Seeking the Dividends

So along with many of you, I heard the name "Brexit" many times over the last month or so. For the longest time, though I let it go in one ear and out the other. I didn't even know what Brexit was. Then a few weeks ago I decided to do what we all do now, when we want to learn more about a subject: Google It. In my search, I came upon the explanation that simply, it was the upcoming vote on whether the UK will leave the European Union. Personally, I'd rather the news outlets just say that instead of coming up with some cute word combination/buzzword, but whatever, we're already here. So after learning about it, and enduring the onslaught of speculation of all the news outlets, it seemed to be something that would be a tremendous waste of energy to continue worrying about, going through all the scenarios with the vote not even happening yet. By the way, I am not a big fan of extensive worrying about things you cannot control. So after a few segments on Brexit befo...

I'm still a relative newbie to Dividend Growth Investing, so I'm all about accumulating shares in great companies now to reap the benefits in the future. I have been using my Robinhood account to take advantage of commission-free trades over the past few months, depositing a weekly surplus and making purchases. I also have a higher cost brokerage account and Roth IRA account elsewhere, so my game plan at the moment is fund the Roth IRA as well as the Robinhood account. My most recent buys were pretty small, but mainly because a majority of my savings are going to the Roth IRA account until I reach the $5500 maximum contribution for 2016. Currently half of my savings go to the Roth, a quarter goes to the Robinhood, and the remaining quarter goes to my online savings account. Anyways, on to the buys! Cardinal Health (CAH) has been a company I have been eyeing as they are in the Healthcare space, and have been growing their dividend at a substantial pace. with their latest div...

So far for 2016, I had not contributed yet to my Roth IRA account (other than the $5500 I rushed in to contribute and mark for the 2015 tax year), so I felt it was time to correct that. I had been making some good progress with my Robinhood account which I had just opened a few months ago, but since that is a taxable account, I really should have been contributing to my tax-advantaged Roth ahead of that. So with my first official contribution for 2016, I decided to go healthcare, and I bought 25 shares of Abbott Laboratories (ABT). For my Roth, since the plan is not touch the money until I reach 59.5, I wanted to have a long term view and gain shares in a company that I had confidence in their long term vision. Abbott is such a company for me. It has been beat up a bit lately due to recent acquisitions , and taking on additional debt, but I believe these to be temporary challenges, and I think they have set themselves up well for the future. I am willing to acquire shares now at a re...

As mentioned in my Starting Point post, I made the switch back in March 2016 to Dividend Growth Investing. It has taken a couple months or so, but I am starting to see the fruits of labor of that switch. Stocks that I had purchased at that time, are getting to their Ex-Dividend, Dividend Record Dates, and Dividend Payment dates, and am starting to see these new payments coming in. It sure is a sight to behold, as I am getting that momentum ball rolling. This past May I received $3.42 from Apple (AAPL), $1.04 from Abbott Laboratories (ABT), in addition to the amounts I received from pre-DGI holdings AT&T (T): $12.96, Prospect Capital (PSEC): $18.50, and Amerigas (APU): $23.50. The pre-DGI holdings do have a 2 year head start on my new DGI positions, but soon enough they will catch up. For May 2016, it was a grand total of $59, not an obscene amount of wealth, but it is better than $0, and I can get the compounding machine rolling in the right direction this time. I also just rece...

Hello everyone, the title of this post is "Starting Point" and it pertains more to me starting on this blogging journey about my foray into Dividend Growth Investing, and not so much the start of my investing career. I have been investing for a couple years now, but only recently saw the light with respect to DGI a couple months ago. I started dividend investing a couple years ago, with the goal of putting my money somewhere where it can be working for me, as opposed to putting it somewhere where it would be doing the opposite, such as in a depreciating asset (ie, something consumer-related). A couple of places had the suggestion of investing into dividend stocks, and after looking into it, I liked what I was seeing where one had the opportunity to get over 10% back on his/her money in regular dividend payments. Of course, with this thinking, I became a yield chaser. I put my money into a few risky investments, mainly because they were offering over a 10% yield. Back then, ...