Welcome to my review of my 2019 goals. Oh what a year its been. This won’t be a very long post. But, you’ll get a look at how the year has treated Dividend Portfolio. As always, I met some goals and didn’t meet others. But, as the saying goes, life is what happens when you make plans. So, let’s see how I did. As a reminder, I identified my 2019 Goals back in January 2019.
1. Earn $2000 In Forward Annual Dividend Income
As of today’s writing, my forward annual dividends is: $501.79. That’s a far cry from the $2000 I wanted to earn in my forward annual dividend income. The highest my forward annual dividends got to in July was $1512.96 as indicated in my July Dividend Income Report. However, I had to sell stocks in order to afford the down payment on a condo. Therefore, I was unable to reach my goal in 2019.
2. Earn $1500 In Dividend Income Received.
I didn’t reach this goal either. At the time of this writing, the total dividend income I’ve earned is $1042.95. That’s a far cry from the $1500 I was hoping for. Part of the reason why I didn’t reach my goal is because I sold my stocks as mentioned earlier. So, it wasn’t surprising but still, I wish I had met this goal.
3. Contribute a Minimum of $500 to Pay Off My Mortgage Early (Starting March 2019)!
Yes! I met this goal. Every month, I’ve contributed a minimum of $575 to my mortgage. I am currently on track to pay it off within 15 years, which will coincide with my retirement date. The point is that when I retire, I don’t want to have a mortgage. Now, here’s the exciting part, and I don’t want to get too much ahead of myself in this post: But I plan on paying this off much earlier than even what’s currently scheduled.
When I go over my goals for 2020, you will see that a big focus of that will be on getting out of debt. I’m still working finalizing my resolutions, but chances are, I may try to pay-off my car in 2020. If I do that, then I’ll be in a strong position in 2021 to start tackling one of my mortgages.
I’ve debated with myself whether I should pay off my mortgage early or invest. But, if 2019 has taught me anything, it’s that life happens when you make plans. So, I’m finally over that question. The key question for me now is how fast can I pay off all my debts!
4. Save $1500 per month for a downpayment on a house
This goal has been met, as evidenced by the fact that I was able to buy my condo. Now, there’s still a lot to do and I still have yet to close on the condo. I have to buy furniture (another $20k, give or take), and I have to see if the condo will produce positive or negative cash flow. Regardless, my goal is to not declare bankruptcy anytime soon and to make financially smart decisions with my limited income.
Conclusion
I didn’t want this to be a long post. In another post, I will post my 2020 goals or resolutions. I’m still working on them but I anticipate publishing it during the first week of 2020.
How was 2019 for you? Did you meet any of your goals? What do you think of this post? Let me know by commenting below.
Hi, how much free cash flow you estimte from the condo? How much equity did you put there? Good luck with your debt repayment. Personally I invest as my interests are 1,5-2% as i live in EU. As I know interest are much higher in US. I would pay them down also if it was 4-5%.
I’m just hoping to break even p2035. I’ll be lucky if I have cash flow from the condo. It really wasn’t the best deal, but it is what it is. I put 10% down, so I’ll have that much equity – but that of course depends on how much it appraises for. The interest rate isn’t finalized yet but currently it’s about 5.5%. I definitely want to pay off this mortgage but a BIG decision I’m going to have is whether to pay off my other mortgage first. I think I will because that is a smaller balance (less than $200k).
Pay off the debt with highers interest first, simple 🙂 Hmm so its a bit speculative investment on condo hoping for price increase… bad decision. Either way if this is what you dream for its a good decision then 😉 good luck with breaking the even. Will follow that.
Thanks p2035. Not too concerned with speculation, but more so with adequate cash flow. I’m planning on holding the condo for long term (at least 15 years), so definitely not worried about price appreciation at this point.
Pingback: Dividend Income Report - December 2019 - Dividend Portfolio