*Progress Update - September 2008

Once again it is the first Saturday of the month, so it is time for a goals/progress update. I am pleased that I can continue to say that annualized dividend income has increased every month since I began tracking it in November 2007. I have one stock that I am certain will either cut or eliminate its dividend in October. I will likely sell it in the next few days and reinvest the proceeds. As noted in past reports, since I am well ahead of my 2008 goal it is unlikely I will fall below it.


My goals were defined in this December 1, 2007 Investing Goals post. Below is an updated version of the table found in the original post.

Description	Dividend Income Annualized	Yield on Cost
2027 Goal	110,000	20.00%
2017 Goal	30,000	10.00%
2008 Goal	4,000	4.90%
Dec/2007	3,054	5.00%
Purchases YTD	2,386	0.18%
Div. Changes YTD	21	0.05%
Sales YTD	(120)	0.06%
September/2008	5,341	5.29%
Purchases	165	-0.06%
Div. Changes	(35)	-0.03%
Sales	0	0.00%
August/2008	5,211	5.38%

The above information covers the current month and year-to-date through the current month.

Click here for a Detailed Historical Progress Update Table.

For the month, annualized dividend income increased $130, and Yield on Cost (YOC) decreased -0.09%. These changes were driven by new purchases and dividend changes (no sales in September). Let's examine each of the these categories:

Purchases: The $165 increase in annual dividend income and -0.06% decrease in YOC related to the following purchases (yield at the time of purchase):

• $65 BP (6.22%)
• $26 PG (2.27%)
• $74 PID (4.19%)

The BP purchase increased my YOC, while the PG and PID purchases lowered it. As noted in earlier updates, I expect for most months YOC to drop since most new investments will yield less than my current YOC, and dividend increases will not be sufficient to offset it.

Dividend Changes: The ($35) decrease in annual dividend income and (0.03%) decrease in YOC related to the following dividend changes (a=dividend stated in annual terms, q=quarterly, m=monthly):

• $6 BP : $.8115q>$0.84q : 0.01%
• $5 O : $0.138m>$0.1405m : 0.01%
• ($14) VFH : $1.56a>$1.34a : (0.02%)
• ($10) VYM : $1.67a>$1.56a : (0.01%)
• $1 VNQ : $3.05a>$3.08a : 0.00%
• $4 VIG : $1.00a>$1.05a : 0.01%
• ($27) PID : $0.71a>$0.55a : (0.03%)

I continue to be unhappy with the performance of the income ETFs. The dividends tend to be volatile and unpredictable, which is not what a dividend investor is looking for.

Sales: I did not sell any income portfolio investments in September.

The next monthly progress update will be on Saturday, November 8th (I will likely not be ready on November 1st).