FEBRUARY 2020 (Recap) - DIVIDENDS RECEIVED

Wow! Will the bleeding stop! This COVID-19 (otherwise known as Coronavirus) is really doing a number on our family's dividend portfolio value! Since Friday, February 21st, when the market began its recent descent, our family's dividend portfolio had dropped just under $10K. That is roughly 9.5% of our portfolio.  Gone! kaput! And that is just our dividend portfolio!! 

But the good news is....wait for it....wait for it....the dividends still keep rolling in! In fact, they may even grow in the coming months as we are on the lookout for some quality dividend-payers to buy and hang onto for the long haul. We made a couple of purchases last Friday and if the market continues to drop, we may make a few more this Friday. What is everyone else doing? Are you buying?   

Enough with the depressing news, now onto some more uplifting news. Below is a list of the dividends/partnership distributions that we received from our family's dividend stocks portfolio – February 2020 (recap).

DIVIDENDS 

During the past month, 7 companies/ETFs/Partnerships. The total monies received from those 7 companies/ETFs/Partnerships was: $214.95. 

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

WELLS FARGO INVESTMENT ACCOUNT:
2/03/20 - GIS (GENERAL MILLS INC): $12.25
2/10/20 - VOD (VODAFONE GROUP PLC): $74.42
2/14/20 - BKR (BAKER HUGHES A GE CO): $7.20
2/18/20 - KMI (KINDER MORGAN INC): $56.75
2/20/20 - DHC (DIVERSIFIED HEALTHCARE TR COM): $15.00
2/21/20 - WAB (WABTEC): $0.12

EDWARD JONES INVESTMENT ACCOUNT:

2/03/20 - T (AT&T INC): $49.21

OVERALL DIVIDENDS TOTAL THIS MONTH: $214.95

How did you all do? Hopefully you all continue to see your dividends growth month after to month, year after year! 

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

Dividend Stocks Portfolio

Mortgage Balance (UPDATE) - February 2020

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 $874,508 (up $1,833 in the last 30-days). 

Mortgage Balance (As of February 1st):
$217,690 (down $1,993 from January post)

Percentage Owed:
24.8% (down .3% since our January post)

Home Equity: 
$656,818 (up $3,980 from our January post)
   

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 7 years and 4 months (88 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 8 years and 4 months (98 months) left on our mortgage. Nevertheless, I would like to have it paid off in roughly 5 years. If we accomplish that, I plan to use the money we use to pay our mortgage and aggressively build our passive income to help supplement our retirement and defer tapping into the 457K for as long as possible 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, we may consider using some of the 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.

JANUARY 2020 (Recap) - DIVIDENDS RECEIVED

Below is a list of the dividends/partnership distributions that we received from our family's dividend stocks portfolio – January 2020 (recap).

DIVIDENDS 

During the past month, 9 companies/ETFs/Partnerships. The total monies received from those 9 companies/ETFs/Partnerships was: $447.18. Nothing out there seems to be screaming "amazing deal!" so I think we will hang on to our pile of cash for now.  What is everyone else doing? Are you planning to collect any profits, or otherwise sell any losers before the end of the year?  

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

WELLS FARGO INVESTMENT ACCOUNT:
1/03/20 - LADR (LADDER CAPITAL CORP): $17.00
1/08/20 - CIG (COMPANHIA ENERGETICA DE MINAS GERAIS): $157.65
1/10/20 - MO (ALTRIA GROUP INC): $29.40
1/15/20 - VER (VEREIT INC): $46.06
1/15/20 - OXY (OCCIDENTAL PETE CORP): $75.05
1/15/20 - CAH (CARDINAL HEALTH INC): $25.98
1/16/20 - NTR (NUTRIEN LTD): $8.11
1/27/20 - GE (GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY): $2.00

EDWARD JONES INVESTMENT ACCOUNT:

1/29/20 - CMCSA (COMCAST CORP): $85.93

OVERALL DIVIDENDS TOTAL THIS MONTH: $447.18

How did you all do? Hopefully you all continue to see your dividends growth month after to month, year after year! 

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

Dividend Stocks Portfolio

Mortgage Balance (UPDATE) - January 2020

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 $872,521 (up $7,079 in the last 30-days). 

Mortgage Balance (As of January 1st):
$219,683 (down $1,988 from December post)

Percentage Owed:
25.1% (down .4% since our December post)

Home Equity: 
$652,838 (up $6,826 from our December post)
   

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 7 years and 5 months (89 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 8 years and 5 months (99 months) left on our mortgage. Nevertheless, I would like to have it paid off in roughly 5 years. If we accomplish that, I plan to use the money we use to pay our mortgage and aggressively build our passive income to help supplement our retirement and defer tapping into the 457K for as long as possible 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, we may consider using some of the 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.

DECEMBER 2019 (Recap) - DIVIDENDS RECEIVED

Below is a list of the dividends/partnership distributions that we received from our family's dividend stocks portfolio – December 2019 (recap).

DIVIDENDS 

During the past month, 13 companies/ETFs/Partnerships. The total monies received from those 13 companies/ETFs/Partnerships was: $165.49. With the market reaching all-time highs this past month and uncertainties oversees, our family has decided to collect some profits.  As a result, we have started to see fewer dividends.  Nothing out there seems to be screaming "amazing deal!" so I think we will hang on to our pile of cash for now.  What is everyone else doing? Are you planning to collect any profits, or otherwise sell any losers before the end of the year?  

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

WELLS FARGO INVESTMENT ACCOUNT:
12/02/19 - WFC (WELLS FARGO & CO): $7.65
12/02/19 - HP (HELMERICH & PAYNE INC): $10.65
12/03/19 - ENB (ENBRIDGE INC): $55.52
12/10/19 - IBM (INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORP): $9.72
12/10/19 - XOM (EXXON MOBIL CORP): $17.40
12/10/19 - CVX (CHEVRON CORPORATION): $5.95
12/13/19 - CTL (CENTURYLINK INC): $15.00
12/18/19 - RDS.B (ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC ADR B): $13.16

12/20/19 - NOV (NATIONAL OILWELL VARCO INC): $3.00
12/26/19 - SU (SUNCOR ENERGY INC ): $4.79

12/27/19 - EDIV (SPDR S&P EMERGING ETF): $7.37
12/30/19 - GILD (GILEAD SCIENCES INC): $3.15

12/31/19 - BPY (BROOKFIELD PPTY LP PARTNER): $12.13

EDWARD JONES INVESTMENT ACCOUNT:

N/A

OVERALL DIVIDENDS TOTAL THIS MONTH: $165.49

How did you all do? Hopefully you all continue to see your dividends growth month after to month, year after year! 

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

Dividend Stocks Portfolio

Mortgage Balance (UPDATE) - December 2019

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 $867,683 (up $5,375 in the last 30-days). 

Mortgage Balance (As of December 1st):
$221,671 (down $1,984 from November post)

Percentage Owed:
25.5% (down .2% since our November post)

Home Equity: 
$646,012 (up $668 from our November post)
   

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 7 years and 6 months (90 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 8 years and 6 months (100 months) left on our mortgage. Nevertheless, I would like to have it paid off in roughly 5 years. If we accomplish that, I plan to use the money we use to pay our mortgage and aggressively build our passive income to help supplement our retirement and defer tapping into the 457K for as long as possible 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, we may consider using some of the 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.

NOVEMBER 2019 (Recap) - DIVIDENDS RECEIVED

Below is a list of the dividends/partnership distributions that we received from our family's dividend stocks portfolio – November 2019 (recap).

DIVIDENDS 

During the past month, 7 companies/ETFs/Partnerships. The total monies received from those 7 companies/ETFs/Partnerships was: $215.09. With the market reaching all-time highs this past month and uncertainties oversees, our family has decided to collect some profits.  As a result, we have started to see fewer dividends.  Nothing out there seems to be screaming "amazing deal!" so I think we will hang on to our pile of cash for now.  What is everyone else doing? Are you planning to collect any profits, or otherwise sell any losers before the end of the year?  

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

WELLS FARGO INVESTMENT ACCOUNT:
11/01/19 - GIS (GENERAL MILLS INC): $24.50
11/01/19 - T (AT & T INC): $28.23
11/14/19 - SNH (SENIOR HOUSING PROP TR REIT): $15.00
11/15/19 - KMI (KINDER MORGAN INC): $62.50
11/19/19 - ETP (ENERGY TRANSFER LP): $29.28
11/22/19 - BKR (BAKER HUGHES A GE CO): $7.20
11/29/19 - WAB (WABTEC): $0.12

EDWARD JONES INVESTMENT ACCOUNT:

11/1/19 - T (AT & T INC): $48.26

OVERALL DIVIDENDS TOTAL THIS MONTH: $215.09

How did you all do? Hopefully you all continue to see your dividends growth month after to month, year after year! 

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

Dividend Stocks Portfolio