Post Your Wins

[Fishindude77]

With growth stocks you have to sell out to take a win, and may never be able to get back in again at the price you purchased it for.

Owning stock is owning a small piece of a company. When a company turns a profit there are only so many things they can do with it; reinvest in the company, reward employees or reward shareholders.
If they are doing all of the above and continuing to build the business, it's a good deal for all. A little short term reduction in stock value means little if you don't intend to sell anytime soon.

[disneysteve]

How do you figure I didn't gain anything in the process? I guess a $4900 check is nothing X (4) annually?

Guessing your rational is that the stock value goes down the amount of dividend that is paid out which is correct

That's exactly what I meant. If the stock was worth $160,000 and paid a 3% dividend of $4,900 (rounding off), you now have $155,100 worth of stock and a check for $4,900. You still only have $160,000 total. There hasn't been any gain, but you still need to pay tax on the dividend.

This is why many investors prefer growth stocks that don't pay dividends. It's more tax efficient because you get to decide when to sell shares rather than being forced to take money out every 3 months whether you need it or not. Also capital gains tax is generally lower than ordinary income tax for many people.

[Fishindude77]

Just remember to set some aside for taxes as that dividend is taxable income even though you didn't actually gain anything in the process.

I sold some stock this morning so there will be a $2,000 capital gains tax bill in the spring.

Fully aware of the tax implications and plan for it. Being retired, our income is not near what it was while working, so taxes aren't horrible.
We take all of our income tax free and settle up at year end. Better to owe them, than letting them use our money all year.

How do you figure I didn't gain anything in the process? I guess a $4900 check is nothing X (4) annually?

Guessing your rational is that the stock value goes down the amount of dividend that is paid out which is correct, but this is a long term play.
Much of this stock was purchased for $15-20 per share range and now trades around $30, it peaked around $40 a couple years ago. There's also the fact that it has consistently returned around 6%, and several years more than double that with special dividends.
Far better returns than a lot of other options. I'm pretty content, continuing to take the dividends.

[disneysteve]

Got a $4900 quarterly dividend from a stock that we own today.
I typically cash these checks and keep the cash for spending money.

Just remember to set some aside for taxes as that dividend is taxable income even though you didn't actually gain anything in the process.

I sold some stock this morning so there will be a $2,000 capital gains tax bill in the spring.

[james.hendrickson]

Got a $4900 quarterly dividend from a stock that we own today.
I typically cash these checks and keep the cash for spending money.

Great work! Nothing like a nice fat quarterly check.

[Fishindude77]

Got a $4900 quarterly dividend from a stock that we own today.
I typically cash these checks and keep the cash for spending money.

[disneysteve]

I cancelled my disability insurance yesterday. Now that I'm retired, I no longer need it. TBH I didn't really need it before that but I was hesitant to cancel it.

My monthly premium was $258.72 so that's a nice bill off the books. $3,100/year less in spending going forward.

Small win today. I got a check from the insurance company for $14.80. Apparently for some overage due to me based on the cancellation date.

[kork13]

We sold my car (7.5 yrs old, 100k miles) to DW's parents, who just returned from a year overseas. It becomes their primary (only) transportation, and cleans up an outstanding item that's needed getting done since I moved to Japan last summer. We agreed to a fair price (basically took KBB's advice, ~$8500), and the money will go into our savings pot for future needs.

The cars we buy here in Japan are old (15-20 y/o) but low-mileage (~50k miles is common), and very cheap ($3k-$5k)... So the sale of my one car more than covers the cost of both cars that we'll ultimately have out here, and then some.

[james.hendrickson]

I donate school supplies every fall. I found out the Dollar General had an ecoupon for $2.00 off when you buy $10.00 in school supplies. So, I bought 8 boxes of pencils and 2 glue sticks.

I went shopping at Dillons and saved $27.00 with sales and coupons.

Woot woot, love coupons.

[crazyliblady]

I donate school supplies every fall. I found out the Dollar General had an ecoupon for $2.00 off when you buy $10.00 in school supplies. So, I bought 8 boxes of pencils and 2 glue sticks.

I went shopping at Dillons and saved $27.00 with sales and coupons. I paid the $27.00 to savings so that I actually save it.

[james.hendrickson]

Here is a frugal win - I went to Fred Meyer (which is my local Kroger) and got a bunch of discount coffee.

Each of these packages of coffee was $3.60 cents- which is fantastic when you consider that a single cup at Starbucks costs $3.05.

The coffee is favored, but given that its so inexpensive, I'm going to be enjoying every drop.

[crazyliblady]

I cancelled my disability insurance yesterday. Now that I'm retired, I no longer need it. TBH I didn't really need it before that but I was hesitant to cancel it.

My monthly premium was $258.72 so that's a nice bill off the books. $3,100/year less in spending going forward.

My husband wants me to get one of those hospital benefit type policies where if you go to the hospital, it pays you X dollars while you are in the hospital. His health coverage is through the veterans administration, so it's not great and not everything is free. I don't know. I am hesitant. I wonder what the exclusions are. I did get both of us accidental death and disability insurance for a total of $19.00 per year through my union.

[crazyliblady]

My mom almost got swept up in Amazon Prime Day fever. She saw an interview on TV with someone from Amazon about a portable carpet cleaner. I was able to access Consumer Reports through my library's web site and conveyed that CR does not recommend any portable carpet cleaners and based on that she decided not to buy. Mom is basically over a cliff financially and hanging on by her fingernails, but she would not have listened if I had just told her she didn't need or couldn't afford it. Fortunately, by referencing a neutral resource she did listen. So library resources for the win yet again!

As a librarian myself, I say thank you for consulting the library. And yay for your mom! That's great! She could rent a Rug Doctor or something like that for occasional cleaning, right?

[james.hendrickson]

I cancelled my disability insurance yesterday. Now that I'm retired, I no longer need it. TBH I didn't really need it before that but I was hesitant to cancel it.

My monthly premium was $258.72 so that's a nice bill off the books. $3,100/year less in spending going forward.

Love it - slash those unnecessary expenses!

[disneysteve]

I cancelled my disability insurance yesterday. Now that I'm retired, I no longer need it. TBH I didn't really need it before that but I was hesitant to cancel it.

My monthly premium was $258.72 so that's a nice bill off the books. $3,100/year less in spending going forward.