Investing Experiment

Hello reader! I hope this post finds you well.

Like a lot of people who want a good retirement, I have started to read more financial news in hopes of picking up some tips on how to make good investments. I hold some ETFs that give either quarter or bi-annual dividends. I invested with the intention to hold on and let them grow, but that doesn't stop my desire to see the numbers increase faster. Thus, I am always looking for new investment strategies.

There was an article on CNN about Global X creating thematic ETFs, which are focused on stocks geared towards a particular crowd, such as the millennials or baby boomers. This lead to further exploration about what Global X and I discovered they have these "superdividend" ETFs, which give out monthly dividends. I did some reading on other stocks with monthly dividends. Turns out there are quite a number. From what I could deduce, these stocks perform worse or the same as the stocks I currently hold. Hindsight is always 20/20 and I am really interested in how they will perform in the future. Unfortunately, I do not have the money to spare to fulfill such an impulsive curiosity. Therefore, I decided to experiment on Investopedia's Stock Simulator.

I joined the "Start with $10,000" game since this would be enough to invest $1000 in each stock that I want to try.

• Strategy 1: Global X Superdivided U.S. ETF (DIV), Realty Income (O), EPR Properities (EPR), LTC Properties (LTC), STAG Industrial (STAG)
• Strategy 2: 3M Co (MMM), Proctor & Gamble (PG), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)

Strategy 1 contains the monthly dividend-giving stocks, that I believe are in stable markets. To the one reading this, please don't quote me on this - I am not an economist who knows the ins and outs of the market.

Strategy 2 contains stocks of well-known big-name corporations that have done really well over time. I have been meaning to invest in these stocks, by grabbing some shares and holding onto them.

Hopefully, I can determine which strategy I should pursue once I have saved enough to put into the stock market. Let the experiment begin!

Updates:
05/17/2016
05/18/2016
05/24/2016 - Added SPG to Strategy 2.
06/09/2016 - Got first monthly dividend.
06/15/2016 - Got more dividends!
06/30/2016 - Update after Brexit.
07/25/2016 - 2 month recap