My July investment income rose slightly to $90.62 from $89.47 the month before. This was due to a slight rise in the value of my stocks. I did not make any additional investments in July. Part of the reason for the decline in my investment income from its highs earlier this year is that I am now counting only $1000 cash as part of my investment portfolio. I was counting $1500 earlier but after skipping a month of calculating my investment income I forgot how much cash I was counting as part of my investment portfolio. I have decided to keep the figure at $1000 since my amount of cash available has seriously decreased.
Unless the market treats me badly in August I should have an increase in my investment income because I will finally resume adding to my portfolio. This will probably end again in September though because I have a big expense that month.
Disclaimer: This is not my actual investment income. To get this figure I first add up my retirement savings, emergency fund, and any other money I consider permanent savings. What the total of my savings would earn at 6% interest for a month is my monthly investment income. My goal is to get this amount to $1000 a month. If I have $1000 in monthly passive investment income I will be able to retire early.
Grrr. (Biting my tongue)
Andy:
Disclaiming your creative accounting does a frugal cause injustice, unless you’re looking for a career at Enron — oops, too late. They were particularly adept at booking potential sales contracts as actual income, and thanks to them, we got Sarbanes-Oxley and the catalyst of the housing collapse.
Income must be booked – it only counts when you sell the asset. Otherwise, it is only a temporary statement of net worth, easily destroyed then the market tanks.
Please give us real accounting. I’m inspired whenever I read of your blog, secret shopper and other income streams, and as they occasionally amass to real, measurable levels. But give us muddy, wishful, projected, disclaimed figures – well, you might as well be selling Amway.
Finally, I think your $1K retirement income figure is very short-sighted. Our attitudes, needs, and wants change as we age.
I don’t really understand your complaint. My monthly income totals are my actual income that I receive. This is a separate figure the purpose of which is to track how much income my current investments might provide me in retirement. You can see my actual interest and dividend income in my monthly income reports. The 1k figure might change but it provides a consistent goal for now.
At least you are making money unlike many other investors. You should be proud of your earnings. Some investors encountered losses instead of profits in July.
I didn’t know the market went down. It is nice to know that my dividend stocks were better than the market for the month. Overall, though I think they have trailed the market but they don’t go down as much when the market goes down.