Final 2016 Lending Club Update

My LC portfolio value finally reached $10,000 a couple of weeks ago which prompted me to discontinue future contributions for now. I plan on letting things ride for a while and may continue building up my loan balances in a few months.

In the mean time, I do plan on reinvesting all the interest payments I receive.

I have been investing $25 at a time and now have 492 notes up from 421 notes last report. I am continuing to use the automated note selecting mechanism which lets the computer spread the capital across a variety different loan grades.

Right now as you can see above, my current return is 5.50% after all defaults and past due loans have been written down.This is a significant drop from previous months. Obviously this happens when defaults start to rise and hopefully this is a temporary phenomenon. I would like to hope that the Christmas holidays are partially to blame as families can become pretty strapped this time of the year. 

Also, my monthly payments have increased to approximately $384.


2016 Net Annualized Returns

July --- 6.77%
August  --- 6.33%
September --- 6.65%
October --- 6.76%
December --- 5.50%

DEFY MEDIOCRITY

Recent Buy --- OHI

Today I initiated a small position in OHI.

• OHI:  80 shares @ $30.24 --- Yield  8.07%

Total capital invested is $2425.99 and will add $195.20 to my yearly dividends.

I have done a good job of avoiding high yielders this year, but I just glanced at my sector allocations and noticed the following.

• Consumer Defensive --- 21.47%
• Healthcare --- 17.28%
• Consumer Cyclical --- 14.94%
• Energy --- 11.14%

As you can see, this year's portfolio is definitely less volatile than in past years. I'll continue add value regardless of sector and quite honestly energy companies came through for me this year so I am glad that I kept them within my much smaller portfolio. I'm probably finished adding REITs for a while, but would love to double this position around $25.

Forward dividend are around $5750.

Next week will have some more big moves as well. 

DEFY MEDIOCRITY

Recent Buy --- HCP

Today I added to my HCP position

• HCP:  100 shares @ $28.95 --- Yield  5.11%

Total capital invested is $2901.45 and will add $148.to my yearly dividends. This brings my share count to just over 309 shares.

I am also watching O and OHI on the REIT front. Other stocks I continue to watch include NKE, CSCO, PG, GIS, GE, and JNJ.

Forward dividends are around $5550.


DEFY MEDIOCRITY

Recent Buy --- VFC

Well, the buying streak continues...

• VFC:  80 shares @ $54.33 --- Yield  3.09%

Total capital invested is $4353.35 and will increase my dividends by $134.40.  

Forward dividends are around $5400.00.  Technically my dividends combined with my Lending Club net interest, puts me at $6k already, but I would like to see the dividends get to $6k as well!!

DEFY MEDIOCRITY

Recent Buy --- MDT

I initiated a position in MDT today.

• MDT:  60 shares @ $72.38 --- Yield  2.38%

Total capital invested is $4349.63 and will increase my dividends by $103.20. 

The yield isn't overly impressive, but with only a 37% payout ratio there is plenty of room for future growth. Also there is over 35 years of dividend growth history. Pretty impressive!!

The DJIA is now just 25 points away from 20,000. What an amazing year!!

Forward dividends are around $5250.

DEFY MEDIOCRITY

Recent Buys --- TUP & KMB

Today I added shares to some existing positions.

• TUP:  30 shares @ $52.98 --- Yield  5.13%
• KMB:  20 shares @ $114.86 --- Yield  3.20%

Total capital invested is $3900.50. The purchases have a combined yield of 3.98% and will add $155.20 to my yearly dividends.

Forward dividends are around $5150.00. 

I'm still shooting for 6k by the end of the year. It will be difficult to reach especially with the DOW sniffing 20k. I would like to add a REIT,  but O and OHI have spiked recently. Most likely I'll have to stay with other out of favor names which include NKE, MDT, DEO, ABT, NEA, KO, and the two listed above. I'm sure a surprise stock or two will surface as well.

DEFY MEDIOCRITY

November 2016 Income & Expenses

The amounts below are cash amounts and are net of taxes, insurance, 401k contributions, HSA, etc. In other words, the amounts are what get deposited and withdrawn from my accounts.

Day job (take home pay) --- $11020.03
Dividends/Interest ---  $174.60

Total net income --- $11194

Expenses --- $8415 (Taken from Mint)

Savings  $2779.63 --- Rate  24.83%

November was a fairly uneventful month from a business view. The election was certainly exciting and I think business spiked a bit on the promise of a brighter future. The stock market definitely spiked as did my net worth.

This post is a cash flow document and as you can see I spent too much money and am glad the bulk of the Christmas expenses are behind me!

December has been unusually slow so far, which is highly unusual. Hopefully the next two weeks pick up and we can end the year on a high note. Also, I have had quite a few doctor's bills hit this month as well and the expenses will once again be elevated.

Even though the year is not quite over, I am already trying to come up with new strategies for expense control/reduction. I know, I know, I know.....a pair of scissors to the credit card is a pretty effective plan. Hell that may be my single best strategy!


DEFY MEDIOCRITY