The month was basically flat.
music selection: “Let’s Groove” — Earth, Wind & Fire
Spending is way over target. I have unplanned expenses for tree removal, fencing repair, and real estate taxes. I can’t realistically meet my spending target for the year now but should come in less than last year. The non-profit gig remains on hold pending social distancing requirements.
ASSETS:
Wells Fargo (taxable): This finished the month down 353 dollars at 18,722. The loss is 1.85% on the month and 35.79% decline year to date. This account also produces $141.00 in monthly distributions, which sweep to my checking. I’ll be looking for more Closed End Funds to buy in that account as funds are available.
Interactive Brokers (taxable): This is down 4,521 on the month to 141,533 which is good for a 3.10% monthly gain. Year to date, I am down here by 23.27%.
Interactive Brokers (tIRA): This account is up 3,609 on the month. The monthly gain is 4.50% and the year to date loss is 49.57%, driven by my 50k distribution to taxable.
Interactive Brokers (Roth): This is up 196 dollars to 6,914. The monthly gain is 2.92%, and the year to date loss is 49.97%, driven by complete losses for shares held long in MRRL.
HSA: This account is up 243 on the period to 10,710. That is a move of 2.32% on the month and 13.47% gain on the year. I had withdrawals for medications.
Checking: Cash is up to 9,663 from 8,534. That is a 13.23% increase from last month and 7.80% loss year to date. Monthly withdrawals from the taxable brokerage are set at 1,500 a month, my target spending.
Coins: I have collectable gold and silver coins worth 5,651, down 596 from last month. That is a 9.54% decline on the month.
Crypto: I recently got started with Coinbase and BlockFI. I earned $10 in free bitcoin for depositing and converting to coin $100. I’ve earned an addition coin in CGLD, MKR, EOS, XLM, COMP, and ALGO for completing short educational videos at Coinbase. You can do the same at the following affiliate link: https://www.coinbase.com/join/dauzat_2kq If you do so, you will earn $10 in free Bitcoin for depositing at least $100 and I will earn the same bonus. (Much appreciated). I think everyone should have a small (not large!) amount of crypto currency as a hedge. My holdings are up 63 dollars on the month from 152 to 216, driven largely by free coin earned at Coinbase.
Total investable assets come to 277,246 down 0.08% from 277,476 last month and down 136,374 year to date or 32.97%.
Don’t forget to see the long term trend at Lizard King’s Transparency Page.
LIABILITIES:
Home: paid
Car: paid
Income tax: I have a 9,865 income tax prepayment asset. This is all held to offset the tax hit from my tIRA conversion to taxable. I will probably need to make an estimated payment in January.
WITHDRAWAL RATE:
I am resuming withdrawals from my taxable investing accounts set to provide a cash income of 18,000 a year. I am going to calculate my withdrawal rate against a tightened budget of (18,000) going forward. Against a liquid net worth of 277,246 that is a withdrawal rate of 6.49%. I gained 6,216 in closed options trades during the month of October and am pacing for covering 245% of 18,000 from options trades. Additionally, my income centric approach to investing includes 12,580 in expected distributions, dividends, and interest for the year or an additional 69.89% of the new budget. Total budget is estimated to be covered by 314.62%. Assuming last year’s spending is necessary, I am still covered. The options performance is picking up and I hope to deploy some profits into more closed end funds with yield to get my passive income back above budget.
SPENDING:
Spending was 3,065 for the month, which is well above the 1,500 target. I had to pay the bill on, home repair, fence repairs, tree removal, and more I’m pacing 1,959/month in spending so far. I can no longer make the spending target for the year and still have two real estate tax payments plus Christmas coming ahead. I should come in well below last year’s spending however.
OTHER INCOME:
I picked up 150 dollars from my efforts on the local Water Board. This plus cash swept from taxable brokerage accounts come to $1,775 on the month. I think I can reasonably keep up a $2,000/month pace but I am trying to belt tighten a little until I can trade my way out of a hole. I am exploring employment opportunities as a contractor or as non-profit personnel. If I can make 20k in a year as a contract (easy?) that seals the deal. I prefer a non-profit even it is doesn’t pay well. I want to feel good about what I am doing.
Devour your prey raptors!
I’d be strongly tempted to just go long a portfolio of the following, which yield more than your WR. Most have options to get a boost while entering the position.
OHI – 9.3%
SBRA – 9.12%
NAVI – 7.99%
NHI – 7.87%
MAA-I – 6.67%
SELF – 6.58%
And best of all, they are generally still way down from the start of the pandemic and could reach pre-pandemic levels as soon as next year, if you can resist the urge to sell calls.
You might be interested in the etf MLPX paying around 10%. Midstream energy is in pretty good shape now after going through a rough couple of years. Discounted Cash Flows are looking good. Div growth looks to be around 5% this year and DCF should be even better next year. IMHO a lot of margin of safety at current prices.
I also like “dividend achiever’s” i.e. stocks that have raised dividends for 10+ years in a row. A good etf for those is PEY with around a 5% yield right now.
Just FYI. $277,246 would buy 12,300 shares of MLPX which would give you income of $2.26 per share for this year, which is $27,798. That income will probably go up 5% every year.
Oil and Gas sector is at historic lows. Midstream energy is a relatively cautious way to take advantage of the historic discounts. MLPX is like 80% C-corps and 20% MLPs. It issues a 1099, not a K-1 and doesn’t pay corporate taxes like etfs/funds that have more than 25% in MLPs.
I own 19,381 shares of PEY and 10,000 shares of MLPX in my taxable account. 2020 income is $37,329.56 which is up roughly 5% from 2019. All qualified dividends. PEY pays monthly, MLPX is quarterly. The ER fees are not super low, but not too bad either, around .50 on each.
I am still working full time in IT for now. Age 44. Don’t own a house but do own a car. Taxable account currently worth around $512k. Have another $78k in 401k and 19+ years vested in a pension, but I can’t access that money until 60+.
Thanks for reading jh!
I already have all the exposure I want to Oil and Gas and in fact am cutting that as the world turns renewable. I hear you on dividend achievers. I’m making my 4th play on an achiever in four weeks today. Article going up soon!
I have a small pension I can collect at 55. Worth about 23k at time of vesting. Not 23k/yr, 23k gross. It is free money though.