The beginning of the month saw the stock markets trending down just like January and February. In the last couple of weeks in March the stock markets rallied back to finish in the green. Both the S&P 500 and NASDAQ finished the month in the green. This was a really good month for my accounts as well. A lot all times highs were made. Let’s check out the details for March.
Spending/Savings
Spending this month was kept inline with the budget. The emergency fund remains at about two months of expenses. For the year, my savings rate is at 27.75% which is above my goal of a 25% savings rate.
Dividends/Options/Interest
This month a total of $406.45 was received in dividends. This represents an all time high for dividends received in one month! This is an increase of $71.27 over March 2021. Year over year, this is a whopping 21.26% increase. For the year I have received $997.36 in dividends. This is 24.91% toward my goal of $4,000 in dividends this year.
The total amount of options premium received this month was $935.71. This also is an all time high for options premium received in a month and is way more than the $182.56 received in March 2021. So far this year I have received $2,178.84 in options premium. This is 36.31% toward my goal of $6,000 in options premium this year.
Income from interest totaled $9.33 this month. For the year I have received $23.14 in interest.
The total amount of dividends, options premium and interest I received this month was $1,351.49. Another all time high! This is the most income my accounts have generated in a month. Compared to March 2021 in which the accounts generated $528.80, this is a 155% increase! For the year, I have received $3,199.34 in combined income.
Debt
This month my total debt went down by $738.81. This puts me at 12.7% of the way to reaching my goal of having less $100,000 of debt by the end of the year.
Traditional IRA
The Traditional IRA finished the month at about $123,994. This is up $2,770 over the previous month. Year over year, the account is up $12,999 from March 2021. The projected annual dividend income (PADI) is $3,634.98. This is down -$268.38 from last month. There are a couple of reasons for the significant drop in PADI. First, the AT&T (T) dividend reduction is now being calculated into the PADI. Second, I had 100 shares of Kroger Co. (KR) called away which reduced the PADI. I had planned on T dividend cut having a big impact on the PADI but not on the KR shares being called away.
Roth IRA
The Roth IRA finished the month at about $2,995. This is up $473 over the previous month. This includes contributions of $375 this month. Year over year, the account is up $2,646 from March 2021. The PADI is up to $141.49. This is up $26.58 over the previous month.
401k
The 401k finished the month at about $11,442. This is up $403 from the previous month. This includes contributions of about $264 this month. (The second contribution of $264 did not post before the end of the month.) Year over year, the account is up $5,079 from March 2021.
Taxable Brokerage Account
The taxable brokerage account finished the month at about $365. This is up $27 over the previous month. This includes the $25 monthly contribution. Year over year, the account is up $193 from March 2021.
Cryptocurrency
The little bit of bitcoin that I own finished the month at about $23. This is up $3 from the previous month.
Total Investments
The total amount invested is now about $138,819 which is also an all time high! This is up $3,676 from the previous month. Year over year, the total amount invested is up $21,112 from March 2021. All of the positions in the portfolio can be seen by clicking “Portfolios” in the menu above. The combined PADI is now at $3,776.47. The PADI goal for the year is $4,000. This goal had been reached prior to the recent setbacks, but I still believe this goal is well within reach.
Net Worth
My net worth is now about $81,957. Again this is another all time high! This is up $5,576 over last month. My net worth has grown by $49,444 since March 2021.
Conclusion
After the downward trend in the stock markets and my accounts for the first couple of months of the year, it was good to see a positive month. While I am not too concerned with the overall value of the accounts, it is motivating to see the accounts going back up. My main focus is to create enough cash flow from my accounts to pay my expenses. So far this year the cash flow has been better than expected. Options trading is going really well so far this year. I still have a long way to go in order to generate enough income from my accounts to live on but the progress has been great so far this year. That’s it for this month. Thanks for following along!
On a side note, I have added a Recommended Resources in the menu. It currently is a work in progress. It will contain blogs and YouTube channels that I enjoy as well as some sites that I use. I hope you take the time to check it out.
*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 or 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.
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. Who doesn’t want free bitcoin! 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. At the time of writing this post, the promotion is for $50. These promotions vary from time to time but is usually a $10 bonus. If you are interested in M1 Finance and want to support the blog here is my referral link: https://m1.finance/ktIiFeOI5zDr
Varo Bank is one of the banks that I use. From time to time the bank will run promotions. Currently, you can earn up to 3% on your savings with Varo, if you meet certain requirements. If you are interested in checking it out, here is my referral link: https://bank.varomoney.com/signup?r=William360
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.
Wow March was really good to you with record numbers, great work.
Out of curiosity any plans on increasing your emergency fund? Reason I ask is I too only keep 2 months in cash and my reasoning for this is 2 months is enough time to work out things like filing and start collecting unemployment while redirecting my dividends to supplement expenses until I get back on my feet. I have always been of the opinion to put as many dollars to work so having a large emergency cash position always bothered me. For retirement, my current plan is to expand it to 9 months of expenses as emergency cash but until then I’m all-in with markets.
Thanks! March was a really good month.
The plan is to stay with an emergency fund of about two months for now. As I approach retirement I will expand my emergency fund. I have been thinking of expanding it to one year of expenses. I want to have the flexibility to ride out any market downturns and handle any emergencies. Nothing is set in stone yet, but that is my thought process right now.