If April was the slowest month year-to-date, May was not that far behind 🙂 But, on the positive front, May 2016 is better than May 2015! And, I can’t wait for June’s dividends…it is the second biggest month in terms of dividends for me. So, if we are done with May 2016, it is an exciting time for me. Lets look at May’s numbers.
| Emergency Fund |
100.0% |
| College Fund (80K) | |
| Passive Income Streams ($4000 pm) | |
| Retirement Fund ($900K) | |
| Roof for our Family($750K) | 00.00% |
| Medical Fund | 00.00% |
| Life Insurance | Done (term life insurance payments initiated) |
Main Takeaways this month
- Portfolio changes continues this month….
- In April, I made changes to my Capital Appreciation bucket. I wrote about it here. In May, I have strengthened my dividend portfolio with a new mutual fund investment.
- In May, I reduced my Emergency fund by $12K and moved a quarter of it into another Dividend mutual fund. I am sure Vivienne is smiling on this reduction in cash holding. You can check her out at WellRoundedInvestor.com, ….she is a FI blogger way ahead of the curve! She has always encouraged me to invest some of the idle cash 🙂 Lo and behold, I did it.
- The period of unemployment I went through this year has motivated me to generate more dividends and accelerate my journey towards FI. So, I decided to invest some money from the emergency fund and accelerate my financial independence.
- VDAIX (Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index)
- I have initiated a new position in VDAIX…this completes my multi-pronged approach to build a solid dividend platform. More details in another post.
- This fund invests in many companies that have a history of increasing dividends. If there is a discussion of quality companies, the companies in VDAIX has to be part of that discussion. The fund’s portfolio is listed here.
- I am going to Dollar Cost Average into this over the next few years and build another solid portfolio investment.
- Cash Fund
- I have started a small cash fund to keep handy…I anticipate a few days of down market towards the end of June…with the interest rate drama, Britain’s exit from Euro decision, etc.
- Passive Income Stream
- Passive Income for May 2016 recaptured the increase in dividends over the same period last year. May 2015 had a dividend income of $235.30 and May 2016 has a dividend income of $371.51 …a decent year-over-year increase.
Humble FI 
Bold move to lower the Emergency fund and invest the money… One day I will do it also… just not now…
And a very nice and green report card. Job well done!
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Thanks for dropping by!
My investment commitment has also reduced a bit because of monthly dividends. So, in an emergency, I can tighten the budget some more. Hopefully I never have to use the emergency funds….touchwood.
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haha, I didn’t know you’re “bad mouthing” me over here, otherwise I’d come sooner to defense myself. LOL 🙂 Thank you for the mention!
Yes, I’m “highly” leverage. And on my taxable and tax saving account, I’m still 90-100% in stocks. So it causes me anxiety whenever I see a pile of cash sitting idle in saving. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve bugged Mr. W to invest his cash (the dude is still waiting for a 75% in market crash, in the meanwhile inflation has eaten right through his chunk of cash. LOL).
Wow over $120 YOY increase is wonderful especially for a slow month of May. Since Mr. W is super conservative, I will talk to him into studying your investments in relatively safe mutual funds and still earn dividend.
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Thanks for dropping by! Well, divesting cash is one small step for you, but one huge step for me 🙂 I am sure Mr.WRI will appreciate my thoughts! Slow and steady…build the foundations…the way I see it, once I build the foundations, the mutual funds should fund themselves every month via monthly/quarterly dividends. Once I am done with the base, I will get a bit more aggressive…a couple years away still.
But, thanks for your encouragement. I have learnt a lot from other opinions…it is never too late to learn!
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Great month HumbleFI! It is my first time visiting the website and I am really digging the month. I think it was a smart move purchasing the mutual fund with your emergency savings fund. You can always access the capital in an emergency and now you are producing more income along the way while investing in some high quality companies. Also, I’m sure you will slowly add to your emergency fund and replenish what you just invested soon.
Keep up the great work!
Bert, One of the Dividend Diplomats
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Welcome and thanks for the encouraging words! And congrats on your marriage!
In the blink of an eye, two years of my journey have passed and I am much better of for this. It was not long ago that I used to get appx $30 per month in dividends…
I took a peek at your portfolio and you are building a strong portfolio yourself. It is still June and you are already at 80%+ of the target dividend income. Congrats! Every dollar is working hard for you day and night hey! Keep it up!
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Congrats on a great month. Finding the right balance for an emergency fund is a personal one. It sounds like you did the right thing putting some of the money to work. Nice job.
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