October was a big down month! There was enough volatility in the month to show some RED in the nos. There were deals to be had in the early part of the month and I thought I made out good….until the later part of the month wiped out the gains 🙂 Let us see what the numbers say for October.

Main Takeaways this month

• College Fund Portfolio Increase (in green above)
  • I got some extra money left over after September and pushed that money  into the college fund. Even though October was a down month, the additional cash offset it.
• Retirement Fund
  • This portion of my portfolio took a good solid hit in October. I lost almost 3% and the way early November is looking, it is not done going down.
  • Major reason is the increased uncertainty from US elections and the interest rate increase/decrease uncertainty from the FED.
  • I am definitely continuing to invest and am picking up stocks at lower cost i.e. Dollar Cost Averaging full speed ahead! So, all good for now.
• Passive Income Stream
  • Passive Income for October 2016 ($551.80) is appx 14% lower than October 2015 ($628.60). This is a big reduction but an expected one.
    • I sold some stocks from a previous company’s ESPP and spread the money into different funds. These funds do not distribute dividends like my ESPP stocks in Jan, April, July and October. So, all these months will show a reduction in 2016. But, the overall dividends for 2016 will increase and will show up in December of 2016 when all the other funds declare their dividends.
  • Additional Investments
    • VTMGX (Developed markets across Europe, Canada and Australasia)
      • Just like last month, I continued to increase my exposure outside the US using VTMGX. Definitely lowered my cost per share via Dollar Cost Averaging this October.
      • If you want more details on VTMGX, please get it directly from the horse’s mouth: VTMGX.
    • VWELX (Vanguard Wellington Fund)
      • Bought into this fund also quite a bit this month.
      • I already have another balanced fund in my portfolio: VTMFX: 50% stocks and 50% tax-efficient bonds. VWELX is another competitor for my balanced fund dollars…I always have atleast two funds competing in the category…manager diversification and hence risk diversification as well. 
      • VWELX is not as tax efficient as VTMFX since the bond portion is not tax-efficient. But I want risk diversification more….
  • My 2016 goal is to reach $750 pm in passive income by end of 2016…October is done…and my per-month dividend is at $603.04 pm.
    • Target Dividend: $9000 pa
    • Current Dividend (year to date): $7321
    • Balance to make up in the next 3 months
      • $9000 – $7321  => $1679 over the next 2 months
    • Unless a black-swan event happens in the next two months, it looks like I will make it…hurrah!!
  • I had kept some cash aside to invest in a dip….the temptation to get to $750 in passive income per month was very high in September and I could could not resist and burnt some of it. In October, I used up the rest of the money to buy the dip. October is historically volatile…and it did not disappoint this time…so, the purchases this month will help in the coming year!
  • I anticipate another volatile month in December 2016…post the FED’s decision on interest rates….scrambling to accumulate some cash for that. Lets see…