Sunday, March 26, 2017

Mortgage Balance (UPDATE) - MAR 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: $846,208 (up $9,949 in the last 30-days). My wife and I are not in the real estate profession so we are not sure why home prices have soared in recent months but we certainly welcome them.  On paper, we certainly feel slightly more wealthy. ;)

Our hunch is that the increase is possibly cause by home buyers looking to get into a home as interest rates continue to rise, which would make their monthly payment less and less affordable, and could eventually take them out of their desired neighborhood.  With one rate hike already gone into effect (and possible 1-2 more will occur before the year ends), it has triggered some urgency in those whom are in the market for a home and hoping to lock in a mortgage at current rates before they go up further. 


Mortgage Balance (As of March 1st):
$287,335 (down $1,907 from our post last month)

Percentage Owed:
33.9% (up .6% from our post last month)

Home Equity:
$558,873 (up $11,109 from our post last month)
   
We are very blessed to be able to say that in just 2-months, our mortgage home value has gone up: $20,583; our balance has gone down: $3,810; and as a result, our home equity has risen: $24,393!! 

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 3 months (123 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 11  years and 1 months (133 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:

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Collection of RECENT BUYS (February 2017 Summary)

Since our family began investing in dividend stocks approximately two and a half years ago, I've been keeping a personal log of what other dividend bloggers and dividend investors are buying. The collection essentially highlights the Recent Buys that I discover throughout the dividend blog community. Its nice to see what others are buying, if for nothing more to get some ideas.  

This collection started out as my own personal data sheet but I have since decided to share it with the DGI community.  I am glad I did because, as evident in our recent post (We Just Joined the 400K club), it has been once of the more popular pages on our blog!! We hope it everyone continues to use our Collection of Recent Buys and it remains a great resource for all. It can be a lot of work to maintain but we remain committed and will do our best to keep this list up to date. 


Please feel free to bookmark or share the page: 



AND NOW FOR THE SUMMARY OF
WHAT EVERYONE HAS BEEN BUYING THIS PAST MONTH

During the month of January a total of 58 buys were found throughout the DGI community. Even with the DOW above the 20,000 threshold, and uncertainty of the impact from Trump administration policies, it appears that DGI investors continue to find the value buys.  This is evident in the slight spike in buying activity in February compared to the month of January.   

Below is a chart and corresponding table that identifies those companies that were purchased at least two times this past month: 
To summarize the past month, out of a total of 58 buys found around the DGI community (with a minimum total of $300), a total of 43 companies were purchased with a total of 11 companies that were bought more than once. From the buys collected,  DGI investors picked up a stock not purchased by others 74.1% of the time. We definitely like to see the diversity in purchases made throughout the DGI investing community.  The wide range of stocks bought shows independent analysis and strategies among investors and indirectly introduces new stocks to those whom are looking for ideas.   
For the second consecutive month, V.F. Corporation (VFC) lead the charge as the most popular stocks among DGI investors. Once again, UL was purchased by 5 different investors throughout the DGI community. Our family grabbed a few shares back on January 26, 2017 and with the stock staying near its 52-week lows, we took the opportunity to grab a few more this past month.  On February 11, 2017, we grabbed 7 additional shares of V.F. Corporation (VFC) at $49.58.  We now own a total of 15 shares with a cost bases on $50.87.
There was a cluster of stocks competing for the second place spot this past month, including to Canadian based stocks. Always nice to see this collection extend beyond the US borders. ;)

In all, there were ten dividend paying stocks that rounded up second place with buys from 2 different DGI investors throughout the DGI community. They were: 3M Co (MMM) , Target Corp (TGT) , Walmart Stores Inc (WMT) , Apple Inc (AAPL) , Coca Cola Co (KO) , Verizon Communications Inc (VZ) , Gilead Science Inc (GILD) , Pfizer Inc (PFE) , Brixton Metals Corp (BBB.V) , Canadian Utilities Ltd (CU.TO). 


Data used for this SUMMARY is from our 


What have you been buying?  Please feel free to share in the comments or send me a link to your Recent Buy post in case I happened to have missed it.

If you have a chance, make sure you also take a look at my COLLECTION OF STOCK ANALYSES!! As with my collection of recent buys, 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 blogger is 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.

Also, if you have a chance, make sure you also follow or visit Adam over at I Want to Retire Soon (IWTRS) as he generally provides a weekly summary of recent buys! A link to past summaries is maintained on his blog. Another great resource for ideas if you are not sure where to invest next! 

Sunday, March 5, 2017

FEBRUARY 2017 - DIVIDENDS RECEIVED

Below is a recap of the dividends/partnership distributions that we received from our family's dividend stocks portfolio –  February 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: $144.63

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


WELLS FARGO INVESTMENT ACCOUNT:
2/01/17 - VZ (Verizon Communications): $14.44
2/01/17 - DE (Deere & Co): $10.80
2/01/17 - T (AT&T Inc): $12.42
2/02/17 - POT (Potash Corp of Saskatchewan): $2.00
2/03/17 - VOD (Vodafone Group Plc): $12.33
2/14/17 - OKS (Oneok Partners LP): $4.74
2/15/17 - OHI (Omega Healthcare REIT Investors Inc): $6.20

2/15/17 - KMI (Kinder Morgan Inc): $14.00
2/16/17 - AAPL (Apple Inc): $3.42
2/22/17 - ARTNA (Artesian Resources Corp): $9.13
2/24/17 - COF (Capital One Financial Corp
): $2.80
2/28/17 - RY (Royal Bank of Canada): $6.34

EDWARD JONES INVESTMENT ACCOUNT:
2/1/17 - T (AT&T Inc): $46.34

OVERALL DIVIDENDS TOTAL THIS MONTH: $144.63


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