August also has come and gone without much fanfare. Another very slow month…so slow that I felt like doing something just to make it less boring. But, I reminded myself that it is the lull before the storm that I anticipate may start in September (historically a rough month). But, lets look at numbers for August.
| Emergency Fund $60K | 100.0% |
| College Fund (80K) | |
| Passive Income (2015 vs 2016) | |
| 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 Increases (in green above)
- Nothing great to talk about…I still think that the positive gains of this year will not stand the test of time…..insane valuations will always come crashing down.
- Portfolio changes
- No portfolio changes this month….still adding to the cash fund I set up last month. If there is a good market dip (saw DOW drops 200-300 pts), I will use the cash to buy the dip.
- Passive Income Stream
- Passive Income for August 2016 ($391.93) is higher that August 2015 (297.54). This restarts the streak of 2016 dividends being more than 2015 dividends for the corresponding months. The streak got broken last month because I was in the middle of some portfolio changes….happy to get it back this month 🙂
- My goal is to reach $750 pm by end of this year…it is already August…and my monthly dividends are appx $433 pm.
- Target Dividend
- $9000 pa => $750 pm
- Current Dividend
- $5593 pa => $466 pm
- Balance to make up in the next 5 months
- $9000 – $5593 => $3407 over the next 4 months
- I have kept some cash aside to invest in a dip….I could invest it right now and increase my chances of making my target of $750 pm dividend income. But, I have chosen to wait a bit for value by waiting for a market dip and then using the cash. September is another big month for dividends. Based on how September does, I will decide.
- I think I might squeeze through….keeping fingers crossed.
- Target Dividend
Humble FI 
Nice update, all I see is green numbers 🙂 I can understand your reluctance to wanting to invest. You’ve made a target but it might not be the optimum that to do, to invest at these all time highs. I’m sure there will be a big opportunity at some point over the next few months.
Tristan
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Thanks for dropping by Tristan. Yes. Green is much better on the FI mind than red 🙂
Dollar Cost Averaging is supposed to make you ignore market valuations….and I did that for almost two years….but has been hard for me to follow it this year. My goal is to create a dividend income stream that is big enough to fund itself. For example, if I reach my target of $750 pm by end of this year, then it is an average of $750 pm being invested in the market without me putting a single dollar towards investing. I can then start looking for a house to call my own and not worry about money for investing. Lets hope for the best.
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I have my fingers crossed for you HumbleFI – it will definitely happen, it’s just a question of when.
Tristan
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Green everywhere… nice.
Your reflections are like mine: building up cash for now…. maybe it is a mistake, maybe the bull runs another year… As I have less job security right now, I value the cash more
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Thanks for dropping by ambertreeleaves!
For the past two years, I have seen the market reach higher and higher. At this stage, let us say that the market may go up 5-10% more. But the downside to me is that it may fall more than that. For example, take VDAIX (Vanguard Div Appreciation fund) currently priced at $34.26. In 2009, it was $17 in Sept, 2009 and $27 in Sept, 2013. So, if you take a rough guess and say that a market reset will take the fund price somewhere in between 2009 and 2016, I expect the price to drop to appx $27. Note that I am being nice here….just in January this year, the fund dropped to $28 appx and there was no real recession here. So, the downside to me is much more that a 10% upside.
I remember some wise person saying….the market takes the stairs to the top and the elevator down 🙂 A bit of cash would be a much needed cushion!
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Great job Humble FI! I am curious to see if you will hit your $750 per month target. That’s a lot! Keep it up,
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Those are very nice results for August, lots of green numbers, that’s always good!
Good luck!
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