Is it working?

My IRA accounts hit the same value this week that they held in February 2014 and September 2015.
I am calm. I didn't sell anything. I didn't rebalance. I didn't do anything other than resist the temptation to feel bad that most of the stocks I own are on sale. As usual, I don't have cash to put to work. I deployed what I had last month.

I checked the dividend performance;  $37,552 in the last 12 months. In addition, the 401k paid out around $6564, for a total of $44,116

New 401k contributions in 2016 will give me about $1650 in dividends. I can expect the existing holdings to raise dividends around 5%.   Also, reinvestment will produce an additional $ 1350. That would mean that 2016 dividends could top $49,000.  That would be an 11% increase in dividend income from all sources.

It seems like the strategy is working. It's important to realize that the new 401k contributions and the reinvested dividends will add about 7% to my share count.  The DRIP adds 3.7% and new purchases closer to 5%. If dividend growth and the compounding throw in another 2% or so, it'll take me to the goal.

That is why I am calm. I should be downright happy, since at lower prices I'll be buying shares at a discount. However, I'll be buying across 2016 and who knows what prices will do in that interval. I could also see 1-2% shaved off it one or more companies melts down like KMI and TGP did in '15.

How will I feel if we enter a bear market and valuations drop further? What if the economy dips back into recession?  What will happen if every dividend payout freezes and my dividend growth is limited to new purchases, or 5%.  Provided I'm able to contribute to the 401k similarly to previous years, I can't see a likely scenario where dividend cash flow will diminish in the next year. Valuations may vary, but cash flow should remain positive and increase.  That's a sign of a healthy business. My little retirement conglomerate is producing revenue and profits. Because I plow all profits back into the business, I can expect 7-10% composite growth in the business due to new investment and reinvestment of dividends. I can live with that.

There is a huge temptation to listen to the popular press follow the ticker tape and feel glum about current volatility and short term declines in the stock market indices. Tuning it out is nearly impossible. Bargain shopping for great companies in the coming months should help counter some of the tendency towards angst.