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Posted by Martin August 25, 2013
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My inspiration in the last week #34

My inspiration in the last week #34

I often browse the internet to find ideas about investing, trading stocks, options, investing opportunities and strategies. I like to read about investors and what their investing/trading approach to create income you can live on is.

 

 
 

Please, if you are considering opening an IRA, ROTH IRA or taxable account, consider Motif Investing
which will allow you creating a portfolio of 30 stocks of your own and invest by buying the whole portfolio as one piece keeping you highly diversified from the beginning. By using the banner below for opening your new account, you will receive $150 bonus and help this blog:

 

 

 




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Posted by Martin August 25, 2013
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Effective Money Management Techniques

Effective Money Management Techniques

Have you ever thought why so many rich individuals across the world have immense credit card debt? The main reason is the lack of discipline in managing their budget and poor financial planning. Most of the people often make imprudent use of their credit cards and fail to pay bills within deadline. They fail to stick to their budget and splurge funds beyond their actual limit. All these things lead an individual to fall into an overwhelming debt and becoming a bankrupt over the period of time. In order to avoid such catastrophic situation, it is better to stick to some effective money management techniques which will help you in achieving sound financial status.

Younger generation needs to be extra cautious

It is fact that financial issues seem to influence younger generation in drastic way. This is mainly because of poor money management techniques and spending habits of young people. Young individuals often end up purchasing things which are out of their own budget. One more reason is that young individuals try to match with the lifestyle of their parents but they fail to understand that it took their parents many years to achieve the position where they are currently.

Keep track of every single penny

Keep track of each and every cent that comes and goes out of your pocket. You can take help of various online tools to keep proper track on your finances. Record your financial transactions on every day basis so as to figure out the ones which are unnecessary. Knowing the precise amount which is added and removed from your bank account every month will help you to save on unexpected payments and overdraft fees.

Save for difficult times

Even if you think that you have job security and enough savings, make sure you plan yourself for rainy days. You must have adequate savings in your bank account to meet at least six months of expenditures and bills. In case, your income doesn’t let you to save for your future then you can cut back on your expenses. For example, getting rid of some unnecessary cable channels for which you are paying substantially can save you significant amount of money over the long term.

Set proper financial goals

Setting short term as well as long term financial goals is one more effective money management technique to get rid of unnecessary spending. In case, you have specific financial goal in your mind then there are high chances that you are likely to save some money than if you have no specific goal to manage your finances. Figure out how much money you will require and the time phases when you will need that money. You can determine your financial goals considering these important parameters. Short term goals can be achieved in less than 1 year, while long term goals take more than 5 years to reach.  Your wedding function is an example of short term goal you might look to save for. On the other hand, your child’s education or your retirement plan is an example of long term financial goal you may have to consider.

Get rid of unnecessary debts

Most of the people often struggle with managing their debt burden associated with student loan or credit card. One of the effective money management techniques lies in clearing your high interest debt first. You can designate certain amount of money to contribute towards debts every month. If you owe money on several credit cards then you can apply snowball method to get rid of extra burden of your debt. You can begin by clearing off the lowest balances while contributing minimum on larger debts. Once you have successfully paid off your smaller balances you can focus on larger ones by contributing minimum on some other debts.

Start planning for retirement early

Considering the ups and downs in the economy, when there is no assurance of your financial future, it is very crucial to start planning for your retirement during initial days of job. Confirm whether your employer is offering you benefits under 401(k) retirement plan. It is a special kind of account to which an individual can make contributions on pre-tax and post-tax basis. Companies providing 401(k) plan can also contribute matching amount on behalf of employees thereby adding a nice profit sharing benefit to the plan. So, in case you star early you will get stunned to see how much funds you have saved over the life time.

Set up an emergency fund

Setting up an emergency account is very important, especially if there is hardly any assurance in job or career. Try to contribute some fixed amount each month after meeting your normal expenses. Always make sure that you will utilize this amount only when a crisis situation occurs such as accident or health. You can also utilize funds in your emergency account if you are planning to start your own business.

Purchase used items

One more effective money management technique for young individuals is to purchase less costly or used items. In case, you are planning to purchase furniture, car or any expensive items, you can opt for used ones. Finding one which is not very old can actually save you decent amount of money. The used items may take you an extra time to find out but those will definitely help you to save some significant amount of time.

Conclusion

The key to financial success doesn’t only lie in getting a raise or following advice of your financial consultant. Your ticket in achieving long term financial success lies in mastering the effective money management techniques. This is because managing your money effectively is as difficult as managing your debts. The important thing you need to do is monitor your finances by keeping track on your savings and expenses, so that you can prepare yourself for rainy days. Above mentioned money management techniques will definitely help you to build significant amount of wealth over the period.

 




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Posted by Martin August 23, 2013
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Should you pay your mortgage off quickly?


BoyYou probably found an army of people telling you that you should use all of you spare money every month and pay more than the minimum to pay your mortgage off as quickly as possible.

You probably found another army of people telling you it a bad idea. Mortgage is a good debt, right?

So should you pay your mortgage as fast as possible paying additional cash towards your principle?

Of course NOT!!!!

Don’t act like a sucker!

What makes you think it is a good idea to pay your mortgage fast? Why would you do it?

Unless your interest rate on your mortgage is 8%, 10%, or 12% APR it is a very, very, very bad idea!

Your mortgage is the lowest loan possible. Let’s take a look at my mortgage. My mortgage sucks. It was expensive, I am under water, but I recently refinanced and my APR is at 3.5%. Can you see it? Let me repeat:
 

3.5%

 

My mortgage sucks and yet paying it off is a sucker’s game which I will never play

Boy and moneyI have 30 year fixed FHA loan at 3.5%. It was a good deal. I paid very little down, I had a great equity, just before the crisis wiped it out and now I am stuck with monthly payments to a property which doesn’t have that value. But that’s a different story. The point is, I pay almost $1,700 a month on mortgage payments (PMI and taxes included) and I want if someone can explain to me, why I should take an extra $100, $200, or $500 a month to pay my mortgage off faster when I can do a lot better investing my cash.

My investments can make more money, why give up almost 9% APR?

Just take a look at my latest interest or return my current investments are making. For example my investments in Lending Club are making:
 

 

OK, I admit that the NAV provided by Lending Club is not an accurate measure to tell how much I am actually making. So let’s reword it.

My latest interest or return my current investments are making:

 

 

The number above came from my spreadsheet and calculated XIRR (or internal rate of return) on my current investment with Lending Club. It is more exact number, but still larger than what I pay to my mortgage company!

My dividend growth stocks bring more than 5% in dividends and wait for YOC 15 years from now!

And my stock investments? They bring in 5.4% in dividends. And since I invest into dividend growth stocks, many of them will increase that yield on cost several fold. Ten to twenty years later that yield can easily be 10% – 20% YOC. I don’t have the 10 YOC calculated, unlike some other fellow bloggers and investors who regularly calculate their YOC, so those numbers are just estimate.

Why, if I can make more by investing, should I or you pay my or your low-interest mortgage off with spare cash?

Why is it a bad idea to give spare cash to your bank

If I take $500 monthly and pay it to the bank against my principal, what do I save? 3% of my current rate?
 
 
lost money

  • Once paid you will never see that money back again.
  • In financial hardship can you ask the bank to postpone your next bill since you just prepaid? Yeah, try it. I can already hear their laughing.
  • If you lose job, how do you plan continuing your monthly payments? Who would get foreclosed first? You with a lot of equity and low debt or me who has the property mortgaged to the tilt? I bet they will try to negotiate with me while you lose your house.
  • You lose money. At least 9% will be forever lost. And do you remember the story about compounding, right?

 
 

Why is it a better idea NOT to give spare cash to your bank

Ok, and what if I take my $500 monthly and instead of paying it towards the mortgage I invest it with Lending Club? Do you want to know how long it would take me to save enough to pay the entire mortgage with that savings?
 
 thumbs up

16 years!!!

 
 

In 16 years I’ll save and compound enough to have $287,810.99 which is my current mortgage loan. Try it for yourself with this calculator.

If I pay $500 every month towards the principal, I will be able to pay the entire mortgage off in 18 years! Booo!

Paying more money to the bank will not speed up my mortgage payoff? What the heck!

What the heckI told you it is a sucker’s game. Saving and investing money will allow you to pay the mortgage 2 years faster than paying it to the bank. Plus you get the following benefits:
 
 

  • If something goes wrong, you have huge financial reserves available
  • If you lose job, you will have enough money to continue monthly payments without being foreclosed
  • Once you pay enough on mortgage you can pull the equity out of your house and invest it. That will allow you to pay your mortgage off even faster.
  • 16 years later you can decide whether to pay the entire mortgage off or continue paying regular payments and saving spare money. A great freedom.
  • As said above, you are the one who controls the mortgage, not the bank.

 
 
And don’t argue that investment can lose value. In 15 year period dividend growth stocks won’t lose it. I can guarantee it to you. However, if you are a bad and inexperienced investor, use mutual funds. If you are a sucker, then pay it to the bank since this method isn’t for you.

So should you pay your mortgage off with extra money? If your interest rate is 3.5%, 4%, 4.5% or even 5% forget about it. Or do you have another reason why to do that?

 




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Posted by Martin August 21, 2013
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How to Build your Ideal Retirement Account


RetirementIf you follow my blog for some time you may know about a few options of how to build a retirement account if you just started and have little money to invest. I tried all of those options I wrote about and all worked well. Some methods were closer to my risk tolerance or patience tolerance or both, some of them I didn’t like. But that doesn’t mean that they won’t work for you. It’s up to an investor to decide and try on his own which way would be the best.

One option I mentioned in the past was building a retirement account using Non-transaction-fee (NTF) mutual funds. The principle is that you open a retirement account with your broker or a financial institution and start contributing a small amount of cash every month. Then you buy your NTF mutual funds for free and these funds then work as your savings account within your retirement account.

The second option I wrote about was similar to the above mentioned mutual funds, but this time you use non-transaction-fee ETFs. The principle is same as before. Buying and selling those funds cost you nothing and your money are not idle in your account. They make you money.

If you are, however, a very conservative investor and don’t like a chance that your investments can lose a value right at the time when you are ready to sell and reallocate into a different investing vehicle – such as dividend paying stocks, you may like a third option how to build a retirement account with small money.

It is a very simple method and I actually used it (and still use it) myself.

Open a savings account

It is that simple. You open a savings account with your bank (some investing banks or financial institutions which are also providing retirement accounts can offer you a retirement account and a savings account within the same product as a package) and start saving your small monthly contributions in your new, fresh savings account. All you have to do before you open an account is to go for a hunt and research the best savings rates you can get on the market. Once you find out the best rate you can get open an account and start contributing your monthly contributions. It can be as little as 20 a month or 50 a month or whatever you can afford.

Automate saving on regular basis

I bet you have heard this advice many times. It is still a valid advice and it is an alpha and omega of succesful saving and investing. If you want to make money in the stock market, you have to save first.

The best way to save money is to set up an automatic transfer from your checking account to your new savings account. I do this not only when saving for my investments, but also when saving for my recurring bills as I wrote in my earlier post about saving money. The transfer happens automatically every month without your influence and forgetting memory (at least mine is). You won’t be double guessing or making excuses for “why you just need the available cash so you cannot transfer it”.

Open your retirement account

BankNow when you have your savings account up and running, go for a hunt for the best retirement account. The US, Canada, and UK offer many options for retirement accounts. If you live in UK you can go, search and discover savings ISA options best for you and open an account with the institution which provides it. ISA accounts are tax-free providing the best growth opportunity for your retirement account compared to taxable accounts.

Once you find the best account, open it and here comes the second part of retirement account building phase.

Transfer funds from savings account and invest

Once you save a reasonable amount of money (I usually save 1000 dollars as a minimum investment) transfer it from your savings account to your retirement account. Then you can invest it into your favorite stock, such as a monthly dividend paying stock. In many cases you will be able to set up automatic transfer too or at least start a transfer once you reach the desired amount without transferring checks.

It is a simple way to build a wealth and almost 100% automated. As an engineer I like when things go according to a plan and exactly “per manufacturer’s installation instructions”.

Benefits?

The best this method can offer is security. During your savings phase you won’t lose a value of your savings as in this phase you do not take part on the volatility of the market. It may be a good option if you are a risk averse investor. Bear in mind that the savings period may take some time. It will not happen overnight. It may take a year before you save enough to invest in stocks. During that period you have your money secured and making you a small profit.

You can also go further and once you invest your first “lot” of money you can transfer remaining funds back to the savings account if the retirement account conditions and rules allow it. You will never be able to invest the exact amount and the left overs can be moved back instead of leaving them idle in the retirement account.

 




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Posted by Martin August 20, 2013
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New trade – Realty Income (O) addition – a new dividend built-up layer

New trade - Realty Income (O) addition - a new dividend built-up layer

I was tracking Realty Income on its way down for some time (and hopefully we are on the bottom, if not it doesn’t matter to me much) wondering why investors are dumping this great dividend paying stock. It has paid the dividend for 19 years, and increased the dividends for 15 consecutive years. The company is very shareholder friendly and it is dedicated to dividends. In its motto it even says that that they practically exist for one reason – dividends. They call themselves as a dividend company.

We are The Monthly Dividend Company®
We have a 44-year track record of providing dependable monthly income, generated by a portfolio of over 3,600 properties under long-term leases.
Tom Lewis Chief Executive Officer,

See more at Realty Income website

With that said, it is obvious that the management will do whatever it takes to make money to pay dividends so even the last old lady in the farthest corner of the country can depend on Realty Income’s income to pay for her bills in retirement.

And yet investors were selling.

Maybe they mistaken Realty Income for MBS agency mReits and thought that they might be in trouble due to rising interest rates. But Realty Income has nothing to do with MBS. How can interest rates affect their pipelines? Maybe the only reason I could come up with was that they would be purchasing new properties more expensive than today. But it is not happening (any dramatically) yet. An interest rate of 4.5% APR is still historically low. Do you remember when the rates for 30 year fixed mortgage was at 8% or even 12% APR? And yet Realty Income was able to survive and generate income in such environment.

And yet these days investors were selling.

That said, I am actually happy for the recent selloff. I was hesitant buying Realty Income when it traded at $55 a share. I know this ultimate dividend payer, which pays monthly and is yielding 5.21% will always be chased by investors seeking monthly income and thus there will always be a premium in its pricing, but $55 a share was too much even for me. So I was waiting.

And waiting paid off well. A few days ago I entered a contingency order and tracked the stock price on its way down. Today’s reversal triggered the buy order and I bought another 25 shares of this great stock at a lot better price (actually better than my overall average price which before the trade was at $43.13 a share. If I include dividends and options my overall cost basis is at $41.36 a share. I could buy even better than that by waiting for the best price).

The stock may go up from this point making nice profit. But it may also go down as those freaks in Wall Street start panicking once again. If that happens, it’s OK with me, I am still saving cash to buy more shares and if the stock continues going lower, I will buy more.

So if you are one of those who things that in the next 20 years this stock fails and the company will go belly up, please sell me your shares at the lowest price ever. I will gladly buy it.

I will buy it as I did today:

08/20/2013 09:47:32 Bought 25 O @ 40.1

Stock detail

Total shares held as of today: 142
Estimated annual dividend: $309.56
Consecutive Dividend Increase: 16 years
Dividend yield today: 5.21%
Dividend 5yr Growth: 4.44%
Dividend paid since: 1994

This trade is adding nice $54.50 annual dividend income to my portfolio. My overall income increased to $951.62 annual dividend in TD Ameritrade account.

Happy Trading!

 




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Posted by Martin August 19, 2013
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New trade – Ferrellgas Partners LP (FGP) new put selling

New trade - Ferrellgas Partners LP (FGP) new put selling

My previous put selling trade on Ferrellgas Partners LP (see the trade here) expired worthless for full profit last Friday. I still like the stock and decided to continue selling puts against it.

As I wrote in my previous article about selling puts, you should do it only against stocks, you like to own. When I opened the previous contract I was sure for about 98% that I wanted the stock. Today I am 100% sure about this paper.

Nevertheless I opened quite a long contract today and collected $110 premium.

If this contract expires worthless I will make 5.5% or 11.02% annualized profit. If the stock drops below my strike price I will get assigned and yet keep the premium. My cost basis will be $18.9 a share. If the stock drops below my cost basis (break even price) too deep I will roll the put lower and further in time.

08/19/2013 09:41:27 Sold 1 FGP Feb 22 2014 20.0 Put @ 1.1

 




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Posted by Martin August 18, 2013
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My inspiration in the last week #33

My inspiration in the last week #33

I often browse the internet to find ideas about investing, trading stocks, options, investing opportunities and strategies. I like to read about investors and what their investing/trading approach to create income you can live on is.

 

  • Five Golden Rules for Dividend Investors – The Dividend Theory – by thedividendtheory
  • When should you sell a dividend stock? – Get Financially Integrated! – by Integrator



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    Posted by Martin August 18, 2013
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    An Anatomy of Dividend Investing

    An Anatomy of Dividend Investing

    Most of the investors look for highly secure way to invest their hard-earned money which will not only let them to save for their retirement but also supplement their income. No matter how much return you want to earn out of your investment portfolio, it is essential that you should understand the risk and return associated with your investments. Most of the people have very basic understanding of the way stock market work and they believe that all types of investing are same but it isn’t true. Divided investing is one of the exceptional investing strategies where investors mainly focus on companies which pay regular dividend and possess history of raising dividends on constant basis. Go through following guide to know about extraordinary challenges associated with dividend investing and what are the tactics to manage them –

    Consider Payout Ratio

    When you are considering dividend investing, it is extremely essential to do some comprehensive research on the history of company in which you are planning to invest your money. One of the vital things which you must consider is the payout ratio demonstrated by company to investors. Always remember that, though higher payout ratio sounds like you will be earning significant money, they can actually set your money at higher risk. The standard thumb rule tells that not to mess with the companies which have payout ratio of more than 65%.

    Capability of Company

    One more thing worth looking is since how long a company has been offering dividend payment to investors. Is it a new company which has been demonstrating profit since last 2 years or is it a well established company with lot of satisfied shareholders? If you are investing in a company which is fairly young and wants to pay dividends to investors then it makes sense to ask important question whether it will able to sustain the dividend payout.

    Dividend Growth is a Heart of a matter

    As with human heart rate, inconsistency can be a big sign of problem, the same holds true when investing in selected dividend stocks. The consistency in growth of dividend is a key point to consider. Though significant amount of percentage increase in recent years is great, it is very important that the dividend percentage has been increasing by some consistent amount every year. As a thumb rule, you can opt for companies which have 5 to 7 year average of increasing their dividend by 6 to 10 percentage. You can think it in the way that each year company gives you consistent amount of pay raise. In current market scenario, you will find yourself lucky to avail raise of 5-6% from a well performing company.

    Don’t fall in love with your stocks

    If things don’t work out in your personal relationship then breaking up is hard thing to do but it normally turns out as a perfect decision in long term. The same scenario holds true in owning a stock of particular company.  It is fine to like your stocks, but don’t ever fall in love with any of those. Money combined with emotions can’t break your heart but it will definitely break your wallet. So make yourself aware of the signs when market scenario keeps changing. Most of the times, market provides you an opportunity to book your profits earlier than you have anticipated. It is not advisable to do short term trading, but if your stock has appreciated substantially in very short period then it definitely makes sense to book your profits in prior time.

    Selecting high dividend paying companies

    The best dividend investing is rarely about the biggest payout and highest yields but it is about highly safe and consistent payout. The best strategy of dividend investing is not to get tempted by high yield. Dividend is nothing but a portion of a firm’s earning offered to you in cash form and it is mainly based on sustainability and reality, and not on falling fundamentals. Your approach to stock selection should be as serious as you are purchasing an actual business. So don’t invest in companies which are fundamentally doubtful and don’t possess capability to provide high dividend yields.

    Have a decent level of patience

    The important element of using dividend to build significant cash flow and accumulate powerful wealth is to have enough patience. Give your investments sufficient time to grow as most of the lucrative investments tend to be long term investment. You should definitely monitor your investments from time to time but if you have done your all homework properly, the best strategy will be to sit back and wait.

    Consider market volatility

    If your objective is to build a significant stream of income then give higher importance to dividend payment history of company instead of its share price history. When you give emphasis on dividend payment instead of share price of company then you are more likely to earn consistent returns even during market downturn.

    Identify the trend of dividend payment

    Make proper analysis of how often your stock pays dividends. Semi-annual and Quarterly dividends are very common. The frequency and trend of dividend payment becomes critical issue when you require regular income. Sometimes, you may have to arrange your budget considering the period of your stock dividend payments.

    Conclusion

    Dividend investing is one of the greatest ways to earn passive income from companies which distribute their retain earnings among shareholders. Dividends not only provide you constant source of income but they provide long term stability to your investments. If an individual select fundamentally strong companies then dividend investing along with dividend reinvestment is a key formula for long term financial success. Above discussed anatomical applications to dividend investing will definitely help you to make proper diagnosis when designing your portfolio. Weighing the advantages of dividend investing against the drawbacks, it is fantastic strategy to generate some passive income by investing your money in high quality companies.  But the real key lies in having proper strategies, discipline and planning to capitalize on it.

     




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    Posted by Martin August 16, 2013
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    My Private Investment Fund Dream


     
     

    Can you help with my dream fundraising? If so, please donate.

     
     




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    Posted by Martin August 16, 2013
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    Trade exit – Realty Income (O), Ferrellgas Partners LP (FGP), MBIA Inc (MBI)

    Trade exit - Realty Income (O), Ferrellgas Partners LP (FGP), MBIA Inc (MBI)

    Today is expiration Friday and a few of my options trades are closing with full profit:

    Realty Income (O) covered call – cash received $32.21 0.77% gain 15.88% annualized

    See the original trade here.

    Ferrellgas Partners LP (FGP) put selling – cash received $185.00 10.57% gain 22.06% annualized

    See the original trade here.

    MBIA Inc (FGP) put selling – cash received $118.00 13.11% gain 27.68% annualized

    See the original trade here.

    And what will follow next? Well, most likely I will open another trade in Realty Income (O) covered call and FGP put selling. I am no longer interested in MBI.




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