Keeping Track of Your Portfolio

If you don't know where you are, financially speaking, it is difficult to make sensible choices. You need to keep an up-to-date idea of your expenditure, your income and the performance of your savings and investments.

Sooner or later you will want to develop tools to keep track of your portfolio of savings and investments, including purchase price and date, yield and - the most important bit of information - how much income they are producing.

Watch Your Cash Flow!

In the financial press, everyone seems to be is shouting "Buy, buy, buy"; so (as usual) you need to be a bit contrary and cautious. One factor you must always consider is: do I have enough ready cash for unexpected expenditure?

Just as businesses need to watch cash flow (or the balance between current expenditure and income), so does the DIY Income Investor.

Keep Calm and Carry On (Earning Passive Income)

It is all 'doom and gloom' in the financial markets. Mr Market is having one of his manic depressive phases, where anything can happen. The computer 'trading robots' - which make up the bulk of trading - are magnifying the swings in sentiment.

But here's the thing: a global financial meltdown is just not going to happen. We may be entering a period of great uncertainty, coupled with high-ish inflation but for DIY Income Investors, the best thing to do might be - do nothing!

As the war-time poster said: Keep Calm and Carry On.

HYP Watch List: Drax (DRX)

Photo: J Brennan
Source

I continue to be on the lookout for good new dividend-paying shares for my High Yield Portfolio. These high-yield shares form Level 6 on the DIY Income Investor Income Pyramid).
Drax is a FTSE 350 company and has a 6.2% yield. It produces 7% of all UK electricity at its coal-powered generation station in Selby, North Yorkshire and is the biggest such power station in western Europe.

Money and the Queen Bee

How do you think about money? Take a few seconds to sum up your thoughts on money. Thought comes before action and the way we visualise money will surely have a fundamental impact on our approach to saving and investing.

I was struggling recently to describe my approach and what popped into my head was...bees!