Monday, June 30, 2014

I am 1.21% retired! Read all about it!


Atlantic City, New Jersey

Everyone has their own methods of investing and saving. I also have my own ideas and goals, but they may not make much sense to someone else. Often times when I tell someone I plan on retiring earlier than the age of 55, they think I am lost in this world and that this notion of retiring early is impossible for someone like me. I may or may not be ahead of my peers that are about the same age but I feel like I have made some great strides in the right direction. I try not to compare myself to my peers because everyone has different goals in life. Some people want that family and big house with a pool lifestyle. This is actually what most Americans want in life. I on the other hand have never been materialistic. Do I drive a decent car and wear decent shoes? Well let’s see, I bought my 2002 Cadillac Deville for $3,500 from an older gentleman and I bought my Nike Air Max shoes on the clearance rack for $75. The point here is I don’t need the newest Cadillac or pair of Nike shoes. I am content with the 12 year old car with 100,000 miles on it and the pair of Nike shoes that nobody wears anymore.
                  I have made some serious life changes in the past year. For example, last year around this time, I only had $5,000 in my savings and a 1998 Ford Mustang to my name. This year I have over $20,000 in assets and a 2002 Cadillac Deville to my name. All I had to do was cut out my expenses. I still work the same $30,000/year job. It’s much easier to ditch the expensive car insurance, phone bill, and partying lifestyle than it is to work more hours or find a higher paying job. If my parents taught me how to invest at an early age I would probably be sitting pretty right now. However if you had a poster for the typical American family with a cottage, pool, deck, 2012 Ford F-150, Hyundai SUV, big yard, barn, doggie, boat, new kitchen, etc. Yes, that would probably be my parents on that poster. I don’t think there is anything wrong with this lifestyle and my parents are very happy, however I knew that I needed something different in my life. I don’t ever intend on being rich, but I would love to be sitting on a million one day. Some people might think having a million dollars is being rich however I would love to disagree.
                  So how does a low middle class worker making $30,000/year like myself plan on retiring at the age of 55? Well first of all I have 25 years to invest/save all the money that I earn. I have the power of compound interest and time on my side. I am excited to announce that I am officially 1.21% retired. Your probably wondering how I came up with this number. I came up with the simple formula while I was at work the other day. I currently receive a total of $302.63 of passive income every year. This includes all my dividends and interest for the year. I could live off of $20,000 for the year, but in order to retire comfortably I want to receive a total of $25,000 in passive income each year. So here is the formula (Percent Retired=Current Annual Passive Income/Future Retirement Passive Income) (302.63/25000=1.21%). I am only 1.21% retired at this point in my life. This is just a generic way of me knowing how close I am to retirement. So how far are you from retirement? 

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Dividend & Interest Earnings-June, 2014

June is my second month of documenting what I earned for dividends and interest. I have managed to double my earnings for the month but my expenses were a little higher due to car repairs. I will continue to try keeping expenses below $1,400 each month unless an emergency comes up. In June my vehicle really needed brake pads and rotors, so I had no choice but to cough up the $280.00 to fix it. I was happy to see that both dividends and Interest went up for the month, giving me a grand total of $34.91.

Stock/Bank Account
Earnings
Target (TGT)
$4.73
Sony(SNE)
$4.45
American Realty Capital Properties (ARCP)
$3.00
Seadrill (SDRL)
$15.00
GE Capital Bank Interest
$7.73
Total Passive Income
$34.91

                          

Not a bad month at all. I am hoping to increase my passive income each month in order to eventually become financially free from the work force. I understand that not every month will be as good as June in terms of earning passive income, because many stocks pay dividends in June. Below is a chart which will show you how much of my expenses were covered from the money I earned.

 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I am hoping July will also be a great month. I am excited to continue my journey to financial freedom, one month at a time. That extra $34.91 I received last month for doing nothing feels pretty good. That’s enough money to fill up my gas tank at my local Stop & Shop. But instead I am reinvesting this money into other companies in order to increase my stream of passive income. One day my passive income will be greater than my expenses and that is when I will be financially free. I would be able to enjoy my time off from the work force. I am hoping this will be before the age of 55 years old. I still have a long way to go but at least I am on the right track. So how was your month in terms of passive income?

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

New Portfolio, 11 New Blogsters, and Recent Buy



                                          Fall River, MA. Battleship Cove
  1. I recently opened an account with Loyal3 in order to reduce the cost of buying stocks. I can now make as many purchases as I want without having to worry about commission fees. Yes, I am limited to about 55 stocks to choose from at Loyal3 but this doesn't bother me because they offer good companies I would like to add to my portfolio. I added a new tab called Loyal3 which will include my portfolio and weekly updates. I want to personally thank Starting From Zero for sharing his thoughts on how Loyal3 works. A gentleman named Roger also left a comment on my Recent Buy - Dr. Pepper Snapple article. He was kind enough to share how Loyal3 handles dividends. 
  2. I have updated my blogsters page because I have come across a bunch of new blogs with great information to help me on my journey. If you would like to be added to the list just send me a comment and I would be glad to add you. The following 11 blogsters have been added to the list:    Dividend Epiphany
    Dividend Swan
    My Dividend Pipeline
    Div Saver
    My Dividend Journey
    Asset-Grinder
    My Dividend Growth
    FF Dividend
    The Passive Income Earner
    Road Map 2 Retire
    FF Fighter
  3. Recent Buy- Mondelez (MDLZ)

Mondelez (MDLZ)

1.3430
$37.23
$50.00

Sunday, June 22, 2014

My next purchase on Loyal3 should be?



I have reviewed the 55+ stocks that Loyal3 have to offer and came up with a short watch list.
Ticker
Price
P/E
Yield
APPL
$90.91
15.2
2.07%
K
$67.24
12.86
2.74%
WMT
$75.68
15.71
2.54%
TGT
$58.29
19.72
3.57%
UL
$45.62
20.26
3.25%
KO
$41.69
22.18
2.93%
MCD
$101.92
18.5
3.18%
PEP
 
$89.10
20.14
2.94%
MDLZ
$37.49
35.22
1.49%
MSFT
$41.68
15.63
2.69%
DPS
$60.03
18.1
2.73%
This is a notable list of dividend growth stocks that I plan on adding to my portfolio at some point in my life. This week I plan on adding a small position with at least one of these on the list and I am asking my fellow readers/bloggers for advice. If you were to pick from this elite list, which would you buy at current prices?  Please cast your vote to the right of my blog. It will be interesting to see what people are leaning towards this week. Thanks for reading and voting!