2017 Year-End Performance & Goal Review

Statistics
Beginning 2017 Account Value: $242,093.83
Ending 2017 Account Value: $429,504.78
Net Contribution: $132,539.41

Dividend income in 2017: $7,614.25
Forward 12-month dividends: $9,565.88
Options income in 2017: $779.86
Total lifetime dividend income: $20,046.17

Post-tax salary: $219,438

Effect of dividend increases: $570.58. This is equivalent to investing just over $19,000 at a 3% yield.


Goals for 2017:

1) Retirement Accounts – PASS
An easy pass. I maxed out my traditional IRA in early January and then converted to a Roth in late January.

2) Receive $7000 a year in dividends – PASS
I was thinking this was going to be a stretch goal, but ended up getting it without too much problem. My portfolio brought in just over $7600 in 2017.

3) Get $3000 this year in options income. – FAIL
I got distracted with work and with life and wasn’t able to devote the time or resources to meet this goal. I only brought in $780 in option income in 2017. Still better than nothing. I will be discussing my options investing in the not-too-distant future. Briefly, I have also started investing in long term puts…profits (or losses) from that may happen in 2018, the first of the puts expires in January 2019.

4) Improve Two Investing layout and content – PASS
My brother did an excellent job helping us with the new logo. I especially like how it scales for mobile use. I’ve also used the same “Two” symbol for my gravatar icon. I think I also wrote a post per month on average. There were some months where I wrote more and some less. A lot of this depends on the schedule of my day job (I’m a radiologist).

In fact, while I love the fact that more and more people seem to be using and enjoying the spreadsheets, keeping the spreadsheets up-to-date has been a challenge giving the issues that spring up when thousands of people are using them. I’m so glad that I decided not to charge for it. Sure, I could have made a lot by charging a bit for it, but that would have also obligated me to provide more timely support, which I just can’t do right now.

5) Invest at least $10,000 in smaller cap growth companies – PASS
I invested approximately $25,600 in non-dividend paying growth stocks. I’ll do a post of this soon, but the majority have been good winners for me. The best ultimate investment is the one that has the highest overall gains, be that from capital gains and/or dividends. Since I don’t rely on the dividend income to pay expenses at this point in my life, the best stocks to be in are the ones that will perform the best. Once I get to retirement, then I can always sell these stocks that have a lot of capital gains and invest in income generators at that point.


I think I did pretty well with these goals. I’ll have to write my 2018 goals soon. I can’t believe that it is already February! I also apologize for not dedicating enough time to respond to everyone else’s blog…that will be one of my 2018 goals.

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13 Responses

  1. That’s a darn nice jump in net worth Scott. Congrats. Tom
    Tom from Dividends Diversify recently posted…Work, Save, Invest, Build Wealth, but Never RetireMy Profile

  2. Hey Scott, Congratulations on a banner year! Your annual passive income just keeps picking up steam as the years pass. That chart is starting to look like a hockey stick.
    I’m with you in regards to leaning towards growth instead of income at this point in my investing journey. Although my growth stocks still pay out some small dividend.
    I look forward to your options update. I started trading options last year and am posting monthly updates this year. I’ve been focused on put options recently, but most of the expiration dates aren’t too far off, in the 2 to 8 week range.
    Engineering Dividends recently posted…Monthly Dividend Income (Jan. 2018)My Profile

    • scott says:

      Engineering Dividends,

      Thanks! I like the analogy of the hockey stick. I’m living in Minnesota now so am surrounded by the sound of hockey pucks this winter.

      I’ll be doing that options update pretty soon. Excited to read about your options experiences as well. We can all learn from each other. I like your strategy of 2 – 8 week expirations on put options. From watching the tastytrade videos I’ve learned that that is right around the optimal amount of time.

  3. Scott, proper good results and I’m jealous of that salary! I’m eager to see what small cap growth stocks you put some money into in the past 12 months.
    timeinthemarket recently posted…Time in the Market dividend review – January 2018 – the rise of the bond dividends!My Profile

  4. Tim says:

    Scott,

    I’m having a hard time interpreting your results. The change in your account value would imply a return of 77.4%? But it seems to me that this includes your contributions? What was your actual net return?

    Thanks!

  5. Hey TI,

    your total portfolio value increase in 2017 is insane;-)…congrats!! 430k is an awesome number. Will be a few years down the road until i am in that territory..but i’m grinding! – but 7600 in dividend income for the year is even better. In the end income is what counts, not total value which depends on a moody Mr. Market.

    Do you have specific stocks in your focus after last week? Something you want to purchase and what is a priority on your list?

    Greet’s
    DividendSolutions

    • scott says:

      Hi DividendSolutions,

      Thanks! You’ll get there soon enough yourself. It is amazing how the snowball keeps growing faster each year.

      As far as specific stocks, I did add to a couple of positions… Some were right before the drop. My timing could have been a bit better! The drop also provided an opportunity to cash out a couple of call options I had recently bought.

  6. Tony says:

    Hi TI,

    Just wanted to add my congratulations on your good year, and to add my thanks for the spreadsheets. I generally use quicken to track my investments and though it does a good job, I love the way your spreadsheets present things. Much better than my spreadsheets do, and I work with them for a living.

    I’m a lot closer to retirement than you are and the dividend spreadsheet presents things is a very to easy view format! I’ll also be looking forward to your options update when you find the time.

    Best of luck and a prosperous 2018 to you

    • scott says:

      Hi Tony,

      Thanks! I appreciate the kind words about the spreadsheets. It has taken a lot of time over the years. I’m glad people are finding them useful.

      Hope you have a prosperous 2018 as well!

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