Stocks are rarely sold in my portfolio. Once a position is bought, I just receive the dividend and reinvest it quickly. Cash when available in my bank account is deployed when it crosses a certain threshold (i.e. $15K) beyond what I deem a reasonable emergency fund. My condition for selling is mainly when the dividend is in jeopardy or when it's cut, examples in my past include KHC (a food company) and KMI (a pipeline company).
The overall portfolio is climbing steadily since the start of this year. My job assignment has changed in the last few weeks, and at the moment I no longer have to pay housing expenses as I am moving between multiple international sites and living in hotels or temporary locations. This helps increase my contributions quite significantly as all this after tax income is saved for dividend stocks (I used to live in California area which is expensive). Many will spend this extra money if they no longer have to pay for housing, but for me I will use this opportunity to increase my portfolio instead of buying a new car or toys.
The portfolio is going to break $700K soon. This progress comes with high percentage contribution from my salary, dividend reinvestment, saving money from no longer having to pay rent, and the market continuing to move higher. Right now my portfolio contributions are all directed to my taxable account. I no longer use my 401k account as the benefits are not so good now for me. And I want to be able to use my cash and dividend income freely whenever. Retirement age is too far away for me so I rather put all my wealth in taxable accounts.
