Portfolio Page

Hi everyone,

My portfolio page should be up now, so please check it out.  I tried to enable commenting, so I'm hoping it is up and running smoothly.  If not, please let me know and I'll try to rectify.

Portfolio

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  

It's a time to be thankful for all the blessings you have, such as family, friends, and health; or in relation to this blog, overall financial well being.  I’m most thankful for my wonderful and supportive family, as I’m truly blessed in that department, with a beautiful wife and healthy kids.   However, this Thanksgiving is especially important to us, as we began our journey to financial wealth a few short months ago, so this is the first Thanksgiving we can be thankful for that most important decision.  My wife and I sat down and discussed our financial matters several months ago, and came to the realization that we need to dedicate more of our resources to our financial health.  We go to the gym to ensure our bodies are in top shape for overall well being, but had neglected our financial health and spent freely for years.  We were simply not paying ourselves first!  Luckily, we both have great careers, but student debt and other bad financial decisions over the years left us starting from scratch in individual investing.  I’m fortunate enough to have a career that affords me with a pension, but we do not want to rely on pensions to support our family after retirement.  In addition, we both plan on retiring our full time careers at 50, so it was time to get to work building our wealth.  We now have a strategic plan to invest mainly in quality dividend paying companies, along with our rental property(ies) and 401k’s, to build a solid financial platform.  In addition, we are exploring other ways to earn passive income, as we will diversify our income sources. 

While this Thanksgiving marks an important milestone to be thankful for, it is simply the start to a very long journey.   I look forward to looking back on this particular Thanksgiving some five, ten, fifteen years from now and see our progress.  In any case, I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and I’m thankful for our blogging community as we continue to share suggestions and support to each other. 

Have a great holiday weekend!

Special Agent Dividend

Weekly Dividend Investing Activity

Hello everyone,

Another week gone.. and some more investments were made.  This posting will detail my investment activity for the week of November 17^th through November 21^st.  I’ve previously posted one purchase I made in the week, as I initiated a new (small) position with BHP Billiton plc (BBL).  I couldn’t resist pulling the trigger when I saw it hit 52 week lows.  Sadly, I didn’t have as much capital as I would have liked, but something is better than nothing!!  In addition to my purchase of BBL, I continued my weekly investment activity through Loyal3 and in my direct investment accounts.  In addition, I had one DRIP purchase, as I had a small dividend payment that was reinvested. 

Dividend Growth Investing:

This week I continued contributing small amounts of capital into existing positions, as I attempt to grow my positions with dollar cost averaging (DCA).  As I mentioned above, I also initiated a small position in BHP Billiton plc (BBL) in my main brokerage account.  I made the following investments:

 

Lockheed Martin Corp. ( LMT ):  I invested $66.00 at a purchase price of $185.69 for 0.35544 shares.  

 

The Proctor & Gamble Co. ( PG ):  I invested $50.00 at a purchase price of $89.16 for 0.560789 shares. 

 

In addition to the above purchases, I contributed to three companies in my Loyal3 account.  I wanted to get some purchases in before they remove the credit card option from the system.   I mainly invested in UL, as I continue to grow the positon.  It’s one of the better values at the moment with my holdings in Loyal3. 

 

Unilever  ( UL ):  $125 invested

The Walt Disney Company ( DIS ):  $50 invested

The Coca-Cola Company ( KO ):  $10 invested

 

My main purchase for the week was investing with BHP Billiton plc (BBL).  It has been on my watchlist for the past month or so, as I’ve been trying to take advantage of the overall weakness in the energy sector.  On Thursday, I noticed it was falling below its 52 low, so I decided to pull the trigger.  The summary of my purchase is: 

 

BHP Billiton plc ( BBL ):  I bought 11 shares at the purchase price of $50.13.  This purchase added $27.28 to my annual dividend income.  The main fallback of the BBL purchase to me is the bi-annual dividend payments, instead of the quarterly payments.  This isn’t a major concern for me, but I’d rather have dividend income rolling in quarterly. 

 

Dividends:

 

This week I received a dividend payment from The Proctor & Gamble Co.  PG paid me $2.07, which was reinvested into 0.02359 shares.  I have my dividend income automatically reinvested with PG.  In addition, I received $0.63 in dividend income from Apple (AAPL) in my Loyal3 account.  Last week I detailed my dividend income from in AAPL in my main brokerage, which was automatically reinvested. 

 

Summary:

 

Another productive, albeit small, investment week.  For the week, I invested $852.43, which was spread out among six companies (five existing and one new position).  At the end of the week, my individual stock portfolio stands at $8,726.70.  My forward annual dividend income is $262.55, which is awesome!  I can’t believe I’m up to that amount all ready, and can’t wait to take down my 2015 goal of $1000.  As always, thank you for the continued support and comments. 

 

 

Special Agent Dividend

Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Update on Allocation Changes

Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Update on Allocation Changes

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to update any readers that may utilize the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), i.e. any military member or federal government employee, that I’ve recently changed my allocation amount.  Previously, I have set my allocation at 60% C Fund, 20% S Fund and 20% I Fund.  I’ve kept this allocation for the past several months, but I wanted to get a little more aggressive with my S Fund allocation.  I recently changed my allocation to the following:  52% C Fund, 28% S Fund and 20% I Fund. 

C Fund – Common Stock Index

“The C Fund's investment objective is to match the performance of the Standard and Poor's 500 (S&P 500) Index, a broad market index made up of stocks of 500 large to medium-sized U.S. companies.”  Source: TSP.gov

S Fund – Small Cap Stock Index

“The S Fund's investment objective is to match the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Completion Total Stock Market Index, a broad market index made up of stocks of U.S. companies not included in the S&P 500 Index.”  Source:  TSP.gov

I Fund – International Stock Index

“The I Fund's investment objective is to match the performance of the Morgan Stanley Capital International EAFE (Europe, Australasia, Far East) Index.”  Source: TSP.gov

 

While the Thrift Savings Plan isn’t as sexy as individual stocks, per se, I still think it’s important to change things up occasionally to take advantage of market shifts, etc.  I will update my TSP status with any changes I make, such as allocation changes and/or inter-fund transfers.  Thanks for checking out this posting. 

Special Agent Dividend

New Buy - Dividend Growth Investing

New Buy - Dividend Growth Investing

Hello everyone,

I wanted to post an update of a purchase I made this week.  I'll provide more details later on, as I have a busy weekend planned.  Also, I have some other small purchases to detail in my weekly summary that I'll hopefully post in the next day or so.  

This week I decided to pull the trigger on BHP Billiton PLC (BBL), as it was hitting 52 week lows.  As many fellow DGI bloggers have pointed out, finding value is difficult but not impossible in this bull market.  In my opinion, BBL is very attratively valued with the current weakness in energy and the de-merger issues.  BBL has been on my watchlist and I couldn't resist buying when I seen it hitting the lows.  

"BHP Billiton PLC was incorporated on May 9, 1996. It is engaged in minerals exploration, development, production and processing, and oil and gas exploration, development and production. Its operating segments are Petroleum and Potash, Copper, Iron Ore, Coal, & Aluminium, Manganese and Nickel. The Company has operations in Australia, United Kingdom, China, Japan, North America, South America, and Southern Africa." Summary provided by USAA Brokerage.

Purchase information:

BBL:  Bought 11 shares at a purchase price of $50.13 per share.  

This purchase adds $27.28 in annual forward dividend income.  At the purchase price, the Yield on Cost (YOC) was an impressive 4.94%.  Sadly, I didn't have much capital saved, so I only bought 11 shares.  With some freebie trades, I don't mind making smaller purchases, especially at great deals.  The very next day, BBL was up substantially.  I'm hoping it stays down though, so I can double my position soon.  

I'll update this post soon with additional details.  Thanks for stopping by! 

Special Agent Dividend 

Goal Completed and First Milestone - Dividend Growth Investing

Goal Completed and First Milestone

Hello everyone,

I want to thank everyone for continued support of my financial independence journey and my little blog.  I find it extremely motivating to continually interact with like minded people on here and through your own blogs, as I draw inspiration from your journeys and simply learn from your experiences.  My posting tonight celebrates a small achievement in the beginning stages of my investing journey.  When I created this blog, I made a small goal of reaching $200 in forward annual dividend income in 2014, as I started from scratch.  While it is a small amount, I wanted to set a realistic goal in the few months that I had remaining in 2014.  Now, I’ve been investing for approximately three (3) months and have steadily added to my portfolio in high quality dividend paying companies.  I haven’t speculated or chased yield.  Rather, I have focused my investment strategy on some of the highest quality companies in their relative sector, such as Apple Inc. (AAPL), Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), The Coca-Cola Company (KO), The Walt Disney Company (DIS) and McDonald’s Corp., to name a few.  My portfolio has increased to a net value of $0 a short few months ago to $7,749.28, as of this posting.  Not a huge amount, but steady progress!  More importantly, my dividend income has gone from $0 to $222.86 in that amount of time, as I surpassed by $200 goal of forward annual dividend income.  Not too shabby!  My goal for 2015 is to obtain $1000 in forward annual dividend income, as I will actively invest on a weekly/monthly basis with new capital and reinvesting all dividends received. 

In addition to achieving my main goal of 2014, my blog, a little over two full months in the making, has surpassed the first milestone.  I have topped 10,000 pageviews, which seems amazing to me!  I was a lurker for the longest, as I religiously read some of my favorite blogs, such as Dividend Mantra, Write Your Own Reality, Roadmap2Retire, DivHut, Passive Income Pursuit, Dividend Diplomats, Tawcan, All About Interest, and many more.  These blogs, among many others, have served (do serve) as inspiration to me, as we all have similar goals and can learn from one another in our journeys.  I decided to start blogging my journey, as I wanted to share with others my experiences, document my journey and simply to motivate me to continue down the path.  It’s not easy by no means, as it takes up a substantial amount of time, but I find it truly addictive and motivating.  Thank you for supporting my journey and I hope to become more active in our little community. 

Special Agent Dividend

Weekly Investment Activity - Dividend Growth Investing Recent Buys

Weekly Investment Activity - Dividend Growth

Hi everyone,

Thank you for stopping by to check out my little blog, as I strive for financial independence and overall wealth building.  This posting will detail my investment activity for the week of November 10th to November 14th.  I continued my investment activity through my Loyal3 and direct investment accounts.  Also, I made one purchase in my main brokerage account, had a dividend reinvestment and contributed to my Thrift Savings Plan, TSP, account.  

Overall, I was able to invest $1483.93 during the week, as I continued my effort to invest on a weekly basis.  I added two new positions to my portfolio, as I initiated positions in BP Plc (BP) and Unilever Plc (UL).  In addition, I added to my small positions in the Walt Disney Company (DIS), the Coca-Cola Company (KO) and Wal-Mart (WMT).  

Dividend Growth Investing:

Loyal3:

I invested $155.00 in my Loyal3 account for the week.  I added small amounts to my positions with The Coca-Cola Company (KO), The Walt Disney Company (DIS), Wal-Mart (WMT), and added a new position with Unilever Plc (UL).  I really think UL is attractively valued at the moment, so I wanted to initiate a new position and will add to it during the coming weeks.  I have several purchase orders pending for UL in my Loyal3 account, which should go through this coming week.  My purchases were spread out in the following:

The Coca-Cola Company ( KO ): $75.00 invested adding 1.7478 shares

The Walt Disney Company ( DIS ):  $20.00 invested adding 0.221 shares

Wal-Mart ( WMT ):  $10.00 invested adding 0.1217 shares

Unilever Plc ( UL ): $50.00 invested adding 1.2255 shares 

Brokerage: 

I made one purchase in my brokerage account this week.  I ended up choosing to initiate a position in BP Plc (BP), as it has been on my watchlist and the current price allowed an attractive entry point with a very nice yield.  The summary of the purchase is:

BP Plc ( BP ): $907.50 invested at a share price of $41.25 for 22 shares.  

Dividend:

During the week, I had one automatic dividend reinvestment go through.  I received $9.43 from Apple Inc. (AAPL), which was reinvested into .087 shares.  This does not include my AAPL dividend in my Loyal3 account, which should post this week.  

Thrift Savings Plan (TSP):

I had a bi-weekly contribution to my Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) account this week.  I contributed $412, which was spread between the C Fund, S Fund and the I Fund.   

Summary:

Overall, I invested $1483.93 during the week.  I added two new positions, UL and BP, which brings my total to 16 companies in my portfolio.  I received a dividend payment of $9.43 from Apple (AAPL).  At the end of the week, my portfolio value stands at $7,641.99 and my TSP account is approximately $49,000, which brings my investment total to $56,641.99.  Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment!  
  

Special Agent Dividend

Recent Buy - Dividend Growth Investing

Hello everyone,

I made a new purchase in my ongoing, yet slow going, building of my investment portfolio.  I’ve been saving additional capital, on top of my usual weekly/monthly buys, to invest in larger amounts in some companies I consider valued attractively.  Unfortunately, the market has been on a roll since I’ve saved the additional cash, so I’ve been patiently waiting and evaluating my options.  I have been investing in the energy sector, with my ongoing purchases in ExxonMobil (XOM) and ConocoPhillips (COP), but I felt the continual drop of oil prices of late has led to even more value in the sector, so I pulled the trigger on another purchase of one of the “Big Oil” heavyweights.  This company is riskier that XOM and CVX, but I believe it is valued attractively at the current trading levels with a very nice Yield on Cost (YOC) and forward P/E.  Without further ado, I initiated a small position in BP.

 
Summary of BP:
 
BP PLC provides energy products and services. The Company is the parent company of the BP group of companies. The Company has two main operating segments, Upstream and Downstream. Its upstream segment manages exploration, development and production activities through global functions with specialist areas of expertise. Its downstream segment operates hydrocarbon value chains covering three main businesses - fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals. has operations in around 80 countries. The Company manufactures and markets lubricants and related products and services directly in about 45 countries and use approved local distributors for other geographies. Its fuels business is made up of regionally based integrated fuels value chains, which include refineries and fuels marketing businesses together with global oil supply and trading activities. The Company supplies fuel and related convenience services to consumers at approximately 17,800 BP-branded retail sites and have operations in almost 50 countries.

Meat and Potatoes:

On November 12^th, I bought 22 shares of BP at a share price of $41.25 for a total cost basis of $907.50.  At the purchase price of $41.25 and an annual dividend of $2.40, this makes my Yield on Cost (YOC) a very nice 5.82%.  This adds $52.80 to my forward annual dividend income that now sits at $222.86, which surpasses my goal of $200 for 2014!! 

The price of BP has been hammered as of late, as you can see in the 6m chart below.  It was trading in the $50s within the past six months, but the drop in oil prices and ongoing litigation have negatively affected the share price.  This presented an attractive starting point for me to initiate a small position.  I plan on keeping BP a smaller position within my overall portfolio, but felt the timing was right to buy. 


Any thoughts on BP?  I’ve noticed a few fellow bloggers adding to their positions lately. 

Current Positions - October Portfolio Update

As a follow-up post to my monthly activity post for October, I wanted to detail my third monthly portfolio update.  During my last portfolio posting, I noted a portfolio value of $5,063.12 with an estimated annual dividend of $133.24.  My overall value of my investments were $50,191.67.  This posting will detail my portfolio value, as of today, November 11, 2014.  


Special Agent Dividend’s Portfolio

Here is the breakdown of my Dividend Growth Portfolio, as it stands today. 

	Apple Inc.	APPL	21.3892	$2,333.35	$40.21
	Target Corp.	TGT	6.831	$447.29	$14.21
	The Coca-Cola Company	KO	8.9031	$378.65	$10.86
	Dr. Pepper Snapple Group	DPS	1.409	$98.29	$2.31
	Wal-Mart Stores Inc.	WMT	2.1334	$168.35	$4.10
	McDonald’s Corp.	MCD	4.0454	$385.12	$13.75
	Lockheed Martin Corp.	LMT	1.4362	$268.33	$8.91
	ConocoPhillips	COP	3.6213	$260.05	$10.57
	Verizon Communications Inc.	VZ	4.7097	$237.84	$10.36
	Exxon Mobil Corp.	XOM	5.4823	$528.72	$15.13
	Intel Corp.	INTC	0.8934	$29.82	$0.80
	The Procter & Gamble Co.	PG	3.2144	$288.05	$8.28
	The Walt Disney Company	DIS	2.7253	$244.02	$2.34
	Ford Motor Co.	F	51	$728.28	$25.50
			Total	$6,396.18	$167.34

Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)

 

My second prong of my investment plan is my Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), a 401K type plan.  I’m actively contributing to this account on a bi-weekly basis.  I’ve benefitted from the rising stock prices, as my TSP account has bounced back after taking a hit last month.  Here is the breakdown of my TSP account:

 

C Fund   Common Stock Index	1,142.8244	$26.8076	$30,636.37
S Fund   Small Cap Stock Index	266.9168	$35.6756	$9,522.41
I Fund   International Stock Index	327.9206	$24.8371	$8,144.60
		Total	$48,303.38

Summary:

Overall, my investment accounts total $54,699.56, which is an increase of $4,507.89 from my update in October.  This is attributable to my ongoing purchases and overall market increases.  This does not include my wife’s investment plan or our rental property.  I’m very happy with the progress, while I would love to have 100k to throw down on stocks, it’s not practical, so I’m slowly building our portfolio from scratch one penny at a time.  Thank you for stopping by! 

 

Special Agent Dividend