2013 Investment Goals Updated at Year End

As 2013 comes to an end, it's time to look back and see how I fared against the goals I set out for my portfolio at the start of the year.

1. Get Rid of Non-Dividend Growers
I'm very happy with the progress I made on this goal. Gone are non-dividend growers such as Power Financial and Transalta. That said, as we start a new year, there's a couple companies I have to keep an eye on (i.e. Western Union and Intel) to ensure they re-start policies to raise dividends. After all, being a dividend growth investor requires companies in my portfolio to actually raise their distributions.

2. Increase my Dividend Income and Total Portfolio Value by 25%
In 2012, I managed to increase dividend income by 45% while increasing my total portfolio value by 34%.  With less proceeds to invest in my portfolio in 2013, I still managed to achieve both goals, increasing dividend income by 37% while increasing my portfolio value by 38%. It helped that the North American markets were up nicely YoY, and the raise in the USD compared to CAD also benefited my portfolio value.

3. Increase my Non-Canadian Investment Holdings from 20% to 25%
In 2013, my non-Canadian (all US stocks at this point) holdings increased from 20% to 28%. I had some very nice gains in US stocks, the rise of the USD vs the CAD helped, and I also sold some Canadian stocks and invested in US companies. With the exception of one USD company I own (Realty Income Corporation), I aim to buy US companies who sell internationally in order to get worldwide diversification in my portfolio.

I had another soft goal of posting once a week in 2013. Sadly, with 44 posts, I didn't meet this goal. Life, work, and relationships got in the way....and I don't regret that at all.

Here's wishing everyone a healthy and prosperous 2014!