Since the end of December 2014, the value of my portfolio has dropped 15% (haven't checked the Mkt Val since March). Not many years ago I would be in a panic, but no longer. I've bought shares and during that period, talked my sister into getting rid of all her funds & CD's. I set up a portfolio of DG stocks for her and instead of the 1.8% income she's now getting 4.38% (and it's even grown a bit).
As for my portfolio what I have monitored is the dividend growth for the year, which is up 14.6% over the 7 months compared to last year.
Same here. Absolute value of my portfolio is borderline meaningless to me.
Cannew, since you mentioned it, I had to go back and check. Since the end of December, I'm up 2.9% despite a bunch of red in the gain column of my spreadsheet.
Holy crap! I guess that's what happens when companies keep pi$$ing dividends into the pot since I haven't been able to contribute much this year so far.
A few years ago, I would've panicked just from the headlines. Now it's just adjust around the edges and read some 10-Q/K's. I must admit, I am getting a little edgy because I keep dreaming about all the extra shares I'll be getting as the prices drop.
I do keep an eye on the value of my portfolio. However it's not that meaningfull, what really matters to me is yearly dividend income. And as we all know that is increasing year after year for most (if not all) of us, especially those who reinvest their dividends. I love DGI because it's relatively safe and predictable, I still follow my portfolio almost daily but that is because I enjoy doing it, not because I need to.
Should have mentioned that the portfolio value is still up based on my average cost. The Cdn market has dropped considerably since January, but as we've all mentioned, it's the dividend growth that we watch and appreciate.