My main focus as a Dividend Growth Investor is the amount of Income I receive on a monthly basis. My long term goal is to receive a yield that will surpass the cost of my expenses each month. My annual overheads are currently under £10,000 per year, and my investments average over a 4% return. By using those numbers, I require £250,000 in my portfolio to cover all bills and spending money.
I want to keep track of the value of my portfolio each month as I go through this process. It's been motivating to see the growth of my pot since I started. Recording this data has helped by raising my awareness. I now find myself eager to invest so I can report back on the progress I've made. The same benefits have come from recording my workouts, my cash savings, and more recently my income and expenditure.
It can be difficult to keep track of how the stock market is performing as a whole. The exercise of recording the individual values results in a more well-rounded view of how everything is going.
I achieved one of my goals for 2014 by having a portfolio worth more than £12,000 in July. I would like to continue with the momentum I've gained so far and aim for £17,500 by the end of the year. I will report what my portfolio was worth at the end of every month so you can see how I'm progressing towards this goal.
At the end of August my Freedom Pot was worth £14,543.48. When the market closed at the end of September my portfolio was worth £15,427.08 which is a £883.60 increase (6.1%). I'm pleased that my portfolio has grown again from last month, but I'm disappointed the percentage wasn't higher. I invested £950 into an Income Bond, and I earned £124 in Dividends. A few of my investments lost their value in September - Tesco and GlaxoSmithKline were the main two. I would have been more satisfied with a £1,000 increase, but it's still a move in the right direction
I'm now £2,072.92 from my new portfolio goal with three months to go. My wages are usually lower in October and November, but December tends to be strong, so it's going to be close. I remain optimistic!
Thank you for reading!
How was September for you? Are you on track for your end of year Goals? Have you hit them already?
Labels: Portfolio Update
