Q1 2015 Portfolio Update

Every quarter I’ll update my portfolio. This is my first one. This will give you an idea of exactly the stocks and securities I’m using to make my passive income.

(All Data as of: March 4^th, 2015)

My Portfolio

Here is my total investment portfolio ($270.4k) broken out by sector and sorted by position size, and at the bottom you’ll see fixed income and cash. You’ll also see the tickers for my holdings, the yield, and how that all equates to my monthly passive income ($669.60). This is separate from the checking accounts, savings accounts, and any real assets (house, cars, etc.). In essence, these are assets that make me money.

Highlighted in green is my favorite dividend growth stock for each sector. If you’re building a dividend growth portfolio, I believe the highlighted stocks should be the place to start. If you’re already dividend growth investing, then buy those green stocks right away! “Favorite” to me means a company with strong future prospects, attractive dividend yield, and the ability to grow that dividend for a very long time.

I love every company and position in this list, and would highly recommend them to anybody. As you can see, many positions (particularly in technology) pay no dividend at all. These are all companies that I’m holding because I think their growth prospects are phenomenal, and expect them to be worth many times their value a decade from now.

Watch List

I’m always on the lookout for new companies that can bolster my passive income or growth potential. This list is how I currently order those companies that I’ll invest in next.

I look at some of these companies and I’m amazed I’m not already invested (JNJ, WM, MO, FB, AMZN). I’ll be using new contributions to my portfolio to buy into some of these great companies over the coming quarter.

I use DRIP (Dividend Reinvestment Program) in my Roth IRA, since those positions only pay out like $67 a month. At those low payouts, it would take a year for enough cash to build up (since I’m not adding new cash to my Roth) to buy a new position. I like to buy at least $1k at a time, to lessen the impact of a $10 commission.

In my dividend growth portfolio, I will be adding $11k a year (IRA limit for self and spouse), as well as getting $400/mo in dividends. I allow those dividends to sit as a cash balance, and then I’ll invest in a new position every month or so. Some of these new-fangled no-dividend companies (the second list) will take quite a long time to be purchased, as I’ll only buy them with extra funds that aren’t set aside for dividend growth.

Thoughts This Quarter

I’m generally pleased with my portfolio allocation across cash, fixed income, and equity.

I’m at 7% Cash, 8% Fixed Income, and 85% Equities. That’s pretty aggressive, but I like to think that the quality of many of the companies I’m holding and the recurring payouts from their dividends allows those companies to be safer than your average equity.

I would like to get more heavily weighted in Healthcare. Next up to purchase (see Watchlist, above), will be Johnson & Johnson and AbbVie. Both of these companies have increased their dividends every year for 52 and 42 years, and the yields on both are attractive (2.8% and 3.4%).

The 800-lb. gorilla is obviously the technology position. That has worked well for me for many years, and that big position is largely a result of appreciation (thanks Netflix and Apple!). I’ll always be heavily weighted in Technology, but I could certainly see myself cutting down on some of the more speculative positions over the next few years and push that money into safer, dividend paying stocks. By the time I retire, I’d like to be only 15-20% in technology. I just can’t help myself, there are just too many great tech stocks that I want to be a part of.

That’s it for this quarter. I’d love to hear your thoughts on my allocation and ideas. Thank you for reading!

Eric