September 2020 Dividend Income: En Vanguard

 Debates may be dumpster fires, but dividends are money, both literally and figuratively.  Yes, with September coming to a close, it's time to log the income that dividends brought in.  Where most investing bloggers shine in the quarter enders, mine are usually the weakest.  It's especially jarring after the mid-quarter month.  Nevertheless, we move forward and progress where we can when we can.  In that spirit, let's get on to the numbers.

Kroger (KR): $1.12  Up $0.13 from last quarter due to DRIP and, I believe a dividend increase.

SJW Group (SJW): $0.32  Same as last quarter

Johnson and Johnson (JNJ): $0.03  It didn't take long for the RobinHood buys to start making an impact.  I'm not complaining, though.

AGNC: $0.14  Same as last quarter

Emerson (EMR): $0.04

CenturyLink (CTL): $0.28  Same as last quarter

Flowers Foods (FLO): $1.05 Up a penny from last quarter

Walgreen's Boots Alliance (WBA): $0.47  Up a penny

3M (MMM): $0.04

Realty Income (O): $0.99  Up a penny from last quarter and the same as last month

Wendy's (WEN): $0.36  Same as last quarter

McDonald's (MCD): 0.03  Seriously, those Robinhood buys were a game changer.  Not only do I have two rival fast food companies paying me dividends in the same month, but they pay on the same day.

VF Corp (VFC): $0.49  Same as last quarter

Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM): $0.07

That brings the grand total to $5.43, up $0.37 from last quarter, but down $1.84 from last year.

Meanwhile, over in the 401K, two funds paid. The Baird Aggregate Bond Fund paid $0.77 and the DFA Small Cap Fund paid $0.43.  The total for that account clocks in at $1.20.

All in all, the grand total comes to $6.63.  This is up $0.31 from last quarter, but down $1.39 from last year.

Interest clocked in at $4.54

This was a pretty active month for me on the buying front, with moves made in both the E-Trade and RobinHood accounts.  Over with the primary broker, I averaged down via single share purchases of AT&T (T), VF  Corp (VFC), Omega Healthcare (OHI), Franklin Resources (BEN), and Walgreen's Boots Alliance (WBA.

Over in the RobinHood account, I focused my attention on Vanguard ETF's.  These are similar to mutual funds, in that they are comprised of a multitude of companies, but they are a bit easier to deal with.  I made partial share micro-buys into the Vanguard Total Market Index (VTI), the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM) which has already paid me a dividend as you saw above, the Vanguard S&P 500 Index (VOO), and a Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ).  I also made some $1-2 buys into the already established positions just to give it a nice boost.  I may continue doing that going forward.  It won't be a game changer, but it will make for steady progress.  Considering how many of those pay in the quarter ender, it also gives this block a chance of catching up in the future.

Despite all the action, I haven't gotten around to updating the portfolio post yet.  Could be done this weekend or I could just wait until the end of October.  I'll have to see how things play out.

All in all, this month was a mixed bag.  It was odd in that the quarterly numbers were all steady.  Most stayed even, but there were some that went up; despite this the YoY numbers were down.  I guess it was only a matter of time before those cuts caught up to me. The QoQ growth kind of tricks you, though.   Hopefully, with the buys, I'll be able to recoup those losses and get the numbers going back in the right direction.

We're in the home stretch of 2020.  It's been a gauntlet, to be sure, but you just have to put your head down and plow through.

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'Let's Get It Right' - EX3 Network 1

 

What Should Bruce Wayne Be Doing With His Money?

 Some time ago, I saw a tweet that posited that if Bruce Wayne merely funded a universal basic income, he could eliminate crime in Gotham City in one foul swoop.  It's the latest instance in the effort to paint his efforts as the Dark Knight as superfluous and even hedonistic.  

Now, to be fair, as far as UBI is concerned, there is some truth to it.  There would be a lot fewer "Joe Chill" style criminals roaming the streets and preying on the citizens.  The thing is that a vast majority of the crime in the city ISN'T poverty driven.  The organized crime rings are very well funded and even the rogues gallery aren't strapped for cash either.  Though many of them are depicted robbing places, they're not poor.  Penguin is very well to do, Victor Fries was a scientist, Two-Face was a district attorney.  And I'm sorry, but giving the Joker $1,000 a month seems like a terrible idea, but that's just me.

Be that as it may, there may be ways for Bruce to put his vast resources to better use.  In order to determine whether or not that's the case, we have to look at what he's currently doing with his money.

First and foremost, there is his business, Wayne Enterprises.  While it may not be the economic backbone that LuthorCorp is said to be for Metropolis and/or Smallville, it is a power player, creating a lot of jobs in Gotham.  These aren't dead-end "McJobs" either, but well paying career type positions.  This is a good thing on several fronts.

Bruce also does quite a bit of charity.  He doesn't "horde" his wealth, rather tries to channel it to help.  He has the Wayne Foundation, but is also frequently shown attending events to raise money for various causes.  Now, a cynical reader might just say that this is part of him playing a character so as not to draw suspicion.  The thing is that Bruce would still use this as a means of addressing issues and solving problems.  Even in his darker portrayals, that was still a main motivator for him.  

The third thing, and it's almost galling that so many gloss over this, but he also FUNDS THE FREAKING JUSTICE LEAGUE!!! In every iteration it's Bruce who provides the resources to let the League do what it does best and protect Earth.  Taxes can be effectively allocated and improve things on some levels, but there's no way that Bruce paying more would allow Earth to better protect itself from the likes of Darkseid, Brainiac, or the White Martians.

So, while we've established that the accusation that Bruce Wayne isn't doing enough is laughable.  There could still be some room for improvement.  I mean, Goku didn't just sit back and rest on his laurels after hitting Super Saiyan, right?

One thing that comes to mind is a new asylum in Gotham.  Arkham is an iconic piece of the Batman lore, but it kind of....sucks?  It's great for atmosphere, but the security isn't very good, it's run down, and the treatment success rate aspires to shoddy.  Having the Joker be beyond therapy is one thing but you'd think Harvey Dent, Edward Nygma, or Jervis Tetch would be able to see some sort or sign of rehabilitation at some point.

Arkham itself is most likely a historical landmark so having it renovated would mean a lot of red tape that Bruce would likely not want to bother with.  As such, a new asylum would be the best way to go.  He can put in top of the line security measures to keep the more dangerous inmates in, whilst also hiring better therapists to treat those inside.

Another thing Bruce can do is ForeverDonor.  Now, the Wallet Squirrel guys don't exist in the DCU and the site (unfortunately) doesn't exist in ours either (for now?)  Still, Bruce knows the power of passive, compounding income.  It's not that much of a stretch for him to come up with the idea himself and use his company and personal resources to build a site that acts in the same capacity.

One advantage that Bruce has is that he regularly rubs shoulders with the high society types.  It wouldn't be that hard for him to coax some of his wealthy compatriots to set up accounts to get the snowball rolling.  Heck, even Lex Luthor might set up an account to help usher in that bright new age for humanity that he's always going on about.  The fact that it's all automatic means that it's something that Bruce wouldn't have to divert any attention towards.  Just set up the site and his own account, move some money there and then the problems start to solve themselves.

Beyond that, maybe zero in on crowdfunding?  It would be a great way to get that "trickle up" effect going, paying off people's student loans or helping people with medical bills.  This also generates tax revenue to boot.  He might not be able to fund all of the projects the way that Tony Stark did for that group of MIT students in "Civil War", but it would still help people and create a potential ripple effect as time goes on.

So, there you go.  It turns out that Bruce being a primary defender of the planet, does use his resources well.  There's room for improvement, but he doesn't deserve the bashing that he seems to be getting lately.  If anything, our billionaires need to try to be more like him and jump the bars that he's set.

'Let's Get It Right' - Flavor of the Week

 

August 2020 Dividend Income: Just the Tip

 Another month is in the books, which means that it's time to tally up the dividends.  The mid-quarters are my bigger month, which means that there's a lot to cover.  As such, let's get right to it.

AT&T (T): $1.67   Up $0.03 from last quarter and up $0.62 from last year.

Publix: $9.18 Same as last quarter

Sprague Resources (SRLP): $8.92 Up $0.41 from last quarter and up $5.21 from last year.

AGNC: $0.14 Up a penny from last quarter, down $0.02 from year, the same as last month

Omega Healthcare (OHI): $2.28  Up $0.05 from last quarter and up $0.21 from last year.

Realty Income (O): $0.99  Up $0.02 from last quarter, Up $0.29 from last year, and up a penny from last month.

Hormel (HRL): $0.72 Up a penny from last quarter, Up $0.29 from last year.

Kinder Morgan (KMI): $1.10 Up a penny from last quarter and up $0.35 from last year.

Proctor & Gamble (PG): $0.79

Diversified Healthcare Trust (DHC): $0.01. Same as last quarter and down $0.14 from last year

Westrock (WRK): $0.83 Up a penny from last quarter, but down $0.08 from last year due to the recent cut.

Paychex (PAYX): $1.31  Up a penny from last quarter and up $0.04 from last year

That brings the total to $27.94, which is down $0.16 from last quarter, but up $12.25 from last year.  The prior stat isn't unsurprising given that Tanger is sitting this one out. Actually, the damage wasn't that bad. It looks like DRIP soaked up most of the loss.

Of course, there's also the 401K to consider.  Publix shares in that account brought in $2.46 (up $0.27 QoQ), while another fund brought in $0.77 (down $0.05 QoQ.)  That sub-total comes to $3.23.

That brings the grand total to $31.17.  Beat last quarter's record by $0.04, score.  Considering no Tanger and the fact that this quarter hasn't been that active, I'm legitimately surprised by that, but I'll still take the win. 2020 needs all the wins it can get.

Interest came in at $4.76, which is up $0.40 from last month.

I took a different approach with investing this month. I put the fractional share buying ability of RobinHood to good use by investing tips from the second job.  This was money that used to go towards the vending machine (which, to be fair, is a Pepsi machine, so it still fueled dividend growth) or just food in general.  This time around it went to parts of shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Emerson (EMR), Target (TGT), Pepsi (PEP), AT&T (T), ConEd (ED), McDonald's (MCD), and Proctor & Gamble (PG). Some of these are new positions, while some of these are companies that I already owned in my first brokerage account.  How big of a fraction of a share did I get from each of these?  Well, you'll have to check out the newly updated portfolio for that.  Those decimals are kind of a pain. 

All in all, this was a solid month. I'm hoping Tanger can get back into it, but at least for now,the line is holding. We're coming up on the final stretch of 2020.  Time to start getting momentum going so that 2021 can start off on the right foot.      

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