The End of 2014 / The Start of 2015

Christmas and Holiday Gremlin here to talk end of year results and future stats.

Before I get into that, I would like to  talk some sports; let me begin by expressing my supreme disappointment that the Dallas Cowboys will be in the playoffs.  Hopefully they fail miserably, but in the meantime at least the Barclays Premier League will keep me entertained until next year and then the Winter Classic will take over!  The Winter Classic should be awesome, always love those.  Stupid football though...

Review of 2014:
This December I received $78.11 in dividends.  That is the most I have ever received; not counting two months when I had a junk stock with high yield, which I sold at its annual high in May.  A total of $378 of new capital, along with dividends, was invested in Loyal3 this month, buying between 1 to 3 shares of each of the following stocks: AAPL, KO, MCD, MSFT, PEP, and UL (3).  This has been one of the slower months in terms of investing because of Christmas (I have a huge family) and since I am coming off a wedding.  Still it was nice to round out some shares and increase other positions.

In 2014 I received a total of $793.95 in dividends from my stock investments between my taxable and Roth accounts.  This represents the most I have ever received in a year, and it comes the year after I completely refocused my investing to a DGI focused strategy.  In fact that total is more than the last three years of meager dividends I received combined.  Switching to a DGI approach has already started a small snowball, and it shows that with just one year behind it how powerful it can be.

In 2014 I also managed to contribute a mediocre $4,800 to my 401K.  That is well below the maximum, which I expect I will not hit for a while, if ever.  I do not have plans to increase my contribution rate due to a variety of reasons.  The plan is to proactively roll it into a Roth over time.

Preview of 2015:
At this time, I am projecting around $930 in dividends for next year.  That number is based upon a few things: minor investment increases in Loyal3, no new dividend increases, no new major investments in Sharebuilder, and foreign currency exchange rates remaining the same (CM, PGH, and UL due depend on the value of the Canadian Loonie / $ and Pound Sterling).  Two things I can influence, and that is the plan.

In Loyal3 the plan is to round out positions one or two at a time, depending on the best values.  The first stock in my sights is UL.  Currently it is very attractively valued, considering its yield and wide product reach in terms of geography and brand.  The goal is to finish that position by early February.  Once that is done the next target is KO, which should be finished by April or May.  My next choice will be one of DIS, K, MCD, MSFT, and PEP.  It is possible that a significant change in valuation will push one of those stocks to the front of the line.  Loyal3 shall briefly become its own snowball, before it gets merged into Sharebuilder.  Loyal3 positions yielded me $73.30 this year and next year is projected yield of $185 - a big increase to be sure.

My Sharebuilder taxable and Roth accounts will receive a boost at some point next year, despite the focus on my Loyal3 account.  I plan to make a minimum of 3 purchases between both accounts, with my stretch goal being 6 major investments.  I am already increasing my bi-weekly contribution rate for next year to push investments up faster.  I will also likely see a small pay increase at my day job and that should aid my efforts.

Sectors I am currently focused on are energy, insurance, healthcare, transportation, and basic materials / industrials.  Those sectors are all have excellent prospects for growth and or excellent valuations.

Big Goals:
The true big goal of 2015 is $1000 in dividends across all accounts.  It is possible, it requires patience and dedication - bring on 2015!

Another big goal is to find a good side hustle.  I can be a bit of a busy-body always doing stuff.  No reason I cannot translate into something solid.  Currently I ref sports, but that just breaks even for me to play sports.  I want a real side hustle!


Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year to everyone.
- Dividend Gremlin

Long: All stocks mentioned.

Final Loyal3 Credit Buys

Investor Gremlin here, to talk about the last buys using a credit card on Loyal3.  I set up several buys last month as reoccurring monthly purchases using my credit card, to attempt to max out the offering, which ends next week.  Those had to be set up prior to mid-November.

My buys included increases in six positions: AAPL, KO, MCD, MSFT, PEP, and UL.  Each purchase either added one more share, or rounded a share out.  In retrospect, I could have set up four more and it would have been nice going into the new year.  Alas, its Christmas season and that money might go towards presents anyway.

That will likely be my last set of large buys this year.  There will probably be a few smaller purchases via Loyal3 as dividends come and they get turned around quickly to buying a little more stock, however those likely will not be worth writing about.

Going forward I plan on writing a little more about sports and beer, my vices, until the new year.  That is unless there is a large increase or unexpected windfall of cash for me.  Both of those would be truly great gifts to come across.

In the meantime, a new page will be going up featuring investment blogs that rule.  There might also be links to sports, beer, and travel stuff too.  Those will probably take a lot longer to weed out and will likely not be blogs or online journals.

Did anyone else set up automatic buys to make final purchases at Loyal3 with a credit card?