December 2019 Review / January 2020 Preview & End of Year Review

Happy End of Year Gremlin here to again discuss the difference a year makes. As 2019 ends I can look around my house and see a second baby who is thankfully home, while thinking forward to a year mostly on one income. Time has flown with lots of great highs, both in my personal and investing life, and plenty of lows. As we weave through the ups and downs, I cannot help but feel stronger coming out the other side in every aspect - except age which is like a golf game (no one wants a higher score).

2020 will feature, hopefully, a new high in terms of investing and earned incomes. It will also feature at least two medical procedures for my daughter, so knock on wood those go as well along with everything else.

December:

This month I added shares to five positions across all accounts.

Last month I brought in a total of $515.51 in dividends ($236.47 taxable, $118.03 Roth, and $161.01 in my IRA).  This is an increase from last year ($408.49 total) by 26%.  This total is my new highest ever, and the first time I have collectively broken $500 in a month.

In terms of dividend increases, I realized 6 raises from My Employer (B**), McDonald's (MCD), Microsoft (MSFT), VF Corp (VFC), WestRock (WRK), and Emerson Electric (EMR). The increases range from just about 1% to more than 17%. This brings my total raises to 63 on the year, five more than last year's final total. I also realized one cut of approximately 33% by KHC.

Next month I will realize two dividend increases from Realty Income (O) and Eastman Chemical (EMN).  The increases range from 0.2% to around 6%.

NOTE: I only count increases when realized, because until that money is delivered any statements or declarations are simply conjecture.

January:

The mortgage continues and I am putting extra cash towards the principal monthly - not a huge number, but every little bit counts. Our debts currently outstrip our assets, since I do not count my home as an asset until I own it outright.

The buys shall continue until financial independence improves - with monthly rolling buys of course.

Next month should produce around $128 in dividends, which is a 16% YOY increase.

My portfolio page is currently up to date.

2019:

What a year.  So let's look at how I did last year compared to the goals I laid out for myself.

(Results in RED):

• Invest a total of $13000 across all accounts. Success. $14532.49 total.
• Receive $1500 in dividends from the taxable account.  Success. $1530+
• Maintain or reduce weight while continuing to exercise ~ 4x per week and bike wherever I can.  Partial fail. A second child, especially one needing a lot of care and in the hospital means I lost at the end, but its not like I am now twice the person I was, and the road to success is still not far away.
• Hold the line / reduce total spending (after debt payments) by around 5%.  Fail.  Honestly we got clobbered by medical bills and associated costs with hospital stuff. Had we not had a baby, regardless of medical issues we would have been within range here.

Overall that is a 2/4 success rate.  Well that could have been worse in so many ways.

2020: 

So what will become of 2019?  I have organized a few goals to make sure I stay on target.

• Invest a total of $10000 across all accounts.
• Receive $1900 in dividends from the taxable account.
• Exercise ~ 4x per week.
• Reduce total spending (after mortgage payments) by 5%.

I have a feeling, no matter what happens 2020 will be another wild ride.

Hope everyone has a great January and a Happy New Year!
- Dividend Gremlin
- Long all stock tickers mentioned

December 2019 Buys

Holiday Time Gremlin here to give you my December buy updates. The holidays are always a busy time of the year, and having young children only magnifies that more for a variety of reasons. Still, I have been able to find time and resources to add some shares towards financial independence. No matter what is going on, it is important to always be able to find five minutes to add shares towards freedom. (Thank you, internet.)

That being said I did rush on filling out one of my positions, MSM, because of a $5 special dividend that I will realize in February.  Considering that, other increases, and the general well-being of those around me - 2020 is looking up from here.

No purchase or account fees were paid this month. I added shares of the following companies by account (* indicates a new position, which will be discussed below):

Taxable:
B** - Fractional share, DRIP purchase of my employer stock.
BNS - 1 share @ $55.44 / share, $2.34 income added
MSM - 10 shares @ $74.37 / share ($743.68 total), $30 income added
Total Invested = $799.12 (not including employee stock)
Annual Income Added (AIA) = $32.34

Roth:
AROW - 3 shares @ $35.69 / share ($107.08 total), $3.12 income added
Total Invested = $107.08
AIA = $3.12

Standard IRA:
FLIC - 6 shares @ $24.56 / share ($147.35 total), $4.32 income added
Total Invested = $147.35
AIA = $4.32

Totals:
Invested = $938.06
AIA = $35.04

*New Positions:
No new positions this month.

I will update my portfolio page at the end of the month.

What do you think of these companies?

Have happy holidays, if you are celebrating any. If you're not, make one up and celebrate it anyway.
- Gremlin
- Long all tickers mentioned

November Review, December Preview, 2019

Wow Gremlin here to do a quick review and look ahead. What a crazy month; November might have only been 30 calendar days, but it felt like 60. Tomorrow I go back to work, and its hard just imagining that my wife will be home with our new baby girl, our 2 yr old Lil Gremlin, and we will have 1 paycheck for a almost a year (but we can make it work). Still, even with all of our personal stuff the world kept turning, dividends kept coming in, and dividend raises kept getting announced. DGI really is a great way to invest, where I can tune out for a long period of time and still come out ahead. So lets see how this 'lazy' month went.

November:

This month I made several stock purchases again this month.

I brought in a total of $308.72 in dividends ($86.91 taxable, $69.51 Roth, and $152.30 IRA).  This is an increase from last year (294.85 total) by 4%. This would have been higher, but several payments were pushed back to December.

In terms of dividend increases, I realized* 6 raises from the American Express (AXP), Eaton Vance (EV), the Royal Bank of Canada (RY), Starbucks (SBUX), Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI), and Verizon (VZ).  The increases ranged from 1% to 14%. I have now realized 57 raises thus far this year.  I also realized one cut of approximately 33% by KHC.  My employer (B**) pushed their payout back to early December, otherwise it would have been 58.

Next month I will realize 6 raises from My Employer (B**), McDonald's (MCD), Microsoft (MSFT), VF Corp (VFC), WestRock (WRK), and Emerson Electric (EMR).  The increases range from just about 1% to more than 17%.

* I only count increases when realized, because until that money is delivered any statements or declarations are simply conjecture.

December:

The mortgage continues and I am putting extra cash towards the principal monthly - not a huge number, but every little bit counts. Our debts currently outstrip our assets.

I will be doing rolling purchases going forward, but I will likely focus on retirement accounts as in case I need to deal with healthcare costs.

Next month should produce around $495 in dividends, which is a 20+% YOY increase.

My portfolio page is currently up to date.

Hope everyone has a great December and Holiday season.
- Dividend Gremlin
- Long all stock tickers