As a Libra, there is always a tendency for me to always want balance. As a Libra, there is a trait of always wanting to not believe anything without seeing it with their own eyes first. As a Libra, I’m extremely observant.
It’s kind of unusual because there are traits that you read about Libra’s and I can identify with pretty much all of them.
And when things in my life are bit lopsided, it doesn’t bode well with me at all. I crave balance. I need balance. I want balance and I will aim for balance.
And the same goes with investing. I have literally racked my brains trying to figure out what sort of balance I wanted to have as an investor because I’m often seeking balance. If I go to high yield stocks, there is a side that tells myself, “You’re playing things too risky! Stop that!”. And when I go towards growth stocks, there is a side that tells myself, “Yes, these will grow when I grow old, but your dividend payout for the month is hardly anything”.
And in order for me to have that balance, I realize that I need to have that balance as Dividend Growth Investor and a High Yield Investor but I also need to have the balance of investing in Dividend Kings/Aristocrats. Heck, just call it a Libra Investor who wants to find a balance that will be in tune with their life and for me, I need to have a balance of all three.
Is that being a bit OCD?
OK, sure, I have to have my clothing color coordinated in the closet. And yes, sure when I dress up, I like to have certain parts of my clothes, shoes and belt match.
And so, for those who are wondering what I have in my portfolio to help me find a balance.
PORTFOLIO 1:
VTI (Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF) – I chose to invest in the stock market – 80%
QQQ – Invesco QQQ Trust Series – 10%
ARCC – Ares Capital Corp. – 10%
So, yeah… one portfolio focused on the total US market with Large, Mid and Small-Cap Equity diversified across growth and value styles, while QQQ is based on the Nasdaq-100 index and is primarily in technology.
So, why QQQ and not VXUS? Because I invest in international in another portfolio. While I keep QQQ investments in a low percentage. I also like the fact that I can park my money in QQQ and knowing that it really doesn’t dip too badly and it has solid growth.
ARCC is one that I had in the portfolio for the longest time, so I won’t sell it. While I will focus on VTI primarily in this portfolio, I reached where I wanted to go with ARCC and let it DRIP.
PORTFOLIO 2:
DIVIDEND ETFs – I want the dividends but I also would like to see some growth. So, I invest in both high yield and dividend growth ETFs which bring me over a $1000 in dividends.
SCHD -Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF – 40%
QYLD – Global X NASDAQ 100 Covered Call ETF – 22%
RYLD – Global X Russell 2000 Covered Call ETF – 11.5%
NUSI – Nationwide Risk-Managed Income ETF – 6.5%
DIVO – Amplify CWP Enhanced Dividend Income ETF -13.8%
JEPI – JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF – 6.2%
My goal is to grow SCHD to have a much higher percentage. Bump it up to 60%.
PORTFOLIO 3:
Portfolio 3 allows me to invest in only one stock in the eleven sectors. There was one time, I was doing 5 per sector and then 3 and then 2. But I decided, having a portfolio like #2, gives me more diversification. But ETF’s don’t bring me much joy, I need to invest in stocks to make me happy and find the balance of having index stocks, Dividend ETF/High Yield ETFs and then a third portfolio of stocks I want to invest in.
COMMUNICATIONS – VERIZON (VZ), AT&T (T) [Sold]
CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY – Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB), V.F. Corporation [VFC] [Sold, but may jump back in]
CONSUMER STAPLES: Altria Group Inc. (MO), Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) [Sold, but may jump back]
ENERGY: Antero Midstream Corp. (AM), Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) [Sold, but may jump back]
FINANCIALS:Prudential Financial Inc.(PRU), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) [Sold, but may jump back]
HEALTHCARE: Abbvie Inc. (ABBV)
INDUSTRIALS: Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT), 3M Company (MMM) [Sold, but may jump back]
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: Because my first portfolio has a lot of technology, I decided not to invest in Technology any further. If I did, it would be to go back and purchase Broadcom (AVGO) and NVIDIA (NVDA).
MATERIALS: Dow Inc. (DOW), Nucor [NUE] [Sold, but may jump back]
REAL ESTATE: Realty Income Corp. (O), W.P. CAREY (WPC) [Sold, will definitely jump back]
UTILITIES: NextEra Energy (NEE), Southern Co. (SO) [Sold, will jump back] – Although, I’m thinking going for Consolidated Edison [ED]
And this one, I’m going to continually invest and see how they do overtime. To be truthful, I didn’t realize how hard it would be to keep to one, considering I had 2-3 that I really liked in each sector. But in order for me to focus on VTI in portfolio 1, SCDH in portfolio 2, I want to continually compound on the stocks I do have.
PORTFOLIO 4
This is more about index funds and one I call the second emergency fund, something I don’t mind pulling out money if there is an emergency. With VTI being in my IRA, I max it.
So, I invest in another Total Market Fund with Fidelity’s FZROX and have FZILX for Fidelity International Index Fund plus FNILX for Fidelity ZERO Large Cap Index Fund and also FZIPX – Fidelity’s ZERO Extended Market Fund. I bought these four to test them out as they were part of Fidelity’s ZERO EXPENSE RATIO Index Mutual Funds.
I know they are different from Vanguard’s funds, but I wanted to give it a try and see how they performed overall.
Again, this is more of a taxable account that I see as a bank account that appreciates much more, but one that I can take money out now vs. later, unlike my IRA which I will never take money out until retirement.
Sure, it’s not the Warren Buffet way of investing. Nor is it the Bogle way of Investing.
But it’s my style of Libra investing that keeps me feeling calm because it meets my balance of and style of investing. I want dividends now. I want growth later, so I can have both. I want to invest and have a secondary emergency fund if ever I need something in an emergency, I can pull money out if I so desire. And of course, the freedom to invest in single stocks for each sector.
It’s my way of finding balance. Not for everyone. But it’s a style I’m quite fine with.
