My 2018 Investment Goals
The calendar doesn’t lie: we have passed the half year mark for 2018. As the old saying goes, time flies when you have many wonderful companies that are paying you every month.
Crossing the half year mark is also a good time to check in on how I am doing with regards to my goals for 2018.
I formulated five investment goals at the beginning of this year:
- Contribute $25,000 to the portfolio
- Achieve forward dividend income of $6,000 by the end of 2018
- Receive $5,000 dividend income throughout 2018
- Keep forward dividend income as a % of my Portfolio at >3.5%
- Keep trading cost < 100
My H1 2018 Investment Report Card
Goal #1, contributing $25K to my portfolio this year, seems very well in reach. With $19,245 added in capital in these first six months, I am actually a little ahead here. Goal on track!
Next up is my forward dividend income - Goal #2 - which currently sits at $4,763 (red line in the graph below).
At the beginning of this year, January 1st 2018, my forward dividend income was $3,960. This means that in the first six months of this year I have increased my forward dividend income by (4763 minus 3960) $803.
To get from $4,763 to $6,000 by the end of this year would require boosting my forward dividend income by another $1,237.
Assuming an average 3.5% yield this would entail adding another 35K to my portfolio between now and December.
Given that this amount would be double what I added in H1, it’s safe to say that Goal #2 is not likely to be achieved.
Goal #3 - to receive $5,000 in dividends this calendar year - also looks a little shaky. So far I have received $2,153 (January to June, blue bar chart below).
$2,153 this is below 50% of my goal for the year, and I have some serious catching up to do.
The dotted red line on the above graph shows where my cumulative dividend income should be where I to achieve $5k this year, while the green line shows the hard reality for year to date 2018 .
A combination of additional fresh capital influxes plus some significant dividend raises could deliver solace here, but again, for now I have to mark Goal #3 as not likely to be achieved.
Moving on to Goal #4, maintaining my forward dividend income as a % of my Portfolio at >3.5%.
This picture actually looks a little rosier.
My forward divided income as a % of Contributions (i.e. the capital I have put in, blue line) currently sits as 3.91%.
Expressing my forward dividend income as % of Current Portfolio Value (i.e. the current value of my investments, red line) shows 3.61%.
So in both instances: Goal on track!
My final Goal (#5, keeping trading costs <$100) is in bad shape. So far this year I have made 16 purchases and 1 sell (half of my Caterpillar position back in January).
My broker (Fidelity) charges $4.95 for every transaction, meaning my trading cost for 2018 so far are at (17*4.95), $84.15.
That would leave me with about 3 transactions for the rest of the year, which leads to the conclusion this goal will likely not be achieved.
Now at the half year mark it’s clear that while two goals are on track, the other three don’t look so hot. Time to hunker down again and keep going at it!
What do you think about these goals and results? Did you achieve your H1 2018 goals? Leave a comment/reply to share your thoughts!
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It’s unfortunate that some of your goals are likely not achievable but definitely try to work hard to achieve them in 2H of this year. You want to look back at end of the year and being able to say that you did your best. 🙂
Tawcan,
It’s only more motivation to make H2 better. And no matter what, 2019 will be a better year than 2018!
2 out of 5 ain’t bad. I think that means you set reasonable goals that are hard to achieve and that’s not a bad thing. It’ll only push you next year to do more.
2 out of 5 ain’t bad. That just means you set reasonable goals that are hard to achieve. It’ll only serve to motivate you next year!
Yes - definitely more motivation for 2019!
Goals should not be a slam dunk, otherwise it is just sandbagging!
Glad to see that you are not going to try to achieve #2 by just chasing yield. I have seen a lot of dividend investors try to meet their income goals by buying assets with yields that are high, but are actually bad investments. There are a lot of assets out there with yields in the 5% and higher range, but you have to be real careful with these. There is usually a reason for a higher than average yield, which can often lead to a real capital drain. Yeah you get the income, but it may not be able to cover the share price collapse the high yield was signalling. Stick to your goals, and the intent behind them! Thanks for the transparency!
RI,
That’s right – chasing yield is a tricky business. I like to build a portfolio that contains not only a mix of sectors and industries, but also a variety of yields. Some stocks in my portfolio (like VZ, T, WPC) have above average yields, while others (DAL, DIS for instance) have lower yields but above average dividends growth rates.
The net sum of my portfolio should be sustainable, predictable dividend growth. I am not compromising on that, and therefore don’t feel too bummed about potentially missing this goal for the year.
Thanks for stopping by!
Hey TI. Good progress all around, even if you don’t achieve all your 2018 goals. Adding over $19K in 1H is tremendous. That’s going to really get the snowball rolling! One downside to achieving goal #1 is that it meant making several purchases to diversify your investments, leading to perhaps not achieving goal #5. Not such a bad problem. 🙂 Take care.
ED,
Thanks! Adding fresh capital is my most important goal, as it is the fuel to my dividend growth machine. Goal number #5 is of less importance, because my trading cost in absolute and relative sense are just not that significant.
Thanks for commenting!