Category Archives: Goals

Goals update – April 2015

~

I like to review the progress at least once a month to determine where I am with respect to meeting/achieving my goals.

These are the goals for 2015:

  • Invest at least $35,000
    • New investments in April amounted to $1,964.50. With huge investments of over $5,000 in March, April was slower than I would have liked.
    • Total investments in 2015 so far equals $9,494.95 which amounts to about 27.12% of my goal. I am still behind in this goal. With 1/3rd of the year gone by, I have only achieved 27.12% of my goal. Need to invest aggressively in the next couple of months to catch up.
  • Receive at least $2,500 in dividends
    • I received $254.65 in dividends in April. So far I have received $851.92 in dividends this year. This represents 34.07% of my annual goal.
    • I will be able to achieve this goal based on this pace. Will review the goal in a month or so and revise as needed.
  • Achieve at least $3,200 in projected annual dividends
    • My projected annual dividends stand at $2,688.49 at the end of April. That’s an increase of over $119 in April. New investments and dividend increases helped this increase. I will need increase the investments to keep pace to achieve this goal.
  • DO NOT have a portfolio of more than 45 stocks/ETFs
    • Currently hold 40 stocks/ETFs. I did not initiate any new positions in April.

The goals page will be updated to reflect the progress.

Goals update – March 2015

~

I like to review the progress at least once a month to determine where I am with respect to meeting/achieving my goals.

These are the goals for 2015:

  • Invest at least $35,000
    • New investments in March amounted to $5,130.45. After a slow start to the year in January and February, I made up some lost ground in March through these purchases.
    • Total investments in 2015 so far equals $7,530.45 which amounts to about 21.51% of my goal. While March helped me catch up, I am still behind on the goal. With 25% of the year gone by, I have only achieved 21.51% of my goal. Hoping to be caught up by April.
  • Receive at least $2,500 in dividends
    • I received $261.00 in dividends in March. So far I have received $597.27 in dividends this year. This represents 23.89% of my annual goal.
    • Additional investments through the rest of the year and dividend increases will help me achieve this goal.
  • Achieve at least $3,200 in projected annual dividends
    • My projected annual dividends stand at $$2,569.29 at the end of March. That’s an increase of over $225 in a single month. This is definitely a nice improvement due to the new investments. Need to keep pace at the new investments to achieve this goal.
  • DO NOT have a portfolio of more than 45 stocks/ETFs
    • Currently hold 40 stocks/ETFs. I initiated one new position in National-Oilwell Varco, Inc (NOV) in March.

The goals page will be updated to reflect the progress.

Goals update – February 2015

~

I like to review the progress at least once a month to determine where I am with respect to meeting/achieving my goals.

These are the goals for 2015:

  • Invest at least $35,000
    • New investments in February amounted to just $1,200.00 as part my weekly Sharebuilder purchases. I did not have any other investments. Including February’s investments, I have invested $2,400.00 so far this year. This amounts to about 6.85% of my goal. This is definitely less than what I would have liked by February. Need to catch up in the next few months.
  • Receive at least $2,500 in dividends
    • I received $100.42 in dividends in February. So far I have received $336.27 in dividends this year. This represents 13.45% of my annual goal.
    • Need to invest additional capital early on in the year to receive additional dividends through the rest of the year and meet this goal.
  • Achieve at least $3,200 in projected annual dividends
    • My projected annual dividends stand at $2,343.43 at the end of February. Again, this hasn’t improved much compared to Dec 2014 due to lack of new investments. Need to catch up on this in the next few months.
  • DO NOT have a portfolio of more than 45 stocks/ETFs
    • Currently hold 39 stocks/ETFs. I initiated one new position in AT&T (T) in February as part of my weekly purchases.

Based on the numbers so far, I have to make considerable progress in the amount invested and projected dividends goal. These two go together and therefore, I have to focus a bit more to invest some capital to catch up.

The goals page will be updated to reflect the progress.

Goals update – January 2015

~

I like to review the progress at least once a month to determine where I am with respect to meeting/achieving my goals.

These are the goals for 2015:

  • Invest at least $35,000
    • New investments in January amounted to just $1200.00 as part my weekly Sharebuilder purchases. I did not have any other investments. This amounts to about 3.42% of my goal. This is definitely less than what I would have liked for a month. Need to catch up in the next few months.
  • Receive at least $2,500 in dividends
    • I received $235.85 in dividends in January. This represents 9.43% of my annual goal. January dividends are misleading because 1st month of the quarter are my highest. I project to receive about $300 for the next two months combined. Also, dividends from DIS are one a year and are received in January and hence this won’t be a regular stream of income for the remainder of the year.
  • Achieve at least $3,200 in projected annual dividends
    • My projected annual dividends stand at $2280.80 at the end of January. Again, this hasn’t improved much compared to Dec 2014 due to lack of new investments. Need to catch up on this in the next few months.
  • DO NOT have a portfolio of more than 45 stocks/ETFs
    • Currently hold 38 stocks/ETFs. I did not initiate any new positions in January.

Based on the numbers so far, I have to make considerable progress in the amount invested and projected dividends goal. These two go together and therefore, I have to focus a bit more to invest some capital in Feb and March to catch up.

The goals page will be updated to reflect the progress.

Goals for 2015

~

Been trying to write this post for a while now and kept pushing it out. With January almost coming to a close, I don’t think I can push this even more. Anyway, these were my goals from 2014 and the final numbers from in December goals update.

Goals for 2014

  • Invest at least $30,000
    • Invested $33,542.75 in 2014.
  • Receive at least $1,500 in dividends
    • Received $1,594.02
  • Achieve at least $2,200 in projected annual dividends
    • Projected annual dividends for 2015 was at 2,235.39.
  • Have a portfolio of at least 25 stocks/ETFs
    • Ended up with more stocks that I planned
  • Maintain this blog and keep it updated regularly
    • Continued to maintain this blog.

Based on the 2014 results and projecting what I can do for this year, these are my goals for 2015. Continue reading →

2014 Achievements and Milestones

~

The December 2014 goals update reflected the status of the goals at the end of the year. But in this post, I would like to highlight some of the other key achievements and milestones that I crossed during the year. Looking back at the past and documenting key successes is definitely a great motivator for continued success.

Here are some of the key achievements and milestones crossed during 2014. Continue reading →

Goals update December 2014

~

I like to review the progress at least once a month to determine where I am with respect to meeting/achieving my goals.

These are the goals for 2014:

  • Invest at least $30,000
  • Receive at least $1,500 in dividends
    • With an extra $189.70 in December dividends, the total for the year has hit $1,594.02
    • Goal Achieved
    • This a great achievement. I had started dividend focused investing this year and I was not sure if I could achieve this. But with several new investments at the beginning of this year helped me to achieve this goal.
  • Achieve at least $2,200 in projected annual dividends
    • With the new purchases in the recent months and dividend increases announced, my current projected annual dividends for 2015 stand at $2,235.39.
    • Goal Achieved
    • As I mentioned in the previous month, the KMP to KMI switch happened in December. This reduced my projected dividends a bit.
    • Also, ARCP announced that they are going to eliminate the dividend until further notice. This was a big blow and reduced the projected annual dividend by $125.00.
    • With the double blow, I was not sure if I will be meeting this goal, but the December purchases definitely helped to meet this goal.
  • Have a portfolio of at least 25 stocks/ETFs
    • Goal Achieved
  • Maintain this blog and keep it updated regularly
    • Since beginning this blog early this year, I have posted regular updates on the progress. I hope to continue to do this in 2015 as well as this is a great motivation.
    • Goal Achieved

The goals page has been updated to reflect the progress.

I will be publishing the 2015 goals soon.

Goals update November 2014

~

I like to review the progress at least once a month to determine where I am with respect to meeting/achieving my goals.

These are the goals for 2014:

  • Invest at least $30,000
    • With new investments of $2,581.00 (COP and Regular Sharebuilder purchases) in November, I have invested $30,655.75 so far in 2014 until end of November.
    • Goal Achieved
  • Receive at least $1,500 in dividends
    • With an extra $118.32 in November dividends, the total for the year has hit $1,404.32 which represents 93.62% of my goal.
    • With the projections, I will be hitting this goal in December.
  • Achieve at least $2,200 in projected annual dividends
    • With the new purchases in the recent months and dividend increases announced, my current projected annual dividends stand at $2,211.28.
    • Even though the projected amount is over $2,200, it has gone down since then because of KMP to KMI switch. But with purchases already made in December and planned purchases, I should meet this goal in December.

The goals page has been updated to reflect the progress until this month.

Goals update October 2014

~

I like to review the progress at least once a month to determine where I am with respect to meeting/achieving my goals.

These are the goals for 2014:

  • Invest at least $30,000
    • With new investments of $2,729.40 (UN and Regular Sharebuilder purchases) in October, I have invested $28,074.75 so far in 2014 until end of October.
    • With the weekly sharebuilder purchases planned, I should be able to hit this goal in December.
  • Receive at least $1,500 in dividends
    • With an extra $204.97 in October dividends, the total for the year has hit $1,285.97 which represents 85.68% of my goal.
    • With the projections, it looks like I will be hitting this goal in December.
  • Achieve at least $2,200 in projected annual dividends
    • With the new purchases in the recent months and dividend increases announced, my current projected annual dividends stand at $2,128.70.
    • This goal is going to be really close. I might hit this goal early December with the weekly purchases, but I am still not sure how ARCP will play out. ARCP currently contributes $125.00 towards my annual projections. So if ARCP cuts the dividend, I might end up being short on this goal.

The goals page has been updated to reflect the progress until this month.

Goals update September 2014

~

I like to review the progress at least once a month to determine where I am with respect to meeting/achieving my goals.

These are the goals for 2014:

  • Invest at least $30,000
    • With new investments of $2,701.90 (BP and Regular Sharebuilder purchases) in September, I have invested $25,345.35 so far in 2014 until end of September.
    • With new investments planned for the future, I should be able to meet this goal.
  • Receive at least $1,500 in dividends
    • With an extra $145.57 in September dividends, the total for the year has hit $1080.30 which represents 72.02% of my goal.
  • Achieve at least $2,200 in projected annual dividends
    • With the new purchases in the recent months and dividend increases announced, my current projected annual dividends stand at $2,039.58.

The goals page has been updated to reflect the progress until this month.