Dividend Income - January 2019

Hi Everyone,

Another year in the books and 2019 is off to a fast start!  Overall a pretty crappy year so far with the weather.  A few little snow storms but nothing to write home about.  My wife and I were able to get out and take our 15 month old sledding for the first time.  So much fun!  Yesterday it got to 70 degrees so I took a half day of work and went to the park with my boy and played basketball with my brother.  It was a great day! And just goes to show how crazy the weather can be in the mid-atlantic states.  Wind chills of -10 last week, 70 this week...

As for the market, it seems like things have leveled off a bit right now which is fine with me!  Although the significant dip was short lived, I did managed to move some capital around and beef up some of my positions that I had been wanting to add to for a while. 

I sold half of OHI at $39 and change right after it paid the dividend.  So, I'll still get the full dividend this time around and then I'll see a reduced rate 4 months from now. OHI has really risen from the depths of this past summer and at 60%+ gain, I thought it was prudent to take some off the table.  Even crazier than the gain in OHI is perhaps the epic fall of MO.  And this was the trade I made.  Sold half of OHI and used the proceeds to by MO around $45 the day before earnings.  To think that I sold OHI at roughly at 6.70 percent yield and bought MO around a 7% yield is crazy.  On the trade, I believe I will actually make $8 more per year in dividends now with MO and its at a much cheaper valuation to boot.

I sold $4000 of O.  Similar to the OHI situation, O has rallied hard as well and thought it was prudent to take some off the table to deploy in cheaper valued companies.  The dividend loss wont sting at all because I bought two stocks - UVE - that pays around 2% if you include the extra dividend in December and more MO at <$45.  Combined, the dividends are a net increase of about .5% or $20 a year.

Other trades: 

I bought more BTI.  Half the amount of capital as the first purchase but added the same amount of shares - scary to think I'm down 50% on the original purchase.  But, we shall see how things play out.

I bought more FB around $150 thinking that all the fears around the company are overblown.  After purchasing 28 shares at $180, I have bought 27 more shares at all progressive lower prices (9 shares per each trade) and now the position is net positive which is pretty cool.  They have a great balance sheet and I might keep this as a potential dividend stock in the future and just see where things go.  Not sure yet.

I bought more V - first time is years!  Pretty pumped about it.  I have been wanting to add to V for such a long time but things have just never worked out.  I bought more around $130.  It won't add much in current dividend yield to the portfolio but hopefully the growth continues like it has since the IPO!

I bought more CVS - I just cant get past the cheap valuation, and the transformation of healthcare as we know it right in front of our eyes.  I'm willing to go all in heavily now to see this one through.  I continue to think the fears are heavily overblown and this continues to create a buying opportunity.  I have made 2 or 3 ill timed purchases but my cost basis is now down to $68.  Any dividend reinvestment under $70 a share and I pick up 6 more shares of this company each quarter!

Per above, I bought more UVE around $38 per share.  The stock has fallen 25% from its all time high, interest rates are (well maybe) on the rise, they continue to diversify away from Florida, increased their dividend, announced a new buyback and seem to be doing everything right.  As long as hurricanes continue to stay away from Florida, this stock appears to be undervalued and I've been wanting to add more for a while now.

Also per above, I now have a significant stake in MO.  We are over 250 shares now.  I was reading something the other day that said even if JUUL stake is a complete loss and they lose all menthol revenue, the stock is still potentially undervalued by $5 a share.  This is one of those times I think the market is being irrational.  It's crazy to think that the government would legalize marijuana and ban flavored cigs and flavored ecigs.  Honestly it just sounds like political posturing at this point. 

So, lets finally get down to the reason we are here, dividends:

Dividend Income - December 2018

Hi Everyone!

The last month of the year.  A month filled with parties, holidays, joy, reminiscing and hope for things to come in the new year.  Its always nice to take a look back over the year and see what you had accomplished and its also a great month for dividends!

 This past year was an emotional roller coaster for our family but things are starting to go in the right direction.  2019 could be shaping up to be a phenomenal year for us and I cannot wait for things to come.

As for the dividends in December - they did not disappoint! So lets see where things landed...

UVE	$30.58
V	$26.73
XOM	$49.00
O	$41.95
TAP	$12.10
FTSE	$215.60
VWILX	$577.41
M.M.	$3.04

TOTAL:   $956.41

Unreal guys!  At the start of 2018 I would have never thought I'd get back to almost 4 figures in dividend income in one month!  Obviously the big payouts were from the 401K mutual funds but that's what happens when you max it out every year.  The payouts start getting huge!

This years total was up from $303.59 last year.  A huge $650 gain from last year!!!

The total for the entire year was $4,620 - up from $2,750 last year or roughly a $2000 gain!

These numbers are staggering considering my wife is a stay at home mom and we are living on one income.  It truly shows that if your level of spending is significantly lower than your income (a high savings rate) you can do amazing things financially.  

My wife was truly something special with regards to spending this year.  This year we hit the least amount of spending in our lives with right around $30,000 for the whole year.  If you have been a long time reader, you know that we no longer have a mortgage so our expenses are truly just $30,000 for the whole year.  That includes taxes, insurance, vacations, everything.  

If we could add just 2,000 more per year in dividends each year, we are looking at 12 years to retirement free and clear.  That is without yearly dividend increases or reinvestment as most of this years increase was due to purchases.  Once the snowball gets rolling again it will become a formidable force.

Hope you all had a great 2018 and wish you all the best for 2019!

ADD