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My Investments 2Q 2013 results

I am publishing my 2Q 2013 results of my goals and investments. The second quarter was very bumpy. The first part of the quarter was quite successful, the second part wasn’t. Much of the investment gains were erased by the correction on the markets. This value drop had a little impact on dividends. This is why I like dividend investing because no matter what happens to the principal of your portfolio, your income is intact (unless the company cuts the dividend).

From the tables below you can see that my dividend income increased to $2,098.68 annual dividend income ($174 monthly). Nothing extra ordinary, but improvement.

My 2013 Overall review

Here are data from all my accounts I have:

My 2013 goals progress

The table below shows the progress of the goals:

My 2013 Options Income

The chart shows that I accomplished another goal and that is to create a $100 monthly income stream by selling options. I actually exceeded the goal. The chart below shows the progress of my options income.

Options Income

My 2013 TD account value

The TD account value stalled this quarter due to some significant drops in REIT sector which I am significantly exposed to. As I said above, I am fine with this as long as my dividend income stream is intact.

The chart below shows the account value YTD.

Account value

My 2013 Dividend Income

I am still building my dividend income. This goal may however be postponed due to more important goal – the debt elimination goal.

The chart below shows my YTD Quarter dividend income:

Dividend income

My 2013 Portfolios vs. benchmarks

This chart indicates that my 2nd quarter wasn’t able to exceed the benchmark. I believe however that in long run I will be able to grow faster.

Portfolio vs Benchmark

From the chart it is apparent that my portfolio was growing well, but the REITs selloff erased all gains. Although this may look bad, to me it is not. This is only a short term drop which in long term is insignificant.

My 2013 Debt reduction goal

I must admit I failed this goal during this quarter. I lowered the debt, but at the end I increased it a bit again. Overall I am still lower than at the beginning, but not as I wished. So the next quarter my effort will be even harder in eliminating the debt.

Once again I could see myself how important the zero debt is when aggressively investing. The point is that if you want to invest aggressively, take riskier trades, use margin, and so on, you cannot be carrying debt.

During this quarter price correction on the market I faced a small maintenance call on my TD account. I had to pay circa 300 dollars to keep the account current. I could do it using my reserves, but it was a hard lesson because without reserves I would be in a big trouble. Paying large amounts in debt payments and satisfying margin calls for example can kill your effort.

My failure was due to our Disneyland trip. I saved money for this trip, but not enough and we exceeded the budget. So this quarter my effort in eliminating the debt is reinforced and I will work even harder towards this goal.

The charts below show my debt elimination progress:

Debt reduction

And here is my debt allocation chart:

Debt allocation

I follow my debt allocation because my plan is to use zero APR credit cards and low interest loans to refinance my debt and lower the interest rate over time to speed up my debt repayment effort. I will be using this strategy in the next quarter as much as possible.

I hope you had a great 2nd quarter yourself and that you achieved your goals or at least got closer to them. I hope my third quarter will be even better.

 





14 responses to “My Investments 2Q 2013 results”

  1. Congrats on a great month. Lending Club returns look great.

    • Martin says:

      I am totally stunned with Lending Club results and as soon as I get rid of the debt I will invest even more cash in this vehicle. 14% return is outstanding. Where else can you get it? Thanks for stopping by!

  2. FI Fighter says:

    Martin,

    Those are some nice looking charts and graphs — very professional looking. Sort of felt like I was reading a company’s earnings statement ;)

    Kudos on being so well diversified, across retirement accounts, taxable, and lending club. How’s the lending club working out for you so far?

    I guess the only asset class missing is real estate ;)

    Good stuff!

    • Martin says:

      Fighter, LC works excellent for me. I have zero late default or charged off notes in my Lending Club account. And I am making 14% return, for which I am really satisfied. Yes, the real estate is missing and as far as today, I think it will be missing :) I am a bit scared of it, since I do not understand it and I am afraid of troubles this may bring. I am also afraid of financing because it brings a financial stress to me. Thanks for stopping by.

  3. Knowing how your investments are performing is important, knowing who is investing your money is just as important. Often a fund will perform well as long as the current portfolio manager is at the helm and struggle when a new manager takes over. Thanks for sharing your portfolio performance Martin, it always helps to see how other’s are doing!

    • Martin says:

      Paul, thanks for stopping by and kind words. It also helps me to see where I am going and how I am doing. And I am glad others can benefit from it too.

  4. Congrats on the increase in your dividend income. I want to start looking at more dividend-paying investments and you definitely put a lot of good information out there to look through!

    AB

    • Martin says:

      AB thanks. I must admit that dividend paying stocks are awesome. They not only are better than non-payers, beat them by far, but in drops like this one you still have your income intact. All you have to watch is whether the company pays the dividend or is going to cut it. As long as they pay, you are save.

  5. Troy says:

    First and second quarters of the year – I was practically flat. This month is going to be awesome though.

    • Martin says:

      Troy I hope it will be better although I like this drop in prices. It creates opportunities. However, from the long term perspective this quarter is just a blip.

  6. Ben says:

    Martin, I think it’s great that you are willing to share your performance results and goals. Many times I hear investors brag about their successful investments but they never share if they make a bad trade or investment. Along these same lines I don’t think many investors track their performance or goals on a periodic basis, which is huge for being able stick with your long-term plan. The debt info is great too. Laying it all out there can be scary at first, but it helps keep you on track. Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing.

    • Martin says:

      Ben, thanks for kind words. Yes it was scary posting about it and motivating at the same time. As you said it helps staying on top of it and try better next time. It is a reminder that you haven’t done well, so do more next time. Thanks a lot for stopping by. I enjoy reading your blog, it is getting better with every article you post. I wish you would write a guest post in my blog.

  7. Joe says:

    We dropped a bit in Q2 as well. Everything went down last month so I guess it’s unavoidable. Hopefully the REIT sector recovers soon though.

    Are you buying more REIT while it’s low or are you going to wait and see?

    • Martin says:

      Joe, of course I was buying and I will buy more. I did it in my 401k where I rebalanced and trimmed some funds and reallocated into REITS and I will be buying more in my taxable account too, but not yet since I think we will be going lower. There is still panic out there about FED finishing the stimulus and investors didn’t swallow it yet imho. Once they find out that they are just overreacting as usually we will see a huge recovery. I think we are getting close to that point however. So I am saving cash now and waiting for entry. I will definitely post it when entering into one of my stocks. I wish to add more AGNC and Realty income.

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