Sunday, June 21, 2020
Thursday, June 18, 2020
Cash is Ki
The road to wealth and/or financial independence is a long one. As such, it's important to stay motivated and focused. After all, it's quite easy to fall off track and hinder your own progress.
The Dave Ramsey fandom, for example, is fond of visual aids. They frequently use illustrated thermometers or game boards and color in portions to indicate their progress towards a savings goal or towards paying down a debt (even something as lofty as the mortgage on their house.)
The Dividend Diplomats came up with a game a while back where you calculate both your annual and hourly cost of living and use that to find out how much time your stock purchase paid for. These numbers can also be used to figure out how close you are to FI(RE).
Being a fan of DragonBall, it was only a matter of time before my brain provided another viewpoint by which to provide financial motivation. Said viewpoint was to compare it to something that the fans of the anime are all too familiar with, power levels.
In a way, that's what your net worth is, isn't it? It's your ability to face the various financial challenges that life provides. The more fiscal strength you have, the more you'll be able to pursue hobbies, support businesses, generate tax revenue, or give to charities. You could even view deploying capital in these fashions as very much akin to one of the franchise's many iconic beam attacks. First, you charge up your monetary energy via saving, than fire it at your target..
Now, one could use the comparison in a negative light and point to the gap between the 1% and the 99% being similar to Goku's and Vegeta's vast eclipsing of the rest of the cast. There is a difference, however. The two lead Saiyans do have the strictest training regiments of the cast, but one of the reasons they have skyrocketed the way they did was because of something called Zenkai, this is an innate biological ability where Saiyans get a power boost after recovering from injuries. Considering how many fights the pair get into over the course of the story, record growth is to be expected. They also benefit from the exponential growth that comes from the various transformations being power multipliers.
When it comes to finances, we have our own variations of these. There is compound interest/the dividend snowball where you start to make steadily increasing amounts of money off of your saved/invested money and a snowball effect starts to take place. I've seen some criticize this phenomenon, but that has always baffled me, as this is what you want to happen. It turns the process into a downhill battle, providing more motivation for you to get over the bumpy parts to the smoother waters ahead. Further more, everybody (yes, even you) can use it. It's math. Even if you are in a lower income bracket, you can still reap the benefits if you're committed and stick to a plan.
Our fiscal Zenkai would be acquired through investing in the market itself. Said market goes up and down depending on a myriad of factors. Sometimes (like now, for example) those swings can be large. If you keep a cool head and keep investing during the dips, you'll see your net worth increase much faster when the prices inevitably start to go back up, as you'll have acquired more shares when they were at a lower price.
Going back to the progress meters noted above, you could even use the "power levels" to indicate certain milestones. Mark a certain net worth as having hit "super saiyan" (maybe $100,000 as that first milestone is often cited as the hardest?) and go from there. You could always use something more official, but those later numbers are probably not too realistic. On the plus side, it does give you more milestones in the early portions, so it isn't without its upsides.
So, what do you think? Would this mindset result in more people going even further beyond and breaking their limits, or is it nerdy and eye-roll worthy?
The Dave Ramsey fandom, for example, is fond of visual aids. They frequently use illustrated thermometers or game boards and color in portions to indicate their progress towards a savings goal or towards paying down a debt (even something as lofty as the mortgage on their house.)
The Dividend Diplomats came up with a game a while back where you calculate both your annual and hourly cost of living and use that to find out how much time your stock purchase paid for. These numbers can also be used to figure out how close you are to FI(RE).
Being a fan of DragonBall, it was only a matter of time before my brain provided another viewpoint by which to provide financial motivation. Said viewpoint was to compare it to something that the fans of the anime are all too familiar with, power levels.
In a way, that's what your net worth is, isn't it? It's your ability to face the various financial challenges that life provides. The more fiscal strength you have, the more you'll be able to pursue hobbies, support businesses, generate tax revenue, or give to charities. You could even view deploying capital in these fashions as very much akin to one of the franchise's many iconic beam attacks. First, you charge up your monetary energy via saving, than fire it at your target..
Now, one could use the comparison in a negative light and point to the gap between the 1% and the 99% being similar to Goku's and Vegeta's vast eclipsing of the rest of the cast. There is a difference, however. The two lead Saiyans do have the strictest training regiments of the cast, but one of the reasons they have skyrocketed the way they did was because of something called Zenkai, this is an innate biological ability where Saiyans get a power boost after recovering from injuries. Considering how many fights the pair get into over the course of the story, record growth is to be expected. They also benefit from the exponential growth that comes from the various transformations being power multipliers.
When it comes to finances, we have our own variations of these. There is compound interest/the dividend snowball where you start to make steadily increasing amounts of money off of your saved/invested money and a snowball effect starts to take place. I've seen some criticize this phenomenon, but that has always baffled me, as this is what you want to happen. It turns the process into a downhill battle, providing more motivation for you to get over the bumpy parts to the smoother waters ahead. Further more, everybody (yes, even you) can use it. It's math. Even if you are in a lower income bracket, you can still reap the benefits if you're committed and stick to a plan.
Our fiscal Zenkai would be acquired through investing in the market itself. Said market goes up and down depending on a myriad of factors. Sometimes (like now, for example) those swings can be large. If you keep a cool head and keep investing during the dips, you'll see your net worth increase much faster when the prices inevitably start to go back up, as you'll have acquired more shares when they were at a lower price.
Going back to the progress meters noted above, you could even use the "power levels" to indicate certain milestones. Mark a certain net worth as having hit "super saiyan" (maybe $100,000 as that first milestone is often cited as the hardest?) and go from there. You could always use something more official, but those later numbers are probably not too realistic. On the plus side, it does give you more milestones in the early portions, so it isn't without its upsides.
So, what do you think? Would this mindset result in more people going even further beyond and breaking their limits, or is it nerdy and eye-roll worthy?
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
'10 Cloverfield Lane' Movie Review
You can read my review of the film here.
*At one point, I reference Annie Wilkes, but for some reason, the K got lost in the shuffle making it "Annie Wiles". Alas, there's nothing I can do about it now.
Pros
- The cast all do a fantastic job.
- Plot takes all sorts of twists and turns that keep the viewer engaged throughout
- Michelle proves herself to be resourceful and clever, even giving MacGuyver a run for his money at some points.
- Great character dynamics
Cons
- Bad lighting undercuts the awe and spectacle of the big reveal
- Doesn't tie back into "Cloverfield" in any capacity
Overall
This was a very enjoyable movie. It's tightly written, well acted, and it keeps the tension up in a variety of different ways. I highly recommend it.
*At one point, I reference Annie Wilkes, but for some reason, the K got lost in the shuffle making it "Annie Wiles". Alas, there's nothing I can do about it now.
Pros
- The cast all do a fantastic job.
- Plot takes all sorts of twists and turns that keep the viewer engaged throughout
- Michelle proves herself to be resourceful and clever, even giving MacGuyver a run for his money at some points.
- Great character dynamics
Cons
- Bad lighting undercuts the awe and spectacle of the big reveal
- Doesn't tie back into "Cloverfield" in any capacity
Overall
This was a very enjoyable movie. It's tightly written, well acted, and it keeps the tension up in a variety of different ways. I highly recommend it.
Saturday, June 6, 2020
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
Monday, June 1, 2020
May 2020 Dividend Income: My IRA is Maximum
You can ride to 'em, bounce to 'em, and freak to 'em. That's right, it's time for the dividends. Let's get it on.
AT&T (T): $1.64 Up $0.55 from last quarter due to DRIP and a purchase. YoY is up $0.60
AGNC: $0.13 Down $0.04 from last quarter and $0.05 from last year due to a dividend cut. With the pandemic, these are becoming far too common. Thankfully, this is a small position, so the damage isn't too great.
Sprague Resources (SRLP): $8.51 Up $0.46 from last quarter due to DRIP and up $4.93 from last year. I am legitimately shocked that this dividend has held up the way that it has. Fingers crossed, it can keep things copasetic.
Hormel (HRL): $0.71 Same as last quarter and up $0.29 from last year due to DRIP and a purchase
Kinder Morgan (KMI): $1.09 Up $0.07 from last quater due to DRIP and a dividend increase.
Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI): $2.23 Up $0.04 from last quarter due to DRIP and $0.18 from last year
Realty Income (O): $0.97 Same as last month and up $0.24 from last quarter due to a purchase. YoY is up $0.28
Tanger Factory Outlet Centers (SKT): $1.53 Up $0.05 from last quarter due to DRIP and a dividend increase.
Diversified Healthcare Trust (DHC): $0.01 Ow. That's down $0.15 from last quarter. Another tiny position, but percentage wise, that one was still pretty brutal.
Paychex (PAYX): $1.30 Up a penny from last quarter and up $0.04 from last year.
Westrock (WRK): $0.82 Down $0.62 from last quarter due to a dividend cut. This one surprised me, to be honest. A lot of the stuff that gets shipped to our store comes in Westrock boxes, so I figured that they were chugging along fine, even amid all the COVID chaos. Maybe it's a precautionary measure for possible rocky times ahead? I don't know.
Publix threw in a whopping $9.18 outside the 401K. That's a huge spike due to an employee perk and a dividend increase.
That brings the non 401K dividend total to $28.12, up $5.53 from last quarter.
Speaking of the 401K, Publix threw in another $2.19 in there as well, up $0.72 from last quarter. Another fund threw in $0.82, giving us a total of $3.01 for the retirement account.
The grand total comes to $31.13, new record and a milestone. Noice.
Interest clocked in at $3.26 Up $0.09 from last month.
I did make some small additions to the portfolio. I added another share of Tanger (SKT) the day before they announced that they were suspending their dividend. It's not surprising considering that everything is closed, but it's still vexing. I suppose I put too much stock (heh) in their status as an aristocrat. Then again, as we saw, they did increase their dividend this year. If they reinstate it before year's end does the streak keep going or does the suspension break it either way? I have no clue.
The second purchase was a share of Proctor and Gamble (PG). The portfolio has been updated accordingly.
The real move this month was maxing out my IRA contribution....for 2019. Harder than it sounds, and both the employment impact payment and the extended tax deadline proved incredibly useful, but I got it done. I haven't even started on 2020 yet. I like the idea of going into 2021 without having to make catch up contributions, but I don't know how realistic a goal that is. We'll see how things play out, though.
All in all, this was a solid month. The forward income did take some whacks, and there will be more to come, I'm sure, but things are chugging along quite nicely so far. Whether the second half of 2020 starts to simmer down or whether the madness continues remains to be seen. It should be interesting, though, to say the least.
"stock dividend" by CreditDebitPro is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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AT&T (T): $1.64 Up $0.55 from last quarter due to DRIP and a purchase. YoY is up $0.60
AGNC: $0.13 Down $0.04 from last quarter and $0.05 from last year due to a dividend cut. With the pandemic, these are becoming far too common. Thankfully, this is a small position, so the damage isn't too great.
Sprague Resources (SRLP): $8.51 Up $0.46 from last quarter due to DRIP and up $4.93 from last year. I am legitimately shocked that this dividend has held up the way that it has. Fingers crossed, it can keep things copasetic.
Hormel (HRL): $0.71 Same as last quarter and up $0.29 from last year due to DRIP and a purchase
Kinder Morgan (KMI): $1.09 Up $0.07 from last quater due to DRIP and a dividend increase.
Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI): $2.23 Up $0.04 from last quarter due to DRIP and $0.18 from last year
Realty Income (O): $0.97 Same as last month and up $0.24 from last quarter due to a purchase. YoY is up $0.28
Tanger Factory Outlet Centers (SKT): $1.53 Up $0.05 from last quarter due to DRIP and a dividend increase.
Diversified Healthcare Trust (DHC): $0.01 Ow. That's down $0.15 from last quarter. Another tiny position, but percentage wise, that one was still pretty brutal.
Paychex (PAYX): $1.30 Up a penny from last quarter and up $0.04 from last year.
Westrock (WRK): $0.82 Down $0.62 from last quarter due to a dividend cut. This one surprised me, to be honest. A lot of the stuff that gets shipped to our store comes in Westrock boxes, so I figured that they were chugging along fine, even amid all the COVID chaos. Maybe it's a precautionary measure for possible rocky times ahead? I don't know.
Publix threw in a whopping $9.18 outside the 401K. That's a huge spike due to an employee perk and a dividend increase.
That brings the non 401K dividend total to $28.12, up $5.53 from last quarter.
Speaking of the 401K, Publix threw in another $2.19 in there as well, up $0.72 from last quarter. Another fund threw in $0.82, giving us a total of $3.01 for the retirement account.
The grand total comes to $31.13, new record and a milestone. Noice.
Interest clocked in at $3.26 Up $0.09 from last month.
I did make some small additions to the portfolio. I added another share of Tanger (SKT) the day before they announced that they were suspending their dividend. It's not surprising considering that everything is closed, but it's still vexing. I suppose I put too much stock (heh) in their status as an aristocrat. Then again, as we saw, they did increase their dividend this year. If they reinstate it before year's end does the streak keep going or does the suspension break it either way? I have no clue.
The second purchase was a share of Proctor and Gamble (PG). The portfolio has been updated accordingly.
The real move this month was maxing out my IRA contribution....for 2019. Harder than it sounds, and both the employment impact payment and the extended tax deadline proved incredibly useful, but I got it done. I haven't even started on 2020 yet. I like the idea of going into 2021 without having to make catch up contributions, but I don't know how realistic a goal that is. We'll see how things play out, though.
All in all, this was a solid month. The forward income did take some whacks, and there will be more to come, I'm sure, but things are chugging along quite nicely so far. Whether the second half of 2020 starts to simmer down or whether the madness continues remains to be seen. It should be interesting, though, to say the least.
"stock dividend" by CreditDebitPro is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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