As 2021 winds down, I have been thinking of what my investing focus will be for the next year. In 2021, while my focus was always dividend growth companies, I did not have a specific focus on which investments I would buy. As shown below, the investments made in 2021 were quite varied.
| Investment | % New Money Allocation |
| ABBV | 1.56% |
| AQN | 4.25% |
| BIPC | 1.65% |
| BST | 7.78% |
| CLX | 3.31% |
| DIVO | 2.76% |
| DUK | 0.28% |
| HD | 3.39% |
| JEPI | 14.34% |
| JNJ | 0.55% |
| KO | 1.60% |
| LMT | 5.44% |
| MMM | 0.28% |
| NEP | 6.38% |
| NUSI | 2.76% |
| O | 4.38% |
| PEP | 4.20% |
| PFE | 1.01% |
| PG | 4.39% |
| SCHD | 2.76% |
| T | 0.72% |
| TD | 0.55% |
| TXN | 5.90% |
| UTG | 7.14% |
| VYM | 0.99% |
| VYMI | 2.32% |
| VZ | 4.62% |
| WPC | 4.69% |
This year to keep my focus and make my investing more consistent, I have identified a set of investments that I will be focused on.
| SCHD | 40% |
| DIVO | 15% |
| VYMI | 15% |
| BST | 10% |
| Value Opportunities | 5% |
| Options | 15% |
There are a few reasons for this allocation.
1) Build up these positions to the size of the portfolio I want. Target allocations in my portfolio are 10% SCHD, 5% DIVO, 10% VYMI, and 5% BST.
2) ETFs/CEFs provide a consistent investment returns and diversification.
3) Less time needed to identify specific company valuations.
The four ETFs/CEFs will provide a current dividend yield of 3.93% and SCHD, VYMI, and BST have a 5-year dividend CAGR of over 10%. DIVO is a newer fund and focuses on current income via selling options on the holdings.
The Value Opportunities portion of my allocation will be for identifying discounted stocks due to company news or out of favor holdings. This portion will be used to add to my existing individual holdings as opportunities arise.
The Options allocation will be to build up my covered call and cash secured puts funds to write options on. My goal with this money is to achieve a return on investment of at least 20%. The options premiums will be used to buy additional dividend stocks/funds.
This investment plan will allow more time to focus on life outside of investing while still adding to my dividend stockpile and push towards my goal of FIRE through Dividends.
Excellent portfolio. Have you considered adding a non-US company or ETF?
Thanks for the comment Tom. I have a few international companies like BEPC, UL, TD and such. VYMI is an international dividend-focused ETF so that is where most of my international exposure is.