Portfolio Review – July 2018 – International Stock Market Struggles
[This portfolio review about the international stock market may contain affiliate links at no cost to you] The international stock market hasn’t been the best place for investors in the past few years. That trend has continued this year. It was especially clear this month as foreign stocks lagged domestic by quite a bit. That’s sure to cause a stir with my portfolio. It might force my international allocation down despite the fact that I’ve been dipping my toes in the international stock market. Recent purchases have skewed towards bonds and international stocks and that trend may have to continue. The YTD graphic below from Personal Capital tells the story…
Most Vanguard ETF trades will soon be free
The 56 Vanguard ETFs that are currently commission free are getting some new friends in August. Vanguard announced today that they will expand their commission free ETF lineup. This expansion will include ETFs from a variety of competitors. As a result, in August, nearly 1800 ETFs will be commission free on Vanguard. This won’t include certain ETFs that are not seen as long term investing vehicles like leveraged or inverse ETFs. That’s a big boost to the offerings today and another win for investors. Vanguard customers today pay nothing for Vanguard ETFs and mutual funds. Now, they will pay nothing for a variety of other ETFs from competitors. The full…
UnitedHealth Group Dividend Goes Up!
One of my largest holdings, UnitedHealth Group raised their dividend this month. The UnitedHealth Group dividend now stands at $.90. This year’s bump marks a 20% increase over last year. That’s a pretty sweet increase when it comes to a mature large cap company; one that already paid $3 per share in dividends annually. The company has paid a 3 cent annual dividend since 1990. However, it wasn’t until 2010, a few years after I started accumulating my position that they began to raise it. The annual dividend became quarterly with a 50 cent annual payout in 2010. Since then, the company has grown that dividend at a 28% clip…
