In the almost five years of sharing my investments on this blog, I’ve never shown exactly how I track dividend income. This article lays out the steps (with screenshots) I take each month to import dividend data into my tracking spreadsheet, estimate forward dividend income, and easily capture dividend increases. My forward 12-month investment income […]
20 years ago, I was a college junior enrolled in investing and corporate finance courses. Being freshly educated about the time value of money, I knew my youth was my most powerful investing advantage. But I didn’t have much money. A few years earlier, my Uncle gifted me one share of Chevron stock through the […]
This quote changed the way I think about my career. Soon after I read it, a coworker complained to me that his manager was dumping menial work on his underlings; to the point it appeared he was taking on very few tasks. Previously, I would have sided with my coworker thinking this manager was not […]
One striking revelation from the most recent presidential election process was the sharp contrast between people who think the U.S. is in pretty good shape and those who feel the country never recovered from the last recession. Politics aside, the U.S. is in an epic economic expansion. The longest post-World-War-II economic expansion was from March […]
As my investing strategy has evolved over the years, I’ve started to move away from DRIP (dividend reinvestment plan) investing. In part, because of the extra 1099-DIV tax form and costs basis data. But also because I’m now pooling dividends and reinvesting them into more undervalued stocks. The varying fees are annoying too. I still […]
For my birthday in 1995, my uncle gifted me one share of Chevron (CVX) stock out of his dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP). He was an employee at the time. He instructed me to regularly invest small amounts of money into the program and automatically reinvest the dividends I received. Eventually, he said, the quarterly dividend would […]
Ever wonder why so many young people are afraid to start investing? If you read the financial sites online, or watch the financial news networks, the answer becomes clear. There’s lots of so-called experts telling us what to do with our money. Some advice is over simplified and inadequate. Other advice is unnecessarily complex. For someone just […]
It’s time for another installment of the series, Basic Technical Analysis for Dividend Investors. Last time, I introduced the subject of technical analysis and suggested that it should only be used as a secondary and supplemental tool after exhaustive fundamental analysis. This post will discuss one of my favorite technical indicators, Bollinger Bands. Technical analysis […]
Does technical stock analysis deserve a place in a dividend investor’s tool belt? Yes, I think it does for adding insight to short-to-mid-term trends and pricing. But technical analysis should only play a secondary and supplemental role after exhaustive fundamental and qualitative analysis. Some dividend investors may steer clear of technical analysis entirely because it […]
Note: This same process holds true among other brokerages. For transferring shares to M1 Finance, the no-fee online broker for long-term investors, contact the transfer department in the FAQs for concierge service. M1 Finance is now 100% free. Read my M1 Finance Review here. I recently made a simple move that increased my passive […]
During a long drive over the Christmas holiday, my wife and I discussed ways to simplify our lives, become more productive and save more money. In my 2014 goals post, I mentioned ways we’d simplify our financial lives, but I left out this particular money and time saving action item. We really enjoy shows on […]
Update: I received an email indicating PG has left Computershare for Wells Fargo Shareowner Services and is raising fees. I find this disappointing as we’ll need new accounts at WF. Because of the fees I no longer recommend the Procter & Gamble DRIP. Revolt Against Fees! For information on how to transfer shares out of a DRIP, […]
As of late 2017, I still hold all of my Coca-Cola shares in the Coca-Cola DRIP. However, I’m no longer reinvesting the dividends. In addition, I do not start any new DRIPs these days. I prefer a more modern online broker called M1 Finance that gives you the power of dollar cost averaging and fractional […]
Please read my latest update, 20 Years In The Chevron DRIP. I have been dividend investing as a core investment strategy since May of 1995. That year on my birthday, my uncle gifted me one single share of Chevron stock, symbol CHV at the time, now CVX. He was an employee for the company and he […]
