The markets have been in turmoil and I have seen my investments drop by 20%. My standard reply to market volatility has been that I don’t care because I invest in index funds and I am here for the long run. But, to be honest a 20% drop in my holdings has definitely scared the hell out of me. Additionally, a few dividend cuts might be in the offing and I hope it won’t have a major impact on the index fund dividends.
With the stock market reaching all-time I continued to sell some of my positions to compensate for the losses I accumulated over the years. In my days as day trader I was big on pharmaceutical stocks; I did make some money but also accumulated losses. Pharma stocks are super high risks and if they fail to reach clinical trials it is end of the road.
It has been very busy at work and life and I have had no time to write my Q3 dividend update.
Dividend Income
I got $393.56 in dividends in my taxable account and $57.51 in dividends in my Roth IRA. Altogether, I received $451.07 in dividends in 2019 Q3. As compared to 2018 Q3, I had a 26.62% increase in dividends. This is a nice reversal from the downward trend observed in Q2.
I mentioned in my last quarter update that there were some life changes. One of the life changes has been the birth of my son baby DG. It’s an awesome feeling to be a father. He was born small for Gestational Age and had to be constantly monitored for the first 48 hours. He has since gained weight and is healthy. I am happy to grow my family but I also need to look at the financial impacts.
I am a little late on my update. Things have been hectic and it’s hard to find free time. I did not meet my investment goal this quarter. On the contrary I sold a portion of my portfolio. There are two major life changes I am expecting this year (expect a post or two in the future). Given the nature of the change I decided to liquidate some of my portfolio. Additionally, during my highflying day-trader days, I had raked up some major losses (pharma). Some of these companies went bankrupt this year. Taking advantage of these losses, I decided to close out few of my profitable positions. I had to expend some of my investment money for moving expenses, repairs and closing costs. However, I was successful in meeting my investment target for my IRA account.
