With 2019 in the books, it is time to look back at my 2019 dividends and financial goals. I closed the year 2019 collecting a record $9,547.85 in dividend income. Compared with 2018, this year showed a 7.84% year over year increase in annual dividends received. What I believe stifled a double-digit YOY growth was the fact that I re-balanced my portfolio during the summer of 2019. The summer re-balance (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5) resulted in a short-term decrease in dividend income in exchange for a stronger portfolio for the long-term. Ultimately, however, this did have an effect on my dividend income and financial goals for 2019.
Let’s first start with looking back at 2019’s dividend increases. Dividend increases are one of the best and most important aspects of dividend growth investing. The total of these dividend increases alone can add up to the equivalent of investing thousands of dollars. When I first tracked my dividend increase numbers in 2018, they added up to a whopping $427.64 added to my forward dividend income. How did I do in 2019? The total amount of dividend increases for 2019 was $315.67 added to my forward dividend income. Not as big as 2018. Dividend increases did slow in 2019. Nevertheless, I will take $315 in free income regardless.
Now on to the goals I set for 2019. For my financial goals, I use a system with multiple tiers with the highest bar being the top prize. I have done this for both dividend income and stock purchases using bronze, silver, and gold trophies and medals to represent different tiers. For dividend income: the Bronze Trophy was for breaking $9,800 in forward dividend income, the Silver Trophy was for breaking $10,000 in forward dividend income, and the Gold Trophy was for surpassing $10,250 in forward dividend income. So, how did I do?
I ultimately failed to achieve any trophy. With an end of year forward dividend of $9,764, I fell below reaching the bronze trophy by $36. The reason I failed? It was ultimately the above-mentioned summer re-balance of my portfolio that threw me off track, costing me a quarter’s worth of dividend investing and some income. I don’t regret re-balancing. If I could do it over again, I would have done the same thing. However, there is no denying this pushed my 2019 dividend income goals off their mark. Still, I made a pretty good strive even with the re-balance and came very close to achieving the bronze trophy goal.
I used the same goals system for stock purchases, only instead of trophies, I use bronze, silver, and gold medals. For the stock purchases: the Bronze Medal was for adding 3 news stocks to my portfolio, the Silver Medal was for adding 4 new stocks to my portfolio, and the Gold Medal was for adding 5 new stocks to my portfolio. One of my goals has been to better diversify my portfolio. Therefore, having a goal set for new stocks added to my portfolio made things much more fun and exciting. So, how did I do?
I achieved the Gold Medal! Not counting the spin-off (KTB), I was able to add 8 new stocks to my portfolio. I started off the year 2019 with 20 stocks and ended the year with 29 stocks. When I buy a stock, I usually invest a large amount; between $2,000 to $4,000 on each purchase. Hence, I do make less purchases over the course of a year, especially when I have to wait for my cash reserves to fill up. But I do prefer larger purchases as opposed to numerous smaller ones. All in all, I am very happy to have achieved the 2019 gold medal!
Wow, what a year. Check out my 2020 financial goals where I set more ambitious goals for forward dividend income and new stock purchases. Another side-goal I set for 2019 was to have $12K in my money market savings account as an emergency fund. I am happy to say that I have achieved this “unofficial” goal early December 2019. It is good to have an emergency fund that will cover one year’s worth of expenses in the event of something happening (like a job loss).
The major milestone I happily achieved earlier this month was breaking the $10k mark in forward annual dividend income. My portfolio now stands to generate $10,029 in dividend income over the next 12 months. Looking forward to this new year and the start of a brand-new decade! So, how did you do in 2019? Set any goals for 2020? Ready for the new decade? Think it will be another Roaring 20’s? If so, will it end a little better? Let me know in the comments below!
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