Recent Buy - T. Rowe Price Group Inc. (TROW)

Hi Everyone,

Once again, January continues to be a busy month in terms of buying companies for the American Dividend Dream portfolio.  I went through my portfolio and noticed that it was lacking an investment management company.  I looked around at a few different such companies and was about to pull the trigger but realized their earnings report was just around the corner.  As you can see from one of my recent purchases MSFT I should have waited until after the earnings report.  Lesson learned and a costly one at that but oh well, I try not to time the market that much and the cash I have is burning a hole in my pocket.  Had MSFT killed earnings, I could post how well that buy was. I waited until after the earnings report for TROW and liked what I saw so I bought it today,  Without further adieu...

Recent Buy - Travelers Companies Inc (TRV)

Hi Everyone,

January continues to be a busy month in terms of buying companies for the American Dividend Dream portfolio.  With the market staying around all time highs I continue to look for companies that are attractively valued.  With that being said, I found that the insurance businesses seem to be of decent value.  In particular, I found that Travelers was one of the cheapest around and has a 150 year history.  With decent value and great history, I figured I would pull the trigger.  My only exposure to insurance is Aflac right now and their business is heavily tied to Japan.  So without further adieu...

Being Called Stingy

Hi Everyone,

This is not a new idea, but one that resonates with me.  There are quite a few posts within this community talking about being frugal vs. stingy so add this one to the list.  Tonight, my wife and I went out for happy hour with a few friends of ours. While sitting at the table, one of my friends called me cheap.  I'm not exactly sure why I continue to be called cheap from this particular friend, but it produces a weird feeling that almost hurts when it is said.  So I want to talk about what could make someone cheap...

Goals for 2015

Hi Everyone,

Another day, another dollar.  Another year, another opportunity to reach the American Dividend Dream!  This is my first post with regards to setting goals but I believe these are necessary in helping to lay out a plan for the future.  Without planning, we could sway off the path and hurt our ability to reach freedom from the 9 - 5 job.  I believe goals need to be challenging, yet achievable.  If you continually set goals that are too extreme, you will continually disappoint yourself which could hinder your ability to keep going.  With that being said, lets look at my goals for 2015:

Recent Buys - Microsoft (MSFT), Chevron (CVX), Kinder Morgan (KMI)

Hi Everyone,

January is turning out to be quite the month for purchases!  I said I would probably invest more this month, but who knew I would invest this much.  I currently have a good bit of savings ready to invest and instead of earning 1% in a bank account I thought I would invest some.  Sticking with the theme of trying to add a little yield to the portfolio with reasonable valuations, I bought Microsoft, Chevron and Kinder Morgan which combined give me an average of around 3.75% yield.  I see myself waiting for more of a broad market pullback before investing more, but who knows, January is only half over...

401K Update - January 2015

Hi Everyone,

Hope all is well.  I've been really embracing the blogging world this past week and man, it is time consuming.... but I love it!  Commenting on others posts and getting more involved requires a big commitment but it makes me want to continue to push myself to greater heights.  With that being said, I have finally gotten around to making a new page for the 401K!  This is one of the last financial tidbits that I have needed to get onto the blog for a while now and I am happy I can share it with all of you.

Dividend Reinvestment

Hi Everyone,

I was thinking about what I have left out with regards to my investing style and it hit me:  I have not discussed whether or not I reinvest dividends or I "bank" the money and use it all at once to purchase another stock that I feel is undervalued.

With that being said, I currently DRIP all of my dividends back into the same company that pays the dividend.  So for instance, when Verizon goes Ex-Dividend tomorrow, I will receive $67.35 in dividends.  That income will then purchase 1.43 shares of VZ at the current price of $47.04.  I will then control 123.89 shares of this massive company which will generate $68.14 in dividends and that my friends is compounding at work!

There are a few reasons I DRIP all of my investments:

Recent Buy - Verizon Communications (VZ)

Hi Everyone,

A new year has begun and what better way to get things started then to buy a dividend stock!  I've been looking to add higher yield to the portfolio recently and I also wanted to top off my Verizon stake.  As the saying goes, I killed two birds with one stone.  Verizon has pulled back a bit and has been trading in a range of 46-50 for over a year now so I thought why not buy it!  With this purchase so early in the month, I have a feeling I might buy another company or two before the month is out, stay tuned...

Dividend Income - December 2014 Update

Hi Everyone,

It's that time again when I get to post about a favorite topic of mine, dividends!  I hope this post inspires other investors out there to start saving and investing as soon as they can.  The power you feel knowing that you are richer than you were yesterday and you didn't have to work for it is a wonderful feeling.

With consistent saving and investing hopefully one day these dividends will pay for our expenses and that is what we like to call the American Dividend Dream!

With that being said, lets get down to the numbers: