Weekend Reading – October 8, 2011

It’s been a whirlwind week. Sometimes, the time passes by so fast that it saddens me. I can think of few things more important than savoring every minute, because once time passes you by…once a moment is gone, you’ll never have it back again. We need to look no further than the recent death of Steve Jobs to realize that. The next moment is never promised to you. Life is a precious gift, and one that should not be wasted or given away. It’s in the loss of people that I find renewed energy and motivation to continue doing what I’m doing.

But, enough about all that. It’s a beautiful weekend, and every moment is precious. I think this evening is going to bring me relaxation and some time away from everything. I’m going to pop in a movie and enjoy the time that I have.

Here are some excellent articles from fellow dividend growth investors, frugalists and personal finance bloggers from the past week.

Dividend Monk’s Three Picks for the Dividend Growth Index
Dividend Monk puts forth his three picks for the Dividend Growth Index. I think it’s a fine group of stocks and I’m personally long WMT. It’s certainly hard to chose just three stocks for certain, but I think we’ve got a great group of companies represented in the Dividend Growth Index.

Getting Serious About Saving
The Wealthy Canadian discusses how important it is to get your savings in gear. I couldn’t agree more. My plan is two-fold: to save more than half my net income and invest in high-quality dividend growth stocks with that difference. I’m currently saving more than half my net income, and investing that money. It’s difficult at times, but I promise the sacrifice is worth it!

Dividend Growth Index Results
The Dividend Guy reviews his three picks for the Dividend Growth Index and also includes a chart with all the picks for the index. There’s a few great picks here, and I’m long KO and INTC. I’d love to buy more KO right now, and it’s currently on my watch list for a pullback so I can add to my existing small position.

Dividend Income – September 2011
The Passive Income Earner shows his dividend income from September. I love seeing posts like this, because it really shows how successful dividend investing can be. Nothing feels better than getting cash deposited into your brokerage account with which you can reinvest or do with what you will. Great stuff. I can only hope to receive this kind of passive income within the next few years.

Being frugal beyond your means
Jacob recently posted this article, which really applies to people who feel like they’re sacrificing too much. Reading this article shifts your focus from sacrificing what you’re not getting by not spending, and instead about what you’re gaining by what you can buy. Once you get used to being frugal, it no longer feels like sacrifice, but instead being less frugal feels wasteful. I think this article really explains how things are all relative to your state of mind. If you’re hellbent on spending money, then anything less is going to be a sacrifice. On the other hand, if you’re absolutely committed to saving money and trying to gain something else (freedom  of your time), then doing anything else seems like a bad idea.

How to choose between dividend stocks?
DGI discusses his entry criteria and some of the metrics he looks for before investing in dividend growth stocks. Using factors like current valuation, dividend sustainability and EPS growth he put together a list of six stocks he’s currently looking at. It sounds like he’s most interested in PEP, WMT and MCD. I think WMT is very attractive at current levels, and I’m also looking at PEP. What do you think?

Dividend Income Progress Update – September 2011
D4L reviews his dividend income and some of his recent purchases. It goes without saying that these numbers are absolutely huge, and it’ll be a very long time before I approach this kind of success with my portfolio. His recent purchases are recent, and I also recently purchased COP and AFL. Great stuff! I’m glad to be in the same company.

My Own Advisor’s Three Picks for the Dividend Growth Index
My Own Advisor lists his three picks for the Dividend Growth Index and they’re pretty solid. A couple of the companies I’m fairly unfamiliar with, but I’m long ABT and a huge fan of the company. I think ABT is a solid buy at or under $50 per share and I look forward to adding to my existing position as capital and allocation allows. We’ve got some great companies that are part of the Dividend Growth Index!

The Weekly Lineup: FinCon11 Edition
The Dividend Ninja discusses his recent trip to the Financial Bloggers Conference in Chicago. It sounds like he had a great time and really learned some cool new information on how to maximize online income. He also recently become a contributing editor for Canadian MoneySaver magazine! Congrats, Ninja.

Retire Young in Costa Rica – Interview with Author Nadine Hays Pisani
Jet Set Citizen has a great article here with an author who retired young to Costa Rica. As time goes on, these kinds of interviews and stories become more and more interesting to me. I ask myself, “if she can do it, why can’t I?”. I can’t really think of a good reason why not, so I certainly think this is plausible. I wrote recently about moving to the Philippines to retire young because it’s very cheap, the people are friendly and English is widely spoken. How realistic something like this is has a lot to do with your mindset and motivation levels. The biggest obstacle, in my opinion, is the prohibitive cost of flights to and from to visit family.

Thanks for reading.

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5 Comments

  1. DM,

    Thank you for including me in your weekly reviews. I find your goals of early retirement and the execution of these goals very inspirational.

    I hope your portfolio can break 6 figures in 2012.

    Dividend Growth Investor

  2. DGI,

    No problem. Thanks for visiting!

    I appreciate your support and encouragement. It means a lot. I find your journey equally inspirational.

    I’m not sure about breaking 6 figures in 2012. I think even with a market rally and optimistic capital additions I could be as high as $80k by the end of 2012, but that would be a stretch. At any rate, it’ll be fun to see where it goes.

    Best regards!

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