Thursday 18 December 2014

My 2014 Investing Review and 2015 Goals


     2014 has marked my first full year of investing directly in stocks and collecting dividends. Throughout the year, and a couple months in 2013 I have slowly been building up my dividend stock portfolio. By adding in just small increments, generally between $200-800 a month I have managed to create a portfolio that churns out an estimated $610 a year, or averaged out to $51 a month! In some months, my little accumulation of dividend income has boosted my overall income by up to 4% and could if needed be able to cover a couple reoccurring expenses, or a trip to the grocery store.



    Since starting to track all my income and expenses in mid-late 2013 I have been able to watch my passive income incrementally increase and to manage my monthly costs in order to maximize my savings.

Month(2014)
Div $
January
21.23
February
13.44
March
7.52
April
33.82
May
34.44
June
18.59
July
57.26
August
37.45
September
29.59
October
64.05
November
38.09
December
~38
Total
358.74

    In 2012 I had no passive income, in 2013 I made $13.56 through two dividends, interest on cash and mutual fund distributions. My estimated total dividend income for 2014 is $358, that is an increase in passive income of 2645%!!! Now, I hardly expect to see that kind of percentage increase in passive income in 2015. My dividend income goal for 2015 is either going to ambitious, or quite easy depending on circumstances. My goal is to raise my current projected 2015 dividend income from its current $610 to $1,200. I consider doubling my dividend income pretty ambitious at the moment since my expenses have gone up considerably since I moved out of my parents house. And while working at a near minimum wage job, its pretty hard to save in an expensive city like Toronto. The upside here is that if and (hopefully soon) when I find a 'real' job my income should rise considerably, making buying more good, dividend growing stocks much easier, so considering my aptitude for savings the $1,200 shouldn't be too hard for me.

    Hand in hand with my goal of increasing dividends, I am also setting myself the goal of  hitting a 40% saving rate for 2015. My estimated savings rate for the end of the year is 30% overall, which reflects my aforementioned increase living expenses and the payment for a vacation in March. I decided to stick with my current accounting method of expenses purchases as I pay them and the same goes for income. Once again this goal is either going to be pretty hard to do, or not overly difficult, although 40% is a pretty high saving rate to try for even when I do find a better paying job as there are some purchases I have held off on for myself.

    My next goal for 2015 is to continue posting my investing journey updates throughout each month and to continue working on useful and informative posts on dividend investing, registered accounts and anything else that I come across and find interesting on the subject of finance and investing. Also to keep up with my Twitter Account.

    Lastly, I want to finish my post on D.R.I.P's, a part 2 for my Excel tutorial that will also include Google Spreadsheets that I had mentioned in my previous Blog Plan Update.

Quick Goal 2015 Recap:
1)  $1,200 in yearly estimated dividend income.
2) Achieve a savings rate of 40% or higher.
3) Regular posting of update and informative articles(1-3) month.
4) Complete partially finished 2014 articles!
5) Thank you to all my readers, regular and new! :)

10 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing your dividend goals going forward. Look how far you have come in just one year. Being consistent with your investments is the name of the game. Try and contribute something every month and watch the snowball grow. From nothing to $50 a month in passive income. That's a free cel phone for you or some other expense. Keep it up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy to share! I was also a bit hesitant with the goal making as well. Since depending on my situation its going to be very hard, next to impossible or only moderately difficult to reachable. And I am very happy with my new found passive income :) Can't wait for the new year to hurry up and get here!

      Delete
  2. Thats great progress over the year, DW. Keep up the great work....your 2015 goals sound great and I look forward to reading yoru progress.

    Best wishes
    R2R

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the kind words R2R, will certainly keep at it the best I can.

      Delete
  3. You're quarter on quarter increases are very impressive. Just keep at it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! It just takes a bit of consistency in adding a position or two a month, a little dividend increase now and then and BAM the results start showing. I'm pretty excited to see the results in the new year, especially for the first quarter as many of my holdings were bought after then.

      Delete
  4. DW,

    Great set of goals. $1,200 in dividend income would be great. I earned almost exactly $1,200 just a few years ago, so the progress builds upon itself pretty quickly. And saving 40% on a low salary would be impressive.

    Best of luck!!! :)

    Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the kind words! Hopefully in not too long I'll be pulling in some of those nice monthly numbers that you do!

      Delete
  5. Good luck with all of your goals. I am especially interested in how you save 40% (that is always my biggest problem).
    DFG

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by! And I'll be working hard at those goals for sure! Part of my low savings rate in 2014 is attributable to having lived at home for the first 8 months, where my rent to my parents was only $200 which is how I managed to build up my portfolio so quickly on a low income. From that I am not much of a spender, my phone at the time was $5 a month pay as you go, now that i have moved out its a $27 a month pay as you go, since I no longer have access to a landline. I also try and shop for food on the cheap, getting discounted/onsale food, especially meats when I can.
      Thanks for the support and hope to see you stopping by again.

      Delete