Polliesdividend

Dear reader, fellow DGI,

The first quarter of 2017 is already behind us. Wow time really flies when you having fun. So here is my Q1 review letter to my readers. Lets see what the first quarter of 2017 brought. Just as a reminder, see my blog post for my 2017 goals.

With the first quarter 2017 in hindsight, it’s time for a formal quarterly review. Why do I do a quarterly review you ask? Well there are a couple of reasons (besides because its fun to write). By doing my own review periodically it will help me understand whether I’m on course to meeting my goals, or whether I need to change my strategy or tactics.

It also helps me to stay focused on actively managing my Vrijheid Fonds. And I believe it helps me, through reflecting on the past, to be a better DGI.

So lets take a look at my five goals for 2017.

1. Receive €3,100 in dividends during the year of 2017.

In the first quarter I received €673.10 in dividend income. Normally the first quarter of a year is the slowest quarter. So for a slow quarter I’m very happy with this amount of passive income. At the end of the first quarter my projected dividend income for 2017 is €3,027.

If I take a look at the rest of this year, I project at least 4 new stock purchases of about (€ 1,200 or $ 1,500) in 2017. So I will reach this goal for sure.

In Q1 I have donated about €1,517 of fresh capital in my Vrijheid Fonds.

Grade: Passing!

2. Save 40% of my net income in 2017, averaged monthly

As I told you in my 2017 goals Post, I want to save 40% of my income from my day job. This is a high percentage, but I think it will be possible.

Regular visitors of Polliesdividend know this is the same goal as in 2016. Not all my saving will be used for investing. We are saving for some further home improvement or a new house and replacingour car. At the time of writing this post, we haven’t made are mind up: Home improvement of buying a new house.

Of course I pay myself first every month after I receive my pay check (practice what you preach
😉 ). I also save money in our family savings account for holidays, (medical) insurances, emergency fund, etc. Just the normal things!

And we also have a college fund for our kids. This is a separate account, with mutual funds. And you guessed it; this is for putting our kids through college when they are older.

In Q1 of 2017 I have saved a total of 40% of my net income. Yeah, I’m well on my way to achieve this goal.

Grade: Passing!

3. Invest a total of € 7,000 new cash

In order to let my Vrijheid Fonds grow, it needs fresh cash. This quarter I added € 1,517 of fresh capital. And it is ready to invest. Every month I buy a lit bit more than € 100 worth of mutual Funds for my “Safe-haven-sleep-well” part of my Vrijheid Fonds.

So that leaves me with € 1,200 of fresh capital to my Vrijheid Fonds in the first quarter. I haven’t invested this money yet. I’m still doing some research. With some extra donations I think the year-end goal will be achievable. For now, I’m well on my way!

Grade: Passing!

4. Write a least 100 post on Polliesdividend!

When writing my investing decisions down, it helps me to make better decisions. And it also helps me to track my progress. That’s why I started Polliesdividend. And it is still works for me. And besides I’m starting to really like it. Especially when I got feedback from you, my dear readers.

This will be my 21^th! post this year. With my health still being for from perfect, I think this goal will be hard to achieve. But I will do my utmost to write as much posts as possible. But for now, I’m very happy and proud of myself.

But before we go off to my last goal, fist lets take a look at the statistics of my website:

• Number of views in Q1: 6,975
• Number of visitors in Q1: 2,413
• Number of comments in Q1: 99

As you can see, the number of visitors, views and comments has declined since Q1-2016. This has two reasons, first of all, as you frequent readers know, I have been ill since September 2016 and in August 2016 I transformed my free Word press page to Polliesdividend.com.

I believe that I can bend this trend! This year I will set a new view and visitors record!

Top 5 bog posts

Top 5 countries from which people read my blog:

1. The Netherlands
2. USA
3. Germany
4. Spain
5. Belgium

All in all it is been a good first quarter for www.polliesdividend.com.

Grade: Passing!

5. Invest in my self by following a webinar or read a book every quarter.

Stephen Covey called it Sharpen the Saw. I think it is important to keep educate yourself. And of course maintain good health.

For my physical sharpening I have been going to the gym two times a week in this first quarter. My mental sharpening I did by reading two books.

The first book I read was “The snowball effect”. You can read my book review in this blog post over “The snowball effect”.

The second book I read was “The little book that builds wealth”. You can read my book review in this blog post over “The little book that builds wealth”.

Furthermore I followed one webinar about taxes and investing.

And of course I continued to read blogs of fellow DGI’s and articles on Seeking Alpha. This gave me new insights on some investing issues. What a present for me it was!

Grade: Passing!

Key Statistics Vrijheid Fonds:

Some key statistics on my Vrijheid Fonds for the first quarter of 2017:

Net Value: € 82,756
Growth Net value: 4.55% (since 1-1-2017)
Fresh Capital: € 1,511
Dividend Income: € 673,10
Number of stocks: 25
New addition: Mutual fund, 15 JNJ, 6 RDSA (Drip) and 1 UN (Drip).
Number of dividend increases: 8
Percentage Dollar stocks: 52%

Overall the first quarter of 2017 has been a good quarter for my Vrijheid Fonds. I’m passing all my five goals.

How about you? How are you doing with your goals for 2017? Passing or failing?

Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Pollie