Debt. What is debt? Is this America’s Horror Story? Is it chains strapped to your hands and ankles? Well, by definition, Debt is “An amount of money borrowed by one party from another. Many corporations/individuals use debt as a method for making large purchases that they could not afford under normal circumstances. A debt arrangement gives the borrowing party permission to borrow money under the condition that it is to be paid back at a later date, usually with interest.” Thanks Investopedia for that. Debt can be used in two ways – to pay for something that we use day in/day out as a liability that does not generate cash for us OR debt can be used to leverage buying an asset that produces a greater return than the cost of the debt itself. I have debt and I wanted to share an update where I stand based on today, Mid-April.
Tag Archives: Investing
Bert’s Quarterly Goal Review
We are done with one-quarter in 2015 folks. As Lanny mentioned, time flies by! These last three months have been a whirlwind for me, personally, professionally, and investing wise. Between helping plan a wedding, working a busy season, making some stock purchases and other big decisions (you guys will know soon enough!), the first three months were a giant blur. But these are all great events and I have set myself up to have a very memorable 9 months of 2015! This year I told myself that I was going to pay closer attention to my goals to make sure that I am on target to meet the goals and that way, if I need to, I can make any necessary adjustments. Well, here we go, let’s dive into my quarterly goal review!
Lanny’s Quarterly Goals Check Up
Three months are in the book baby! Given that 90 days have past, it’s time to look back at the goals I previously set back in November of 2014 and to see what lane I am in on this track to accomplishing them. I went into the 2015 year with full of positivity and motivation to line them up and knock them out of the park. How big has the bat been this winter? Time for the quarterly update. Continue reading
Bert’s March Dividend Income
The first quarter is officially in the books and we have completed one dividend cycle for the majority of companies. 2015 has started off with a bang for me, recording record dividend growth rates in the first two months (190% in January and 79% in February), as my portfolio has grown exponentially since the same time last year. I know that rate is not sustainable and surely will decrease to a lower amount – however, my monthly income will continue to grow nonetheless! After all, the amount of capital needed to sustain a 190% monthly dividend growth rate would be insane! But I am not complaining, I am blessed to be in the position I am in and am happy that I have joined this community that pushes each one of us to continue to grow our income, whether that be 1% or 1400%. It is even easier to push yourself when you have a a friend like Lanny who is killing it in terms of dividend income, as he nearly eclipsed $800 in March. What better motivation is there than watching the success of one of your best friends? With that being said, let’s take a look at the dividend income that I received in March!
Lanny’s March Dividend Income
As time passes, so does a month of collecting dividend income. I am astounded by the first quarter already being in the books and my busy season feeling like it is 80% over. How wild is that? My fourth full busy season is just about up. Almost 900 hours later (that’s insanity in human terms) and I’m writing my quarter end, month of March Dividend post. Enough about busy season, let’s talk dividend income!
Bert’s Recent Purchases – PM and CVX
Lanny isn’t the only one to purchase stock recently, as I re-upped a stake in one position and initiated a new position in another. Both transactions have occurred over the last couple of weeks and added a nice sum of dividend income to my portfolio. This month has been crazy for me and has been one of my highest frequency trading months since I started investing a few years ago. Let’s see which companies I added!
Expected Dividend Increases in April
One quarter is almost in the books. Lanny and I had quite the active month and added some nice dividend income to our portfolios, as Lanny purchased CAT (twice) and HCP and swapped LO for PM last week while I added four new stocks to my portfolio and re-upped my position in one tobacco stock (I’m not spoiling the surprise completely). As I said, a crazy month for us. While we were active and many companies paid dividends in March, it was a relatively quiet for Dividend Aristocrats as only a few were set to announce increases last month. Will that change in April? Did the companies follow through with their expected dividend increases last month? Let’s find out!