Friday, January 30, 2015

RECENT BUYS (NYSE: NOV and CVX)

WE RECENTLY PURCHASED THE FOLLOWING
Chevron Corporation (CVX)
Purchased 5 shares of CVX on 1/30/2015 at $100.00
Total Spent: $500.00
$21.40 added to annual dividends
 
National Oilwell Varco Inc (NOV)
Purchased 12 shares of NOV on 1/28/2015 at $54.00
Total Spent: $648.00
$22.08 added to annual dividends

We decided to make a few more purchases this week and add shares of two companies to our family's ividend stocks portfolio.  On 1/28/15, we picked up 12 more shares of NOV to add to our portfolio. Our recent purchase brings out total holding to 36 shares in National Oilwell Varco, Inc (NOV). 

Today, we followed that up by initiating a position of 5 shares in Chevron Corporation (CVX) at exactly $100.00 when we saw it dip below the 52-week high.  It went as low as $98.88, but we are still happy with our purchase of CVX at $100.00. So with our purchase today, CVX became the 34 stock/ETF we currently hold in our family's dividend stocks portfolio.

With the purchases mentioned above, our estimated forward dividends grew another $43.48 and now stands at approximately $3,296/year in dividends.

Our family's dividend stocks portfolio may be found
by clicking on the link below:

We also maintain an extensive list of stock analysis
that can be access through the link below:

We also just started a list of Recent Buys by other bloggers
that can be access through the link below:
 



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

 
Chevron Corp (CVX)

P/E: 9.40
Payout Ratio: 39%
Dividend Yield: 4.28%
Dividend Growth rate (5yr AVG): 9.64%
19 consecutive years of dividend increases
Last Ex-dividend date: 11/14/2014
Next Ex-dividend date: approx. 2/12/2015
Have paid a dividend since: 1912 (103 years)
Pays a dividend 4 times a year.
Market Cap: 192.99 Billion
52-week high: $135.10
52-week low: $98.88



National Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NOV)
P/E: 9.81
Payout Ratio: 27%
Dividend Yield: 3.5%
Dividend Growth rate (5yr AVG): 24.37%
4 consecutive years of dividend increases
Last Ex-dividend date: 12/3/2014
Next Ex-dividend date: approx. 3/3/2015
Have paid a dividend since: 2009 (5 years)
Pays a dividend 4 times a year.
Market Cap: 25.23 Billion
52-week high: $86.55
52-week low: $52.14

What are your thoughts about my recent purchase?

What are you buying?

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Collection of RECENT BUYS (Summary) - January 2015

Since I began investing in dividend stocks approximately a year and a half ago I've been keeping a personal log of what other dividend bloggers and dividend investors are buying.  Until now, I've just done it for my own personal knowledge and it has proven to be a great resource I use when I have no idea what I should buy. 

The collection essentially highlights the recent buys I have discovered throughout the dividend blog community. I always like to see what others are buying.  And with this collection, one can easily see all the buys in one centralized source.  And just last month, I started making my collection of Recent Buys available on my blog for everyone. Hope everyone has found it to be a great resource! 
 


In case you just want a quick summary of what everyone has been buying this past month, below is a chart that depicts just that! :)  



(The chart and table above only includes companies with more than 1 buy)

This past month saw people buying a little of everything.  Unlike the last few months where we saw oil and energy stocks dominating the buys, we saw people buying across all sectors of the market.  Out of a total of 32 buys found around the dividend blogging community, only 7 companies were bought by more than once.  The most popular stock this past month was Toronto Dominion Bank (TD), followed by Unilever (UL).  There was a five-way tie for the third most popular purchase. 
 
Don't forget to bookmark or add this page to your favorites!!
 



As with my collection of stock analyses, my goal is to make this collection also become a centralized source for everyone. It could become a place where one can get ideas on what to invest in next, to establish a desired stock purchase price, or simply to see what your favorite bloggers are buying.  Whatever your reason, my hope is that this collection proves to be a great reference tool and helps provide you that little extra advantage that you are looking for in order to succeed with your investing.
 
Please make sure to check back periodically as
the list will be updated frequently!

Sunday, January 25, 2015

P2P Accounts (Update) - January 2015


On January 1st, our Lending Club account balance was at $9,092.76 (an increase of $11.94 from last month). We received $563.57 in payments from our active notes; of which, we received $60.59 in interest (an increase of $7.11/mo.).  The principal balance of our active notes was $7,950.03 (a decrease of $388.37 from last month), with $250.00 of loans in review or funding and a remaining cash balance of $904.57 (an increase of $150.21).  We are currently generating 5.00% on our seasoned notes. No loans were charged off this month.
_____________________________________________________________ 


On January 1st, our Prosper account balance was at $8,834.32 (an increase of $76.32 from last month).  We received $476.63 in payments from our active notes; of which, we received, $63.46 in interest (an increase of $6.70/mo.). The principal balance of our active notes was $7,826.65 (a decrease of $70.34 from last month). We are currently sitting on a cash balance of $1,007.67 (an increase of $146.66), of which a total of $100.00 is  pending investments.  We are currently generating 7.57% on our seasoned notes, and 7.32% on all notes invested to date (includes profits from paid off notes).

 ________________________________________________________________
Total Value of Both P2P accounts: $17,927.08
($76.32 increase from last month)
 
Total Interest Earned in December: $124.05
($12.81 increase from last month)
 
Estimate Average Interest Earned: 6.28%

A few months back, we started to automate our note buying process but still continue to struggle putting our money back to work. I guess as along as we continue to see the account grow (albeit, at a slow pace!), we won't panic.  Plus, I'd rather buy notes at our desired criteria then to open ourselves up to riskier notes.  Worse case, we'll simply find another investment tool and put our money to work elsewhere.

Click below to view our peer-to-peer lending accounts history

PEER-TO-PEER LENDING ACCOUNTS

________________________________________________________________
  

NOTES CRITERIA:

Our family has been investing in peer-to-peer lending notes for approximately 3 years now. And because of past defaults, we have now refined our search criteria. As a result, we now take a slightly more conservative approach with the notes we invest in. Currently, we only invest in notes that fit the following initial criteria:
  • Amount requested is under $6,000;
  • Credit score of 700 or more; and
  • Monthly payment will be less than $250.
From those we evaluate (Employment Status):
  • The borrower's income (prefer > $50,000 but depends on amount requested);
  • Length of employment (must be > 2 years); and
  • Their occupation (certain occupations, known to be more secured, are more desirable).
We then look at (Ability To Pay):
  • Their credit history;
  • Revolving balance; and
  • Debt to income level, etc.
We do not invest in any notes where borrow is currently delinquent, of if they have had  a public record within the last 12 months. We also do not invest in notes where the description provided is "Other." We feel that there is too much risk involve when the borrower is not willing to reveal why he/she needs the money.

 

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Retirement Accounts (Update) - January 2015

For several years now, our retirement accounts have been growing at a decent pace...this year, however, the performance has been pretty anemic! I am thankful that, overall, we are not losing money. But as our readers probably already know, the anemic growth is one of the reasons why our family has now decided to switch our focus towards building our Dividend Stocks Portfolio and P2P Lending Accounts so as to have optional income streams in retirement. Nevertheless, we will still continue to track these accounts as they are still part of our retirement plan.

EXISTING RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS (JANUARY UPDATE):

 
Below is a quick update to show the current values of our retirement accounts as of January 1, 2015.  For a more comprehensive list of values (beginning January 2014) and details of these accounts, please visit the Retirement Accounts page on our blog.
 

As of January 1, 2015

PENSION
Cash Value of Pension$212,588
($2,301 increase from December update of $210,287)
 
457K
Total value of 457K: $118,401
($259 decrease from December  update of $118,660)
 
Roth IRAs
Total value of Roth IRA accounts: $54,349
($669 decrease from December  update of $55,018)
 
Although we saw an overall increase of $1,373 from the three accounts combined, two of the three accounts actually had a decreases in value. As long as the needle moves up, I am certainly not complaining.  It know every month can't be a great month.  We knew the party had to end (or at least slow down) sometime.  After all, in December, we saw an overall gain of $3,002. As for November, we saw an overall gain of $6,311.

As it stands, the total amount of our retirement accounts is currently valued at: $385,338 (up from the $383,965 reported last month). We currently contribute to my 457K (up to my company's match - 3%) and also $200 each to a Roth IRA for both myself and my wife. Although we are not entirely happy with their growth, we still feel that the 457K and Roth IRAs should remain part of our retirement plan.  If for nothing more, the 457K and Roth IRAs will help supplement my pension. With some of the uncertainties around government pension these days, they could very well serve as back-up plans as well. 
 
Click below to view retirement accounts page 

RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS

Monday, January 19, 2015

Mortgage Balance (Update) - January 2015


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: $776,325 (down from our December post). 2014 was a pretty good year overall for housing.  However, at least for the month of December, the housing market in our area appears to have cooled down some...I guess to match the temperatures of the winter. :) Personally, I think housing is somewhat seasonal with the spring and summer months being the more popular months to buy. 
 

Mortgage Balance (January 2015):
$335,136 (down from $336,849 in December)
Percentage Owed:
43.16% (up from 42.95% in December)
Home Equity:
$441,189 (down from $447,445 in December)

Even though we don't consider home equity as part of our net worth, since I am sort of a statistics nerd, I still like to look at the numbers and draw fancy comparisons. :) 

Unfortunately, our home equity decreased by more than $6K, essentially taking back the roughly $5K gains from December post and then some.  For percentage owed,  the number slightly increase, going from 42.95% to 43.16% during the past month.  This was simply a direct correlation to the decline to our home value.

But like the stock market, one shouldn't constantly look at the values.  As long as my mortgage balance continues to go down consistently each month, in the long run, I know we will be in a good position at retirement.  We love our home, our neighbors, the schools, local markets, etc. We have no plans to move anytime soon. 

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 13 1/2 years so we are setting out to pay off our mortgage on or before my retirement date. Right in line with my retirement goal, we have a little less than 13 1/2 years 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 8-10 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:

Friday, January 16, 2015

Stocks Added to Collection of Stock Analyses (Update) - Mid-Month (January 2015)


For those who are not yet familiar with my extensive collection of individual dividend stocks. The collection is currently comprised of 564 stock analyses (and still growing) with links to various stock analyses that I found throughout the dividend blog community.  
The collection was created in a Google Docs Spreadsheet so that I may continue to maintain and update the list periodically. My plan is to provide bi-monthly updates (one at mid month and another and the end of the month) to inform everyone of new stock analysis I have recently added to my collection. 
The collection goes back two years.  Eventually, as the collection grows, I am planning to only keep stock analyses for a one year time period. You should also know that to help highlight the stock analyses that have recently been created during the last 2 months, I have provided NEW!! at the end of those analyses.

The following is a list of newly added stocks analysis that were prepared during the first half of the month of JANUARY (2015):

    1. Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM)
      • by Dividend Engineering
    2. Cardinal Health, Inc (CAH)
      • by Dividend Ladder
    3. IBM Corp (IBM)
      • by Cazadividendos
    4. Johnson Controls, Inc (JCI)
      • by Dividend Growth Stocks
    5. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
      • by Roadmap 2 Retire
    6. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
      • by Dividend Growth Stocks
    7. JP Morgan Chase (JPM)
      • by Sure Dividend
    8. Kellogg Company (K)
      • by Dividend Growth Stocks
    9. PepsiCo, Inc (PEP)
      • by Dividend Growth Stocks
    10. Target Corp (TGT)
      • by Dividend Growth Investor
    11. T.Rowe Price (TROW)
      • Dividend Ladder
    12. Wells Fargo Corp (WFC)
      • by The Dividend Guy
    13. W.W. Grainger Inc (GWW)
      • by Dividend Growth Stocks
     
    Hope you like the new and improved updates
    with links provided directly in this post!

    Please feel free to leave me a message if you prepared a stock analysis during First Half of January 2015 that I did not include in my post.  I would be more than happy to add your stock analysis to this post and my collection.  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

    Complete Collection of Stock Analyses


    Also don't forget to check out our:

    NEW!! Collection of Recent Buys


    Wednesday, January 14, 2015

    RECENT BUYS (NYSE: GE, BBL, and TD)


    WE RECENTLY PURCHASED THE FOLLOWING








    General Electric Company (GE)
    Purchased 15 shares of GE on 1/13/2015 at $23.75
    Total Spent: $356.25
    $13.80 added to annual dividends


     BHP Billiton
    BHP Billiton Plc (BBL)
    Purchased 12 shares of BBL on 1/14/2015 at $38.75
    Total Spent: $465.00
    $29.04 added to annual dividends

    Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD)
    Purchased 10 shares of TD on 1/14/2015 at $42.00
    Total Spent: $420.00
    $15.66 added to annual dividends

    Our family was busy this week adding to our dividend stocks portfolio.  On 1/12/15, we picked up a few more shares of NOV to add to our portfolio.  We followed that up with another purchase of GE at $25.75 on 1/13/15.  And today, we picked up more shares in BBL at $38.75 and also initiated a position in TD at $42.00.  All but TD were companies we already owned.  TD, however, became the 33 stock/ETF we currently hold in our family's dividend stocks portfolio. With the purchases mentioned above, our estimated forward dividends grew another $58.50 and now stands at approximately $3,253/year in dividends.

    Our family's dividend stocks portfolio may be found
    by clicking on the link below:

    We also maintain an extensive list of stock analysis
    that can be access through the link below:

    We also just started a list of Recent Buys by other bloggers
    that can be access through the link below:
     



    HERE IS A QUICK FACT SHEET FOR THE STOCKS WE RECENTLY PURCHASED:
     
    General Electric Company (GE)

    P/E: 18.17
    Payout Ratio: 67%
    Dividend Yield: 3.9%
    Dividend Growth rate (5yr AVG): 9.66%

    4 consecutive years of dividend increases
    Last Ex-dividend date: 12/18/2014
    Next Ex-dividend date: approx. 3/18/2015
    Have paid a dividend since: 1899 (116 years)
    Pays a dividend 4 times a year.
    Market Cap: 238.80 Billion
    52-week high: $27.53
    52-week low: $23.41


    BHP Billiton Plc (BBL)

    P/E: 7.65
    Payout Ratio: N/A
    Dividend Yield: 5.9%
    Dividend Growth rate (5yr AVG): 8.19%
    12 consecutive years of dividend increases
    Last Ex-dividend date: 9/3/14
    Next Ex-dividend date: approx. 3/3/2015
    Have paid a dividend since: 2002 (13 years)
    Pays a dividend 2 times a year.
    Market Cap: 105.52 Billion
    52-week high: $71.44
    52-week low: $38.54


    Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD)

    P/E: 11.70
    Payout Ratio: 51%
    Dividend Yield: 3.7%
    Dividend Growth rate (5yr AVG): 9.14% 

    4 consecutive years of dividend increases
    Last Ex-dividend date: 1/2/2015
    Next Ex-dividend date: approx. 4/2/2015
    Have paid a dividend since: 1857 (158 years)
    Pays a dividend 4 times a year.
    Market Cap: 78.10 Billion
    52-week high: $53.49
    52-week low: $41.89

    What are your thoughts about my recent purchase?

    What are you buying?

    Monday, January 12, 2015

    RECENT BUY - National Oilwell Varco, Inc (NYSE: NOV)


    WE RECENTLY PURCHASED THE FOLLOWING

    National Oilwell Varco Inc (NOV)
    Purchased 15 shares of NOV on 1/12/2015 at $59.97
    Total Spent: $899.64
    $27.60 added to annual dividends

    Back on December 1, 2014, we initiated a small position in National Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NOV) because it had hit their 52-week low that day.  Our purchase in December was a total of 9 shares at $65.00/share.  That original purchase did however come just before the Ex-dividend date so we have since received a dividend payment from NOV.


    Today, NOV hit set a new 52-week low.  Although we did not buy in at today's bottom, we still feel that NOV was still a nice bargain and glad we were able to pick up some shares under $60!

    With oil prices at current lows, oil related stocks are currently on sale. Nevertheless, as we had stated with our last purchase of NOV, we do consider it to be a higher than normal risk because of the unpredictability of oil prices.  But long term, we are more optimistic about the recovery of oil prices that we are pessimistic about NOV's future.  And buying in at these levels, we are hoping that we will be able to capitalize on that future growth.

    Since we already owned NOV, with today's purchase, our family's dividend stocks portfolio remains at total of 32 stocks/ETF with an estimated forward dividend of just a little over $3,195/year in dividends.

    Our family's dividend stocks portfolio may be found
    by clicking on the link below:

    We also maintain an extensive list of stock analysis
    that can be access through the link below:

    We also just started a list of Recent Buys by other bloggers
    that can be access through the link below:
     



    HERE IS A QUICK FACT SHEET FOR THE STOCK I JUST PURCHASED:
    National Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NOV)

    P/E: 9.81
    Payout Ratio: 24%
    Dividend Yield: 3.0%
    Dividend Growth rate (5yr AVG): N/A (3yr AVG - 52%)
    3 consecutive years of dividend increases
    Last Ex-dividend date: 12/3/2014
    Next Ex-dividend date: approx. 3/3/2015
    Have paid a dividend since: 2009 (5 years)
    Pays a dividend 4 times a year.
    Market Cap: 25.23 Billion
    52-week high: $86.55
    52-week low: $58.18


    What are your thoughts about my recent purchase?

    What are you buying?

    Friday, January 9, 2015

    Dividend Stocks Portfolio (Update) - January 2015

     

    Here is the recent update to our dividend stocks portfolio – January 2015.
     


    SALES 

    We in the middle of trying to re-balance our portfolio as there are a few companies we simply view as short-term investments and thus do not plan to hang onto for the long term.  However, we did not sell any shares in our portfolio this past month.  On the positive side, since we did not sell any shares, that means that our annual dividends did not decrease.

    TOTAL VALUE OF ALL SALES: $0.00

    OVERALL DECREASE TO ANNUAL DIVIDENDS: $0.00

     

    PURCHASES

    Given the expenses we had related to Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, I still think that December was a pretty decent month for us.  We still ended up picking up shares in four companies this past month. Three were companies we had already owned and was merely buying more shares to lower our overall cost basis, while one was a new holding.  Our purchase of NOV now brings our family dividend stocks portfolio to a total of 33 different companies/ETF.  
     
    The following are the actual buys that we made during the month of December:

    12/1/14
    10 shares of ESV (Ensco Plc) at $33.00 ($330.00)
    • Estimated Annual Dividend Received: $30.00
    12/1/14
    9 shares of NOV (National Oilwell Varco Inc) at $65.00 ($585.00)
    • Estimated Annual Dividend Received: $16.56
    12/5/14
    15 shares of BBL (BHP Billiton Plc) at $46.00 ($690.00)
    • Estimated Annual Dividend Received: $36.30
    12/12/14
    10 shares of BBL (BHP Billiton Plc) at $42.00 ($420.00)
    • Estimated Annual Dividend Received: $24.20
     12/12/14

    50 shares of TCK (Teck Resources Ltd) at $11.50 ($575.50)
    • Estimated Annual Dividend Received: $38.76
     TOTAL SPENT ON NEW ACQUISITION: $2,600.50*
    *We receive 100 free trades per year through our brokerage account so there was no commission paid on these purchase.

    As of 1/2/2015, we still have 68 free trades to make until 9/15/2015

    OVERALL INCREASE TO ANNUAL DIVIDENDS: $145.82

    With the additional $145.82 in annual dividends, our new estimated annual income is now $3,168 or and average of approximately $264/month. Our plan is to continued adding money to our portfolio each month at similar rate as we did this past month. However, in 2015, our plan is to slowly build up our exposure to various ETFs.  I have been reading several articles on ETFs and I now feel compelled to put a few more eggs into our ETFs basket. :)
     

    DIVIDENDS

    December was a great month in terms of dividends received.  During this past month, our dividend total was $297.90.  We had 15 companies pay us a dividend this past month. 

    For the month of December, we receive the following dividends:

    WELLS FARGO INVESTMENT ACCOUNT:
    12/01/14 - Dividend from ENB (Enbridge Inc): $6.19
    12/01/14 - Dividend from AFL (Aflac Inc): $13.65
    12/10/14 - Dividend from TGT (Target Corp): $13.04
    12/10/14 - Dividend from IBM (Int'l Business Machine Corp): $3.30
    12/10/14 - Dividend from EXC (Exelon Corp): $18.58

    12/10/14 - Dividend from EMR (Emerson Electric Co): $4.23
    12/15/14 - Dividend from ORI (Old Republic Int'l Corp): $6.39

    12/15/14 - Dividend from MCD (McDonalds Corp): $5.10
    12/15/14 - Dividend from ARCP (American Realty Capital Prop Inc): $37.50
    12/18/14 - Dividend from RIG (Transocean Ltd): $26.25
    12/19/14 - Dividend from ESV (Ensco Plc): $48.53
    12/19/14 - Dividend from NOV (National Oilwell Varco Inc): $4.14
    12/26/14 - Dividend from CIG (Companhia Energetica de Minas Gerais): $57.11
    12/31/14 - Dividend from BPY (Brookfield Property Partners): $1.03
    12/31/14 - Dividend from FTR (Frontier Communications Corp): $52.86

    EDWARD JONES INVESTMENT ACCOUNT:
    *No dividend were received in December from EJ Account

    OVERALL DIVIDENDS TOTAL THIS MONTH: $297.90*

    * We currently receive our dividends as cash in all stock positions held.
      

    With the total from this past month, we ended up exceeding our  2014 goal of $2,150 in annual dividends received by $355.00. In fact, we finished with a total of $2,505.00, or an average of $208.75 in dividends each month.  
     
    In case you interested, our family's dividend stocks portfolio may be found by clicking on the link below:
     

     

    Wednesday, January 7, 2015

    RECENT BUY - Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ)

    WE RECENTLY PURCHASED THE FOLLOWING:

    
    • Verizon Communications Inc (VZ)
      • Purchased 10 shares of VZ on 1/6/15 at $46.495
      • Total Spent: $464.95
        • $22.00 added to annual dividends
    I have been watching VZ for the last month in an effort to add some more shares of the telecommunications company to our current holdings.  But since 13.5% of our dividend stocks portfolio is already tied up in IT & Communications stocks, I wasn't in a real hurry to pick up more.  Nevertheless, I felt that since the current price was lower than my previous buys (thus allowing me to average down my cost basis), and couple with the fact that VZ is set to go Ex-dividend tomorrow (which means that I bought it just in time to receive their upcoming dividend), Verizon just seem like a the right buy today for our family's portfolio. 

    Our family's dividend stocks portfolio currently has a total of 31 dividend paying companies that pay us just a little over $3,175/year in dividends. 

    Our family's dividend stocks portfolio may be found by
    clicking on the link below: 

    We also maintain an extensive list of stock analysis
    that can be access through the link below: 

    We also just started a list of Recent Buys by other bloggers
    that can be access through the link below:

     

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

    Verizon Communications Inc (VZ)
    • P/E: 9.7796
    • Payout Ratio: 44%
    • Dividend Yield: 4.72%
    • Dividend Growth rate (5yr AVG): 2.90% 
    • 10 consecutive years of dividend increases
    • Last dividend Ex date: 10/8/2014
    • Next dividend Ex date: 1/7/2015
    • Have paid a dividend since: 1984 (31 years)
    • Pays a dividend 4 times a year.
    • Market Cap: 195.2 Billion
    • 52-week high: $53.66
    • 52-week low: $45.09 
    What are your thoughts about my recent purchase?

    What are you buying?

    Monday, January 5, 2015

    Net Worth (Update) - 4th Quarter 2014

    

    Originally, I was only planning to provide annual Net Worth updates.  However, since I am now part of an active list of bloggers who provide their net worth on Rockstar Finance's page - The Ultimate List of Blogger Net Worth, I have decided to start providing quarterly updates.  Providing quarterly updates will allow us to keep our readers more updated with our overall progress towards Financial Independence. It will also allow us to stay accurate and current on the Rockstar Finance's Ultimate List of Blogger Net Worth.
     
    As of the end of December 2014 (4th Quarter), our family net worth is as follows:
     
    Retirement Savings:                       $385,339
    P2P Lending Accounts:                    $  17,952
    Dividend Stock Accounts (DSA):      $  60,445
    DSA - Surplus Cash:                       $    6,889
    College Savings Accounts:               $  30,669
    Cash and Savings:                          $130,363
     
    GRAND TOTAL
    $631,657
    (Increase of $59,341 since 9/1/14)
     
    Although we do not count it as part of our Net worth,
    it is still nice to know that our Home Equity is:
    $441,189*
    (Increase of $15 since 9/1/14)

    I'm not sure how other feel but I must admit that I look forward to doing our Net Worth reports. Thankfully, we have managed to continue to grow our net worth each and every quarter (although some quarters are clearly better than others).  

    During this last quarter, you've probably notice a large infusion of cash and savings.  This cash infusion comes with both good news and bad. The bad news is that my wife lost her great grandfather during the month of September. Her great grandfather was a very frugal man who lived and raised his family in the same house he grew up in. He never had a mortgage because the house was already paid off when he inherited it.  However, because of this and his frugal lifestyle, he amassed a pretty sizable nest egg.  And since her great grandfather truly valued education, he made sure that part of his money went towards college savings for grand kids, great grand kids, and great-great grand kids (he was 95 years old when he passed). 

    So during this last quarter, my wife and I inherited $30K, which we are planning to spread out into our kids college education throughout the 2015 calendar year. We feel very blessed to have this inheritance as it now reduces our obligation to save for our kids college and thus free up our money to invest for other reasons. My wife and I already decided that we plan to do the same for future generations to come.

    NOTE: If you follow us, you know that we do not consider the home equity in our home as part of our net worth. Although others do consider home equity, and even cars, collections, etc. as part of their net worth, it is our opinion that since these items are not very liquid and the value of these items is highly dependent on what others are willing to pay for them (at the present time), we have decided not to consider these assets as part of our recognized family net worth.