Bert’s April Dividend Income Summary

Here we go, here we go!  It is finally May and you know what that means….PLAYOFF BASKETBALL!  But that’s not what I’m excited about today.  One of my favorite part of turning the calendar is taking a few moments to see how I performed in the previous month.  After all, we are all obsessed with numbers and love charting our progress.  So naturally I LOVE putting together my April dividend income summary.  Let’s see the results!

April Dividend Income Summary

This month, I received $175.52  in dividend income, an 18.10% increase compared to last year!  Unlinke March, I received dividends from a limited number of companies during the month.  The chart below provides a detailed summary of the companies that paid me a dividend:

Here is a quick summary and highlights from the month:

• What’s crazy is that I did not receive a dividend from ANY new companies this month compared to last year.  In fact, I actually received dividends from one less company as DWDP changed the month they received paid their dividend.  Luckily, I’ll benefit from this in June!
• It took me seeing this in a chart to realize this trend.  Sure I didn’t receive dividends from any new companies this month.  But the last 12 months were all about building up my current positions.  Over the last 12 months, I added to my  position in CAH, CM, and Realty Income (3 times this year in fact).   Adding to a position you own may not always be  the most glamorous investment move.  However, I cannot argue with the results, or the increased dividend payouts for that sake!

april portfolio news and dividend increases

Well, the April summary didn’t have too much activity.  But that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t able to add to my forward dividend income in other manners.   Starting in January, I started including the following two charts in my article to summarize the forward dividend income I was able to add to my portfolio via dividend increases and portfolio additions.  I’ve really enjoyed reporting this to you this month and it serves as excellent motivation to keep on pushing forward.   The first chart summarizes the impact of dividend increases.

As you can see, I was able to add $66 in forward income by dividend increases alone.   Of course, the majority of this was due to KMI’s insane 60% dividend increase.  We all knew this dividend increase was coming since management announced their intent last year.  But it wasn’t official until the company formally announced the increase in April.  I forgot just how many shares my wife and I own.  Thank goodness I was already sitting down when I learned about this massive increase that added $50.71 to my forward income.   And even though the increases weren’t as spectacular, it was nice to receive dividend increases from the three other legendary companies in my portfolio (PG, JNJ, and IBM).

This second chart shows the additional dividend income I received from various purchases, 401k contributions and HSA contributions during the year.    First, I made two separate stock purchases this month. At the beginning of the month, I purchased PG and SBUX on the same day.  And at the end of the month, Lanny and I both added to our PG positions right before the company increased their dividend and their price fell.   I must say, I’m pretty pumped and excited about my new PG position!

But in this chart, it doesn’t only show that I added forward income from dividend stock purchases.  I also received increased dividends from our maximized 401(k) contributions (which my wife and I started doing this year in fact!) and my maximum HSA contribution.   Last month, I reported an issue with my wife’s contributions post job switch.  After battling with Fidelity, we finally settled the issue and they changed the setting in the system to show that she is once again an employee at her employer.  The issue was that she left the company five years earlier and the system did not re-activate once she returned.  A few phone calls later, and a couple of headaches….BOOM the problem was solved.  The contribution to VIIIX  in the table represents her semi-monthly contribution.

Here is what is crazy, this strategy of maximizing our 401(k) plans is really starting to add up and make a difference.  Now that we are buzzing along, we are automatically going to receive over $70 in forward dividend income from these contributions along.   This is going to be a fun, fun year!

Summary

I cannot believe the year is 33% over.  Where on earth is time flying.  It seems like forever ago that we were purchasing our first house and I was in over my head taking on home projects.  But those were sure some fun days.   Anyway, as I’ve said every month, I’m excited about the progress I have been making over the year.  The impact is real folks and this side hustling and saving every dollar possible mentality is starting to pay off.  I enter May as inspired as ever and look forward to continuing to add to my portfolio.  In fact, I purchased shares of Pepsi on the first day of the month, so I am ready to roll!

How did you perform this month?  What was your dividend growth rate?  Do you maximize your 401(k) contributions as well?  If so, do you invest in index funds as well?  Are you ready to crush it for the rest of the year too?

Bert