Another Year has Passed - Annual Summary 2014

The fireworks have gone silent, the champagne glas is empty and the new year is upon us. Overall, I'm satisfied with last year and what I have accomplished as an investor and finical blogger. Writing has really helped me to be more disciplined in my approach as well as provided me with valuable insights that have helped me make more informed investment decisions.

The Blogs 
In December, the Swedish blog had about 28,000 page views and a total of about 205 000 page views since its launch in February 2014. It's great that so many have found the blog after less than a year. 

One of my regrets last year was that I didn't have the time to write as much as I would have liked to in english. This blog has had 4 000 page views since its inception in november, not bad though considering my lack of activity. 

The market 2014
For those who like seeing their portfolios grow, 2014 has been a good year and my portfolio increased by 34% (including dividends and excluding new savings). 
It may sound strange, but for us who constantly want to increase our passive income through dividends, the year could have been better. However, I have managed to find buying opportunities during the year and most recently in December.

Purchases during December
During the month I made three purchases.
The first two purchases were of shares in the commodities giant BHP Billiton. The company is traded roughly 8.40 times earnings based on the last four quarters (TTM). Part of the reason for the low valuation is that the company is cyclical and dependent on the price of raw materials, mainly iron ore. I believe the company, even if commodity prices will take a beating even further, has a bright future as iron ore will be in demand year to come.

The fact that the iron ore price is at a 5-year low will cause less profitable mines forced to close down, which in turn will reduce supply and stabilize prices. BHP Billiton is well equipped to handle significantly lower iron ore prices by virtue of its cost efficient mines and its strong balance sheet.

I also made another share purchase in a new company that I will disclose during this month.

Passive income growth during the year
For me and my family time the most precious thing we have. Our goal is that the passive income will give us control over this important resource.

The passive income from dividends increased by 80% during the year. As I'm writing this is the passive income from dividends is equivalent to 2615 dollars and covers approximately 5.67% of our annual cost of living.

This is how far we have come in relation to the first 10 years of our long-term savings goal;

 The chart above shows that we have passed the target for 2014. In other words things are looking good as we face next years challenges.

This is in turn how the passive income has developed month by month during the year.

Thoughts About the Future
I'm not going to try to make any macroeconomic predictions about how the stock market will develop over the course of the year. In that department your guess is as good as mine. I will instead focus on what I can influence - my actions as an investor.

The main goal for 2015 is to achieve a passive income from dividends equivalent to about 3100 dollars.

I will aim to complete the following activities to met the main objective:

• Monthly purchases of dividend stocks at a price below my set price cap.
• Increase the number of companies in the portfolio and further diversify my dividend income.
• Analyze additional companies.
• Review existing stock analyzes and associated valuations.
• Develop the blog further in order to make it more accessible and informative.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, as most value and dividend investors, that we will have a downturn in the market this year, so I can buy quality dividend stocks at affordable prices. Here's to a great 2015!

/Regards Long-Term Investment