I keep a copy in PDF of my portfolio every quarter, and have a deeper dive at 12/31, but this also provides a blog’d example of where I stand, so I can always refer back on the site the historical position of my portfolio. As we have done in the prior year, this post will be a review and re-cap overall of my portfolio, the contributions, dividend going forward, dividend received, what I can analyze from the current position, etc.. It’s always fun to see what the year compiled into one snapshot of all of the hard work that goes into it. I am excited to see where it stands and what can be done going into this new year! Let’s dive on in. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Investing
Bert’s 2016 Goals
I can’t write this without smiling. 2016 is going to be an amazing, life-changing year for me and I cannot wait until the ball drops on New Year’s Eve to make it official. I’ll be marrying the love of my life at the end of May, so I don’t think there is a bad thing that can happen to me. Well, now I left myself with an impossible task. How on earth to I segue from that to discussing my 2015 investing goals? Nothing I do this year will mean more to mean than that. So I guess I will technically knock out one goal at the end of May? Anyway…. now I’ll get down to business. This article will discuss my 2016 goals!
Target (TGT) Stock Analysis
Just in time for Christmas eh? As everyone is performing the mad dash to the stores – we all know who is always there for them… the big red bullseye. For those last minute gift ideas, wrapping paper, clothes and even groceries – Target is there for consumers, and I would have to admit, typically at a higher quality as well. I wanted to perform a stock analysis on the company, as I feel there are a high quality, fundamentally sound entity, where so many of my loved ones and close friends shop there. Time to perform our analysis!
Top 5 Dividend Aristocrats with Low Debt to Equity Ratios
Recently, we saw the ugly side of debt. As we all watched Kinder Morgan’s stock fall and wait for the final, inevitable sword of a dividend increase, there was one thing that became evident…KMI’s debt level was too high and the results were unsustainable in the current market environment (See Lanny’s awesome write up/analysis about KMI from earlier in the week). The pressures mounted and management plus the Board of Directors decided to slash their dividend to preserve cash flow for capital expenditures and cover interest/dividend payments. While debt isn’t a bad thing, I don’t want you leaving this intro thinking that’s my conclusion, runaway/uncontrolled debt can present many problems. The name of our game on this website is investing in stocks with a growing dividend income stream, so we try to avoid companies and stocks that take us off of this course. Which is very ironic considering that Lanny and I purchased shares in KMI just under a month ago (here and here) With the wound from KMI still fresh, I wanted to run a stock screener and identify several Dividend Aristocrats with low debt levels. Check out our newest installment of our Top 5 list series (foundation stocks and low dividend yield/high dividend growth rate stocks)….the Top 5 Dividend Aristocrats with Low Debt to Equity Levels.
Bert’s Recent Buy – Norwood Financial Group – NWFL
In his last purchase article, Lanny alluded to the fact that I may have purchased the same stock as his. Well, Lanny was right and great minds think alike. We have been talking about this purchase for several weeks and we finally just decided to buy it! While my rationale may have been slightly different than Lanny’s, here is why I added to my stake in Norwood Financial (NWFL).
Endless Liabilities of Owning a Car Part 3 – $250 Edition
Throughout the life of our blog, Lanny and I have searched and slashed our way to save as much as possible to invest in the market NOW. Even though we have tried to identify ways to save through battling with our phone/internet provider (nice job Lanny!), tried to make our football season more enjoyable at a cheaper price (Can a football season be enjoyable as a Browns fan?), or just finding random savings “life hacks,” there is one expense that we have flagged as a major liability…I mean…money pit… our cars. A car is a necessary evil in the Midwest that does nothing but lose value and cost you money. Sadly I am writing this article, so that must mean something happened to my car. Let’s see how my car took a little extra money out of my savings account this month.
My Phone Battle & Success with AT&T Cable & Internet
Well, well, it seems as though Bert was driving off of what I was able to accomplish with my mom’s package with AT&T recently/earlier this month. You know how this battle goes – price is too high, you don’t want to pay/can’t afford that service, want to save money to invest/act more frugal, but that does mean one thing we all dread… Calling your cable/internet provider. Luckily, I don’t have cable at my house, but my mom does, to which she wants to keep it. Well, I wanted to put the gloves on and go to battle for her, did I come out the victor? Let’s see how this went down and who stood at the end…
