What a month!!
Over in the Mid-Atlantic, it has been an absolute scorcher for the past week and other than some relief this weekend it looks like we are going to get back into the heat next week. Where I live, we missed all of the pop-up thunderstorms so it is wicked dry. Just 5 miles north received 4 inches of rain in two hours yesterday. Just the luck of the draw I suppose but the garden in our backyard is flourishing nonetheless! There is something so relaxing and awe inspiring about growing a garden.
I have suffered from high blood pressure for years now and between the pills I take and this garden, I swear my blood pressure has never been lower. If you do not grow a garden, you are missing out! I don't care if you live in the city with only one window - throw some mint in a pot by the window and make yourself some Mojitos!
For us, it is tomato, peppers (of all kinds), corn, squash, zucchini, watermelon, cantaloupe, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, potatoes, green beans & carrots! My wife was skeptical in the early spring starting from seed in our kitchen but she has changed her tune! Free food and all organic for the 8 month old baby - what could be better.
In other news, our second adoption is going well. We should find out the sex next week. I'm secretly hoping for a girl - I have always dreamed about walking my little girl down the isle and having a father daughter dance. Sure, its a long way away but its just something I have always wanted to do. Plus, one boy, one girl, we have both all set! No more adopting after that! I told my wife I want to try for a biological child again and after two years of inducing lactation, with no periods, there is little chance of conceiving right now.
It's still difficult to go to work everyday and receive pictures from my wife of our boy in the blow up pool out back or doing something funny. Again, if you are single/dating/engaged/recently married and want to have children, get your finances squared away immediately!!! I have worked for over 10 years now and at a 70% savings rate I could have been retired... No more receiving pictures - I'd be in the picture! So don't delay, save your money, invest in quality companies and you'll thank yourself when you are 30.
Our boy is crawling!!! Quick segway sure but oh man - people tell you that the first 6 months are difficult and its an ever changing life of difficulties after that - well they are right! The first 3 months were miserable. From 3-8 in our case was a breeze and now with the crawling, life if challenging again. No more leaving him on a play mat and doing the dishes - before you know it he's playing with the electrical cords or chewing on shoes. But it is a BLAST!! Best decision we ever made - adoption - love this kid to death.
So now that you are all caught up, here's the dividend total for the month of June:
V $22.38
XOM $48.05
TAP $11.95
O $40.81
PEP $39.82
DLR $11.11
M.M. $0.63
FTSE $275.69
Total: 450.44
A gain of $245 from last year! And the chart is starting to look up!
The biggest year over year gain came from FTSE in the 401K. Like I've mentioned in previous posts, I am still maxing out the 401K even with adoption expenses and a stay at home wife and it is paying off handsomely. A gain of $125 from last year.
By maxing out my wife's 401K while she was still working last year and continuing to max out mine, we have eclipsed our 2016 high of invested funds. However, with more money tied up in the 401K's that do not pay dividends, our dividend totals have not caught up to the 2016 highs. For reference in June 2016 we received $689 in dividends. Of which, only $78 came from the FTSE fund. We had 34 separate companies/funds pay us in 2016. We are down to just 8 in 2018. But, I could not max out my 401K right now if we had not paid off the mortgage - saving us $1300 a month. So we take what we can get!
PEP had a nice gain from March of $4. And this was the first time we saw DLR creep in there with an $11 payout. DLR has increased nicely from our purchase price as well.
In the upcoming months, you will see a drastic increase in dividends from a newcomer - CVS!!
In May, CVS paid us $14. I sold half or our BIIB stake today on the 20% pop and I added another $10,000 to CVS over the past month. Total, we are around $25,000 into CVS. Yes, it is a gamble but with a forward earnings of 9.5, it is honestly the cheapest, least risky investment (in my mind) in the market right now. Sure, you could make a case for WBA but they do not have a potential healthcare related disrupting merger in the works. If AET and CVS can weather the merger turmoil and get the synergies they are projecting, the purchase of pillpack by AMZN is just a blip on the radar. I am looking to add to my CVS position if it continues to stay depressed.
I can honestly see CVS falling to around $50 if the market was to stumble (my own technical analysis) but I would be looking at liquidating my Visa, UVE, PEP holdings (and perhaps more) and buying more at that price. Just think - to get back to a market S&P PE, of say 20 - CVS is a double. Another point - in 2015 when CVS was trading at over $100 per share, they had revenue of $150B. At $65 now, they have revenue of $185B and an additional 1.5B of net income. The market cap has dropped by $30B, they are making $30B more and their market cap now is around $65B - again - a double from here. AMZN is not going to put them out of business overnight. Management seems to be putting debt first on the AET deal by cancelling dividend raises and buybacks. In three years, I am hoping to look back on this investment and only hoping to have invested more money - which I just might do. Stay tuned!
So, how was your June?
Head over to Dividend Diplomats to get the rundown on a ton of financial bloggers dividend income!
Thanks for reading - I know it was a lot - I was drinking rum and coke haha
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