It appears as though Vanguard is all ready to go. My stocks and cash transferred over this past week. I have about $200 sitting in cash in the settlement fund ready to be deployed. This cash came from previous dividends on the stocks I own as well as the sale of partial shares of stock which I completed this week. (I was only able to transfer whole shares of stock to Vanguard.)
My old brokerage account is technically still open but I am hoping to get that close this upcoming week. It has taken a lot longer than I had expected!
Below are the (very small amount) of individual stocks that I currently own. Everything is valued as of Jan 22, 2016:
- Intel (INTC) - 5 shares - $149.63 value
- Pepsico (PEP) - 1 share - $95.85 value
- Starbucks (SBUX) - 20 shares - $1,183.40 value
- Unilever (UL) - 10 shares - $422.60 value
- Walmart (WMT) - 1 share - $62.69 value
Total value $1,914.17
It's not a lot but if I needed the money, I'd have the shares to sell. I started buying the individual stocks for fun and I'm glad that money was spent in the stock market vs. on *stuff*. And it provides a good starting point to continue investing.
I'd like to continue buying PEP, SBUX, UL and WMT. I'm on the fence about INTC. Because Unilever is the cheapest, I will probably start there since I have less money and I need to take into account the $7 fee/trade. At some point this year I would like to add Proctor & Gamble (PG) to my holdings. Between UL and PG, I will have a lot of the cleaning world covered! And I think we all plan to take showers, clean our homes, wash laundry etc. for a long time to come so these are good long-term stocks.
I initially bought SBUX when the stock was much higher a couple of years ago. I had 10 shares then the stock split 2-for-1 and I ended up with 20 shares at half the price of the stock (at that time). The price of the stock has since risen which is nice. (Although not back to its original levels.)
All of these stocks pay dividends which is nice. They pay quarterly and most of them pay during the calendar quarters (March/June/September/December) although there is maybe 1 at a slightly different time frame.
In Vanguard, all of the dividends have been set to reinvest in the same stock. It isn't a lot given the small holding but over time it does add up. Below is a list of the most recent dividends paid in the quarter (and annualized to get an idea of the projected dividends).
- INTC - $0.24/share; $0.96 annualized
- PEP - $0.70/share; $2.80 annualized
- SBUX - $0.20/share; $0.80 annualized
- UL - $0.32/share; $1.28 annualized
- WMT - $0.49/share; $1.96 annualized.
I will have to do a post on yield since that is what I will be focusing on for dividend stocks. Of my 5 stocks, SBUX has the worst current yield while INTC has the highest. Hmmmm...may need to revisit INTC to determine if I want to buy more.
In any case, this weekend I'm stuck inside as there is a blizzard in effect and I am still not feeling 100%. This means lots of reading. I'll probably post a few links of good articles that I read and liked. I'd also like to finalize my first purchases. I'm hoping to be able to make a trade by the end of next week so will need to figure out which ETF I will buy, the total money to transfer, get that done and then make the trade.
In terms of stocks, I am going to use the cash that was transferred from my previous brokerage account (the ~$200 mentioned above) to purchase a stock. For simplicity, that $200 will be included in my overall calculation of how much I've invested as part of this blog's ultimate goals.
Pru
I have added the following Pages to the blog header:
Ultimate Goals
KILL My Mortgage!!!
Brokerage Acct Portfolio
Note, the Brokerage Acct Portfolio page is still influx so this one will be updated in the second half of January.
Pru
I went ahead today and opened a brokerage account. I did a bit of online research into a few brokerages and ultimately decided to go with Vanguard. My understanding is that Vanguard may not have the best research tools which is really unfortunate. However, its mutual funds and ETFs are fee-free and while I do intend to purchase individual stocks, I'll also toss some change into the former as well. The trading fees at Vanguard are $7/trade which is about what I was looking at with other brokerages. However, I do have my retirement accounts at Vanguard so the hope is that eventually, my cost-to-trade will be lower due to the fact that Vanguard aggregates all your account balances before deciding what it will charge you.
I had a teeny-tiny bit of money invested with another brokerage so I have requested that it be transferred to the Vanguard brokerage. (Always good to have all your accounts in one place!) That could take up to 10 business days to be finalized. That's about when I will get my next paycheck so the time frame works for me.
Also, I moved a few non-retirement mutual funds that I had in a separate account at Vanguard to the brokerage account. Again my thinking is that it is just easier to have it all in one account. These accounts have a balance of about $35K - built up over several years. But that balance doesn't count in my brokerage account goal of investing $100,000. (Nor does the previously mentioned transfer.) It's only new money that counts.
So expect buying of stocks, ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds), and mutual funds to begin in a couple of weeks. It will be very small trades but they will happen nonetheless.
Pru
A quick word on what this blog is not about or won't do. This site will not have lovely pictures or tables. I spend my days staring at a computer and when I get home the last thing I want to do is put together a chart. Nope I'm all about words. This blog also won't discuss the itty bitty decisions I make on a day-to-day basis that enables me to have money left over at the end of the month (money that I will then save or invest). This blog comes after all that stuff, and will be focusing on how (and why) I choose to direct those left over dollars to this investment or that investment.
Part of the reason that I have started this blog is to self-educate - namely with investing. While all my retirement monies are in mutual funds, I'd like to own some individual stocks as well. I'd also like to always make sure that I am able to manage my own investments - be they mutual funds, ETFs or individual stocks. But this requires that I actually put in the time to study the companies whose stock I buy as well as the general financial landscape. It won't happen over night but it can happen and this blog will allow me to post what I've learned (links etc. - namely for myself to look back on) as well as keep me accountable.
My 5 financial goals for the next 10 years are as follows:
1) Pay off my primary mortgage. 'Nuff said!
2) Invest $100,000 into a new brokerage account. (This is the amount I want to invest not necessarily the balance of that account at the end of the 10 year period since the market goes up but also goes down pretty often.)
3) Save $25,000 in a new "Rewire" account. This account will help me launch a new life in 10 years...whatever that new life will be :-)
4) Save $25,000 in a my G2H-FU account (stands for go to hell..f-u...). This account gives me a different type of freedom and if the job gets crazy, I might need to pull the trigger, quit and then drain this account. I am seriously hoping that isn't the case. Because if I can avoid touching this account, this will be a back-up to my Rewire account.
5) Save $50,000 in my 2nd Home account. This money will be used for the down payment/closing costs/furniture/etc. for a second home. My current thought is that in 10 years, once my primary home is paid off, I will rent it out. This income (after-tax) would probably be between $1,000-$1,500/month in today's dollars which (I hope) would be enough to cover my future basic costs. And it would give me more freedom to make the switch to "rewire" and move to a different industry/different area if I choose to.
*For now I'm okay keeping #s 3-5 in cash because inflation in the U.S. is at an acceptable level. Should things change over the next 10 years, I will have to change my strategy.
Okay that's a lot of money! I know! But it's over 10 years. It means that I will be scrimping and saving, but also trying to increase my income with raises. I will be using tax refunds and bonuses to help me reach these goals since I cannot do it on my current salary alone. (I don't plan to receive any inheritances in my life time so yeah Pru isn't counting on that...)
I will put up some trackers for the above goals. I will report my mortgage in percentages. But for the rest of them I will post when I actually move money and update the trackers too.
My salary is paid 2x/month. Ideally, I will be moving money 2x per month. But I'm not 100% sure of that. I think one of my paychecks will be used primarily for my basic living costs so I may try to use one paycheck to apply to the above goals. This all relates to how frequently I will post. Probably at least once a week but more likely a good 2x per week.
Next up is my goals for 2016!
Pru
Hello and welcome!
After having a personal life blog for a few years (and going through some ups and downs including taking that blog private), I decided that I wanted a separate blog to help me focus on a few specific financial goals. (Note, I'm not a financial adviser - just an individual trying to survive (and possibly thrive) in this wonderful world we live in.)
The gist: I want to achieve these financial goals in 10 years. In ten years, I will rewire (not retire!) and head off in a very different direction. That direction will hopefully include me leaving a very stressful industry/career behind and finding something that I enjoy doing (with reasonable work hours).
I won't be blogging about all my financial goals. You don't need to necessarily know that I added money to my retirement accounts (401k+IRA) even if I did (and I do!). Nope, this is about achieving very specific goals that will get me to a point where rewiring of my life can take place.
The most likely plan is that in 10 years (assuming I have accomplished these goals), I would work for another 1-2 years in my current field purely to bank the money. In addition, those 1-2 years may also be the time where I go back to school to change careers- using my current field's salary to pay for that education.
The 10 year mark is a bit fuzzy because well...it's 10 years out. I am flexible with my life since...life happens! Needless to say, assuming I keep this blog for 10 years (that's the hope!), then my goals may change as my life changes. But the crux of this blog is going to be building up certain reserves (cash, stocks) and paying down debt (mortgage!) in order to have the freedom to head off in a different direction.
In order to keep these initial posts somewhat short (and organized), I will post several over the next couple of days. And then we are off to the horses!
If you made it this far - GREAT! I hope you will join me on this adventure. Positive comments are always welcome!
Here's to a great 2016 and achieving my/your financial goals!
Pru
