It’s time for another round of annual goal-setting for my dividend Portfolio. I’ll try to set some financial goals that I can achieve with consistent effort and a little luck.
In 2018, I was able to achieve 2 of the 3 goals I set (you can read the review of my 2018 goals from my last post). I was able to reach my new capital investment goal, and my projected annual dividend income goal, but fell short of my options income goal.
I don’t plan on mixing things up too much in 2019, and will stay with 3 goals. I will set a new bar for the new capital investment goal, as well as the projected annual dividend income goal. However, I’m tossing out the options income goal, and replacing it with a dividend income goal.
Let’s see the specifics for 2019…
Portfolio Goals for 2019
1) Invest at least $10,000 of new capital in the Portfolio
This is a reduction compared to the $15,000 number I set as a target investment amount in 2018. Given that I actually more than doubled my 2018 goal, dropping to $10,000 for 2019 seems like I’m sandbagging it.
However, at this juncture, I’m only projecting to invest $5,000 in 2019 with the extreme confidence. If unexpected expenses come in at a minimum I think I can get this to $10,000. The possibility of investing more can happen, too, but I’m not too confident in that, so I’m going to stick with the $10,000 number.
2) Reach $11,000 in projected annual dividend income
I’m starting off 2019 with an projected annual dividend income of $9,276.42 (or ~$773.04/mo.). The goal number would require over $1,700 in additional forward dividend income be added over the course of the year. This would put me at an average of $916.67/mo. by year’s end.
I believe I will get to ~$10,600, if I can manage the following:
- invest the $10K mentioned above at my current 2019 starting portfolio yield of 3.00% (i.e. $300 in additional forward dividend income due to new capital investment)
- reinvest the $9,276.42 in projected annual dividend income mentioned above at my 2019 starting portfolio yield of 3.00% (i.e. $278 in additional forward dividend income due to dividend reinvestment)
- realize about an average 8% dividend raise across the current Portfolio holdings (i.e. $742 in additional forward dividend income due to dividend raises)
As was the case last year, I’m expecting the largest chunk of that increase in projected annual dividend income to come from dividend raises – how awesome is that!
So, that’s $1,320 in additional forward dividend income that I’m planning on to get me to the $10,600 number.
In order to reach the goal of $11,000 in projected annual dividend income by year’s end, I’ll need to invest more than $10K in new capital, invest the new capital (or the reinvested dividends) at a higher yield than 3.00%, or get a larger average dividend raise than the projected 8%. It’s also possible I could make some strategic stock swaps, trading one or more lower-yielding investments for higher-yielding ones.
3) Obtain $10,000 in actual dividend income
Over the past 3 years, my Year-over-Year (YoY) percentage increase in dividend income has been dropping quickly (largely due to my new capital investment amounts being a smaller percentage relative to the value of my Portfolio). Last year, I was able to achieve a 26% increase in dividend income. With even less new capital to invest in 2019, and an expected decrease in dividend raises in 2019 compared to 2018 (how can we do better than 2018, right?), I’m going to project a maximum 20% YoY increase in dividend income for my Portfolio, with 15% probably being more realistic.
Since I compiled $8,460.35 in dividend income in 2018, a 15%-20% increase would put my dividend totals in the $9,729.40 to $10,152.42 range. Since I really want to hit that $10K mark this year, that’s where I’m going to set the goal. I’m hoping I can exceed this number a bit, and set myself up for a run at $12K the following year (a cool $1K/mo. average)… but I probably shouldn’t get ahead of myself.
Summary
There you have them… 3 investing goals for my dividend Portfolio… this time for 2019. Perhaps this year I can achieve all my goals. I would certainly be happy with that achievement.
I think these goals are attainable, but not a gimme by any means. I’ll work hard to achieve each an every one, and I hope sharing these provides the incentive I need to succeed.
I’ve focused on financial goals, but what about you? Any personal goals you’ve put into the mix? Do you have a specific goal that you want to achieve the most? I look forward to your comments!
Nice set of goals ED! I like the rationale behind them as well. Looking at how well you did in 2018, I am sure that you will achieve them. They are more predictable than the Options income goal you had last year 🙂
I also created a set of goals for myself. I came up with 10 of them, in 3 categories: Financial, Fitness and Personal Development 🙂
Looking forward to see how you progress with the goals!
BI
Wow, 10 goals… I’ll definitely check those out, BI. Your list sounds much more comprehensive.
I certainly hope to achieve my goals. I think the mid-year check-up will give me a good idea on whether I can pull it off.
Very nice goals, and I like how there are some great milestones baked in there as well. As much as we all hope that the raises this year will be like 2018, I am not betting on that myself as I doubt we will see the same number of companies providing multiple raises and I suspect the overall average will not be quite as high. However, I think that is something we would all be happy to be wrong about!
It looks like you’ve got your work cut out for you, but I think you can make it on each one. I like the new goal too, although hope you will continue to report on option income despite not having a goal tied to it.
There are couple of big dividend milestones on the horizon, so the next year or two should be rather exciting, DivvyDad.
If we have another year of big dividend raises in 2019, I’ll be surprised, and really happy. 🙂
As the year kicks off, I’m not sure how much time I’ll be able to invest into writing options, so I avoided setting a goal for it. However, I do expect to have something to show for it at year’s end. Hopefully there will be enough activity to report something at least quarterly. We’ll see how it shakes out.
Happy New Year ED. Thanks for stopping by last night. I cut way back on blog commenting so don’t take my very infrequent comments the wrong way. Your goals are great. I have had the same goal process for the 15 years I’ve been running my dividend stock portfolio. I focus on the first 2 mainly figuring number 3 will take care of itself. Tom
No worries, Tom. I find it difficult to keep up with my comments as well. They seem to come in spurts these days. There are more and more great sites arriving each day, making keeping up even more challenging.
Regarding the goals, you are right… focusing on the first two should deliver the third. However, with $10K of annual dividend income a possibility in 2019 I wanted to highlight the fact that it was something I wanted to reach. We’ll see how it turns out. As fast as 2018 went, it won’t be too long before I have my answer for 2019.
Having 3 goals is great ED – much easier to focus on. I’d say the most important one is #1 – that’s the one you have by far the most control over, and ultimately is a big driver of #2 and #3.
Keep shoveling those funds into the portfolio in 2019!
Cheers, Frankie
I’ll do my best, Frankie. I’m a little unsure about my potential contributions in 2019, but maybe I’ll surprise myself with what I can round up to invest.
I agree that exceeding my contribution goal will certainly help with #2 and #3, but I think the Portfolio’s dividend growth might have the largest impact if 2018 provided any indications.
Thanks for stopping by!
Looks like your dividend income is probably going to exceed the amount of new capital invested this year! I wish I could say I am already there too, but it is going to take at least a few more years before I get there. Good luck achieving your goals!
Thank you, DD! I feel like the organic growth is there, and now it’s just a matter of giving the Portfolio a little extra juice via new capital investment.
Keep plugging along and I’m sure you’ll be there soon. It sneaks up on you.
Always inspiring! I am always amazed to see your raises carrying so much of the weight. That gives you the luxury to scale back the contributions a bit, which I feel is like the second phase of investing.
Seeing those raises deliver such an impact to my forward dividend income is a great feeling, Dozer. Even though I suspect I’ll be scaling back my contributions this year, I know my dividend income progress will still be good thanks to those raises. I like seeing the reinvested dividends pack a bigger punch every quarter, too.
Concise and well thought out goals. Stretching yourself but still grounded in reality. I like it 🙂
Hopefully, I can make it 3 of 3 in the goals department in 2019, Mr. Robot. The goals were definitely not slam dunks, but they weren’t out of the realm of possibility either – a nice compromise, I suppose.