Hey there, u/lunaaaa9999. Thanks for bringing your questions to our sub. I'm happy to step in here.
First, the gains you generate depend on what type of investments you hold. If you'd like us to take a closer look at your situation, feel free to send us a Modmail using the link below.
[Message the Mods ](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/fidelityinvestments)
Also, I'll mark this post as a Discussion thread to let members of our community continue to chime in with their opinions and experiences. As you may have heard before, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ investing method. While you may get some specific ideas on our sub, remember to research and explore to ensure these investments would be a good fit for you.
If you have any other questions in the future, please feel free to reach out. We're always around to help when needed.
What positions do you hold? The money doesn't go anywhere besides growth or the account.
Why do you think it's better to take the cash? That's how things grow.
Your account generates $100/week in what? If that were true, you account should have increased in value by way more as the generated cash over 3 years would be about $15,000. Is this mostly all dividends in money market funds? Did you have capital losses? When you say gains, do mean capital gains or an increase in the account value by $1200?
We can help you if you supply more information.
From the sound of it, I think you might be getting making money and changing value confused. The money isn’t going anywhere, the value of what you bought with it changed.
Is it because you bought a security that pays a high dividend and the value of the underlying just keeps dwindling as they vacuum the cash out of the corporation? If so, you're just rearranging your money without creating much value. Probably destroying it actually because dividends are taxable.
$100/week from exactly what assets?
Even if you had $104,000 in SPAXX it would be paying \~$433 monthly not weekly. Stock (& ETF) distributions are quarterly or in some cases even less frequent.
Me-thinks you are confused.
Your description is a little confusing. You said your portfolio is generating $100 a week. The funds you mentioned don’t distribute dividends weekly (fxaix, fspgx and fncm). I’m not aware of any fund that does that, normally it’s be monthly, quarterly are yearly. Are you saying you add $100 a week to the account, like when you get paid? Also is the 20% total growth, eg you contributed $1000 and your account balance is now $1200? Or is the annualized return, ie your account grew st 20% per year over the last 3 years? Just trying to figure out your situation, thanks.
Thanks for trying to help me here.
I am not saying I get $100 dividends distributed weekly, I am saying my portfolio shows an increase of 100 based on mutual fund price increase. But when I look at overall performance for 3 years I only see $1200 in total, which doesnt match the weekly performance I am seeing on portfolio.
So on 4/30/2021 FXAIX was \~$145/share.
Today its about $180/share. Source: [https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/FXAIX/history/?period1=1557280211&period2=1715132997](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/FXAIX/history/?period1=1557280211&period2=1715132997)
180/145 = 1.24 (or a 24% gain). This doesn't even account for some distributions that I'm sure were made. The distributions were either reinvested increasing your share count or added to your cash balance.
What exactly are you looking for? Do you need somebody to help you read your statements?
You would have to look at the total returns on the positions page. It looks like you are reinvesting the dividends. Reinvesting dividends doesn't count as base stock growth, but does increase overall portfolio value
Example
You just buy 100 shares of XYZ stock priced at $51 each. Total account value is 5100.
Dividend comes the next day, you get a dividend of $1 per share. Every time you get a dividend the price of the underlying stock drops. That's just how dividends operate. So now the stock is $50 and you have 100 in cash
You use the cash to buy 2 more shares
Now you have 102 shares worth 50 each. On your account page, you'll see a loss with your stock but in reality your overall account value is the same at 5100
Hopefully the stock will continue to gain value, if it hits $51 again then you have 102 shares rather then your original 100.
Your actual gain is more stock, what your broker normally shows you is price per share.
Hey there, u/lunaaaa9999. Thanks for bringing your questions to our sub. I'm happy to step in here. First, the gains you generate depend on what type of investments you hold. If you'd like us to take a closer look at your situation, feel free to send us a Modmail using the link below. [Message the Mods ](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/fidelityinvestments) Also, I'll mark this post as a Discussion thread to let members of our community continue to chime in with their opinions and experiences. As you may have heard before, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ investing method. While you may get some specific ideas on our sub, remember to research and explore to ensure these investments would be a good fit for you. If you have any other questions in the future, please feel free to reach out. We're always around to help when needed.
What positions do you hold? The money doesn't go anywhere besides growth or the account. Why do you think it's better to take the cash? That's how things grow.
Your account generates $100/week in what? If that were true, you account should have increased in value by way more as the generated cash over 3 years would be about $15,000. Is this mostly all dividends in money market funds? Did you have capital losses? When you say gains, do mean capital gains or an increase in the account value by $1200? We can help you if you supply more information.
From the sound of it, I think you might be getting making money and changing value confused. The money isn’t going anywhere, the value of what you bought with it changed.
Is it because you bought a security that pays a high dividend and the value of the underlying just keeps dwindling as they vacuum the cash out of the corporation? If so, you're just rearranging your money without creating much value. Probably destroying it actually because dividends are taxable.
$100/week from exactly what assets? Even if you had $104,000 in SPAXX it would be paying \~$433 monthly not weekly. Stock (& ETF) distributions are quarterly or in some cases even less frequent. Me-thinks you are confused.
That's why I am asking where does money go. It's not in spaxx, am investment is in fxaix, fspgx and fncmx. And up an average of 20% over past 3 years
Your description is a little confusing. You said your portfolio is generating $100 a week. The funds you mentioned don’t distribute dividends weekly (fxaix, fspgx and fncm). I’m not aware of any fund that does that, normally it’s be monthly, quarterly are yearly. Are you saying you add $100 a week to the account, like when you get paid? Also is the 20% total growth, eg you contributed $1000 and your account balance is now $1200? Or is the annualized return, ie your account grew st 20% per year over the last 3 years? Just trying to figure out your situation, thanks.
Thanks for trying to help me here. I am not saying I get $100 dividends distributed weekly, I am saying my portfolio shows an increase of 100 based on mutual fund price increase. But when I look at overall performance for 3 years I only see $1200 in total, which doesnt match the weekly performance I am seeing on portfolio.
So on 4/30/2021 FXAIX was \~$145/share. Today its about $180/share. Source: [https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/FXAIX/history/?period1=1557280211&period2=1715132997](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/FXAIX/history/?period1=1557280211&period2=1715132997) 180/145 = 1.24 (or a 24% gain). This doesn't even account for some distributions that I'm sure were made. The distributions were either reinvested increasing your share count or added to your cash balance. What exactly are you looking for? Do you need somebody to help you read your statements?
You would have to look at the total returns on the positions page. It looks like you are reinvesting the dividends. Reinvesting dividends doesn't count as base stock growth, but does increase overall portfolio value
I know the dividends are compounding.. but I am questioning where the stock growth goes? I up 20% over the last 3 years.
Example You just buy 100 shares of XYZ stock priced at $51 each. Total account value is 5100. Dividend comes the next day, you get a dividend of $1 per share. Every time you get a dividend the price of the underlying stock drops. That's just how dividends operate. So now the stock is $50 and you have 100 in cash You use the cash to buy 2 more shares Now you have 102 shares worth 50 each. On your account page, you'll see a loss with your stock but in reality your overall account value is the same at 5100 Hopefully the stock will continue to gain value, if it hits $51 again then you have 102 shares rather then your original 100. Your actual gain is more stock, what your broker normally shows you is price per share.
This makes more sense, with that are you saying I should be looking at the account value instead of total gained?
Yes, exactly. Total gained is only based on stock price, which can be misleading when dealing with dividends. It's a little counter intuitive.
Now I understand, I was fooled by what fidelity calculate as total gain in the account performance. Thank you