Taking Stock of April
April was a fairly good month for my investments. I contributed $330 to my Roth IRA this month, and I contributed an additional $330 to my emergency/summer savings fund on top of the Roth IRA. In my Roth IRA, I received a whopping $0.64 in money market dividends; and in my taxable account I received a $3.25 money market dividend for my savings fund, and a $0.91 dividend for my holdings of Advantage Energy Income Fund (AAV).
On top of all these transactions, the market has had an incredible upwards run over the past couple of weeks; so as a result my balances are looking pretty sweet right now. I have come to view upward trends with much trepidation, however. Not that I am too worried about a major market crash, especially with twenty to thirty years until my retirement. But I have come to love downward trends right at the beginning of the month when I make my Roth IRA contributions and ETF purchases. Now with Dollar Cost Averaging, market timing is a less critical factor for my investment purchases, but it would still be nice to buy my ETFs when they are slightly lower priced rather than at the end of a bull run. But in any case, I plan to follow through with my long-term strategy and to plop down my Roth IRA contribution right at the beginning of the month, regardless of price.
So what does the future hold for next month? I am looking forward to seeing my first distribution payment for my Powershares High Yield Dividend ETF (PEY), and I should be receiving my first distribution for my S&P 500 Index ETF (SPY). In case you haven't figured it out, I personally find stock dividends to be the neatest thing since sliced bread. It is an amazing thing to watch my investments making money for me with no additional labor or effort on my part. And on top of that, when the dividends are reinvested back into the original security, the dividends will get progressively bigger over time. Even though I have only been an investor since January, I am already seeing the power of dividend reinvesting in action in my own distribution payments.
So next month will be business as usual, making contributions to my Roth IRA and to my emergency funds, and watching the dividends come rolling in. I am actually hoping for a downturn in the market soon, so I can get more investment shares for the same dollar amount. I just don't understand all the cheerleading that takes place when the market is on an upward trend. Remember, folks, that the only time you want the market to be up is when you sell!
(Thanks to The Dividend Guy for driving this point home for me.)
