September… ah September. The leaves are changing and so did my dividend income for the month. It’s a wonderful quarter end, which for me and most investors – typically means a larger than normal month of dividend income to our portfolio. Most of the big blue chip companies pay on the calendar quarter end and I own quite a bit that does so. As the leaves change color and the temperature begins to cool in Ohio, our portfolios heat up with checks coming into our mailbox from all of the wonderful companies that we own. Now… to the numbers!
Dividend Income
This month, I received a total of $779.63. Wow… almost $800 in a single month, not too shabby and am quite a bit happy with this but also mad because I haven’t crossed a certain “bar” yet during a single month (yes, the 4-figure mark).
Bodda Bing, Bodda Boom. $779.63… Just in awe. I had a foundation stock in Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) pay almost $23 this go around – one of our foundation stocks for a dividend portfolio. Then, on the flipside – Emerson (EMR) (whom I recently made a nice chunk purchase of) also is going to be paying me dividends on a going forward basis, one of Bert’s always stocks to buy when you are able to. The wild cards here are BHP Billiton (BBL) – a lot of pressure here and with reinvestment at such low prices – was able to add in over 2 shares on that dividend alone. Additionally – one can see a Shell dividend of $54 up there, which was also enough to purchase approximately 1 additional share, due to the downward pressure on oil and their stocks this year. What’s interesting is Lockheed Martin (LMT) is $7 higher than last year – from just reinvestment and growth alone ($44 to $51 or 16% higher) and that is a similar pattern seen across the board, outside of retirement/ETF/Mutual fund dividend amounts. On a second thought – PRFDX was $10 higher last year, 37% growth (through reinvestment and increases alone), VINIX is $37 higher than last year – due to additional 401K contribtuions, reinvestment and increases. The tough one to swallow was with VGK – $87 last year and approximately $75 this year – lowered a dividend amount, on my European ETF – shocker, with high holdings in oil companies that are in Europe. All in all – great month as my individual companies pay me only had increased, with just the ETF decreasing. Heck, Realty Income (O) was $1.10 higher or 9% higher, due to dividend growth and reinvestment, I’m loving this.
Similarly, I have split out between the individual stock amounts and the retirement accounts, as the ” – R” indicates a Roth IRA dividend (or the furthest column to the right, I forgot the “R” on O). I separate these two, as I like to know what portion of my dividend income is coming from those retirement accounts that I cannot touch until 59.5 (barring any other usage rule I could use). Here, it shows that I received a total of $246.80 or 32% of my income from retirement accounts and the other 68% was from my individual taxable account portfolio. $247 from retirement accounts shows that I’m all ready for my set it and forget it mentality to keep that income going, but given the large amount of income, it’s nice to see almost $534 from individual stocks, this is hilarious. To see my portfolio – one can go to our portfolio summary page.
Comparison
Now, I look back at 2014 September’s total. The total then was $610.18. From a pure percentage stand point, a growth rate of 28%, which as crazy as this seems – I think I can keep that growth going, which computes to a next year amount of $997 for the month. I think I can do it! Possibly with new purchases, new dividend reinvestment and dividend growth – I can do this! 22 different companies paid me this month and I had 17 that paid me last year (due to new purchases). These totals and increases make sense, as last month I recently CRUSHED my way over $6,000 in projected income, as well as purchases into EMR, and even JNJ. Love seeing that amount go up, that’s for sure.
Dividend Income Increases
Decent month of dividend increases. Lockheed Martin (LMT) increased their yield 10% this year, Philip Morris (PM) had a smaller than normal increase at 2% (which can be found in our article over Big Companies, Small dividend increases). However, I need to note this – McDonalds (MCD) has not announced their dividend for the 4th quarter yet, and I am not sure on the board schedule, but they have traditionally in the past always increased in September. Has that ship stopped? Will we see an increase today, October 1st? We’ll find out. All in all – dividend increases have added approximately $27 in forward income, I’ll take it.
Conclusion & Summary
As I discussed back then with my normal monthly expenditures at the moment, this $779 would cover 83% of my average $942 monthly expense for my house, including utilities. This covers my full home mortgage, principal and interest, as well as almost all property taxes and insurance – almost there! All of the investing from last year and moves this year, show being frugal to save 60% of my income help me in achieving lofty goals that I set in place for my 2015 year. I am looking forward to the fourth quarter – best time for dividend income during the year, as almost all of the hard work starts to show in these final 3 months if your company is a quarterly payer and also – a challenge if I could beat my December 2014 dividend income! Thankful and happy to reflect on this month from all of the hardwork. How did your September month’s go? Did you crush your goals? Did you beat last year’s? Anything unusual happen? Please share! Thanks everyone
-Lanny
GO GO GO! Really great to see targets being crushed like that! You’ve had a fab quarter!
Here in the UK, only a handful of stocks pay quarterly, but thanks to my two biggest holdings being two of these select companies, I too had a fantastic September!
Keep up the good work, take advantage of all the volatility to grab more bargains!
Cheers
M,
Thank you SO much for the support! Love that we are all trying to make it happen at the same time. Hope you’re taking advantage of well over there – all the best!
-Lanny
Whoa! That is an incredibly solid month and great growth YOY. It is also nice to see the breakout between your retirement account dividend income and taxable because I’m always curious on people perspectives on how they make that split!
And what a great month of volatility to grab some additional shares through dividend reinvestment!
It PaysDividends
Thank you for the message and post! Means a great deal to me for your words and stopping by. I do like to break it out for retirement and individual it is almost a breakdown of – access to right now and access to years down the road.
I hope the volatility continues – one can only hope and be ready!
-Lanny
Great month Lanny! Covering majority of your mortgage with just dividend income is outstanding. Especially the 28% year over year growth. A bit unfortunate to hear about the ETF, but at least you now see what is growing and what is not. Keep doing what you are doing, you are killing it!
All the best!
DivVet,
Thanks for coming by! I appreciate it. I know – the ETF was a buzz kill, hands down. I tell you what – everything else grew and I feel fairly great about that honestly. Extremely pumped up then for December… that 4 digit mark awaits, eh? Appreciate you coming by and best to you as well!
Lanny,
Sweet stuff. Almost $800 is more than some people make in 2 weeks working hard, but you earned it by being smart. Here’s to some more volatility in the fall, and to downing that with a nice fall beer (probably the best beer season!).
Keep that snow ball rolling!
– Gremlin
Gremlin,
Almost $800… so close, so so close. It’s funny – once you gain a little bit of financial literacy – it can go a long LONG way, hands down. Highly recommend anyone out there to pick up a book and read it – could change your life.
Thank you again – hoping for that volatility as well and sipping on a southern tier PumpKing – my favorite fall beer.
-Lanny
If you love Pumpking you need to try CB’s Harvest Jack Pumpkin beer. Its a small Upstate NY brewery near the Rochester. I imagine its hard to find, but so far its been one of my favorites I’ve tried (in general), and I am not even a huge pumpkin beer guy. I would even go as far to say the beer advocate is under selling it: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/761/98801/?ba=CloudStrife.
– Gremlin
Gremlin,
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll be in Hornell, NY – so maybe they will have it there? Should be there in 4 weeks for work.
Looking forward to it DG, pumped!
-Lanny
Congratulations on the success, 28 % increase is impressive!
– mraitn
Mraitn,
Not too bad – should have been 30% ; ) Kidding asides – I appreciate the kind words, looking forward to the 4th quarter of the year in the dividend income category!
-Lanny
Congrats Lanny! That’s nice stuff 🙂 September was indeed a great month despite the market news that were meant to frighten us! haha!
Keep it up!
Mike
DivGuy,
Love the bad press about the market – keep it coming, right? Perfect time to buy into more opportunity and to keep averaging down on positions that we may have built up over the years (as long as the fundamentals and companies are strong, of course!). Thanks again Mike – can’t believe it’s towards the last few months of 2015 – excited to be back in town (was out of town 7 days straight) and to catch back up on yours and others blogs.
-Lanny
Awesome report Lanny. Wonderful isn’t it? I love these reports. It’s such a high to be receiving money from a passive income source. Only way to get out of the daily grind. Thanks for sharing and I’m happy for your progress and journey. Hope to see many more goals crushed. Cheers buddy.
Hustler,
Thanks for the post! It does feel good, it’s fun to dive in and see what actually hit the account, eh? THanks again for the motivation hustler, talk soon!
-Lanny
Lanny,
Great dividend income there, bud. Covering a good chunk of your household bills already and you’ve only been at it for a few years now. That’s the power of living below your means and investing that excess capital into high-quality dividend growth stocks. Just imagine what another five years will do!
Keep it up, man. Four figures is just around the corner.
Cheers!
Mantra,
Thank you for coming by. It looks weird seeing that amount and then my normal bill amount. Obviously – part of this is retirement funds as I describe above, however, I know there are strategies to use that with reducing any fee or tax burden on gains in case I need to access.
I can’t even imagine what 5 more years will do. I’ve already added almost $1,300 in additional income this year alone going forward, with 3 months really to go. Cannot wait to see what I can do the next few years… my goal is still far away this year, but am pushing to get there. What’s wild is you covered half of my new additions this year in one month – so congrats to you. Cheers!
-Lanny
At this rate you’ll hit that 4 figure mark before you know it and look back at the 3 figure days with fondness 🙂 Seriously, awesome totals from many great companies. We share about a half dozen names for the month. Always nice to be in good company.
DivHut,
When do you think I’ll hit that 4 digit mark? December maybe? It’s killing me! I’ve been fairly close each quarter end.
Thanks again DH – we are all doing well and we have had opportunities to grab more income for less recently, the joys of Mr. Market!
-Lanny
Great job once again Lanny, the growth just keeps on coming. Nearly $800 this month pays some serious bills. Not sure whats going on with MCD, typically they announce in mid September for the December dividend.
Captain,
Thank you very much! But yes- what is going on with MCD, seriously?! Still no word from them, even after the market close yesterday. Stalling something? THeir board meetings this year have all occurred at the same time – EXCEPT for this one… hmmm…
-Lanny
Great job last month Lanny. Very inspiring to read all of these posts to see where my portfolio is headed someday! Take care!
-Adam
Adam,
Thanks for coming by. It is inspiring – gives people something to shoot for, read about who is buying what and who is doing what to get there. All about consistency, balance and strive. Lets go for greatness, we can do it!
-Lanny
Lanny, it’s great to see your progress and motivation. There’s been a lot of blog content centered around EMR which I don’t currently own. Sounds like its a solid choice worth taking a close look at. Keep up the great work, those goals are clearly within sight now, aren’t they?
Dividend Daydreamer
Dividend Daydreamer,
Thank you very much – EMR is awesome at the moment for me. Dividend Aristocrat – yielding over 4.2-4.4%; much higher than historical yield; been increasing dividends for 58+ years… hope that helps?
Thanks again for coming by DD, talk soon and best of luck!
-Lanny
You are killing it Lanny! Trying to keep up with you is tough! My wife and I surpassed the $500 mark for the first time, but like you said, the big quarter ends help a lot especially in the 401K area. The totals seen from a lot of bloggers in the FI community are starting to become quite substantial. It is fun to watch!
Keep up the great work! Stay hungry for FI.
Take care,
ADD