Bonus round to close out the year
AT&T (T): $7
Hormel (HRL): $7
Proctor & Gamble (PG): $7
Paychex (PAYX): $7
Kinder Morgan (KMI): $7
General Dynamics (GD): $7
Microsoft (MSFT): $7
Intel (INTC): $7
Chevron (CVX): $7
J.M. Smucker (SJM): $7
Click here to open an E-Trade account
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Free time between shifts=time for stock buys
Starbucks (SBUX): $3
Campbell's (CPB): $3
Verizon (VZ): $3
Realty Income (O): $3
GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $1
Wisdom Tree Midcap Dividend Fund (DON): $1
Invesco High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $3
AGNC: $3
Stag Industrial (STAG): $3
Main Street Capital (MAIN): $1
GlobalX Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $1
SJW Group (SJW): $3
Lockheed (LMT): $3
Exxon Mobil (XOM): $3
Man, done with the batches already. Getting a bonus wild card round in before the month's end will be pretty cool. It'll not only help wrap up the year, but hopefully get some momentum going for the year ahead.
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The 401k isn't quite the dividend engine that I had envisioned. There are only about a dozen or so funds to choose from, so when I first set it up, I had a fairly even spread across all of them. Diversification and balance seemed like the way to go. After all, this is the 401k we're talking about. It's heavy stuff. You want it to be sturdy and resilient so that your golden years can truly shine.
With dividends being the new name of the game, I decided it was time to tweak things a bit. There are quite a few funds that don't pay dividends, or at least show no evidence of it. As such, I decided to skim a little from the money that I was putting into a couple of those non-dividend funds and redirect it towards Publix stock.
It may seem counter-intuitive, moving from broader funds to a single company stock, but I think this is going to work out well in the long term. Not only does that help the company, but it gets me more shares, and subsequently, more dividend income. In addition, the dividends from the shares in the 401k actually do reinvest, so that will spur even more growth going forward. I was able to more than double the amount I was directing towards the stock, so it'll be interesting to see how that ends up working out over the course of the next couple of years.
On the off chance this doesn't work, and the rate of return isn't as good, I can always change it back or do another re-shuffle.
The cool thing about this is that it's still the same amount of money (sort of, we'll talk about that in the December dividend post,) but I'll still see a boost in income. Yeah, I can't touch it for another 20+ years, but it'll get that snowball rolling faster in the meantime.
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Afternoon off? Seems like as good a reason as any to buy some stocks.
Vanguard Total Market ETF (VTI): $7
Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM): $7
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): $7
Vanguard US REIT Fund (VNQ): $7
Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG): $7
Vanguard Utilities ETF (VPU): $7
Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF (VOOG): $7
iShares Dividend Growth ETF (DGRO): $7
Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD): $7
Three rounds already? Eh, it works. I've got lost time for which to make up and I see no problem in picking up the pace in general. I maxed out this round too, so hopefully that'll help a little.
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Let's keep the momentum going, shall we?
3M (MMM): $4
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): $4
Emerson (EMR): $4
PepsiCo (PEP): $4
AT&T (T): $4
Target (TGT): $4
McDonald's (MCD): $4
ConEd (ED): $4
Proctor & Gamble (PG): $4
Vanguard Total Market ETF (VTI): $4.07
Not sure how that seven cents appeared in my account. I generally just keep the cash balance to even dollar figures, but since it was there, I figured I might as well deploy it.
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Was going to try to lay low and do a whole "time skip" thing going into 2022, but when work annoys you, you've gotta buy the stocks. So, here we go.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): $4
Papa John's (PZZA): $4
Domino's (DPZ): $4
Yum! (YUM): $4
Exxon Mobil (XOM): $4
AT&T (T): $4
Verizon (VZ): $4
Realty Income (O): $4
Lockheed (LMT): $4
SJW (SJW): $4
Felt good to get back into it.
Click here to open an E-Trade account
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Vanguard Total Market ETF (VTI): $3
Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM): $3
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): $3
Vanguard US REIT Fund (VNQ): $3
Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG): $3
Vanguard Utilities ETF (VPU): $3
Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF (VOOG): $3
iShares Dividend Growth ETF (DGRO): $3
Schwab Dividend ETF (SCHD): $3
Click here to open an E-Trade account
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And just like that, we turn another page on the calendar and enter into the fourth quarter of the year. We're starting to enter into season, which means that things will be kicking into high gear as the snowbirds start to make their return. The whole "downtime" thing didn't really play out this year, but it did make things a heck of a lot easier as far as cash flow was concerned. It was probably the easiest off-season to date on that front.
With another month starting, we continue the custom of looking back at the dividends of the month prior. This is a quarter end, which is usually the investors' peak month. It should be noted, that it's usually my weakest because my portfolio is bizarro. Still, I have had a good run of $30+ months the past few rounds, so we'll just have to see what happens. With that, let's get to it.
Kroger (KR): $1.33 (+$0.29 QoQ, +$0.21 YoY)
SJW Group (SJW): $0.39 (+$0.02 QoQ, +$0.07 YoY)
Intel (INTC): $0.01
JM Smucker (SJM): $0.06 (+$0.04 QoQ)
Pfizer (PFE): $0.80 (+$0.01 QoQ)
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): $0.30 (+$0.08 QoQ, +$0.27 YoY)
Microsoft (MSFT): $0.01
AGNC: $0.45 (+$0.13 QoQ, +$0.31 YoY)
Exxon Mobil (XOM): $1.09 (+$0.08 QoQ)
Lumen Technologies (LUMN): $0.82 (+$0.26 QoQ, +$0.54 YoY)
Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA): $0.99 (+$0.02 QoQ, +$0.52 YoY)
Chevron (CVX): $0.08 (+$0.04 QoQ)
IBM: $0.04
Yum! (YUM): $0.07 (+$0.03 QoQ)
Emerson (EMR): $0.18 (+$0.01 QoQ, +$0.14 YoY)
Target (TGT): $0.14 (+$0.04 QoQ)
3M (MMM): $0.25 (+$0.03 QoQ, +$0.21 YoY)
Global X Superdividend (SDIV): $0.04 (same as last quarter)
Realty Income (O): $1.10 (+$0.02 QoQ, +$0.11 YoY, same as last month)
Wendy's (WEN): $1.12 (+$0.29 QoQ, +$0.76 YoY)
ConEd (ED): $0.33 (+$0.03 QoQ)
STAG Industrial (STAG): $0.02 (+$0.01 QoQ)
McDonald's (MCD): $0.19 (+$0.01 QoQ, +$0.16 YoY)
Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.02
VF Corp (VFC): $1.02 (+$0.01 QoQ, +$0.53 YoY)
Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM): $0.59 (+$0.07 QoQ, +$0.52 YoY)
Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG): $0.29 (+$0.05 QoQ)
Kraft-Heinz (KHC): $1.22 (+$0.41 QoQ)
Lockheed (LMT): $0.14 (+$0.08 QoQ)
Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD): $0.06
Nasdaq Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.03 (same as last month)
Vanguard Total Market ETF (VTI): $0.26 (+$0.07 QoQ)
Vanguard US REIT Fund (VNQ): $0.35 (+$0.03 QoQ)
Wisdom Tree Midcap Dividend Fund (DON): $0.02 (same as last month and quarter)
That brings the sub-total in the taxable accounts to $13.81. That's +$0.82 from last quarter and +$8.38 from last year.
Only one fund in the 401K did anything this time around. The Baird Aggregate Bond fund threw in $0.92, bringing the grand total to $14.73.
All in all, not too shabby. It's down quite a bit from last quarter, but with two bi-annual payers sitting out, it's to be expected. Quite a bit of growth everywhere else, though. You can especially see it in the year over year numbers. The Robinhood buys are starting to add up and Kroger, Wendy's, and Walgreens brought dividend increases to the table.
Another $30 month would have been nice, especially with the DGI blogger community itching to break the $100K threshold. It kind of feels like I Yamcha'd it, but it's probably better to focus on the positive aspects of the month. December's numbers will be much better, I assure you.
Interest clocked in at $2.88. It's still less than it was last year,but I am noticing an upward trend in that number again. Could compound interest still be a thing after all? We'll just have to watch and see.
In addition to the Robinhood buys (which you can read about here, here, here, and here), I also made single share buys on E-Trade for Flowers Foods (FLO), Hormel (HRL), People's United Bank (PBCT), and SpartanNash (SPTN). We're only one month in, but that batch expansion is working out pretty nicely so far.
The portfolio has been updated accordingly.
The focus for Q4 is going to be to try to create as clean a slate for 2022 as possible. It's already looking like it's going to be a packed year, so any head start I can create will be a boon. Among other things, I'm really aiming to max out my IRA contributions by the end of December. From a mathematical standpoint, it might not make sense, as those are savings accounts with the expected interest rates. Still, there are tax perks to be had and starting the year without having to worry about catch up contributions will make things quite a bit smoother. We'll see if I can pull it off.
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You know the drill by now. Let's do this.
Paychex (PAYX): $3
Chevron (CVX): $3
JM Smucker (SJM): $3
Papa Johns (PZZA): $3
Yum: $3
Domino's (DPZ): $3
General Dynamics (GD): $3
VF Corp (VFC): $3
Vanguard Total Market ETF (VTI): $3
Vanguard US REIT Fund (VNQ): $3
Nothing too fancy here. Of course, I have to hit those pizza stocks. Not as many ETF's this time around, but still got a couple in there. We'll be hitting those next week anyway, so it isn't that drastic a change.
Tuesday is usually my stock buy day just due to schedule, but with the big drop in the market yesterday, it worked out pretty nicely.
Exxon Mobil (XOM): $4
SJW: $4
Lockheed (LMT): $4
Starbucks (SBUX): $4
Campbell's (CPB): $4
Verizon (VZ): $4
Realty Income (O): $4
Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $4
Stag Industrial (STAG): $3
Global X Superdividend (SDIV): $1
Wisdom Tree (DON): $1
AGNC: $1
Main Street Capital (MAIN): $1
Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $1
This is the "curve ball" batch, where I don't just use the same dollar number down the line. I actually took it a step further this time and added a third dollar figure in for one of the buys. That was more to round out the total deployed to an even multiple of 10,though. Next week, it's back to the free for all with the monthly wild card round.
3M (MMM): $3
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): $3
Emerson (EMR): $3
Pepsico (PEP): $3
AT&T (T): $3
Target (TGT): $3
McDonald's (MCD): $3
ConEd (ED): $3
Proctor & Gamble (PG): $3
Vanguard Total Market ETF (VTI): $3
Nothing too fancy here. It is kind of strange that some of these positions weren't really hit more during the free for all, but that's what this more regimented rotation is for.
It begins
Vanguard Total Market ETF (VTI): $3
Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM): $3
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): $3
Vanguard US REIT Fund (VNQ): $3
Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG): $3
Vanguard Utilities ETF (VPU): $3
Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF (VOOG): $3
iShares Dividend Growth ETF (DGRO): $3
Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD): $3
Free for all is over; we are officially back on rotation (the new and improved rotation, no less.) Not sure why I thought this batch had 10 positions in it. It doesn't, only 9. That actually works out, though, to be honest. Not only can I "set aside" a little from this to let the cash portion of that account grow and help fund future buys, but it'll be nice and easy to slip a wild card slot in when I expand the batches again next year.
One last round to close out the month
AT&T (T): $2
Kinder Morgan (KMI): $2
Sprague Resources (SRLP): $2
VF Corp (VFC): $2
AGNC: $2
Hormel (HRL): $2
Vanguard Utilities ETF (VPU): $2
Chevron (CVX): $2
Lumen Technologies (LUMN): $2
Vanguard Total Market ETF (VTI): $2
A lot of E-Trade positions made their way over into the Robinhood wing with this round. Mostly the ones that I have been averaging down on the past couple of months. This will allow me to satisfy that desire while giving my E-Trade account a bit more flexibility.
AGNC was an interesting case. Based on E-Trade's cost average, the price was lower; but based on Robinhood's, it was a bit higher. So that one is simultaneously a success and a failure on that front.
The dividend powerhouse that is Sprague Resources also makes its way over. I haven't really done too much with that because it's one of the chonkier positions I have. Over here on Robinhood, though, it has some room to grow. It'll be interesting to see if the DRIP has the same impact here that it does over there.
Pizza, computers, and defense.
Papa John's (PZZA): $3
Domino's (DPZ): $3
Yum! (YUM): $3
Lockheed Martin (LMT): $3
General Dynamics (GD) : $3
Intel (INTC): $3
Apple (AAPL): $3
Microsoft (MSFT): $3
IBM (IBM): $3
Hewlett Packard (HPQ):
Even before the pandemic, one of the great lamentations that you would hear about the economy was that people had to work two jobs. Well, as someone who does work two jobs, I have to say that it isn't without its perks. There are downsides, to be sure, but I thought that we could bring some perspective to the issue.
Pros
- More paychecks
One of the best ways to mitigate the struggle of living paycheck to paycheck is to increase the number of paychecks. Bi-weekly pay sucks. I've only had to put up with it briefly for certain stretches of time, but I never liked it when I did. Weekly pay is better, but with two jobs, you can find yourself getting money coming in much more frequently than even that.
It makes it easier to save and to budget. I'm not high income, but because of fairly frequent cash infusions, I was able to put myself in a position where I'm not living paycheck to paycheck. I budget paycheck to paycheck, but there is a difference there. Why, I can even pay an unexpected $400 bill (just did today, since we're on the topic.)
It also allows you to feel like you have more momentum, as you have more opportunities to make money moves; whether it be making a payment on debt, tucking money away in a savings account for an emergency fund, or even investing it.
- Fall back position
Let's say one of your jobs cuts your hours, or even worse, lays you off; having that second job gives you a safety net to help get you through the rough patch. Even if you can't pick up extra hours, it does give you something to work with to keep things going. It might just slow the bleed, but that can still be a difference maker in that situation.
- Escape hatch
On a similar note, let's say one of your jobs is really starting to get to you and you want out. That second employment can act as what both UBI advocates and dividend investors call "FU Money". You have a certain degree of leverage that you wouldn't have with one sole employer.
- Variety
The work week can feel like a slog, but having two jobs can (oddly enough) mitigate that. You're in different environments, doing different things. It actually helps quite a bit. Sure, it's largely psychological, but the difference is still palpable. One gives you something of a break from the other. Even if you're doing 6-7 day work weeks, it's still less exhausting than if you were to do it all at one place.
Cons
- No time
As noted above, with two jobs, you're likely going to be doing 6-7 day weeks. It doesn't really leave a lot of downtime. You'll definitely fall behind on shows and reading. Down time will be at a premium and you'll have to savor what you can get.
- Tug of War
If you're good at both jobs, you might find both jobs vying for your time. You could argue that this is a good thing, but the feeling of being pulled in two different directions is less than stellar, to be sure. It can also be exasperating, especially when it happens on those rare days you have off.
- Possible double booking
When working multiple jobs, you run the risk of being scheduled at both places at the same time. I generally try to maintain a "one job a day" stance, but it doesn't always hold up that way. Sometimes, employers forget about your availability, need help due to a last minute circumstance, or just ignore it in the hopes that you happen to be free at that specific time in this instance.
As I noted above, if one job cuts hours, the other can pick them up. This can be a good thing, but it can also potentially result in getting stuck in this situation.
Conclusion
Working multiple jobs isn't always the easiest thing in the world. However, it most certainly has perks that can't be ignored. It might not be for everyone, but I don't think that it should be painted with the negative connotation that it frequently does.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): $2
Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM): $2
PepsiCo (PEP): $2
Vanguard Total Market ETF (VTI): $2
Realty Income (O): $2
Vanguard US REIT Fund (VNQ): $2
General Dynamics (GD): $2
Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF (VOOG): $2
Verizon (VZ): $2
Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG): $2
Smaller round this time, but still did OK. In any case, though, anything is better than nothing.
While the Snowbirds have not returned quite yet, we are fast approaching "season". With their return comes the return of my more regimented buy system when it comes to stock purchases on Robinhood. The free for all was fun, but I'm kind of looking forward to going back to the old rotation. Still, with so many positions to hit, and only so many weeks in a month, I've decided to kick things up a notch and expand the roster, as it were. This will also help move the needle just a little bit quicker.
The old rotation was thus
Round 1: Vanguard ETF's
Round 2: Dividend Diplomats "Core" Positions (T,ED,JNJ,TGT,MCD,PG,PEP,EMR,MMM)
Round 3: SBUX,CPB,VZ, O, SDIV, DON, SPHD,AGNC,STAG,MAIN,QYLD Mostly monthly payers, along with a couple of other positions for extra flavor.
Round 4: Wild Card: Anything I wanted, repeats, bolstering other positions, or adding new positions.
The new rotation will be as follows
Round 1: Vanguard ETF's + SCHD & DGRO
Still keeping it in the ETF ball park. These two new positions are held in equal regard to VYM; as such, I see no problem putting more into them on a regular basis.
Round 2: Dividend Diplomats Core Positions + 1 Vanguard ETF
The 10 slots per round thing has been working pretty well the past couple of months. With those ETF's being as good as they are, it seems like a no brainer to use that to round out this batch to an even 10.
Round 3: SBUX,CPB,VZ, O, SDIV, DON, SPHD,AGNC,STAG,MAIN,QYLD +SJW, LMT, XOM
3 new positions are being added to this batch. With most of the monthlies being bought at a lower rate, I'm able to justify packing this batch out a bit more than I usually do.
Round 4: Wild Card
Not really much I can change here. I don't think I had a set number of buys before, but again, I'm going to be sticking to the 10 slot system. It makes for a nice round number and it allows more positions to move.
This has been an interesting experiment. This wing of my investments is actually playing a larger role than one would think and it completely demolishes one of the more prominent narratives you're likely to come across on social media.. As an aside, the portfolio itself recently crossed a minor, but still notable, milestone. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing things progress as we kick things into the next gear.
Emerson Electric (EMR): $3
Intel (INTC): $3
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): $3
Apple (AAPL): $3
AT&T (T): $3
Microsoft (MSFT): $3
Lockheed (LMT): $3
IBM (IBM): $3
ConEd (ED): $3
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): $3
No ETF's this time around. That doesn't happen too often. Still made some good additions, though, I think. The buys covered a wide range, though tech did dominate. No new positions, just another round of touching on already existing ones. I did try to hit some that I haven't in a while, though, so they felt new.
2021 continues to fly by, as we're already into August. This, of course, means that Christmas is just around the corner. In the meantime, though, we have dividends to log. Let's get right to it.
Invesco High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $0.05
PepsiCo (PEP): $1.34 (+$0.14 QoQ, +$0.30 YoY)
Domino's (DPZ): $0.02
Coca Cola (KO): $0.85 (+$-0.01 QoQ)
ViacomCBS (VIAC): $0.48 (+$0.24 QoQ)
Kimberly Clark (KMB): $1.15 (+$0.01 QoQ)
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): $0.17 (+$0.03 QoQ)
Iron Mountain (IRM): $3.54 (+$0.06 QoQ, +$0.29 YoY)
AGNC: $0.33 ( +$0.02 QoQ, +$0.19 YoY)
GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.04 (+$0.01 QoQ)
Franklin Resources (BEN): $2.42 (+$0.03 QoQ, +$0.46 YoY)
Leggett & Platt (LEG): $0.44 (+$0.03 QoQ)
Realty Income (O): $1.09 (+$0.04 QoQ, +$0.11 YoY, +$0.01 from last month)
Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.02 (+$0.01 QoQ)
Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.02 (+$0.01 QoQ)
Best Buy (BBY): $5.05 (+$0.03 QoQ, +$1.17 YoY)
Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.03 (+$0.02 QoQ)
Armanino Foods of Distinction (AMNF) $0.30 (+$0.04 QoQ, +$0.11 YoY)
Wisdom Tree (DON): $0.01
Publix : $16.74
That brings the sub-total to $34.09. Yeah, Publix paid its dividend a bit early. The difference was only a couple of days, but it still throws things off quite a bit. In the grand scheme it doesn't matter, but the quarterly and annual numbers are going to be a bit wonky going forward. There is one other side effect that you'll notice later that just adds to the weirdness. This also means that the next mid-quarter post is going to be a bit lackluster. There's no chance of crossing the $50 threshold, though it does give me a bit more time to boost up positions to ensure that I do it on the next go around.
Armanino also threw in another dividend increase, which is always nice to see
Over in the 401K, the Baird Aggregate Bond fund threw in $0.94.
All in all, the grand dividend total comes to $35.03. Sure, it's kind of a fluke, but for now, it's a good number.
Interest threw in $2.39
July was an interesting month as far as purchases go. There weren't any for the first two weeks, then I came back in force. You can read about the Robinhood buys here, here, here, and here. Over on E-Trade, I made single share buys of AT&T (T), SpartanNash (SPTN), Kinder Morgan (KMI), AGNC, and Lumen Technologies (LUMN). Have to average down where you can.
In other fiscal news, the ATM machine at my bank ate my card. So, while I waited for the replacement, I switched the recurring bills that were set to automatically charge my account through said card to my credit card, which gives me money back. That bill is going to be a lot bigger, and I'll have to be mindful of the available credit at points, but I am looking forward to hitting that $25 threshold more frequently than I have been. Really, though, the monthly expenses remain the same, I'm just lumping a bunch of them together and getting money back. I was annoyed when it first happened, but in the long run, it works out in my favor.
July was a pretty strong month overall. It is kind of a shame to have the wind cut from next month's posts's sails, but it is what it is. I'll just have to use the added window of time to make sure that November's numbers are just that much more impressive. Onward and upward, as they say.
