Saturday, December 14, 2013

2014 Investing Goals

My goals were originally defined in this December 1, 2007 Investing Goals post and last updated in my 2013 Investing Goals. Like last year, I will exceed my 2013 goal of $25,000 in annualized dividend income. Looking at my long-rang goals, I am on track to reach my 2017 goal of $30,000 next year (3 years early). The 2027 goal of $110,000 is not as clear. My model now indicates I could surpass it in 2026.

2013 was a relatively smooth year. During the year, share prices continued upward, which is not good if you are an income investor still in the accumulation mode. My Dividend Growth Portfolio's 2013 risk rating will end higher than 2012's 1.61 rating as a result of higher valuations on many stocks I hold.

From an investing standpoint, 2014 will be much different than the previous years. With a daughter in college, I will have less discretionary money to invest (I began to feel the pinch in Q4 2013). In 2012, I completed my investment transition to Dividend Growth Stocks. Much of my historical investments were reallocation of existing funds. Given these facts, the 2014 dollar amount of new investments in my Dividend Growth Portfolio will be smaller.

Hopefully, we will have a few deep corrections in 2014. I always welcome a correction as a buying opportunity. 2013 saw very few dividend cuts, I anticipate a similar trend in 2014. I also suspect 2014 will see fewer companies failing to raise their dividends (dividend freezes). The trend in 2013 continued where my dividend increases exceed dividend cuts.



Description Dividend
Income
Annualized
Yield
on Cost
2027 Goal 110,000 n/a
2017 Goal 42,000 n/a
2013 Goal 30,000 n/a

Since I expect to exceed my previous 2017 goal of $30,000 in 2014, I have increased my 2017 goal to $42,000. I left the income goal for 2027 unchanged. Reflecting lower contributions next year, I am setting my 2014 annualized dividend income goal at $30,000. To achieve this goal, I anticipate moderate dividend growth in 2014, somewhat less than the 6% I experienced in 2013.

I am confident that I will finish 2014 with higher annualized dividend income than where 2013 will end. In addition, I feel good that my string of sequential months of higher annualized dividend income will continue through 2014.

If it were easy, everyone would do it and success wouldn't be nearly as satisfying. Here's to a prosperous 2014!

(Photo: sanja gjenero)

Related Articles
- 12 Dividend Stocks With A Quick Payback
- 9 High-Rated Dividend Stocks With Above Target Returns
- 9 High-Yielding Utilities With A Growing Dividends
- 3 Styles Of Successful Dividend Investing
- 8 Higher-Yielding Financial Services Stocks With Rising Dividends