For the first half of August the stock market continued the rally that started in July. But then, around the middle of the month both the S&P 500 and NASDAQ tanked hard to finish the month down. As always, I stuck to my plan and kept investing. Let’s take a look at this month’s financial update and see how I did.
Savings
Spending was down this month with no major expenses incurred. The emergency fund continues to be fully funded. My savings rate jumped up to about 28.16% which puts me ahead of my goal to save/invest 25% of my income this year.
Dividends
For the month of August, I received $320.43 in dividends. Compared to August 2021 the amount of dividends received decreased by -$37.57. Year over year, this is about a 10.49% decrease. The year over year decrease is a combination of a few factors. Last year I received dividends from BMY ($19.59) and ABBV ($40.26) but sold out of my pharma positions this year. You can see why I sold out of these stocks here. In addition to not receiving these dividends, I had a couple of options positions in which I received dividends, UMC ($28.86) and PAA ($18.38). While I replaced the majority of the dividends from the positions I no longer have, I did not fully replace the missing dividends. For the year, I have received $2,618.13 in dividends. As a result, I am 65.45% toward my goal of $4,000 in dividends this year.
Options
August was a very good month for collecting options premium. For the month, I collected $756.38 in options premium. This is up compared to August 2021 when I collected $340.88 in options premium. For the year, I have collected $4,182.81 in options premium. As a result, I am 69.71% toward my goal of collecting $6,000 in options premium this year.
Interest
Income from interest this month totaled $26.70 This is up $2.14 over the previous month. For the year, I have received a total of $105.03 in interest income.
Income from Investing and Blog
In August I received a payment for advertising on my blog totaling $100. The total amount of dividends, options premium, interest and blog advertising totaled $1,203.51 for the month of August. When compared to August 2021, my income increased by $500.22 year over year. For the year, the combined income is up to $7,000.97. This works out to be about $875.12 a month, $200.03 a week, or $5.00 per hour based on an 8 hour work day.
Debt
The total amount of debt decreased by $2,493.14 this month. With the emergency fund built back up and spending down this month, I was able to allocate more money to paying down debt. This puts me at 44.12% toward my goal of having less than $100,000 of debt by the end of the year. While I made good progress toward this goal this month, I still remain considerably behind and will have a lot of work to do to reach this goal.
Investing
Traditional IRA
The Traditional IRA finished the month at $111,919.96. As a result, the account value decreased by -$4,556.36 over last month. Year over year, the account value decreased by -$8,028.83 from August 2021. The projected annual dividend income (PADI) decreased to $3,904.61. Over last month, the PADI has decreased by $191.44. The drop in PADI this month can be attributed to my shares of CWH being called away from a covered call that expired in the money. This resulted in a $225 drop in my PADI.
Roth IRA
The Roth IRA finished the month at $4,642.40. As a result, the account value increased by $396.26 over last month. Year over year, the account value increased by $3,816.62 from August 2021. The PADI increased this month to $275.44 which is an increase of $37.21 over last month.
401k
The 401k finished the month at $13,497.70. As a result, this account is up $99.27 from the previous month. Year over year, this account has grown by $4,699.89 since August 2021.
Taxable Brokerage
The taxable brokerage account finished the month at $400.70. As a result, this account is up $9.89 over the previous month. Year over year, this account has gained $67.49 from August 2021. The PADI for this account is $1.65.
Cryptocurrency
The little bit of bitcoin that I own finished the month at $13.16. This is down over $2.00 from the previous month.
Total Investments
The total amount invested is now at $130,473.92. Month over month, the total amount invested decreased by -$4,053.33. Year over year, the total amount invested increased by $568.33 from August 2021. All of the positions I invest in can be seen by clicking “Overall Portfolio” in the menu above.
Net Worth
My net worth fell back down this month to $83,466. As a result, my net worth decreased by -$1,384 from the previous month. Year over year, my net worth has increased by $25,945 from August 2021.
Recap
While this month saw the total amount invested and net worth drop, it was also filled with positives. The income generated from the accounts was very good, especially from options. This month saw my first money generated from ads on my blog. I am on track with my savings goals. I continue to make progress toward my goals in dividends received and paying down debt. While my PADI did take a hit this month, it is just a small blip on the radar and will continue to grow in the future. That’s it for this month’s financial update. Thanks for following along.
*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.
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