Milestones Realized in 2016

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Milestones Realized in 2016 — A Few Successes in the Previous Year

Increased Dividend Income from 4500 in 2015 to 5580. (Increase of 25%)

As I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, invest today so that you can grow dividends. These dividends will pay me for life as long as I hold them, and if a company decides not to pay dividends one day, then I will just sell the stock and buy a competitor’s. Saving money has benefits, but investing money to get free money is the ultimate benefit in my book. I predict if I continue on this pace I’ll be able to reach 10K in 3 years. Some of you might think 3 years is a long time, but believe me it goes fast. Imagine how many shares I can pick up with 10 thousand dollars of free compounding money. This year dividend payouts amounts were down for the majority of my index funds, and this hurt my goal of 6K in annual dividends. FYI almost all dividends are reinvested into tax deferred retirement accounts and I do not have access to this money. What milestones realized in 2016 made you smile?

I saved 27% of gross income. (With the employer Match)

Hey man this is just simple to do, automate automate till your blue in the face. Set up 401K or IRA money to be deducted immediately from every pay check. The opportunities are everywhere to save so take advantage today. Connect bank accounts with investment accounts to make the transition even smoother.

I was able to do various spending freezes throughout the Year

Spending freezes are fun for me, and I do them to challenge myself from time to time. We all should practice this and when you do, funnel the money towards the next best goal. If that is paying down debt or funding your next vacation, as long as you act and don’t let the funds roll over into the next month.

I ran and worked out with purpose to maintain health – Pushups, pull ups, New Free Gym in my new town rec center

I invested in Dividend Stocks, ETF’s, and Index Funds

Looking for some new stock buys and deals. As of today I think I am aiming for half of my available assets will go to individual stocks and the other half will go into index funds. I just like the balance of risk between the two, and I feel diversified. What new stocks will you buy in 2017?

Milestones Realized in 2016

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Featured 1 Time on Rock Star Finance -This was a shock but I was featured once again in this great website for my content. I got a big spike in clicks and page views, thanks to J.Money.

Blog Reached 5,000 clicks in 1 month

I surpassed 1400 Twitter followers

Need to focus on this as this should be higher. I consider this a failed milestone as I should grow my blog brand and network a bit better.

I completed at least 1 important to me goal every month

Increased investing relationship with Online Broker to help increase investing opportunities

Net Worth increased by around 20%

When this increases I am a happy camper, and it goes as proof that if you track Net Worth you will find numerous ways to grow it. By saving or investing you can grow, and on the flip side if you pay down debt you can also grow the bottom line of Net worth.This will ultimately help me reach FI. Granted the market can take a tumble in 2017 and net worth will go down, but as long as I don’t sell a position while down it is not a real loss. One should only really sell when a position is really tanking due to bad business activities or possibility of bankruptcy, but never when the whole market is down.

Blog broke 2000 views on 1 day

School Loan decreased by 10%

This one is a pain and it hurts every year to still hold a balance here. I will look to eliminate this annoying debt in 2-3 years for good. I might even do a Dear Debt letter when that time comes.

Joined a famous Financial Investing Club aka Newsletter -so that I can gain investing knowledge from more experienced investors.

I am always on the hunt with ways I can get motivation from others who have more experience or knowledge in the world of investing. If you believe you already attain all the knowledge in the world and close your mind off, you will never grow. Stay open to learning every day and stay up to date on current trends.

Invested in Real estate no longer renting –

I’m trying Landlording with a 2 Family home, I rented 1 unit and live in the other. This was a big move and will increase my expenses as well as my income. Moved to a better School District for the kids and I am closer to work, a win win. We will see how it goes, but the plan is to live in this home about 6 years and then rent out both units. At that time I will be closer to FI and will be able to afford a single family home with the higher income.

1 Dividend paying Mutual fund paid me over 1K in 1 month

This fund is consistently my highest paying fund and position I own. The reason it paid so much is because it pays only twice per year, and every December it rains a lot of shares back into the fund during the holidays.

Quarterly Dividends increased on average from 1100 to 1375 – Cha Ching

Switched 401K contribution to 50% for the last pay period of the year to see how it feels.

This was a crazy goal I decided to do on the most spendy month of the year, but I figured what the heck. My check was the lowest its ever been and I liked it. I invested the most ever during the most spend thrifty month aka December. I guess you could sort of say I gave myself the gift of investing.

Gained an Angel in the sky (My Mom) not a milestone, but a big sorrowful life event.

I hope she left this world proud of me and I hope she is watching over me and my family. The person that gave me life, lost her own life, and I am forever thankful to her for giving me life.