November is a special month….it is the month before December which is a big dividend month!! Other than that, November is a small dividend month. How do the numbers look for November 2017? Lets dive in.

Main Takeaways this month

• Passive Income Stream
  • My passive Income for November 2017 is approximately $200 higher than November 2016. This increase surprised me. In comparing my 2017 and 2016 dividends, I found one main reason that accounts for a good chunk of the increase….increased investment in VWIUX (Vanguard Intermediate Term MUNI fund). Of course, some capital increase also has a minor hand in this increase.
• Additional Investments
  • Investments in tax-deferred account (IRA)
    • From August to October, I have been steadily increasing my investments in International stocks. The cash for these purchases have come from a sale of some funds to capture accumulated capital gains.
    • In November, I continued more of the same and invested in the same funds again and I am done with my international investments
      • VTIAX: Vanguard Total International Stock Fund
      • VIHAX: Vanguard International High Dividend Fund
    • In my IRA, the percentage of International stocks is more than that of US stocks….by a slight margin. The reason for this strategy is that US stocks have extremely high valuations. And the international ones have room to grow still. I will pile up on US stocks over time in the following ways:
      • Periodic 401K investments are always dollar cost averaging into US stocks (70% of money goes into US funds)
      • In the next recession, I will target more cash into mainly US stocks and pick them up at cheaper valuations.