
After 35 years of clocking in and out of work and religiously saving at least 10% annually in my 401K every year, my countdown to financial independence is in sight. Each month is a step closer and let’s look at how this past month is getting me there.
For the month of October I made $3672.03; an increase of 10.93% versus this time last year. This is below my 12.5% goal but still acceptable as most of my new and reinvested funds have been buying stocks that payout in the last month of a quarter.
In October I received 3 dividend raises from ABBV, ARCC & PNW. Together this will add an additional $309.73 to my annual income going forward. The bulk of that comes from ARCC with their large 11.6% raise. Looking at next month AT&T will be the big question mark if they are returning to their traditional November timeframe for announcing a dividend raise.
On the home front I spent my time getting the house ready for winter. Only things I have left to do is change the oil in my snow blower and clean my chimney before I startup the woodstove and wait for that first snowfall.
At work it is time to renew my benefits. Out-of-pocket costs increased 9.16% with a breakdown of each benefit as follows, Medical Insurance +10.45%, Life Insurance +6.1% and Disability Insurance +4.04%.
One last cool thing I love about this month is it changes my retirement calculator. In my new image at the top of the post the years column went from 5 to 4, it is getting real baby!

Date | Symbol | Company | Amount |
10/3/22 | AGR | AVANGRID | $24.34 |
10/3/22 | ALL | ALLSTATE CORP | $5.14 |
10/3/22 | DIVO | AMPLIFY ETF TR CWP ENHANCED DIV | $100.86 |
10/4/22 | GRMN | GARMIN LTD | $77.51 |
10/4/22 | IRM | IRON MTN INC | $500.07 |
10/4/22 | KMB | KIMBERLY-CLARK CORP | $17.37 |
10/6/22 | GSK | GSK PLC | $101.60 |
10/6/22 | TU | TELUS CORPORATION | $56.13 |
10/7/22 | MRK | MERCK &CO. INC | $152.21 |
10/11/22 | BBY | BEST BUY CO INC | $21.38 |
10/13/22 | MPW | MEDICAL PROPERTIES TRUST INC | $208.12 |
10/14/22 | AQN | ALGONQUIN PWR UTILS CORP | $338.60 |
10/14/22 | KBAL | KIMBALL INTERNATIONAL INC | $2.51 |
10/14/22 | LEG | LEGGETT &PLATT INC | $303.42 |
10/14/22 | WPC | WP CAREY INC | $583.13 |
10/17/22 | CPT | CAMDEN PROPERTY TRUST | $14.42 |
10/17/22 | EPR | EPR PROPERTIES | $85.49 |
10/17/22 | PKG | PACKAGING CORP OF AMERICA | $20.15 |
10/19/22 | BCE | BCE INC | $388.63 |
10/20/22 | PSEC | PROSPECT CAP CORP | $98.13 |
10/28/22 | OGE | OGE ENERGY CORP | $147.03 |
10/31/22 | AMNF | ARMANINO FOODS DISTINCTION INC | $44.10 |
10/31/22 | BGS | B&G FOODS INC | $283.29 |
10/31/22 | BNS | BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA | $37.97 |
10/31/22 | NUSI | ETF SER SOLUTIONS NATIONWIDE NASDQ | $15.71 |
10/31/22 | M1 Finance | M1 DIVIDEND GROWTH ACCOUNT | $44.72 |

Almost 3,7k USD in for a single month is great news !! It pleases me to hear that you are beginning to for real see the endline now…
LikeLike
Thank you NLI
LikeLike
Fantastic as always SDG! I can’t wait to get to those levels ourselves. We’re well on our way, but still early in the journey. That’s great seeing your retirement countdown tick down a year and I’m sure it helps to keep you motivated.
LikeLike
Thanks JC, yes it is a motivator. What is interesting is how my investment priorities are changing. Accumulating assets have become a second priority while fine tuning and risk reduction are my top priorities now.
LikeLike
Very inspiring to see the numbers you’re putting up!
LikeLike
Thank you King, lesson learned from myself is not which stocks I have bought over time but having the discipline to regularly invest, know your cash flow, and avoid debt. If you have those 3 ingredients then success is unavoidable.
LikeLike