Thursday, April 28, 2016

April 2016 update ($356,789 +$33,661 or +10%)



Accumulated $4,000 USD as part of my annual saving goal for April
Vanguard Emerging markets (VFEM) is up by $ 706
Vanguard S&P 500 (VUSA) is up by $1,512
Gazprom shares is up by $19,600
Company shares are down by $3,065
Rosneft shares are up by $1,646
iShares Core DAX up by $ 1,389 USD
iShares Emerging markets sovereign bonds ETF is up by $300
iShares Emerging markets corporate bonds ETF is up by $560
GBP is up to USD, for my portfolio it is $211
Precious metals are down by $679
Grand total additions:  $ 33,661

Grand total losses:  none



Observations:
-         Market is recovering I am still down ~ $ 33K in comparison with one year ago, mainly due to the over exposure to the energy sector. However as of today I reached myannual goal of $ 350K .  I hope it will stay  at this mark and I manage to accumulate another $20K before end of the year.  On my way to financial independence I need to focus more on the income generated, that is the most important thing. 
-     Whether portfolio is $350 K or $370 K relatively is of no importance, as much as it pleases the eye.  The plan is to have $10K in dividends by end of the year, which should cover about  10% of our expenses. Every  $30 K in savings would give another 1%.  At the current rate it means I need another $2,700 K  to be financially independent… it will take about 40 years to get there :-). The  compound interest of no real help , as  the returns are fairly low. 

4 comments:

  1. Wow, what a great month. Like every month I'm amazed at your 4k savings - but I'm also horrified about your 100k budget.
    If the house is paid of and we cut some things, we could do with 2k (Euro) a month. So 10k in dividends would be already 40 % for us.

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  2. Hi eurfi,
    Many thanks for reading me. The month was very good, indeed. This was primarily ridden on speculation that Gazprom will double dividends, as new legislation asks to send 50% of profits distributed as dividends.
    Saving $4K a month it is not very difficult, as our family needs are met. If we would earn $100K a year more, we set aside $100K extra. I do not believe that you need to save percentage of your savings, although it is good for building plans and assumptions. It is rarely realistic.
    For example, we are paying $1,2K a month for one child full day care and $0.5K a month for the other (afterschool club, activities, etc.). This is 20% of annual budget, with all other expenses it goes up to 25%. It is likely that even if wife would be able to cover only child care she would work anyway, as in 6 years times kids go to school, but you keep earning some money.
    We did some effort but curtailing our needs, preventing splashing the money. I glad that we did, as this year I have to take a pay cut for about 4 years, while will reduce savings, however we likely to have exactly the same budget. As much as I love financial independence I cannot force my family to live a Spartan life until I absolutely have to.

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  3. Yeah good amount saved for this month. Congrats FI. I look forward to seeing you get closer to financial independence.
    Cheers,
    DFG

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    Replies
    1. Hi Dividend Family Guy,
      Many thanks for stopping by. Financial independence is nowhere near on the horizon, at the current rate of savings. $50K a year gives you about $2K in income. It is a 25-30 year run at the very least, praying consistency. Last 10 years stock market was more of boom-bust , rather consistent growth of any kind. However I am doing my best and see what happens.

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