matters worse, since February, we sold five companies (ARTNA, COF, AAPL, OKS, and VOD) that would have paid us dividends in May.  No regrets because we made considerable profits from each sale and now sit on a nice pile of cash that we can hopefully use to grab a few value buys. We are currently considering the following popular buys:

1. General Mills Inc (GIS);
2. AT&T Inc (T);
3. Verizon Communications Co (VZ);
4. Omega Healthcare Investors Inc (OHI); and 
5. Realty Income Corp (O).    

In case you interested, our family's dividend stocks portfolio 
may be found by clicking on the link below:

Dividend Stocks Portfolio

Stocks Added to Collection of Stock Analyses - May 2017 (Post 2 of 2)

For those who are not yet familiar with our extensive collection of individual dividend stocks. The entire collection is currently comprised of 1,399 stock analyses (and still growing). The collection essentially provides links to various stock analyses that we found throughout the dividend blog community since 2013. Last year we added a total of 445 stock analyses to the collection. If you would like to view archives from previous years, please follow the respective links provided at the end of this post. 

2017
This is the fifth year of since we began collecting various stock analyses throughout the DGI blogging community.  We will be first to admit that we haven't been adding new stock analyses to the collection this year but we remain committed to keep this collection going and will continue to add new analyses from around the dividend stock investing community.  To date, our 2017 Collection is comprised of 107 stock analyses. We need to pick up the pace if we want to finish anywhere near last year's total. 

Thank you everyone for making this resource a success! 

     

May 2017 (M - Z):

Below is a list of newly added stocks analyses that were recently added to our 2017 Collection of Stock Analyses:

Magellan Midstream Partners L.P. (MMP)
Dividend Growth Investor

Magna International Inc (MGA)
Mr. Free @ 33

Pepsico Inc (PEP)
Dividend Growth Investor

Pepsico Inc (PEP)
Dividend Growth Stocks

PPL Corp (PPL)
Simply Safe Dividend

Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)
Mr.Free @ 33

Raytheon Company (RTN)
Dividend Growth Investor

Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A)
Sure Dividend

Sysco Corporation (SYY)
Dividend Growth Stocks

W.P. Carey Inc (WPC)
Sure Dividend 

Links provided directly in this post!

Please feel free to leave me a message if you prepared a stock analysis that I did not include in my post.  I would be more than happy to add your stock analysis to both this post and our collection of stock analyses.  Please make sure to confirm that it is a dividend paying stock and that it is a individual stock analysis.

  

My goal is to make this collection become the centralized source where one begins their research on a particular dividend stock company or at the very least, a source to confirm if a company stock is worth buying. Whether your a beginner or a veteran, I want this list to become an invaluable reference tool for you all. Best part, unlike other subscription based sites, I plan to keep this completely free for everyone to enjoy and benefit from.

Feel free to share with all of your friends and family! 

Click on Link Below

2017 - Collection of Stock Analyses

(Archived 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013)

Also don't forget to check out our:

2017 - Collection of Recent Buys

Stocks Added to Collection of Stock Analyses - May 2017 (Post 1 of 2)

For those who are not yet familiar with our extensive collection of individual dividend stocks. The entire collection is currently comprised of 1,399 stock analyses (and still growing). The collection essentially provides links to various stock analyses that we found throughout the dividend blog community since 2013. Last year we added a total of 445 stock analyses to the collection. If you would like to view archives from previous years, please follow the respective links provided at the end of this post. 

2017
This is the fifth year of since we began collecting various stock analyses throughout the DGI blogging community.  We will be first to admit that we haven't been adding new stock analyses to the collection this year but we remain committed to keep this collection going and will continue to add new analyses from around the dividend stock investing community.  To date, our 2017 Collection is comprised of 107 stock analyses. We need to pick up the pace if we want to finish anywhere near last year's total. 

Thank you everyone for making this resource a success! 

     

May 2017 (A-N):

Below is a list of newly added stocks analyses that were recently added to our 2017 Collection of Stock Analyses:

Apple Hospitality REIT (APLE)
Sure Dividend

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA)
Sure Dividend

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)
Roadmap 2 Retire

Caterpillar Inc (CAT)
Dividend Growth Stocks

Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO)
Simply Safe Dividend

Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO)
Sure Dividend

Discover Financial Services (DFS)
Mr.Free @ 33

General Mills Inc (GIS)
Dividend Growth Stocks

HSBC Holding (HSBC)
Sure Dividend

Iron Mountain (IRM)
Simply Safe Dividend 

J.M. Smucker (SJM)
Dividend Growth Investor

LTC Properties (LTC)
Sure Dividend

Links provided directly in this post!

Please feel free to leave me a message if you prepared a stock analysis that I did not include in my post.  I would be more than happy to add your stock analysis to both this post and our collection of stock analyses.  Please make sure to confirm that it is a dividend paying stock and that it is a individual stock analysis.

  

My goal is to make this collection become the centralized source where one begins their research on a particular dividend stock company or at the very least, a source to confirm if a company stock is worth buying. Whether your a beginner or a veteran, I want this list to become an invaluable reference tool for you all. Best part, unlike other subscription based sites, I plan to keep this completely free for everyone to enjoy and benefit from.

Feel free to share with all of your friends and family! 

Click on Link Below

2017 - Collection of Stock Analyses

(Archived 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013)

Also don't forget to check out our:

2017 - Collection of Recent Buys

Mortgage Balance (UPDATE) - MAY 2017

If you have viewed our family's Net Worth Page, you probably already know that it does not include the equity in our home.  Although, we do realize that it is technically part of our overall net worth, we decided that since our home equity is not an asset that we can count on for income (unless we sell and buy something cheaper) we would exclude it from our net worth calculation.

For the purpose of this blog, we are more interested in documenting our loan balance rather than our home equity.  With that said, we will use the current Zillow value as our estimated home value and use it to figure out the percentage we owe on our home. For those interested, we will include the amount of our home equity, but know that we are less concerned with the equity since we have no plans to cash out or otherwise sell our home. Our main goal is to pay off our home on or before my retirement date. 

HOME VALUE:

According to Zillow, our home is currently worth $827,579 (down $4,527 in the last 30-days). Is the housing market seeing a cool down, or is there still a second push as those looking to buy a home before the next school year start going into escrow? Regardless, since we have no intention of selling our home, the fluctuations in the market means little to us.  We mainly post these updates to see the remaining mortgage balance and keep us motivated to push forward to be debt free (including our mortgage) one day!

Mortgage Balance (As of May 1st):
$283,508 (down $1,916 from our post last month)

Percentage Owed:
34.25% (down .05% from our post last month)

Home Equity:
$544,071 (down $2,304 from our post last month)
   

Mortgage Background:
For those that have not read the Preface on our home equity, we currently hold a 15-year fixed rate mortgage at the incredibly low rate of 2.875%.  My goal is to retire within 10 years and 1 months (121 months) so we are setting out to pay off our mortgage on or before my retirement date. Right now we are a few months behind the target retirement date. Currently, we have approximately 10  years and 11 months (131 months) left on our mortgage.  Nevertheless, I would like to have it paid off in another 10 years (or less). If we accomplish that, I plan to use the last few years to aggressively build our passive income to help supplement our retirement and defer tapping into the 457K as long as we can so it can continue to grow. 

Right now we are not putting any extra money towards the principal given our low 2.875% interest rate. We feel that we could make our money grow faster by investing it and while keeping the money more liquid. At a certain point, maybe in 6-9 years, we may consider using money from our investment accounts to wipe out the remaining mortgage balance.  Until then, we will continue to grow that money outside, rather than have it locked into our home.

  

Click on the link below to view our mortgage balance history:

Mortgage Balance History

RECENT BUY: Verizon Communication Inc (NYSE: VZ)

WE RECENTLY PURCHASED THE FOLLOWING

Verizon Communications Inc (VZ)
Purchased 15 shares of VZ on 5/17/2015 at $44.88
Total money spent: $673.20
$34.65 added to annual dividends

Since our purchases of Verizon Communications Inc (VZ) today were shares in a company that we already owned, our family's Dividend Stocks Portfolio remains the same with a total of 59 different dividend paying stocks/ETFs in the portfolio.

Our estimated forward dividends, however, grew another $34.65, putting our yearly dividends at approximately $2,820.84/year (excluding our Edwards Jones account) and $3,235.46/year (including our Edward Jones account). 

Our family's dividend stocks portfolio may be found

by clicking on the link below:
DIVIDEND STOCKS PORTFOLIO

We also maintain an extensive list of stock analysis

that can be access through the link below:
COLLECTION OF STOCK ANALYSES

We also just started a list of Recent Buys by other bloggers

that can be access through the link below: 
COLLECTION OF RECENT BUYS

HERE IS A QUICK FACT SHEET FOR THE STOCK JUST PURCHASED:

Verizon Communications Inc (VZ)

• P/E: 15.19
• Payout Ratio: 77.0%
• Dividend Yield: 5.09%
• Dividend Growth rate (5yr AVG): 2.90% 
• 11 consecutive years of dividend increases
• Last dividend Ex date: 4/6/2017
• Next dividend Ex date: 7/6/2017
• Dividend Payback Period: 17 years
• Pays a dividend 4 times a year.
• Market Cap: 185.2 Billion
• 52-week high: $56.95
• 52-week low: $44.46
• Purchased Price: $44.88

What are your thoughts about my recent purchase?

What are you buying?

We Just Joined the 500K Club!!

A BIG "Thank You" to everyone that has supported, and continues to support and visit our blog...whether you have been with us from the beginning or you've just recently joined the journey, we would like to thank each and every one of you for your support.  

We started blogging about our frugal family's journey roughly 38 months ago, on March 15, 2014. Our blogging journey started out as a hobby and simply a way to keep on track of our progress. Flash forward 3 years and roughly 2 months later, I am thrilled to announce that because of each and every one of our readers, we just reached yet another milestone.  As of yesterday, May 19, 2017, we became proud members of the 500K club! 

It took approximately 15 months to reach our first milestone of 100,000 page visits to our blog. The second milestone of 200,000 page visits took 6 months and 28 days. Our next milestone of 300,000 page visits, even with a 6-week hiatus last summer, took us 7 months. Our last milestone of 400,00 page visits then took 4 months and 22 days.  We did that on February 2, 2017. 

And thanks to all of you, our progress steadily continues to increase at a faster pace. I'm happy and blessed to say that we reached the 500,000 page milestone yesterday, in just 3 months and 17 days!

Since I am somewhat of a stats nerd, below are some additional stats behind our 500,000 visits.

Top Referring Sites

Google searches and internal cross links within our posts play a vital role in our blog traffic. But we also want to recognize and give special thanks to our twitter followers, as well as Captain Dividend, My Dividend Pipeline, Passive Income Pursuit, and Rockstar Finance for the traffic from your respective blogs. Lastly, although not present on the list above, I would like to also thank two other fellow blogger and friend, Roadmap2Retire for your continue support and mention of our Collection of Recent Buys and Collection of Stock Analyses.  

Also, thanks to all that have tweeted or re-tweeted our posts.  Our additional presence and our followers on Twitter continues to help get our blog grow. In case you would like to follow us on Twitter, we can be found under: @FrugalFamilyof4.  I'm proud to say that we now have 1,666 followers on Twitter. That is 191 new followers since our last milestone post on February 2nd.

Most Popular Page Visits

Our top three most popular page visits are: 1) Dividend Stocks Portfolio with 17,815 page views; 2) 2015 - Collection of Recent Buys with 13,052 page views; and 3) 2016 - Collection of Recent Buys with 10,988 page views. It is great to see that our readers are utilizing our free reference tools. We will continue to do our best to continue to maintain both collections to ensure they remain current and popular. 

Most Popular Posts

Our top three most popular posts are: 1) Stocks Added to Collection of Stock Analyses - December 2016 with 16,385 page views; 2) Stocks Added to Collection of Stock Analyses - November 2016 with 13,437 page views; and 3) P2P Accounts (Update) - August 2014 with 2,083 page views. It appears that readers value the UPDATES to our Collection to Stock Analyses more than the actual collection itself.  Seeing these results, we will certainly make sure to provide updates more frequently.  

Top Page Views By Countries

We are tremendously grateful that our blog has seemed to have a worldwide presence as evident by the chart above.  However, the top page views to our blog came from the following top three countries: 1) United States, with the largest presence at 328,740 page views; 2) Russia in second with 21,839 page views; and 3) Germany in third with 20,482 page views. The top four has remained unchanged since our last milestone post.  

Its fun to look at the stats and maybe even create a little friendly competition with them.  But the reality is, near or far, first or tenth, we truly value each and every reader.  Thank you for visiting!! Our blog and posts received the page views they did because of you (our readers and fellow bloggers).  Thank you for reading and/or sharing our post with others. We truly appreciate each and every one of you for the support!

THANK YOU FOR HELPING US 

REACH YET ANOTHER HUGE MILESTONE!!

APRIL 2017 - DIVIDENDS RECEIVED

Below is a recap of the dividends/partnership distributions that we received from our family's dividend stocks portfolio –  APRIL 2017 (recap).

DIVIDENDS

During the past month, our family received dividends/partnership distributions from a total of 12 companies/ETFs/Partnerships!! The total monies received from those 12 companies/ETFs/Partnerships was: $314.29. 

Below is a breakdown of the dividends/partnership distributions received this past month:

WELLS FARGO INVESTMENT ACCOUNT:
4/03/17 - BPY (Brookfield Property Partners): $3.96
4/03/17 - WMT (Walmart Stores Inc): $20.91
4/03/17 - TIS (Orchids Paper Products Co): $17.50
4/03/17 - GPC (Genuine Parts Co): $3.38
4/04/17 - BPY (Brookfield Property Partners): $6.88
4/17/17 - WPC (W.P. Carey Inc): $5.97
4/17/17 - VER (Vereit Inc): $61.88
4/17/17 - OXY (Occidential Petroleum Corp): $15.20
4/17/17 - ARI (Apollo Commercial RE Finance Inc): $97.66
4/25/17 - GE (General Electric Co): $6.00
4/26/17 - ORCL (Oracle Corp): $2.09
4/26/17 - BNS (Bank of Nova Scotia): $8.41

EDWARD JONES INVESTMENT ACCOUNT:
4/26/17 - CMCSA (Comcast Corp): $64.45

OVERALL DIVIDENDS TOTAL THIS MONTH: $314.29

In case you interested, our family's dividend stocks portfolio 
may be found by clicking on the link below:

Dividend Stocks Portfolio