I’ve been getting excite to write this post ever since I published my November 2016 dividend income summary. Why? Because December is the BEST DIVIDEND INCOME MONTH OF THE YEAR! Not only do we receive dividends from the majority of companies in our portfolio, but we also receive distributions from our mutual funds. More often than not, the capital gains distributions cause you to fall out of your seat as the number never seems to disappoint, especially when you have been contributing to your 401k throughout the year. Now that it is officially 2017, time for me to perform my final dividend income summary of 2016! Let’s see my December dividend income figures!
December dividend income Total and analysis
In December, I received $1,176.30 in dividend income, which resulted in a 4.79% increase compared to the December dividend income I received in 2015. This is a bitter-sweet total for me, because I couldn’t be happier in the income levels received. Unfortunately though, my streak of topping Lanny in December has officially come to an end as he posted a ridiculous $1,680.33 in dividend income this month. Congrats on the awesome month Lanny and I”m glad to see the positive results of the portfolio strategy adjustment from earlier in the year! Maybe this defeat will motivate me to get of my seat and step up to the plate in 2017. The following table provides a summary of the income received from each holding this month:
The table above shows paints a great picture and does a great job highlighting the major portfolio changes that occurred in 2017. While I won’t summarize every one of them in this article, here are some of the major highlights and things that get me excited about what transpired in December.
- I finally received my first monthly dividend check from Realty Income after I recently purchased shares in everyone’s favorite REIT. I was bummed that I missed the ex-dividend date for the November dividend income when I made the purchase, but in December, I finally got a taste of the monthly dividend that everyone raves about! Honestly, I would love to increase my position throughout 2017 to get the dividend snowball rolling. I’m targeting increasing my position over time to a level that will produce one new share of Realty Income each quarter. Whether I can achieve that in 2017 is to be seen and a lot of it will depend on what the market provides us during the year.
- Last year, my December dividend income was heavily dependent on mutual funds. Of the $1,122.50 dividend income received in December 2015, mutual funds accounted for 77.5% of the total. In December 2016, that ratio was reduced to 65%. The major cause of this was due to the sale of three mutual funds in January 2016 that were invested in Pfizer and a few other individual stocks. I like having a balance so that my income isn’t dependent on receiving large capital gains distributions. We will see if the ratio remains the same as I increase my 401k contributions during the year and continue to purchase or add to my individual stock positions.
- This was the first time I received the full TGT dividend I am expected to receive going forward. I purchased shares in Target twice during the year; however, I just missed the ex-dividend date for the September dividend (seems to be a common theme with my purchases) when I made my second purchase so I had to wait until December to receive the dividend on my full position. In September I received $30 in dividends from TGT and boy it was nice to receive nearly $50 from them and pick up .62 additional shares via dividend re-investment in December.
- Compared to last December, I received dividend income checks from 5 new companies! The one funny one is that we receive a fifth payment from Kraft-Heinz during December and it seems like the company is still trying to figure out which month in the quarter is the best month to pay a dividend! Of the remaining four companies that I received dividends from for the first time, two of the companies were Dividend Aristocrats (TROW and TGT).
December dividend Income Summary
My growth rate wasn’t the best, but I’ll never complain about receiving four figures worth of dividends in a month…how could I?? Seeing months like these serve as the best motivation to continue down this path. One thing I forgot to report was the total dividend incomes received in 2016. With this month, my final count of dividend income in 2016 was $3,478.09, an increase of 4.41% compared to my 2015 total of $3,331.16. nearly $3,500 of truly passive income, where I didn’t have to lift a finger to earn it. Putting your money to work for you, that’s the name of the game here.
I cannot wait to see what 2017 has in store for me, Lanny, and all of us in the dividend investing community. There are so many exciting story lines and things to follow and stocks to monitor during the upcoming year. Where will the stock market go from here? What companies will increase their dividend? Plus, now that my wife and I are going to report our stock portfolios as one versus tracking them separately, I cannot wait to publish our first combined report in January! Our goals are set, we are ready to roll. So everyone, let’s work to make 2017 one for the record books!
How did you December unfold? Was percentage of your income was attributable to mutual funds compared to individual stocks? How many new companies paid you a dividend in December 2016 compared to December 2015?
-Bert