Dividends#1

I am interested in building a retirement portfolio with the goal of collecting dividends to cover my living expenses. My goal is for my dividends to be greater then my expenses. I have a plan in place to accomplish this. I plan on reaching my goal in 6 years. I am 53 now. So I will be 59 when I plan to collect dividends. At this time my dividends are being reinvested. I like to see my shares grow.

****** UPDATED AS OF 3/17/13 !!!! I have done extremely well since becoming a member of SA ( about 9 months now). My dividend income is now approximately 25% higher then our projected expenses.

Since, I have such a large position in AGNC (37% of my portfolio), I have now updated my goal to have a dividend ...More income stream in excess of 100% of our projected expenses. I want to have a large cushion of dividend income in case of a large reduction in AGNC's dividend or some other unforseen event that reduces my dividend income stream.

My comments below were made when I first wrote my bio about 9 months ago. Since then I have trimmed my holdings down to 3 stocks, KMR (40% of my portfolio), AGNC (37% of my portfolio) and MO (23% of my portfolio). My portfolio has had a fantastic start to 2013, I am waiting for a pullback in AGNC, so I can add to my position in the next 2 weeks. So, I have surpassed my initial goal,( in 9 months) by concentrating my holdings into higher yielding stocks ( about a 9.5% yield as of today).

My UPDATED GOAL is to have a dividend income 100% higher then our projected expenses (2x greater dividend income then expenses). I plan on reaching my goal by age 57 or sooner. I am now still 53, so within 3-4 years. Wow, that feels better then the original 6 years to reach my financial goals.

I would like to learn more about SDRL,BPT,KMP and AGNC. I own these stocks. I own a few others in the tobacco sector (MO,RAI,PM). I am pretty comfortable with the tobacco stocks.

My concern is about AGNC,BPT and SDRL. I am concerned about thier dividend in future years.I read about BPT on this site and will be watching and studying. I know the risk is high.

UPDATE: I sold all my KMP and switched to KMR around 7/25 and 7/26/12. I decided to make the switch after reading several articles here at SA. I am now more comfortable with my portfolio. KMR is my largest holding. MO is my second largest.

UPDATE: I sold ALL my BPT before the big sell off, average price around 115. I do not care if it goes to 200, I am more comfortable with MO,PM,RAI,SDRL,KMR and AGNC.

Most recent UPDATE: I sold all my RAI and bought more MO,KMR and AGNC,

I now only own 5 Stocks KMR,MO,AGNC,SDRL and PM.

Latest update: As of 11/30/2012 Sold my PM and used the proceeds to buy KMR, I am now heavily concentrated in KMR, maybe riskier, but the distributions and company history of raising them is outstanding.

So I only own 4 stocks KMR,MO,AGNC and SDRL. I am comfortable with my portfolio at this time.

12/7/12 As of this date I sold all my SDRL position. I now only own KMR,MO and AGNC going into 2013. I feel these three stocks will provide me with the best and safest dividend return that I can reinvest into my accounts. AGNC is the risky one, however I believe it gives me more value then it takes. I believe the risk is worth the 16% dividend. I will keep my eye on AGNC. I believe it will continue to generate a good return in 2013 and beyond.

I am confident and comfortable with these three stocks. I am looking forward to reinvesting my AGNC and MO cash dividends in my Retirement accounts. Also, looking forward to receiving KMR share distributions and increasing my shares in my Retirement accounts and my brokerage account. Saving and building a Retirement portfolio is a challenge.