First Goal Completed, Albeit a Small One, and LMT Dividend Increase

Hi everyone,

Big news, well kind of.  I surpassed my first goal of $100 in annual forward dividend income!  I’m pretty happy about that, as it is one small milestone that will hopefully lead to my financial success.  I’m setting my second annual dividend goal to $500, which I hope to acquire within the next 6 months of investing in high quality dividend growth companies. 

Regarding my first goal of $100, surprising it was not even the purchases that I planned for this week, but rather, a raise from Lockheed Martin Corp. ( LMT ) that bumped me over the first hurdle.   LMT declared their Fourth Quarter 2014 dividend at $1.50 per share, which is a $0.17 per share raise or thirteen percent (13%) increase from their prior $1.33 per share dividend.  According to Lockheed Martin, it is their 12^th consecutive double digit percent increase of their dividend, which is no small feat.  I remember following LMT several years ago, as I watched and tried to learn the market.  The price for LMT has significantly increased since those days, and I’m kicking myself in the butt for not investing back then.  In any case, after this dividend raise, my projected annual dividend is sitting at $100.35.  However, I plan to keep investing and raise this number dramatically, as I build my core positions. 

I plan on making another post in the next day or two detailing dividends and purchases made this past week and my plans on purchases this coming week.  In addition, I’ll be making my first monthly update posting on October 1, which will detail all my purchases, dividends, net worth, and other passive income streams for the month of September. 

Thank you for reading. 

Update: New Buys, TSP, Dividend

Hi everyone,

I meant to get this put out Friday, but ended up getting caught up with work stuff.  Anyways, I wanted to make a posting to detail some of my week’s investment activity, as I made some on-going weekly purchases, contributed to my bi-weekly retirement account, and received another HUGE dividend!  Please don’t laugh at the amounts lol

Dividend Growth Investing:

This week I continued to make purchases using my Loyal3 account and by direct stock purchase plans.  The following is the details of my weekly purchases:

1.  Lockheed Martin Corporation ( LMT ):  Invested $66.00 at a purchase price of $179.06 for .368585 shares.  

2.  The Coca-Cola Company ( KO ):  Invested $35.00 at a purchases price of $42.08 for .8317 shares.

3.  The Walt Disney Company ( DIS ):  Invested $25.00 at a purchase price of $25.00 for .2745 shares.

4.  Wal-Mart Stores Inc. ( WMT ):  Invested $10.00 at a purchase price of $76.96 for .1297 shares.

5.  Target Corp. ( TGT ):  Invested $10.00 at a purchase price of $64.33 for .1554 shares.

6.  McDonald’s Corp. ( MCD ):  Invested $10.00 at a purchase price of $94.69 for .1056 shares. 

 

Retirement Account / TSP / 401K

In addition, I had an automatic bi-weekly contribution to my Thrift Savings Plan ( TSP ), which is my retirement investment account.  I invested $412 into three index funds, which purchased me the following shares:

1.  C Fund, Common Stock Index, 9.4213 shares

2.  S Fund, Small Cap Index, 2.3276 shares

3.  I Fund, International Stock Index, 3.1651 shares

 

Dividends Received

I received another dividend this week, as McDonald’s Corp. ( MCD ) paid me $1.09.  Haha enough for a cheap MCD single patty burger I suppose!  Even though it’s a tiny payout, I have to say it feels great to see that roll into my account.  I’m excited to see them growing over time and hopefully they will begin to take on a life of their own soon.  

 

Summary

Well not much by any means, but what did occur, is that my DGI portfolio went over the 4k mark.  As of closing, my account balance was $4155!  I’m hoping I cross my first hurdle of $100 in forward annual dividend income in the coming week.  In sum, I’m not rich (yet!) but making some slow and steady progress.  Thanks for checking out my posting.  I’m still trying to learn how to fix up my blog, i.e. insert charts and create a page for my portfolio.  Hopefully I can get that done soon.  Please leave me some comments! 

Investment Property

As I mentioned in one posting, one of the areas I’m engaged in for income generation and eventual overall wealth is an investment property.  It is merely one prong of my overall investment strategy, which includes dividend growth investing and retirement investment accounts.  Frankly, it is my least favorite and one that I’m always anxious about.   

I currently own, or at least like to call myself that as the bank truly owns it, one investment property, which is a single family home.  This is a hands off investment property, as the house is located in another state and I utilize a property manager at the moment.  I purchased the house right before the housing crash, so my interest rate is horrible in comparison to what is available now.  Luckily for me, the home is in a great market and has never sat idle for any length of time.  However, I would still like to refinance soon, if it would be practical with a lower rate and substantially lowering my monthly payment. 

Breakdown:

Loan outstanding – approximately $130,000

Zillow estimate – approximately $175,000 

Equity –   + $45,000 (Although I’m not really interested in equity value as this can change dramatically over time)

Loan payment - $845

Rent income - $1300 minus management fees of $130 = $1170

Positive cash flow = $325 monthly

The plan for the property is to continue paying down principal with any excess income generated from the property, which is typically $325 monthly.  I would like to refinance the house to lower my monthly payment, which will increase my income.  However, I’ve heard it is more difficult to refinance a rental property, so I’ve been hesitant.  In addition, I plan on raising the rent for the next tenant, as the amount has been stale for the past three years and estimates for rent indicate $1450 as a fair value.  

Dividend Reinvestment

To piggy back my earlier post of the review of Loyal3, I wanted to point out another good feature.  I started investing in Loyal3 in July with small amounts towards a few companies that I wanted to grow nice positions with.  As I detailed in one posting, I received dividends deposited into my Loyal3 account from three companies so far, which are Intel, Wal-Mart and Target.  These dividends were nominal to say the least, as they totaled a whopping $2.42.  As a new investor, I want to put my money to work for me as quickly as possible to build my positions.  Luckily, Loyal3 allows me to purchase stocks for as little as $10 bucks and I can distribute those dividends to any stock I choose.  In this case, I decided to add $7.58 principal to the $2.42 in my available funds from the dividends to purchase $10.00 in WMT.  That $10.00 purchased me 0.1319 shares of WMT; not much but it's something.  

This purchase will be in addition to my other purchases I planned for the week, which I will detail in a separate posting.  I’m hoping that snowball keeps growing with small purchases like these!  

Initial Review of Loyal3

I’m a new investor that starting my journey in July 2014.  I’ve started small and plan to slowly accumulate wealth, in part by, dividend growth investing (DGI), investment property, maximizing my retirement plans and reducing overall expenditures while using side methods to raise my overall capital.  

A colleague of mine tipped me off to Loyal3, which prides itself on the motto “Own what you Love” and the key words of “democratizing the capital markets.”  He opened the account up a few months prior to me.  After some of my own research, I opened up an account with them in July, with somewhat hesitation and skepticism.  From a business standpoint, I didn’t really understand the monetization of their niche of no fee investing.  I’ve learned they receive payments from companies for IPO fees, along with their social stock plan.  In that essence, they do generate capital, but for the long run, I’m still hesitant on the sustainability of the business model.

However, I still decided to give Loyal3 a shot, by investing in a small number of companies on a routine basis.  I’ll not worry so much about the daily price of a stock, but focus on long term accumulation, which is in essence, dollar cost averaging.   I didn’t set a pre-determined amount for any company, but rather allocate funds to a particular stock throughout the month, as I added capital or received dividends.  Now, three months in I feel that I can give a fair review of Loyal3. 

Pros:

1.  No fees.  This one isn’t hard.  For an investor like myself, no fees make investing a possibility and easy to start.  I don’t have to save up $1000 or another higher amount to offset the trading fees.  I can simply put $10 bucks here and 25 bucks there, when I choose. 

2.  Ease of setup and use.  The website is very basic and no frills.  After you set up account, you simply pick a stock that is listed and either buy on a one time basis or monthly plan. 

3.  The ability to use a credit card.  No brainer here; rewards!  I use a rewards credit card to purchase a stock and then get 1% cash back.  Not bad at all.  You can purchase with credit card in amounts of 10, 25, and 50. 

Cons:

1.  Not a bad selection of stocks to purchase, such as KO, AAPL, WMT, MCD.  But, you are limited.  50+ stocks on their site currently, but they are adding, such as Kraft recently. 

2.  No control on purchase or sell price. You basically buy on market orders, as they buy/sell on batch orders.  Unlike some reviews I've read, I've never had an issue with perceived price gouging. I've had some purchases go through at or near the day high, but others at the day low. 

3.  When using a credit card or purchase from your bank account, it takes two business days and three business days respectively.  However, if you do not like this method, you can simply add funds to your account and submit an order when you have available funds in the account.  Using this method, you purchase stocks on the same day using their batch purchase.  I find myself using the available funds method now, as I can watch the market during the day and pick a stock that may have a slight dip for the purchase that day.  As long as you place the order by 2 p.m. EST you are good to go. 

4.  Not an established brokerage.  I’m still hesitant to believe that Loyal3 can sustain its current business model.  Obviously, time will tell, but I’ll keep plugging away small amounts for the time being. 

Overall, I really like my experience with Loyal3.  I’m a small investor that is just starting out, so it is absolutely great to have the ability to slowly accumulate shares with no fees.  I’m saving a ton of money and building a diversified portfolio.  It is not my only method to purchase stocks, but I’m using it as an additional tool to accumulate shares in certain companies.  I’m still cautious and to be honest, I will probably transfer my holdings out eventually to my main brokerage account, but not in the foreseeable future.  Who knows, Loyal3 may become a very established brokerage by then with no risk of closing, changes, etc.  FYI, Loyal3 advised me, after I asked, that you can only transfer your entire account over and you cannot re-open an account.  Basically, you cannot just transfer KO out and leave AAPL in.  It’s the whole account or nothing, and you cannot simply re-open another account afterwards. 

I’ll post some other information as I think of it and with my purchases.  Anyone else using Loyal3?   Thanks for stopping by. 

Recent Buys and Mindblowing Dividend Income

Hello fellow bloggers,

I just wanted to make a quick post to detail my recent purchases and document my dividends received thus far this month.

I've had three automatic purchases so far this month, which I will continue to invest in until I have a solid base.  They are as follows:

ConocoPhillips (COP):  55.00 in new capital invested for 0.6794 shares
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM):   65.00 invested for 0.658294 shares
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ):  60.00 invested for 1.20603

I added to my position of Apple (AAPL), as I purchased 9 shares for a cost of 98.25 for a total amount of 893.20.  Although AAPL is trading at highs, I believe it will be a company that will reward me for years to come.

.....Now to the dividends lol

I received a whopping $0.13 from INTC.  WMT paid out $0.30.  TGT was kind enough to give me $1.99.  Lastly, XOM reinvested $0.45 for me.   In total, I've received $2.87 so far this month. The good news is that I'm hoping this will be the lowest amount I will ever receive in monthly dividends, as the snowball grows.  LMT and MCD are my other two dividends I will receive this month.

I have several other purchases scheduled that I will detail when complete.  Thanks for stopping by!!

Retirement 401K i.e. TSP

Hello all,

Thank you so much for commenting on my first posting about my individual stock holdings.  I really appreciated the blogging vets viewing and commenting on my posting.  I've found inspiration from your blogs and will continue reading, learning and sharing along the way.  I have to admit, it’s a little addictive. 

In this post, I’m going to detail my retirement holdings, which is a part of my overall strategy to build wealth and live an enjoyable retirement at a young age.  I've very fortunate to have a career that has very good benefits that affords a pension retirement, along with a 401k type investing plan. 

My 401k type plan is known as the Thrift Savings Plan or TSP for short.  I've seen some fellow bloggers that contribute to the plan, so some know about it at least.  I contribute to the plan on a bi-weekly basis, which has a few options for investments (not many but it is decent).  You have the ability to control your contributions by percentages or dollar amount to specific funds, and are able to shift funds twice monthly.  I’m passive with this account but will change allocations at times to maximize returns.  Currently, the value of the account is $47,131.  My current allocations are 60% to the C Fund, 20% to the I Fund, and 20% to the S Fund.  Overall, my past 12 month performance is 22.05%.  

Here is a summary of the funds, from TSP: 

C Fund:  “Stocks of large and medium-sized U.S. companies” that attempt to match S&P 500

I Fund: “International stocks of 21 developed countries” to match Morgan Stanley Capital International EAFE 

S Fund:  “Stocks of small to medium-sized U.S. companies (not included in the C Fund)” 

I hope that didn't bore you, but I plan on detailing this account sporadically, to keep the larger picture of my overall investment plan.  It’s not as sexy as DGI. ;)   

Any other TSPer’s out there?  

Current Positions

Hello all,

This will be my first posting related to my stock positions, as of today.  I recently started my dividend growth investing in July 2014 and started this blog to document the journey.   As with many of my blogging brethren here, I’m concentrating on dividend growth.  I have a very VERY small overall position to start, but I’m hoping I can keep plugging away and build up a solid base soon.  I’m going to write a separate blog post concerning my other passive income and investments, to include retirement accounts soon.  In addition, I’ll begin detailing my purchases and how I am purchasing as I go.  

Without further ado, and to make you feel better about your own investments, my current (tiny) positions are:

Company – Shares

AAPL – 21.3862

TGT – 4.653

KO – 4.3106

DPS – 1.409

WMT – 1.4275

MCD – 2.1501

LMT – 0.6857

COP – 1.6143

VZ – 2.2765

XOM – 1.3164

INTC – 0.8934

PG – 3.2144

DIS – 1.6469

 

Total Market Value as of posting:  $3,896.97

Total Forward Estimated Annual Dividend:  $94.47

 

Hi, I'm new here.

Hello everyone.  I’m a new blogger, as I wanted to create a history of my journey to financial success and ‘hopeful’ wealth.  With this blog, I’ll share my stock purchases and accumulation and other passive income.  Also, I’ll provide some examples of ways to make money, save extra income to invest and/or things on related topics.  I've had some experience with “trading” as I used to buy and sell for profit (or loss at times) but I never truly got into it.  It was, in essence, merely gambling.  I ended up selling everything to pay for some expenses when I moved.  I've refocused my investment efforts to mainly focus on dividend stocks, like so many of my blogging brethren here.  I’m excited to start this journey and look forward to meeting everyone.  I’ll post some follow-up posts with my current investments and my goals.