DECEMBER 2018 – DIVIDEND PORTFOLIO UPDATE

As the global equity markets are scrambling trying to find a direction, the dividends just continue to trickle in. This month has been a great month as prices came down, I was able to pick up some great growth stocks. Due to my age and investing time horizon I welcome the reset in valuations.

My plans are to slowly grow my dividends, so I can have a healthy diversification of different sources of passive income. As of today, most of my income comes from real estate rental income. I am currently managing the properties which make the income not quite passive as I would like. My plan for next year is to hire a management company to take over the role to make the investment more passive. After calling around few places I did manage to find a realtor who looks like a great choice at a reasonable fee.

One of the dividend portfolios objectives is to keep the holdings as simple as possible. Using the right selections of ETF’s, and with a few great stocks that have great track records of growing dividends while maintaining a consistent payout over long stretches of time, the plan is to keep things as passive as possible. Holding more individual stocks requires more research therefore becomes less passive in my opinion. My hopes are to reach a level of freedom that allows me to focus on many different passions of my life. To have this goal become reality, my wealth should grow with as minimal input possible.

As of today, all incoming dividends are invested right back into the portfolio to take advantage of compounding. The passive income from my real estate income can support my lifestyle so fortunately, I do not have to dip into the dividends. So let the power of compounding and snowball effect play out!

Here are the positions added this month!

The shares sold this month are the following:

The shares sold from FSTFX were allocated to growth stocks as they are part of my cash holdings. I anticipate that part of my holdings to slowly come down if stock markets continue downwards.

The dividends for the month of December are the following!

It’s beautiful to have the dividends rolling in every month! It’s not much right now but what is more important is the trajectory upwards. It may not seem like much to some but that amount of dividends can cover most of my personal utility bills!

Dividend investing is a different mindset that’s for sure. The income from the company’s profits is amazing but I question if this form of investing is for everyone. The younger of an investor you are, the more you should be levered to growth in my opinion. One thing is for sure, retiring early makes dividends look more attractive.

The target is $1000 in dividends every month! Its hard to estimate how long it will take for me to reach that goal as I just started this portfolio. What’s most important is my steady progression towards that goal. My plans are to hit that goal in around 3-5 years but sooner the better!

Here are the current holdings:

Starting this month, I decided to remove the holding details for the crowdfunding investment from the portfolio due to the difference in asset class. I will primarily focus on stock dividend holdings for this portfolio going forward.

Total value of the portfolio is down -7.8% from the month prior ending at $137,791.30. December was rough but the selling of FSTFX also contributed to the decline.

As much as I wished to buy more, I reached my cap on monthly purchases on stocks. It’s important to remain disciplined with your cash management. One can never know if this correction is still the beginning of a longer bear market. Distributing your cash deployment strategy over a longer period of months may help reduce risk in your portfolio. The strategy may differ depending on one’s risk appetite and cash holdings.

How was your December? Did you have a great holiday? I sure did! I wish you all a belated Merry Christmas and a great Happy New Year! Thank you for reading. 😊

Follow me at my website: www.LifeBeyondFIRE.com

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