Another month has come and gone. I continue to make progress on my financial goals. I continue to keep my spending in check and continue to save. It was a good month for dividends but I took a hit on options trading. My debt continues to decrease. The retirement accounts continue to grow in value. Let’s take a look at the details for March 2021.
Spending/Savings
Spending was kept in check this month. My savings is up significantly compared to last month especially after getting the latest stimulus check. My savings is a little bit higher than I want right now. I increased my savings due to a slow down in production at work due to the global semi-conductor shortage. While production at work is still slow, my company seems to be managing the situation well. Next month I will probably draw down some of my savings to pay off some debt.
Dividends/Options
This month I received $335.18 in dividends. In March 2020 I received $1.84 in dividends. March 2020 was when the funds from my previous employer rolled over into my IRA. This is when I bought my first ever individual stock and began my journey as a dividend investor. Over the past year I have enjoyed watching my the dividends grow. It will be interesting to see the year over year growth in the amount of dividends I receive. The total dividends received so far this year is $860.62.
Options trading was interesting this month to say the least. I took some losses on some options trades on SCHD and MO when the stocks ran up past the strike price and I rolled the options out to a future date. I was still able to make a profit of $182.56 in option premium this month. While I am not thrilled with the losses I took, it was a learning experience and I was able to mitigate some of the losses. I did not trade options last March. The total options premium received so far this year is $917.21.
Combined I received $517.74 from dividends and options premium this month. This is well below my goal of $1,000 per month. For the year, I am $1,222.17 behind my goal. I will continue to track this throughout the rest of the year even though it seems very unlikely that I will be able to achieve this goal. The total combined income for the year is $1,777.83.
Debt
My total debt went down by $1,250.89 in March. This is well below below my goal of $2,083 per month. For the year I am $474.22 behind my goal. I am not concerned about being behind my goal. I am sitting on some savings which I plan to draw down next month to pay off debt. I should be back on track next month to achieve my goal of paying down $25,000 in debt this year.
Traditional IRA
The overall value of the Traditional IRA was up a little over $6,000 from last month. Last March the account was around $72,000. The year over year growth has been amazing since I only contribute $35 a month to this account. The estimated annual income continues to grow at a good clip. Last month the estimated annual income was $3,605. This month estimated annual income grew to $3,688. Seeing the estimated annual income grow every month keeps me motivated to continue with my plan.
Roth IRA
The Roth IRA continues to grow. Last month the account balance was $259. This month it is up to $348. Most of the gains this month came from $75 of contributions. The estimated annual income also to grow from $11 last month to $15 this month. I really need to fund this account more but I am trying to balance paying off debt while saving for retirement.
401k
The 401k continues to grow although the growth is mostly from contributions. The account is up about $363 over last month. This account is passive. The contributions automatically come out of my paycheck. I have set the allocations for the various funds that I invest in and do little else to this account.
Taxable Account
The taxable growth account through M1 Finance took a pretty big hit this month finishing down 7.88%. The overall value is slightly higher due to contributions. If you would like to see the holdings in this account you can here: https://m1.finance/MvvbI-KvPEe6 . Even though this account is down considerably I plan to stay the course. I have not sold any of my positions in this account. I did adjust some of the allocations this month. I continue to dollar cost average into this account each month.
Progress towards financial freedom continues. This month my net worth increased by more than $8,000 to over $32,000. This is a drastic improvement over last year when my net worth was around -$38,500. At times the progress can seem slow, but I am actually much farther along than I expected to be at this time in my journey. I continue to stick to my plan and the results continue to exceed my expectations.
*Disclaimer – I am not a financial professional. The information shared here should not be considered financial advice. I am just a factory worker sharing my experience as I strive to achieve financial freedom. Before investing or making any financial decision do your own research and due diligence and consider seeking the advice of a financial and/or tax professional.
Here are some of the businesses that I use that I thought some of you might be interested in.
I use the free version on trackyourdividends.com. This is a quick an easy way for me to track my estimated annual income from dividends.
Lolli has a variety of stores that it is affiliated with and offers rewards for shopping at these stores. I use Lolli when I shop on Chewy and I get bitcoin as a reward. If you are interested in Lolli and want to help support the blog here is my referral link: https://www.lolli.com/share/XP7gxDgqC4
I use M1 Finance for my taxable growth account. M1 Finance offers promotions for signing up. These promotions vary from time to time but is usually a $10 bonus. If you are interested M1 Finance and want to support the blog here is my referral link: https://m1.finance/ktIiFeOI5zDr
If you use the referral links listed above I could receive compensation. Please take the time to read the terms and conditions before signing up.
Excellent progress on year over year improvements.
Only question I have is what is the benefit of adding $35/month to the IRA instead of the ROTH IRA? Since any withdrawal from an IRA is taxed as ordinary income I would think long term the more money you can collect tax free during retirement is the better option.
You are correct. That $35 a month was setup when I first opened the IRA. Now that I have a Roth IRA I should cancel the automatic contribution to the IRA and funnel that money into the Roth.