Rollover and Conversion to Roth IRA Completed; New Milestone Reached

A few weeks ago I posted an update about rolling over the money from two retirement plans held with my former employer into an IRA, then converting that into my existing Roth IRA. I am pleased to report that the entire process has now been completed. As a result, I added a little over $25,000 to my Roth IRA, more than tripling its size. Note that I already set aside sufficient external money for the estimated taxes on the conversion, which I will be paying soon.

In the meantime, I now find myself in the unusual position of having over 20% of my overall portfolio in cash. Even though I am eager to put the rollover money to work, I do not see much in the way of attractively valued dividend growth stocks at the moment. The value investor inside of me cringes at the thought of buying overvalued stocks simply because I have money to invest. For that reason, I will not be investing the money all at once. However, I will not attempt to time the market, either.

I have decided that a reasonable course of action is to invest the money at regular intervals in whichever stocks happen to be fairly valued or undervalued at the time. With over $25,000 at my disposal, my tentative approach will be to make two purchases per month over the next five or six months, with each purchase being in the range of $2,000 to $2,500. The only constraint is that a stock has to be either fairly valued or undervalued by my judgment in order to be purchased. If the market happens to take a sudden downturn and more than two opportunities become available in a month, then I would accelerate the purchasing schedule.

Note that these purchases will all occur in my Roth IRA. Let's not forget that I will also be contributing new capital to my taxable account on a monthly basis (I have not made my November contribution yet). The amount will vary a bit from month to month, but it will likely average over $2,000. Thus, I will have sufficient cash to make a third (and possibly a fourth) purchase every month.

That's the plan as it currently stands. Incidentally, thanks to the rollover money, my portfolio reached a new milestone today, closing above $125,000 for the very first time ($125,862.52). Continuing with $25,000 increments, the next milestone will be $150,000.

Milestone history for portfolio value:

• $125,000: November 2013
• $100,000: October 2013
• $90,000: August 2013
• $80,000: March 2013
• $70,000: January 2013
• $60,000: September 2012
• $50,000: March 2012

Milestone: Portfolio Value Reaches $100,000

Today my portfolio's value reached $100,000 for the very first time, closing at $100,291.68. It occurred as a result of some large capital gains this week, with two notable examples being MSFT (up 6% today) and NSC (my largest holding, up about 10% this week). This milestone comes just two and a half months after reaching $90,000 in mid-August. My secondary investing goal is to achieve a satisfactory total return on my investments, and a steadily increasing portfolio value is an indication of progress toward that goal.

It was nice to hit the six-figure mark before the end of 2013; quite frankly, I was surprised it happened so quickly. Now that I've crossed that threshold, I think it makes sense to set milestones by larger increments, and $25,000 seems reasonable. Thus, the next milestone will be $125,000. I anticipate reaching it fairly soon because the rollover money discussed in a recent post should hit my Roth IRA in November. It will be interesting to see what my portfolio value will be at the end of the year.

Milestone history for portfolio value:

• $100,000: October 2013
• $90,000: August 2013
• $80,000: March 2013
• $70,000: January 2013
• $60,000: September 2012
• $50,000: March 2012

Milestone: $300 in Dividends in a Single Month

It was in December 2012 that I reached the milestone of getting over $200 in dividends in a single month. Not surprisingly, due to quarterly payment schedules I also hit that mark in March and June of this year. Thanks to a cluster of dividend payments yesterday and a massive dividend from VOD about a week ago, I have now received over $300 in dividends in August. This represents another important milestone on my road to building a sustainable and rising stream of dividend income.

Sticking with $100 increments, my next monthly dividend income milestone is $400. It is difficult to predict when I might reach it, but August 2014 seems most probable at this time.

Milestone history for dividends in a single month:

• $100: March 2012
• $200: December 2012
• $300: August 2013

Milestone: Portfolio Value Reaches $90,000

Today my portfolio's value reached $90,000 for the very first time, closing at $90,823.42. It occurred as a result of another contribution to my Roth IRA, in preparation for another possible purchase this month. This milestone comes five months after reaching $80,000 in March. My secondary investing goal is to achieve a satisfactory total return on my investments, and a steadily increasing portfolio value is an indication of progress toward that goal. (Of course, the regular addition of new capital also helps!)

The next milestone is a big one: $100,000. Depending on how stocks perform over the next few months and the amount of new capital I am able to invest, I might be able to reach it by the end of the year. If not, then I should definitely get there in early 2014.

Edit: Here is the milestone history for portfolio value:

• $50,000: March 2012
• $60,000: September 2012
• $70,000: January 2013
• $80,000: March 2013
• $90,000: August 2013

Blog Reaches 100,000 Pageviews

Today my blog reached a notable milestone:

That's a pretty good number, considering that I started this blog in January 2012. Most of the pageviews are from this year, due to a sudden and sustained increase in daily pageviews from the start of 2013. The current average is around 350 pageviews per day. It's motivational to see that others are interested in my investing thoughts and activities. I appreciate the feedback I get through comments and I thank everyone who reads my blog.

With recent events in my life (namely, my big move and starting a new job), I find that I have limited time for investing-related activities nowadays, but I will do what I can to regularly update this blog and keep it informative. Onward to 200,000 pageviews!

Milestone: Portfolio Value Reaches $80,000

Today my portfolio's value reached $80,000 for the very first time, closing at $80,069.51. My portfolio continues to hit new highs as the broader market does the same. This milestone comes just two months (!) after reaching $70,000 in January. My secondary investing goal is to achieve a satisfactory total return on my investments, and a steadily increasing portfolio value is an indication of progress toward that goal.

The next milestone is $90,000, which I expect to reach later this year.

Milestone: Portfolio Value Reaches $70,000

Today my portfolio's value reached $70,000 for the very first time, closing at $70,128.67, thanks to a strong performance from my stocks to start the year. This milestone comes just four months after reaching $60,000 last September. As I have mentioned elsewhere, my secondary investing goal is to achieve a satisfactory total return on my investments, and a steadily increasing portfolio value is an indication of progress toward that goal.

The next milestone is $80,000, which I might be able to reach later this year.

Milestone: $200 in Dividends in a Single Month

Back in March I reached the milestone of getting over $100 in dividends in a single month. It turns out I managed to reach that mark every month thereafter.

My next milestone for monthly dividend income was $200, which I originally did not anticipate reaching until early 2013. However, thanks to a few accelerated dividends that were paid this month instead of in Q1 2013, I have now received over $200 in dividends in December. This represents another important milestone on my road to building a sustainable and rising stream of dividend income.

Looking at my expected dividend payments going forward, there will be more variation from month to month than I experienced this year. I will reach $200 in Mar-Jun-Sep-Dec, whereas in most of the remaining months I will be below that mark. I do not make any special effort to buy stocks to "smooth out" my dividends across months; my main goal is to ensure the dividends keep growing over time.

Sticking with $100 increments, my next monthly dividend income milestone is $300. At this point it is difficult to predict when that might be reached, but it could be possible at the end of 2013.

Milestone: Portfolio Value Reaches $60,000

Today my portfolio's value reached $60,000 for the very first time, closing at $60,463.02, thanks to a broad market rally and a recent influx of new capital from my August savings. The previous milestone of $50,000 was reached in March, which implies a $10,000 increase over the past six months. Even though my primary focus is on dividends, I also care about capital preservation and total return, both of which are reflected in my portfolio's value.

The next milestone is $70,000 (I figure that $10,000 increments are reasonable), but I probably won't reach it until next year.

Milestone: $1,000 in Dividends in a Single Year

Thanks to an above-average month and a trio of dividend payments today, I have now received over $1,000 in dividends thus far in 2012. I consider this to be an important milestone on the road to building a sustainable and growing dividend income stream. It suggests that my investing strategy is working and I am making great progress toward my goal of receiving $1,300 in dividends this year. It is remarkable to reflect on the fact that I have an extra $1,000 in income -- which is a non-negligible amount -- simply from investing in the stocks of high-quality, profitable companies with good dividend policies. Reaching this milestone helps to drive home the point that dividend growth investing is a sensible strategy for generating income.

Milestone: $100 in Dividends in a Single Month

In March I received $110.85 in dividends, which is the first time I received more than $100 in dividends in a single month. This might not seem like a major milestone (especially when compared with my portfolio value reaching $50,000), but it is very important in the context of my goal to create a sustainable, rising stream of dividend income that will eventually allow me to be financially secure in retirement. Achieving that goal will inevitably require that my monthly dividend income exceed my monthly expenses, so breaking the $100 mark is a big step in that direction.

The next milestone for my monthly dividend income is $200, although I do not anticipate reaching that point until 2013.

Milestone: Portfolio Value Reaches $50,000

Today my portfolio's value reached $50,000 for the very first time, closing at $50,018.39. I am pleased that I was able to achieve this milestone about one month sooner than expected. The recent surge in my portfolio's value is attributable to the following three sources (in order from largest to smallest contribution): investment of new capital from savings, capital gains from stock appreciation, and dividends. Given that my portfolio started the year at $42,830.02, in less than three months its value has increased by 16.8%.

The next milestone for my portfolio's value is $60,000, which I hope to reach later this year. At the end of this month I will be achieving another milestone of a different sort, so stay tuned for that announcement.