The Retiree's Dividend Portfolio - Jane's January Update: 4 Reasons Why You Find It Difficult Saving Money

Jane's retirement accounts generated a total of $1,951.21 in dividend income for January 2020 vs. $1,918.17 of dividends in January of 2019.
A total of three companies paid an increased dividend or issued a special dividend during the month of January.
We saw a number of opportunities during the month of January to add to existing positions which are detailed later in the article.
Similar to the Taxable account, we have updated graphs and tables for 2020 to give readers a better idea of how the portfolio has performed over the 2+ years.
For 2020, I estimate that the Traditional IRA will generate an average of $1,116.17/month in dividends while the Roth IRA is estimated to bring in an average of $507.08/month.
The introduction to this article is going to be quite a bit different because it doesn't have a direct connection with John and Jane's Taxable or Retirement accounts. Back in June, I changed from my job where I handled mortgage-backed securities to working for a small credit union where I helped them launch their first true stand-alone branch. I essentially perform the function of a loan officer but have additional responsibilities that include training and underwriting. Prior to my work in mortgage-backed securities, I had 6+ years of experience performing a similar type of work.
As a forward-facing individual, it has reminded me just how bad the average person is when it comes to saving money and what makes it worse is that problem spans every demographic (high-income earners are just as guilty of not saving as those that live below the poverty line). For many, it becomes easier to simply wish that they had an investment portfolio like John and Jane's but it is this type of thinking that I can only set one back further since dreaming what you could have has zero impact when it comes to making those dreams a reality. I want to emphasize that I am also speaking about myself when I mention that the average American does a poor job of saving... Read more