I can’t believe it’s already time to write another Ultimate Dream fund update, and the last one of 2017! November’s update was really disappointing so I haven’t checked in on my holdings as much throughout December. Not checking so often was actually a good decision! So I’m going to do the same going forward,
As I’ve said previously, our Ultimate Dream Fund is named because it is our dream to retire early, and we need the funds to make that happen! One day, this fund will provide us with the money to live on when we leave our 9-5 jobs and time will be all ours. That’s the biggest motivator for achieving our goal. Being able to spend our time with our family is what we’re doing this for; there’s nothing more meaningful to us than that. So far, having two children instead of one hasn’t had a big impact on our finances, though it is early days.
The dividend income we received in December has already been reinvested so that it is working hard for us. A post will be up on Monday about what we received plus a 2017 roundup. Hint – it’s good! 🙂 Receiving dividends throughout the month means that I get multiple small pay checks each month. For doing nothing! I still love the dividend investing approach. Over time, the percentage reinvested will increase and so the amount needed to be saved from income will decrease, or we’ll be able to speed up the process! All of this is within my stocks and shares ISA which is with Hargreaves Lansdown. It is very easy to use and I’d definitely recommend them.
As of December 31st, our Ultimate Dream Fund looks like this:
Look at that! We’ve blown past the £20,000 mark 🙂 woohoo! And the difference in my ISA is amazing; it just shows what the markets can do from month to month. This is an overall increase of £1,282.59, even though I only put in just over £500 during the month. If only this happened every month 😉
Finally, here is the progress since I started the Ultimate Dream Fund in June 2015:
Looking back at December 2016, the fund stood at £11,487.41. So, by the end of 2017 it has increased by £9,556.73 🙂 whilst not the biggest number, and actually quite a way off the £14,000 we need to be saving each year to meet our early retirement aims, I’m still pleased by that. Better than nothing! And, with increasing dividends and reinvesting those, it should catch up eventually.
How was December and 2017 as a whole for your savings/investing targets?
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