Weekly Roundup - May 31, 2014

We live in some truly amazing times.  The World Cup will be starting soon and there's a doctor from Brazil that has the audacious plan to have a paralyzed person be able to use a exoskeleton suit and control it with his own mind.  It's truly amazing to think that we are on the cusp of being able to see paralyzed people walk again on their own accord.  You can read the full article at The Dream Kickoff, it's awesome to see the things that people can come up with.

I didn't make any moves in my portfolio this past week although I did finally get my full write up about my recent purchase of YUM Brands.  I wouldn't say it's all that cheap here but they should have a long runway for growth and it's still a decent starting point for a position.  I'll be looking to add on any dips in the future.  I I finally got a chance to start writing again after my time was being filled with checking on my grandfather.  He's been moved to a physical therapy/rehab center so hopefully we can get him walking again and back on his own in a few months.  I'll be glad to go see him again once I'm home this weekend since I had to get back to work.  All the more reason to strive for financial independence.  If I didn't have to rely on employment income I'd be free to spend as much time as I could with my family.  It feels great to get a chance to write some more.  I received a request to do a full analysis on Cracker Barrel and the results from the last few years have been truly amazing.  You can read the full analysis here.



Thanks again to everyone that stopped by, commented or shared posts from Passive-Income-Pursuit this past week.  I truly appreciate it and all of you are so supportive.  But it's really awesome to get to hear all of your stories.  It's always so inspiring.

Now on to the links!

Time Travelling to Prior Crash Predictions by A Wealth of Common Sense - This is an important reminder about all of the calls for crashes and how you just never know when they will come.  There's a huge opportunity cost associated with sitting on cash instead of investing in high quality companies at fair value prices.

Why I'm Quitting My Job to be a Stay-at-home Dad by Luke1428 - I hope to be able to weigh these options myself.  It's a huge step to quit your job, but the best investment you can make in your children is one of the most important.

Dividend Aristocrats You've Never Heard Of by DivHut - There's plenty of well known and well loved companies among the dividend growth community.  Companies like Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Phillip Morris, ExxonMobil and the list goes on and on.  However, with them being so widely owned they normally trade at a premium.  That's why it pays to look elsewhere from time to time for companies with some equally impressive streaks but not nearly the same following.

Transferring Stock from Computershare to TD Ameritrade by Retire Before Dad - Most companies offer a direct stock purchase plan and a dividend reinvestment plan which you can find out about on their investor relations page.  The problem is also it's greatest strength.  It allows for small, regular purchases to dollar cost average into positions.  But you only get to invest in that one company, there's no flexibility should better opportunities arise.  RBD just recently transferred his Verizon shares to a regular brokerage account and the process was quite smooth.

Now is the time by DividendVet - The best time to start investing was yesterday, but since I don't have a time machine yet (if you have one feel free to let me use it) today is the next best time.  Don't waste time coming up with reasons why you can't save and invest because every day spent procrastinating just means you have to save more money in the future to reach the same goal.

We bought a house! by Roadmap2Retire - Congrats again for finding the right house for you and your wife.  I know what it's like trying to buy a house since my wife and I just went through the same thing late last year.  Hopefully the loan officers aren't quite as picky up north as they are down here.

Enough is Enough: You Can Always Make More Money, but You Cannot Make More Time by Dividend Mantra - Jason's story is very inspiring and I know he was the motivation for several blogs that I follow, as well as my own, to improve our financial state in the search of freedom.  I'm looking forward to the day that I'm close enough to FI through dividends or am bringing in enough income on a regular basis that isn't related to my regular job to seriously contemplate making the jump.

New Buy by Income Surfer - Bryan just purchased some shares in a water utility company.  I really like the water utilities compared to the electric utilities because there's plenty of ways to generate electricity but there's no substitute for water.

Financial Independence and Dealing with the Haters by Starting From Zero - Inevitably if you tell the people you know about striving for financial independence, you're going to get the crazy eyes from at least a few people.  Usually followed with concerned comments regarding your sanity and how bored you're going to be.  I think there's two main reasons for the negative backlash associated with financial independence.  One, the concept is very outside the cultural norm as most people subscribe to the 9-5 til 65 and hope you can retire.  And two, I think it's part jealousy that you're even attempting it and they want to bring you down because they can't get there themselves.  Well, can't isn't the word to use, won't make the sacrifice is more like it.

Why it's so hard to get a mortgage according to a loan officer by Financial Samurai - Sam gave us an inside look at one loan officer's thoughts on banks' reluctance with lending out money.  Most of the time when you read about the housing bubble bursting all you hear about is how evil the banks were, but it's nice to get the other side of the story as well to try and paint the full picture.  No one company, agency, or person is responsible because everyone played a part in tearing down the housing market.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Comments

  1. Thanks for the mention, PIP. I thought the loan officers in the US were back to the pre-crisis mode...considering all the recovery in real estate you guys have had. The loan officers have always been a bit tight, but thats what they say. Who knows? The buying frenzy that I see in the real estate market here where people are getting mortgages close to their max ability sure doesnt fill me with confidence.
    We made sure we could easily afford the house and stayed well within our budget...so, Im happy about that :)

    Have a great weekend
    R2R

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  2. Thanks for the mention PIP. I also want to mention that Luke14:28's decision is a tough one.....and I'm glad his family is in a position to have one of them stay home. My wife and I were determined that one of us should be home, once our son was born. She is at home, and we're struggling a little......but, for us it's the right decision. The kiddos are only young once.....and our boy is flourishing.
    -Bryan

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  3. Pursuit,

    Thanks for including me. And glad to be an inspiration...which is exactly why I started my blog in the first place.

    Enjoy your weekend!!

    Best wishes.

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  4. PIP,
    Thank you very much for mentioning my post about the stock transfer. My hope is that it will motivate people to get those transfers done. It's easy to put them off. I've been meaning to do that for a while now!
    Have a great weekend,
    -RBD

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  5. Thanks for including my post JC, have a great weekend.

    Best wishes,
    SFZ

    ReplyDelete

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