Bert’s February Dividend Income Summary

Two months are over in 2018.  Where has time gone?  Seriously, the first two months have 2018 have flown by!  But no matter how busy you are, what you have going on in life, or how many hours you may be working, there is one thing that I love about dividend investing.  Your dividend income is ALWAYS working for you in the background and you barely have to lift a finger to receive the benefits.  Well, February was not different from January or any of the months before it.  Time to dive in to my February Dividend Income summary!

dividend income

February Dividend income summary

This February, my wife and I received $260.93 in dividend income, a  19.82% increased compared to last year!   I’m excited about the 20% increase this month give my single digit dividend growth rate in January.  The chart below summarizes the companies that cut me a dividend check last month.

January was a boring dividend month.  I didn’t receive any dividends from new companies compared to last year and the increase experienced was due to DRIP and nice dividend increases.  Well, that changed in February as a few portfolio moves from 2017 and even early 2018 impacted my results.  First, as I am sure you are all sick of hearing, I have purchased Realty Income three times in 2018.  The first two purchases totaled 28 shares and were made before the ex-dividend date for the February dividend.   Because of this, the dividend income I received from Realty Income nearly doubled compared to January 2017.  Boom!  And I cannot wait until March my dividend income total will reflect my full position post-purchases in 2018.

This one made me laugh, because it felt like ages ago.  I had to do a double-check when I tallied the dividends received from AT&T.  For a brief moment, I could not remember why my dividend income increased so much compared to last year.  Then, after coming back to reality, I remembered that I had purchased 28 shares of AT&T back in the fourth quarter when the company’s price dropped.  The purchase was after their Q4 ex-dividend date, so this was actually the first increased dividend I received from the company post purchase.  Man it was nice to receive over $50 from AT&T this quarter!  Lastly, the increase in CZNC was from the solid 3+% dividend increase I received in January.  Gotta love these dividend increases.

February portfolio news and dividend increases

Last month I debuted two new tables in my monthly summary article and I really enjoyed compiling and including them into the post.   I also received some nice feedback from readers that said they thought the posts added some value, so here they are once again! In this section, I’ll summarizes the dividend increases I received this month and the additional income I received from purchases and 401k/HSA contributions.

 

February continued the streak of strong dividend increases and I was able to see my forward dividend income increase $64 as a result.  I thought I had a good month, but I was not able to come close to the $110 amount that Lanny recorded.  Lanny, congrats my man!   The two largest dividend increases were posted by AFL and TROW.  AFL technically announced their dividend increase in January; however,  I didn’t notice the increase until February, so I included it this month.   TROW’s dividend increase was very nice and thank goodness I have such a large position in the company.   I just wish I also owned PEP, CSCO, and BBL, some of the other major names out there that announced large, double digit dividend growth rates in February!  Regardless, I was happy to see my dividend income increase $64.03 due to dividend increases.

This table shows how much dividend income I added to my forward dividend income from purchases and 401k/HSA contributions.  My final purchase of Realty Income, 20 shares, should add an extra $4/month to my dividend income total and will allow me to buy an additional share each year via DRIP at the current prices.    I’m loving my new semi-monthly 401k contributions, VINIX,  that are a result of our plan to maximize our 401k contributions this year.  VIIIX is the fund my wife will invest to in her 403(b) plan.  However, the amount is minimal this month since it was her first month on the job and I am having issues setting up her contributions into Fidelity.  Unfortunately, time is at a premium in busy season and I have not been able to investigate the issue and will work to fix it in March.  This number should start increasing soon.     I also had to adjust my HSA contributions based on my wife’s new healthcare plan and I will summarize those changes in a separate article.  In total though, purchases and contributions added $87.93 in February.

In total, due to dividend increases and purchases/contributions, I saw my forward dividend income increase $151.96 in this short 28 day month!

Summary

Another very solid month to start the year.  Hopefully the great dividend increases continue and we are all able to benefit going forward.  Now that  March has arrived the quarter is coming to a close, we should all start receiving the benefits from these increases and I cannot wait to see how all of you have done this year as a result.   I know I have loved updating my dividend’s received total just 5-6 days into the month!  Based on my last watch list, I found three great companies that I am ready to pounce on when the right opportunity presents itself.   Adding MO or PEP would be great and I have some capital that I am ready to move before their ex-dividend dates.    Now, let’s all keep pushing forward, keep hustling, and keep on grinding our way towards financial freedom!

How did you perform this month?  What was your growth rate compared to last year?  Did you buy any stocks?  If so, how much did you add to your forward income?  What dividend increases did you receive in February?

Bert

35 thoughts on “Bert’s February Dividend Income Summary

  1. Rock on Bert, great YOY increase and those individual dividend increase per share are pretty nice too. That is almost a week worth of groceries 😉

    • Tom,

      Indeed it is. It is always having someone who is at the same stage of their investing career with you. Solid move and I like the SO addition this month! Congrats on the additional income.

      Bert

  2. Bert,
    Increasing your dividends by $150 / year in one month is huge. I am positive that most people will look at that number and scoff, missing the real growth power you’re putting to work there!
    – Gremlin

  3. What’s really great about that is that dividend increases boosted your forward dividends almost as much as your purchases did. That’s the real power of dividend growth investing right there. In February I used some built up dividends/option profits to make a purchase of CBOE. It’s not a commonly owned company in the DGI blog world but I think they have solid potential to build up a decades long streak of increases.

    • JC,

      That’s a great point right there. I love thinking of it like that. You’re right, that isn’t a common stock in the community. I’m excited to stop by your site and learn more about the company and why you purchased it. Congrats on the purchase!
      Bert

  4. Awesome job YOY is good and 64 dollars in dividend increases is awesome. Don’t worry about being late I notice some late also. If you don’t tell I won’t lol. Keep it up

    • Thanks Doug! Much appreciated. The secret is ours (and the rest of those who read the article and comments section haha). I guess all that matters is that we received the increase regardless of the month!

      Bert

  5. Bert, nice work! Isn’t it nice to see you portfolio working all while you are head down grinding away during busy season? From what I gather, we have similar professional backgrounds and I remember those days documenting audit procedures and reviewing work all too well. I am guessing that the profile picture of you and Lanny on this website was taken on a day you two observed an inventory count together?

    Take care,
    PIV

    • PIV,

      That’s the best part of dividend investing, the portfolio keeps on working in the background. That was definitely not at an inventory count. We actually were driving somewhere together and passed our local KMI station. We couldn’t pass up the photo op! And I can only imagine what you went through when you used to partake in the “grind.” Sounds like we will have some fun war stories to share together one day!

      Bert

  6. Great progress, Bert!
    My dividend income increased only 2.9% compared to last year as I didn’t add any companies that pay me in February 🙁
    However, I am happy with an increase from CSCO by 14%!
    Keep it up!
    -BI

  7. Double digit year over year gains are something to be proud of. Every share and every dollar counts as you continually put up higher and higher totals. Keep up the solid progress!

  8. Looks like you and Lanny are both rocking about 20% growth for February. Not bad at all. Some big dividend increases all around. I also picked up a bunch more T shares which helped with growth for last month. Pumped for seeing your March and quarter ending results!

  9. Great month Bert! I initiated a position in T during last quarters drop. This was my first month receiving a payment from them. Both you and Lanny’s CZNC position is awesome! I still need to add a company in financial sector to my portfolio. I’m hoping to do that some time later this year. Congrats on the great month and the extra $150 you will receive going forward!

  10. Excellent summary, and congratulations on the dividend growth! I echo the comments of earlier readers about your charts. I am going to try to put something similar together for my own portfolio.

    I’m looking forward to seeing your dividends continue to grow.

  11. Excellent work, as usual, Bert! Love the 20% YoY growth, as well as the nice new chunk of forward dividend income. I agree that it’s been exciting seeing all the dividend raises in everyone’s portfolios.

  12. Hi Bert,
    20 % is a nice growth rate. I hope I can keep my rate up around that in the coming years. I had my last major growth last month with over 260%. I am now entering my 3rd year of receiving dividends so the numbers are slowing down.
    Cheers, Martin

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