I mentioned earlier how we are getting involved with investing. So far, we have a Synchrony high yield savings account, two mutual funds ($5000 total), my husband’s rollover IRA account and we just invested $7,500 in stocks. Since we’re newbies, it was hard coming up with what stocks to buy now that would make us a profit.
I knew I wanted to buy a few dividend-paying stocks. Yes, I resorted to the internet and did a simple search on high-paying dividend stocks. I realize that buying stocks based on online recommendations isn’t always the smartest move, but you have to start somewhere. I’m willing to make a few mistakes along the way in order to better understand how to choose stocks.
As of now, we are up $160 on our mutual funds and $110 on our stocks that we bought just in the past week! I know the market can change suddenly, but I’m happy we’re seeing an upward trend.
One thing we did right away was create a spreadsheet for our stocks. It can be confusing keeping track of everything, so I wanted to have something concrete to keep us on track. The spreadsheet includes what stocks we bought, the price we paid per share, how many shares we bought, what price we will sell the stock at and what our profit will be.
Stocks we bought
Deck Outdoor – 11 shares
Verifone Systems – 40 shares
Dividend-paying stocks we bought
Walmart – 26 shares
Realty Income – 10 shares
Starbucks – 33 shares
Good news – we are up on all of our stocks!
As of now, our dividend payouts will just be reinvested in the stock. We have “goal” prices for all of the stocks except Realty Income. Realty Income pays a monthly dividend so our plan is to stay invested for a while and see what happens. I’ve read a few blogs on how people are able to live off their dividend payouts. How nice would that be?! I’m sure those people have hundreds of thousands of dollars invested, but still! Maybe one day 😉
Keep in mind that I am in no way offering advice on what stocks to buy now, I’m just sharing our experience in the hopes of learning myself and showing others how we’re getting started with investing. Everyone says to invest your money, but no one really tells you how to get started. I plan on doing just that and hope you continue to follow along!
Are you invested in any of the above stocks? Any stock-buying advice for us newbies?!
DC @ Young Adult Money says
atI have not ventured into individual stock investing, at least I haven’t for over 4 years now. I like the idea of dividend-paying stocks because it’s the ultimate passive income. Of course as you said, you will be re-investing the proceeds but it still has the “potential” to be a passive income stream down the road.
Kate @ CashviLle skyline says
atWhen I first started purchasing dividend stocks, someone suggested the website dripinvesting.org. They’ve got a downloadable spreadsheet with the companies who have consistently paid out dividends every year. That may be a good place to start! Looking forward to reading about your journey.
brian @ Debt Discipline says
atNo individual stocks for us yet, but do like the idea of dividend stocks. I think keeping a good mix of varies types is the best way to go.
Charom says
atSarah, (You’re Cute)
If you have time and you’re feeling smart and confident enough to comprehend these two books that I will recommend to you than you will have the intelligences to manage your own portfolio successfully.
Read First: “The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing”
Read Second: “Security Analysis: The Classic 1934 Edition”
sbrooks52111@yahoo.com says
atHi! Thanks for the book recommendations – I will definitely be looking into both of those 🙂
Charom says
atA few rules for investing. (Learning is everything)
1. Keep your portfolio balanced at all times.
2. Don’t invest in individual stocks unless you have done your analysis.
3. Start out with Index Funds.
4. Unless your a day trader you need to hold on to your investment for a least a year before selling them.