Bert’s December Dividend Income Summary – A New Record!

Well, 2019 is off to quite the start isn’t it?  The market madness that ended the year continued into the beginning of 2019.   Looks like we should expect a fun 2019 after all!   For the last time this year, it is time to review my previous month’s dividend income and assess my performance.   This one was exciting and I had a hunch that a record was looming.  The results were tallied and my thoughts were confirmed.   Time to dive into my December dividend income summary!

dividend income

December Dividend Income Summary

This month, I received $2,519.44 in dividend income.  This represents a 46.10% year-over-year increase!  I wish I could actually do a back flip, because one may be in order here.  This is by far the largest sum of dividend income I’ve receive and it is a personal record!

The following chart provides a detailed breakdown of the individual dividends received.  Please note that a “W” represents a dividend received in my wife’s account.  Here is a detailed listing of the individual dividends received:  

Here are some of my quick thoughts and highlights from the month:

  • One thing stands out right away –  the growth in dividend income from mutual funds.   It has been well documented that this is the first year my wife and I maximized our 401(k) and HSA contributions.  Well, the year is over and the impact was definitely felt the impact.  In the table above, I consolidated the dividends and capital gains distributions from the funds held in our 401(k) and HSA investment accounts.  It shouldn’t be a surprise that these were our two largest contributors to dividend income during the month, the largest of which was one of my 401(k) funds VWNAX.   VWNAX paid me over $1,000 in dividends/capital gains this month.  Four freaking figures.  Of course there is a chance that the capital gains could decrease next year.  But you know what, that sounds like a 2019 problem.  For now, I’m going to enjoy the large increases realized during the month and continue maximizing our contributions in 2019.
  • On an individual holding level, my favorite individual stock dividend was Dominion (D).  Not only was this a new dividend received compared to last year, but we also received a surprise dividend increase announcement from them at the beginning of the month.
  • Okay, so I have a lot of other favorite individual stocks and activity in my portfolio.  D isn’t the only one.  This month, I also received new dividends from Exxon, Muncy Bank, and Tyson.  On top of it, I received larger dividends compared to last year from Realty Income and Consolidated Edison due to additional purchases made throughout the year.
  • Interestingly, this month is not reflective of a lot of the purchases I made during the fourth quarter.  Many of them either missed the ex-dividend date for the December payout or are going to pay me a dividend in the first or second quarter during the month.  I can’t wait for IRM, ABBV, and others to start paying out this year.
  • Last, but not least, two words.  Dividend Increases.  Looking at the chart above, you can see the true power of some of the increases received during the year and the good old-fashioned power of Dividend Re-Investment.

December Dividend Portfolio News and Updates

In this section, I’ll review two different ways that my forward dividend income increased during the month: dividend increases and investment activity.   In the first table I will review dividend increases.

I had anticipated the T and PFE dividend increases, as I wrote about them in my monthly expected dividend increase series before the month.  But the two largest dividend increases announced caught me off-guard and I was pretty excited about them.  Both were 9% increases and added over $22 to my forward dividend income.  Thanks for the unexpected increases D and NWFL!  All in all, I received over $40 in dividend income due to dividend increases in December.

In this second table, I listed all of the additional dividends received from stock purchases and 401(k) contributions.  I’ve written two articles summarizing my stock purchases for the month, so I won’t cover those closely here in this article.  The purchase articles are linked here and here.   The remaining dividend income was due to our 401(k) contributions during the year.  In 2018, I used a flat dividend rate to estimate the additional forward dividend income received.  This month, I will have to update this number once again!   Overall though, purchases and contributions added $233 in forward dividend income!  Not too bad, not too bad.

In total, purchases and dividend increases added $274.20 in annual dividend income.

SUmmary – DEcember Dividend Income

This was an exciting way to end the year.  Each year I have a strong December, but something felt different about this one.   After a fun year of investing, it was nice to see the results of the hours of research, endless phone conversations with Lanny about potential investments, and interactions/ideas from all of you pay off.  I love this community because of the motivation each of you provide me and I am honored to have gotten to know so many of you.  2019 is going to be a blast and some major things are going down this year.  Let’s build upon our successes and continue pushing forward.  I have no clue who to attribute the origins of this quote to, but it’s what is always in the back of my mind when reading about a record.  “Records are meant to be broken.”  All, lets break some freaking records in 2019!  LETS GO.

-Bert

51 thoughts on “Bert’s December Dividend Income Summary – A New Record!

    • Gremlin,

      Thank you very much, I appreciate it. That’s an excellent way to think about it and frame it. There have been a lot of great opportunities and I need to be better about finding different ways to capitalize on them. I’ve still been hesitant in January, but I need to start being more aggressive. Let’s see how this month continues to play out.

      Bert

  1. Hi Bert. Nice figures altough bit too much info and tables 🙂 Y2018 annual dividend result would be nice. MoM comparison is nice but YoY is even better 🙂

    Apart from that all the congrats. And a general question. 2,5k$ isnt that enough to live off? Arn’t you reached FI alread? 🙂

    • P2035,

      I never have actually disclosed the total dividends received during the year. Maybe I’ll find a way to do that in a summary article for the year. Luckily, I compare each month to the same month in the previous year, so you get some sort of a preview with that. You’re right, $2,500 is a lot and I can definitely live off of that. But that’s just one month of the year, I still have room to go to increase my dividend income in each subsequent year.

      Bert

  2. What a month Bert! You really crushed it in December, congrats on a new record! Those amounts from mutual funds are huge. If I understand correctly, these are from your retirement accounts (I’m not very familiar with the US systems of 401(k) and HSA)?
    Well done and keep it rolling in 2019!
    BI

    • BI,

      Thank you very much. Yes, you do understand that correctly, the mutual funds are in my 401k, my wife’s, and my HSA account. HSA is a health savings account, but it will roll over into a retirement account if it isn’t used by retirement age. But at least I can enjoy the tax savings up front.

      Bert

  3. Awesome work, and congrats on that new record!

    I can attest to how great those fund distributions are as my index funds kicked off a massive amount this year and totally blew me away. It is great seeing those YoY increases due to a combination of new capital as well as the raises, and that’s a great month of raises to boost up by $40!

    Maybe we will have to host a DGI version of the old school Disco Demolition Night from the Chicago White Sox with all of the records that will be broken in 2019!

    • DivvyDad,

      Thank you so much. Too kind. I’m really excited t ostop by and read your dividend income summary. I have to see these results first hand.

      And HAHA about the Disco Demolition night comment. I love watching clips of that on TV and think that would be an excellent idea. We can all find old records, write the dollar amount on them, and smash them together.

      Bert

  4. Bert,
    Wow! Usually we only get big growth numbers when divvy income is low and here you are with a significant divvy income ans still crushing that YoY. Absolutely great progress!

    Best of luck,
    -K

    • PIV,

      Sadly, even with a trampoline, I don’t think I could pull it off. Lanny is a different story, he can probably do a standing one. But not me. I’ll just end up doing a reverse belly flop haha

      Bert

  5. Well done for a 2018 finish. Crazy double digit year over year gains and a who’s who of dividend payers. You have set yourself up for a strong 2019 start with your new purchases and coming dividend increases. Here’s to a strong year ahead!

    • Thank you Divhut. You’re right, the list of companies is great and I have seen a lot of those names as I read yours and others dividend income summaries. Let’s crush 2019 and stop messing around here.

      Bert

  6. Solid finish to 2019! It looks like we had 11 names in common for December. $2,500+ in dividends in ONE month is insane, not to mention the 46% YOY increase! Keep it up!

  7. Absolutely happy for you Bert… but just one thing. If you do decide to do a backflip from the happiness, can you please record it so we can all have a laugh. Just kidding mate 😛
    Cheers

    • Thanks Team CF! I’m hoping to put together a 2018 summary over the next few weeks. I still want to iron out the final metrics to measure, but I’m excited to take a look here at my portfolio in greater detail.

      Bert

  8. Well done Bert! $2.5k in dividends in one month is more than I received in total for last year 😀
    But this is motivational material for me. Because one day I’ll (hopefully) see similar results.

    And because our journey is a very long one, it’s so important to celebrate every milestone. Please continue your insane growth rate for next year again!

    If you project your growth rate into the future, how long do you think you have to push on to reach the “crossing point” (passive income = living costs)?

    • Thank you DivRider, thank you! You’re going to get there before you know it. You have the right attitude and drive. My guess is that you’ll be laughing about how quickly you made it there. Enjoy the milestones along the way, don’t marginalize them. And just know that you are going to continue hitting better ones in the future. I have some work to do before reaching the crossing point, but hopefully we have some nice dividend increases that will help me get there a little sooner haha

      Bert

  9. Absolutely stellar results. One can’t argue or complain about a dividend record of that magnitude! It appears that a lot of bloggers broke personal records in December and it just goes to show the power of dividend increases and investing. Keep up the great work and I can’t wait to see what 2019 holds for us.

    • Diligent,

      Thank you! There are a ton of records that were broken this month and I’ve really enjoyed reading about them. It is the fuel I need to keep going. After all, I’m trying to set a new record once again in December 2019!

      Bert

  10. Hi Bert,
    that is truely a great number, especially the YOY increase. I am curious when I am able to reach such numbers, but just need to be patient. Keep up the good work, I am really enjoying reading your Blog!

  11. Thanks for the great info as always!

    Out of curiosity as I am tracking as well—you are counting “periodic capital gains” from mutual funds as dividends, correct? I have never found a good answer as why or why not and just curious to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

    • Thanks Tyler! I am including Capital Gains here. To me, it is a distribution we are receiving from our mutual funds. While it is different than a dividend, the funds were re-invested and I could have taken the cash if needed. But you could probably ask 10 bloggers and get a 50/50 split on your answer. Great question though.

      Bert

  12. Bert you killed. You made every dollar count and slugged the ball deep to left. To get over 45 percent YOY is awesome. You will be pushing $3,000.00 next year and will probably blow it away. start getting lots of dividend increases and wow that can carry a portfolio. Good job keep it up.

  13. Congrats on a fabulous year of DGI, Bert. You are setting a terrific example of how it’s done.
    I’m with you on the amazing dividend increases we saw in 2018. I’d love to see that again in 2019, but that may be too much to ask for.

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