Recent Buy --- HCP

Today I initiated a position in HCP

• HCP:  100 shares @ $27.70 --- Yield  5.34%

Total capital invested is $2,776.45 and will add $148.00 to my yearly dividends. 

Usually buying HCP below $30 is a pretty good investment idea and hope this continues to be the case.  Back in June I liquidate my entire portfolio due to extreme uncertainty with my job. Since then things have stabilized and my cash balance is sitting at just over $400,000. I'll likely keep my cash at that level and will invest anything over $400,000.

Forward dividends are $148.00.

DEFY MEDIOCRITY

September 2017 Net Worth

All figures are generated from Mint.com. Another really solid $9k gain. I'm getting really close to reaching escape velocity. The only account that continues to go down is my house. The value fell from $129,000 to $128,000. The three month home value has now fallen about $9,000 from $136,000 to $129,000. 

Hurricane Harvey kicked the shit out of us down here in Houston last month, but fortunately I live north of the city and was spared any flood damage. My business was closed for 5 days however, so it is tough sledding for a lot of my coworkers. Some lost everything while most knew someone who was affected by the record flooding.

Since my company sells products that were wiped out during the floods, business is at record levels this month and the boom should continue to throughout the remainder of 2017. That's some welcome news!

Also since my combined checking, savings, and Lending Club accounts surpassed $400k this month, I will start investing in dividend stocks again very soon. $400k in cash is the number that renders me FI. :)


Assets

Checking --- $18,063
Savings --- $373,455
Lending Club --- $8,728
HSA --- $2,728
Brokerage --- $0
IRA --- $9,382
401K --- $328,434
House --- $128,584

Liabilities

$0

Net Worth

$869,374


YTD Totals

May 2017 --- $835,009
July 2017 --- $851,904 

Aug 2017 --- $860,072
Sept 2017 --- $869,374

There is no down time when building a path that doesn't lead back to ZERO!

August 2017 Net Worth

All figures are generated from Mint.com. It's good to see an $8,000 monthly gain. I'm getting really close to reaching escape velocity. The only account that appears to have gone down is my house. The value fell from $131,000 to $129,000. The two month home value has fallen about $7,000 from $136,000 to $129,000. 

The job front is still a bit shaky, but I'm holding on. It does feel good to have enough FU money not to worry about things. Many others are continuing to sweat their asses off worrying. In fact, we closed one department about three weeks ago and laid off 8 workers. Crazy times indeed!


Assets

Checking --- $11,501
Savings --- $373,441
Lending Club --- $9,618
HSA --- $2577
Brokerage --- $0
IRA --- $9,252
401K --- $323,898
House --- $129,785

Liabilities

$0

Net Worth

$860,072


YTD Totals

May 2017 --- $835,009
July 2017 --- $851,904 
Aug 2017 --- $860,072

There is no down time when building a path that doesn't lead back to ZERO!

July 2017 Dividend Summary

Here are the dividends received in my taxable account last month.

• KO --- $97.79
• GE --- $60.91
• M --- $57.00
• KMB --- $39.24
• MO --- $21.72
• VAIB --- $16.25
• NKE --- $7.22

Total dividends received are $300.13

Despite selling all my stocks in the middle of June, I had a few that had already went ex-dividend. Not too shabby.

I'm sitting on a pile of cash while the work situation becomes more clear. So far I have survived a ton of management changes and continue to do well. I'll probably wait a few more months and at that point I will most likely be totally FI just living off the cash saved. Knowing me I most likely will start investing again!

July 2017 Net Worth

All figures are generated from Mint.com. As you can I picked up almost $17,000 over the last couple of months. The only account that appears to have gone down is my house. The value fell from $138k to $131,000. Not sure why, but doesn't really matter.

It's good to see these numbers increasing. As I mentioned in my Dividend Post, there have been a lot of changes going on at work and not for the better. I have held on to my current position so far, however between the management changes and a subsequent fall off in business that may change quickly. It's good to have a huge safety net!!


Assets

Checking --- $14564
Savings --- $363277
Lending Club --- $9576
HSA --- $2294
Brokerage --- $0
IRA --- $9206
401K --- $321775
House --- $131212

Liabilities

$0

Net Worth

$851,904


YTD Totals

May 2017 --- $835,009
July 2017 --- $851,904   

There is no down time when building a path that doesn't lead back to ZERO!

June 2017 Dividend Summary

Here are the dividends I received from last month.

• PFE --- $123.70
• XOM --- $112.67
• RDS-b --- $103.40
• BP --- $101.43
• MAT --- $76.57
• TGT --- $72.92
• WFC --- $65.88
• GM --- $63.35
• VFC --- $61.37
• SO --- $53.73
• JNJ --- $45.50
• TROW --- $43.52
• GILD --- $43.10
• QCOM --- $41.85
• UL --- $38.04
• MSFT --- $32.58
• NEA --- $16.63
• MET --- $16.12
• EMR --- $14.64

Total dividend income in my taxable account  $1127.00.

That was a great month!! 

Now for the other news...

Things at work have become very complicated and with new upper management changes are happening almost daily. Most likely I will be demoted and half my salary cut in half. That's option isn't anything to cry about as I still would be making six figures.

The other two options are I am fired or I choose not to work in an unbearable work environment. Because of these new circumstances, I decided to liquidate my entire portfolio. I now have about $400,000 sitting in cash. I also still have about $320,000 sitting in my 401k which is invested 65/35 in S&P 500 and Vanguard bonds.

Since I am 46 right now, I may actually be financially independent. I will see how thing play out over the coming months and will make a decision about whether or not I get back into the market and how much I will invest. 

Stay tuned!!

May 2017 Dividend Summary

• HCP --- $115.68
• OHI --- $101.80
• VZ --- $58.74
• BMY --- $29.36
• ABT --- $26.99
• ABBV --- $25.60
• PG --- $20.85
• NEA --- $16.55
• AAPL --- $15.98
• GIS --- $14.40

Total income received in my taxable account is $425.95.

Another pretty solid "off" month in my opinion. REITs accounted for over half of the income so I need to continue trying balance things out. I should receive much higher totals from VZ, GIS, and T in the next quarter which will be nice.

May was a pretty good month of capital additions as well and I am now sitting on just over $9600 in forward dividends.



YOU CAN'T REACH THE TOP AIMING FOR THE MIDDLE