Bank Stock Splits 3:2

Just a quick update to say that my bank stock split 3:2 as of March 1.  I received my new shares earlier this week, and have updated my portfolio page accordingly.  This happened once before, and it worked out pretty well for me then, as the share price gradually rose to where it was before the split.

Other than that, the new job is going well so far; I was able to reconnect with a colleague at the new job with whom I worked with at a previous position, which was nice.

No purchases yet this month, I'm thinking of holding off until next month for a pullback and to build up some capital.

February Dividend Income

Well, another month has passed, its time to see how I did this month with dividend income.  All in all, its been a pretty good month; I started a new job that' going well so far, and I made a good purchase as well.  The markets are so far up right now, I'm not sure that I'm going to make a purchase in March, we'll have to see.  Without further ado, February's Dividend income:

ERH - $53.63
LINE - $442.29
CLMT - $295.74
O - $10.19
Total in taxable account = $801.85

In Roth IRA
ARR - $122.10

Total Dividends Received = $923.95

Wow, what a great month! Much better than last February, or last November even.  March will be a bit of a down month, but hopefully in time, they'll all be good!

Recent Purchase

A lot is going on for me right now.  On Monday, I start my new job (yeah!).  Last Monday, I signed a lease on a new apartment, thats $130 a month cheaper than my current place (yeah!).  In spite of all of this activity, I also made a purchase this week:

I picked up 129 shares of ERH, a closed end fund, for 11.75 a share.  This will provide me with an extra $9.68 a month in dividend income.  This makes me a little bit closer to my goal for the year!

Anyway, looking forward to having a higher salary, living in a cheaper apartment, so that I can get to those investing goals a little sooner!

Upcoming Purchases

Well, I'm going to need to make 2 purchases in the upcoming future, the first one is for my taxable account, the second is for my 401k conversion to an IRA.  I think I pretty much know what I want to purchase for my taxable account, unless there are drastic changes between now and the middle of next week.  For the 401k conversion, I was thinking of creating an IRA at a discount brokerage and buying a few blue chip dividend stocks.  It will be a while still, but does anyone have any thoughts?  I was thinking along the lines of JNJ, PG, MCD, etc.  Which ones are good buys right now?

Recent Purchase

I recently made a purchase for my roth IRA.  I picked up 400 shares of student transportation Inc. (STB):

This company provides school bus transportation to private schools in North America.  It also has relatively small holdings in oil and gas positions.  I purchased the 400 shares at a price of 6.7525 per share.  This position will provide $18.68 per month for my Roth IRA.  I'm happy with this purchase, again, I feel like its a little safer of an investment than a heavily leveraged REIT while providing a good yield, which fits with what I want to accomplish with my roth.

I start my new job on the 27th of February.  I've passed the drug test, my background check is almost complete; its only a matter of time now!

My New Job - A good problem to have

As I've alluded to, at the end of February, I'll be leaving my position at a small biotech startup for a position at one of the largest pharmaceutical companies.  Crunching the numbers, in order to contribute to a roth ira, I'm going to need to max out my 401k so as to lower my modified adjusted growth income (MAGI).  If my dividend income (and income at work for that matter) keeps increasing as it has in the last few years, 2013 will be totally out of the question.  So I guess my question is, is all of this manipulation worth it?  I really don't like 401k's; I'd prefer to just contribute to the match and forget the rest, but I have no problem at all with Roth IRA's, and I'd hate to lose the ability to contribute to it.  What would you do?

January Dividend Income

Another month almost in the books, and its time to update my dividend income for the month.  This has been a great month for me, as I just accepted a position with a major pharmaceutical company as a senior scientist.  This position comes with a hefty raise for me, but just as importantly, is more stable than my current position, and is more interesting to me as well.  On the dividend side, as I alluded to in my last post, it was my BEST MONTH EVER.  Without further ado, my dividend income for January:

Bank Stock - $3354.00
ERH - $53.63
NM - $18.00
O - $10.19
GE - $17.00
CIM - $165.00

Roth IRA
ARR - $122.10

total dividends = $3739.92

Wow!  Man, if I could get this month every month, I'm not sure I'd even bother to work (or at least take an extended vacation).  I know I won't have a month like this again until April, but I'm pretty happy that I'll be able to build up the other months a little quicker with this money, as well as the income from my new position.

Big J