Nick Scali was my Most Bought Stock this Year (NCK) ASX

I know I don’t talk much about my individual stocks portfolio on the Money is Choices blog but I thought I would share which stocks I have bought the most this year in 2023. These are not recommendations and I’m not even saying I would still buy them myself right now, I’m simply saying that these were the most bought stocks over the past twelve months.

The reason I choose not to share my portfolio of individual stocks is that I don’t want it to be a recommendation. I don’t recommend my portfolio for others. So I don’t want people to copy it or be influenced by it. My portfolio is right for me and is suited to the levels of risk I’m willing to take.

I’m happy to share my new ETF dividend portfolio here though as I think everyone should be investing in index funds. I don’t care if people copy my ETF portfolio as it’s relatively balanced, diversified and should do well over the next one hundred years!

Number 3: Visa Inc. (V) $1,782

My third most bought stock for 2023 was the American credit card giant Visa. I have bought $1,782 worth of shares and they have increased by about $143 or 8 percent.

Not so long ago when I still had a Cockroach level of wealth I had a credit card debt of almost $20,000. It was overdue and I had debt collectors chasing me but it strengthened my will to turn things around.

It was at this time that I decided to be a free human being. So I started investing $500 into dividend paying stocks EVERY single month, even before I paid my bills. After I paid myself first I then paid as much as I could on my credit card debt and with the remainder I lived frugally.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, this year I have decided to start buying Visa every month. One share of Visa every month to remind me of where I started on this journey towards freedom.

I cut up my credit cards after I paid them off and only own one debit card for making purchases online. So I have decided to treat my purchases of Visa stock each month like a credit card bill. It’s both a reminder of where I have been and a fun way to increase my wealth!

At the moment my bill (the purchase of one V share) is about $258 USD per month and I’m looking forward to it being $1,000 per month! I don’t even think about the value of the stock each month, I just buy my one share and forget about it. It’ll be interesting to see how this little habit is going in 5 years time.

I want to own more than $20,000 worth of Visa Inc. as it’s equal to the amount of credit card debt I once had. Maybe it’s just my ego playing games, but I need to tell credit cards that I won! hehe

Visa is up 24% for the year and up 107% over the past 5 years.

Number 2: Jumbo Interactive Limited (JIN) $2,914

The second most bought stock for the year was the ASX listed Jumbo Interactive with $2,914 worth of shares and I’m down about $14.

A big part of their company is selling lottery tickets through their Oz Lotteries website. They’re an authorized reseller of official Australian lottery games like Powerball, OZ Lotto, Set for Life, Lucky Lotteries, and LotteryWest.

Jumbo also provides the software and/or managed services used for fundraising and charity lotteries in Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada.

The share price is down about 10 percent for the year and is up about 93% over the past 5 years.

This was a new company that I started buying this year and I will probably keep buying in 2024 unless something major changes. I’m thinking of it as a non-core position but I really like the direction they’re heading in.

Number 1: Nick Scali Limited (NCK) $4,251

I know that all of the financial experts, commentators and talking heads have been relentlessly screaming about the coming financial Armageddon and that we should avoid retail, especially non-discretionary retail like furniture, but my most bought stock this year has been the Australian luxury furniture retailer Nick Scali!

Things will probably slow down next year but if interest rates start to come down and new home builders pull their finger out, then it could actually turn into a decent year. Regardless, I want to buy NCK for five years and hold it for at least another five years after that.

It’s another new stock that I have bought this year. I bought about $4,251 worth of shares that are now worth $5,026. That’s about a $775 or 18 percent increase, so I’m happy that I have ignored the pundits.

Today it has a PE of 9.82, pays a fully franked dividend of 6.1%, payout ratio of 60%, 5 year dividend growth rate of 13.40%, return on equity of 56%, return on capital of 24%, the share price is up about 138% over the past 5 years, and NCK has a debt to equity ratio of 176.8%. I would prefer less debt but I guess we can’t have everything.

They retail furniture throughout Australia and New Zealand via the Nick Scali brand and the recently purchased Plush Furniture.

What About ETFs?

I’m fairly new to exchange traded funds or ETFs but if you’ve been reading the Money is Choices blog lately you’ll know that I have started an ETF Portfolio. In my most recent update the portfolio was valued at $6,685 and I’m usually adding $500 or more to it each month.

The initial idea was to set up an automatic investing plan with Vanguard to show people how easy it is to get started with investing. I would then add a small amount to it each month and share how the snowball effect works over time.

But I became really interested in ETFs and have decided that I now want to make more than $2,000 in dividends per year from this portfolio. I only started it in September this year and earned a grand total of $102.68 in dividends for 2023.

The three largest contributions to ETFs and index funds were..

• VHY from Vanguard $2,113 and it has increased by about $98. It’s a high yield ETF of Australian companies.
• IVV from Blackrock’s iShares $1,318 and it has increased by $93. It’s the S&P500 index and will become a core position.
• VGS from Vanguard $1,079 and it has increased by $28. It’s the MSCI Index of about 1500 international shares from 23 countries, excluding Australia.

How about you? Which stock did you allocate the most money to this year? Individual stock and/or ETF.