Bert’s August Dividend Income Summary

Where does time continue to go? Seriously, this month was one giant blur.  Finally, my wife and I moved into our new house on the final day in August.  In fact, this is the very first article that I wrote in my new residence!   Life comes at you fast, that is for sure.  With the movers gone, the furniture nearly set, I wanted to take some time to review my August dividend income and see how much our family’s dividend income has grown in the last 12 months.  Let’s check out our August dividend income summary!dividend income

August Dividend Income Summary

The dividends are tallied folks!  In August, my wife and I received $278.51 in dividends from 10 different companies.  This represents a 61.59% increase from August 2016! I’ve mentioned this every month, but I did not start tracking my wife’s dividend income until 2017 since we were not married until the middle of 2016.  2017 represents the first year that I am reporting our combined finances and therefore, I also show the year over year comparison of just the dividends I received in my investment account to provide an apple to apples comparison to the figures I reported here on this website last year.  When comparing my dividend income totals compared to last year, I saw my total dividend income total increase 14.15% compared to the prior year. I am very happy that I was able to muster a double-digit increase without the help of my wife.   Here is a detailed breakdown of the 10 companies that paid us this month:

Here are some of the highlights from the table above:

  • Compared to August 2016, I received dividends from two new positions: Realty Income (Purchased in 2016) and CVS (purchased in 2017).
  • Two companies on this list increased their dividend since our last dividend payment in May.  Realty Income increased their monthly dividend from $.2110/share to $.2115/share and Caterpillar increased their quarterly dividend from $.77/share to $/78/share.  The impacts did not have that significant of an impact compared to May, but as we all know, it is always nice to receive a dividend increase from a company regardless of the size of the increase!
  • My wife continues to barely one-up me in our fake competition about who receives the larger AT&T dividend (for the record – she has no clue that this competition even exists).  I may just have to buy one more share of AT&T so I can surpass her because she is always going to win this competition unless I add to my position.
  • Adding to my position in PG continues to provide a strong booth to my dividend growth rate.  I’ve recently debated about fortifying the positions in my portfolio rather than adding to new positions to provide an extra bump to the dividend I receive from each company.  It was nice receiving an additional .39 shares of PG, which added $1.07 in annual dividends to my forward income.  This may not seem like a lot, but these small increase from dividend re-investment add up and can make quite the difference in aggregate.

August Portfolio Updates

I’m always excited to discuss and highlight my dividend activity for the month….who doesn’t??  But there were some other moves made in my portfolio outside of re-investing dividends that helped push my annual dividend income forward.

  • I made one purchase during the month.  I added $1,035 to my stake in Cardinal Health after the company’s stock price fell (Purchase summary here).  This added $29.36 to my forward dividend income.
  • Two companies I own Increased their dividend: Kraft-Heinz ($.60/share to $.625/share each quarter) and Canadian Imperial (1.20 CAD to 1.30 CAD).  I wish my CM position was in the same atmosphere as Lanny’s, because I’m jealous of the $4.50 impact CM’s increase had on his portfolio.
  • Our company’s annual salary increases become effective in August.  While I did not increase my annual contribution limit, the increase in salary resulted in an increase in my 401k contribution each paycheck.  I’m going to re-adjust this amount going forward an increase the total once the dust settles from my house moves, but the extra $18 per paycheck that will be contributed will add a nice handful of change to my forward income.  I’ll take it!

Summary

One of these months I am going to beat Lanny.  I know it is going to happen!  All jokes aside, another month has gone by too quickly.   Even though the month passed with a blur, I am excited that my portfolio was constantly working behind the scenes to provide my wife and me with nearly $300 in dividend income.  The automation and ease of dividend investing are some of my favorite aspects.  I leave this month even more excited to unlock cash flow that I had been saving for our move, initial housing projects, and costs to furnish out place.  Luckily the amounts came in under budget and I look forward to putting the extra cash flow to work!  This stressful month is behind me and I enter September with a full head of steam,  ready to kick some butt and take back control of all aspects of life.  Everyone, LETS GO FOR IT and keep on pushing ourselves here so we can reach financial freedom ASAP.

Did you crush it during August?  What was your year over year dividend growth rate?  Are you ready to make a strong push in the final four months of the year?  What stocks are on your radar?

-Bert

43 thoughts on “Bert’s August Dividend Income Summary

  1. Congrats to the move Bert; enjoy your new home! Also nice job on the dividend front as always. Double digit growth is definitely not too bad 🙂
    On my side, I actually sold shares (ouch) to cover a rental apartment purchase. That will surely hurt my dividends on a short term, but hope it’ll have good effect on the overall passive income.

    • Thank you very much Roadrunner. My wife and I are just happy as heck to be in the place and that we are finally able to enjoy all of the hard work we have put into the place. Sure the short term impact will not be fun, but it sounds like you have made a great long term investment and your total passive income picture has not changed significantly. Don’t worry, I’m sure you will get the itch to start dividend investing soon.

      Bert

  2. That bump from PG looks great, and nice to have a couple of new payers for August. You continue to make terrific progress, as indicated by that sweet double digit YoY increase. Congrats on getting into the new house. Time to relax a bit after all the hard work that got you there.

    • Thanks Engineering Dividends! I agree, we could use some relaxing time to catch our breathe and just enjoy what is going on around us. I don’t want to spend so much time focusing on minor things that I don’t get to enjoy the journey along the way. Appreciate the kind words about our portfolio’s progress as well.

      Bert

  3. Congrats on so many things! First the awesome increased from 2016 to 2017 – 61% is huge! And congrats on the house as well. Please share with us the projects you have lined up in the future 🙂

  4. Bert,
    Nice report card there. I too am excited by CM’s increase, they along with BNS, are giving me more change next month – pretty sweet deal with all of the CAD banks really.
    Congrats on the house and finally moving in, now starts the fun – organizing and unpacking. That stuff can drive a person crazy!!
    – Gremlin

    • Gremlin,

      Thank you very much. I think packing was the worst thing. Unpacking isn’t as bad in my opinion because we are going to use this as an opportunity to get rid of stuff and declutter. We have talked about how we are not going to unpack/display things just because we own them. We don’t want to over crowd our place and will not be shy about getting rid of pieces that no longer fit my wife’s style or our new house.

      Take care!

      Bert

  5. Awesome job Bert! I too find it hard to believe how fast the time is going! And congrats on moving into your new house and on the dividend income total and especially your YoY growth. That’s all awesome stuff man. August for me was a great month as well and I saw a record total and good growth, like you. Thanks for sharing and keep it up,
    Passive Income Dude

    • Dan,

      Thank you so much. It is crazy that 2017 is well over halfway completed and will son be setting our 2018 goals. Incredible if you ask me. Glad to see that you set a record and an awesome growth rate. That is what we are talking about. Congrats on realizing great results on your end!

      Bert

  6. Congrats on another awesome month Bert! A 61.59% increase from last year is amazing! I had a good August, but I won’t be able to do a year by year comparison until January. But I don’t want to rush time either lol. Keep up the great work Bert!

    • MDD,

      Thanks! I cannot wait to see your first YOY comparison. That’s when it gets really fun and the results of what you are doing start to hit home. Realizing large YOY growth rates becomes infectious…and then you are hooked! Get ready. Thanks for stopping by.

      Bert

  7. First, congrats on finally making the move! Super solid results as always with or without your wife included in the results. I like the CAH pick up but it seems to have climbed back nicely from its recent lows. Still have an eye on HRL for Sept. or any other name that might come out of left field. Keep up the amazing work! Always motivating.

    • Thanks Divhut! Much appreciated. I think I captured CAH at the perfect time before the recetnt appreciation. I am still showing a loss; however, with the lower cost basis that loss is much lower. I’m happy I pounced on the opportunity when it was presented. HRL is a great company to have your eye on and the stock price has taken a beating recently. Do you have a specific price point in mind?

      Bert

  8. Congratulations on the house, and the dividend increase! I had a great month as well and a huge increase since last year, because my biggest positions are now 100 shares each instead of 25. I collected over $300 including $95 from APU, $64 from OHI, and $49 from T.

    • Thanks Brian! We were excited for both the house and income during the month. Congrats on the great month as well. Quadrupling your positions will definitely result in some insane dividend increases. Especially when one of those positions are AT&T and their HUGE dividend yield. What was your final dividend income total for August?

      Bert

  9. Awesome Bert!
    While my holdings have essentially gone sideways the last few months, the dividends continued to pour in. My wife and I are on a two week Europian vacation, and I know when I get back there will have been multiple dividend payments. What can be better than being paid while on a holiday!

    • Thank you very much Dining! You hit the beauty of dividend investing on the head. Your dividend income is always working for you in the background, regardless of whether you are working, sleeping on a vacation! Where did you go during your trip to Europe?

      Bert

    • Bert – couple days in Florence, then an awesome 4 day cycling trip in Tuscany. Now staying in Salerno until tomorrow (on a ferry to Amalfi Coast as I type this – my wife is going to kill me!!). After tomorrow going to France for a week (Nice and Leon).
      I am counting on my dividend income to help pay for future trips.
      PS – great work on the blog. Love following your progress!

      • Wow, that trip sounds amazing! I’m expecting you to post pictures on your website from the trip. Don’t worry about responding, we don’t want your wife to be too upset with you. Gotta keep your wife happy haha

        Thank you so much for the kind words by the way. We love following your journey as well. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

        Bert

  10. Awesome Bert. It’s nice to see double-digit YOY growth. And Friendly competitions with your wife and Lanny seems kind of fun.

    August was a good month for me too and the stressful parts of my financial life seem to have subsided for now. Congrats on settling into the house. I remember that feeling well.

    • Thanks Dividend Portfolio! It is a blast having some competitions, it makes reporting more fun and some interesting smack talk. I’m glad to hear that some of your stress has subsided, it has for me too now that my move is over and we are in. Looking forward to reading your report.

      Bert

  11. Nice double digit increase. Almost hit that $300 mark too. I recently picked up some O as well so nice seeing that come in monthly. Also, I like the CAH pick up. Great price right now. Would love to add some more and lower my cost basis. That should help with your final push as we go into the last few months of the year. Get pumped for the quarter ending month next!

    • Thanks Dividend Daze! Man we are in lock-step here. Hopefully we can both cross $300 in November! I am very happy that I was able to pounce on the CAH opportunity when it was presented to me and I won’t be afraid to add in the future if the price decides to fall again. Love your spirit and let’s finish the last four months strong! LETS GO!!!

      Bert

    • Doug,

      Yes she was definitely a huge help this month. Her portfolio is stacked during the second month of the quarter for some reason. I love it because it was one of my weaker months. I appreciate the support in my “competition” versus Lanny. This is a David versus Goliath story for sure. I could list a lot of other great references too, but I’ll spare you all from them.

      Thanks for the comment!

      Bert

    • DL,

      Thank you very much! I cannot wait to finish up our income summary and report all the records that have been set. I love seeing personal records and insane growth rates by everyone. It is extremely motivating!

      Bert

  12. Awesome month! The double digit gain without your wife isn’t too shabby but year-over-year with her is incredible. I’d keep her around! 🙂

    I love reading these monthly dividend reports. It seems like nearly everyone has at least double digit increases. That can’t stay sustained forever, but it is nice while it lasts!

    I completely agree with you that another month has gone by too quickly. It will be 2018 before we know it!

    Scott

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