Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Having some fun in Austin!

Hi Everyone,

One of my goals this year was to save as much as possible but to live life.  My wife and I have a goal of traveling as much as possible before we have kids.  A few reasons for this:  1. It will be cheaper.  2.  We have more free time/flexibility.  3.  It's simpler.  Therefore, we took a trip to Austin, Texas and had some fun!  Read on to find out how it went...

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Go TROW Go!

What a day!

I had three companies increase their dividends today.

Kimberly Clark raised the dividend to $0.88 which was good for a 4.8% increase.

Lorillard raised the dividend to $0.66 which was good for a 7.3% increase.

And the granddaddy of them all!

T. Rowe Price raised the dividend to $0.52 which was good for an 18% increase!

Not only that, but T. Rowe Price will also be paying out a special $2.00 dividend in April.

I own 25 shares of T. Rowe Price so that special dividend alone will add $50 to my yearly dividend total that I was not expecting to receive whatsoever!  The $0.08 raise will add an additional $8.00 to my yearly total as well.

The magic of dividend growth investing is at work and this post proves how awesome this journey can be!

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Recent Buy - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)

Hi Everyone,

Finally, my last purchase with funds left over from last year.  I'm having mixed emotions thinking about writing this post.  I'm thrilled to add more income to the portfolio but I'm fresh out of extra capital to invest at the moment which is a bit saddening. With this purchase, my wife and I have put a total of around $18,000 to work since the beginning of 2015.  My goal of investing roughly $40,000 is within sight! To think that we are almost half way to our total is a great feeling.  I was also able to add most of this capital before the companies started paying out their 2015 dividends so our portfolio/income goals are much better off. I thought of holding out until the market pulled back in order to invest that much capital but I just couldn't do it.  I'm not a fan of sitting on capital for too long at this point in my life.  Plus, after watching the market continue to make new high after new high while the so called "experts" have been calling for a pullback for 4 years I figure screw it, get my money working for me!  With that being said, my next purchase was Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) so without further adieu...

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Recent Buy - Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM)

Hi Everyone,

Another purchase is in the books!  Like I said in the last post, I put a good chunk of change to work in the past week.  The only way to get closer to the American Dividend Dream is to keep buying high quality companies and letting the portfolio compound for years to come.  With the market staying around all time highs I continue to look for companies that are attractively valued.  It gets harder and harder every day as the market keeps going up but I think I found a few good ones.  My next purchase was Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) so without further adieu...

Monday, February 16, 2015

Recent Buy - Dover Corp (DOV)

Hi Everyone,

February is half way over and I put quite a good bit of money to work in the past week.  The only way to get closer to the American Dividend Dream is to keep buying high quality companies and letting the portfolio compound for years to come.  Hopefully I was able to pick stocks that continue to do what they do - reward shareholders!  With the market staying around all time highs I continue to look for companies that are attractively valued.  It gets harder and harder every day as the market keeps going up but I think I found a few good ones.  First up, Dover Corp (DOV) so without further adieu...

Thursday, February 5, 2015

401K Update - February 2015

Hi Everyone,

Hope all is well.  I continue to embrace the blogging community and I continue to love it.  Just a quick post tonight about my 401K Portfolio.  I said that I would post about the 401K when big changes were made and I'm happy to say, BIG changes were made!  This past year my company changed the way we receive our company match.  It used to be we received up to a 6% company match.  Now, throughout the year we receive 3% company match and then a bonus of 2% at the end of the year.  Well, my 2% hit the account on Monday!  My portfolio now looks like this:

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Dividend Income - January 2015 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 that being said, lets get down to the numbers: