Bert’s January Dividend Income Summary

Wow….January just flew by.  One giant blur to me.  As I take some time to reflect on the month, I realize just how large of a roller coaster ride it was.  Whether it was the wild swings of Mr. Market, receiving dividends, or purchasing a couple of stocks (ADM at the beginning of the month and CZNC at the end of the month), I always had something fun and exciting to look forward to.    So now, just like every month, I took a step back and reviewed my monthly dividend income summary to see how my income stacked up against the same month in the previous quarter and the previous year.  Let’s check it out!

dividend incomeMy month came nowhere close to Lanny’s January, as he pulled in an impressive $377 in dividends during this off month.  Great job Lanny!  However, I saw some nice progress.

DD - January

In January, I received $103.54  in dividend income.  This represents a 28% increase from January 2015 and a 2.25% decrease from October!  Woah woah, a decrease.  Don’t worry, there is an explanation for this and I will get to it later.  I wanted to first focus on the positives here.  So let’s check out what caused this increase compared to last year.   Over the last 12 months, I only two of my transactions impacted my January dividend income figure.  The first happened to be the very last stock I purchased in 2014, Schlumberger (SLB), one of the largest oil service providers.  The stock hasn’t performed as well in terms of market value as I hoped, but let’s be honest, what oil company has?  While oil is depressed, I will be more than happy to collect high yielding dividend checks from this company.   The other transaction that impacted my January income was when I decided to add to my stake in Philip Morris in the second quarter of 2015.  My transaction may have lacked the same oomph as Lanny’s last year, when he added a ridiculous amount of shares of Philip Morris when he solved his tobacco stock mystery and sold his stake in Lorillard to purchase PM.  However, adding a modest amount to my current stake allowed my PM dividend income to increase nearly 56% from last year.  No complains on my end!

The increase from last year was pretty easy to identify.  But what the heck happened over the last three months.  I identified three items that caused this odd change between quarters:

  • Lanny and I purchased shares in Diageo (DEO) a long time ago in 2014.  Man is it sad that two years feels like “forever” ago.  DEO pays a semi-annual dividend in April and October and since January is an off month for the alcohol giant, it left a big void in my monthly income summary.  I received $24.20 from DEO in October, which represented 23% of the dividend income I received that month.  A pretty big void to fill.
  • Luckily for me, the newly formed Kraft-Heinz Company (KHC), is trying to figure out which month of the quarter to distribute their earnings.  Many in the community were puzzled when KHC announced and paid their dividend in November, the second month of the quarter, versus the traditional first month of the quarter.   It caused some wild swings for many of us in October and November of 2015!  What’s strange is that KHC decided to switch back their dividend payment cycle and distribute earnings in the first month of the quarter again.  Who knows how this will continue?  But you know what, this was a welcome change considering I had to replace the $24.20 void that DEO left behind.
  • Lastly, I figured I would end this with the change that had the smallest impact on my monthly dividend income.  If you all recall, I sold the three legacy mutual funds that I held after I received my capital gains distribution in December.  One of the funds, OIEIX, paid a monthly dividend that ranged from $.25/month to $8/month.  Nothing too significant.  Now that I no longer own these stocks, I no longer receive this small check and therefore, my dividend income was $.31 less this month than October.

Isn’t that crazy.  Three strange occurrences that had a large but offsetting impact on my dividend income for the month.  Luckily for me it could have been a lot worse if KHC decided to continue paying their dividend in the second month of the quarter. This turned out to be a perfect cap to a hectic month for me.   What’s nuts is that February is off to another crazy start.  Let’s just say that I purchased a stock this last week but I haven’t had the opportunity to share it with all of you yet.  What is fun is that it wasn’t one of the stocks I was watching during the recent downturn or is it one of the stocks from any of our “Top 5” listings.  You will find out soon enough, but for now I am going to keep you in suspense.  Let’s just say I follows Lanny’s strategy of purchasing at least $3,000 per investment. Despite the fact that my income decreased compared to October, I am happy  with the results and my core dividend income seems to be increase.  I can’t wait till April to see how much my income increases with the semi-annual payment from Diageo.   What this month showed me is that I am taking another step towards financial freedom and the results of what we all are doing are beginning to show.  This is when it gets fun, when you see and feel the progress.  So let’s keep at it and keep on pushing along as we strive for the end goal of financial freedom!

Did you have a great month of January?  What was your growth rate?   Did you purchase any stocks while the market was depressed in the beginning of the month?  Or are you exercising patience and trying to let the dust settle?  Any suggestions for other stocks that pay a dividend in January and he first month of every quarter so that I can continue growing my income during this month?

-Bert

20 thoughts on “Bert’s January Dividend Income Summary

  1. Bert, well done. A 23% increase yoy, although not as great as you might have wanted, is still quite impressive. It was wild reading through the post and seeing all the different dividend payout changes that occurred but yet still have a consistent increase! The power of being diversified is at work here. When one company moves or gets sold, you have others picking up the slack!

    Our growth was just 45% compared to last year.. I say “just” because last year our increases were almost all over 80% yoy. The percentage terms will definitely be down this year as I do not foresee us investing nearly as much as last year, but the absolute terms will definitely be higher!

    I look forward to seeing how the rest of the year shapes up!

    ADD

    • ADD,

      Thanks ADD! Although the tone of my article may have seemed disappointed at times. How can I really compplain about a 23% increase in an income streak in a year. Nothing to complain about here. You point out a great point about diversification. If I would have been over-exposed and dependent on DEO for my income, I would be toast in all of the off months. Same goes for stocks such as KMI or any company that has slashed their dividend during the year. Can never forget the importance of spreading the wealth and investing in a strong pool of dividend growth stocks.

      45%! You doubled me up haha It is natural that the growth rate slows down eventually. The law of averages my friend haha. You are killing it so far, so I am looking forward to seeing how the rest of the year unfolds.

      Thanks for stopping by and the kind words!

      Bert

  2. Bert,

    Solid YOY progress. Slow and steady wins the game!

    I’ve never really understood why some investors compare their dividend income progress on a quarterly basis because there are so many stocks out there that don’t pay on a uniform quarterly schedule – be it yearly, semi-annually, or even not every three months evenly. DEO made it look like you have “off” numbers here when you really don’t. I see that happen all the time. But to each their own. I just prefer to look at YOY growth for true progress.

    Keep it up. Can’t wait to see how you do this year. 🙂

    Cheers.

    • Jason,

      Long time no talk! Hope all is going well and you are enjoying the warm Sarasota winter. Luckily it hasn’t been too bad up here in Buckeye state. I would say the quarter over quarter growth rate is comparable for the majority of the months. However, stocks like DEO throw off the comparison and the obvious December mutual fund frenzy make a direct Total’s comparison difficult. But going forward, I am think of improving how I compare quarterly totals. I can back out the one-time differences and exceptions and instead focus on the growth in quarterly paying stocks that will be there each month. I’ll set the table for this in April. The other thing I like to see is how much you’ve grown in a short three month span and it is a huge motivator for me to keep driving. But as you said, to each their own. Luckily there is no one standard template for creating a monthly dividend income summary.

      How was your month Jason? Making some great moves yourself? Take care and thanks for stopping by! You better be buying your tickets for spring training.

      Bert

  3. Bert, you’re doing amazing bud. Keep it up and enjoy the fruits of your labour. It’s such a pleasure writing these dividend income reports. Life changing right bud. Imagine where you’ll be in 5 years. Your family will be well off as you keep hustling and socking away that money. Cheers to another month! Take care bud.

    • Hustler!

      Thank you so much. 5 years from now is going to be amazing. Heck, imagine where your income will be five years from now at your levels. Building the income stream now is absolutely life changing and we all are making the necessary strides/jumps we need to to make our lives that much better. January started off strong with a great hustle, so let’s keep on hustling through 2016 and beyond!

      As always, glad to have you stop by. Take care!

      Bert

  4. A more than 25% increase is a really great increase Bert, nice job with all of your investments to get you there. Good luck for the rest of the year 🙂

    Tristan

    • Tristan,

      Thank you very much my man. I can’t wait to see how the rest of 2016 plays out. The pros are going to crush the cons this year. So many exciting things coming down the pipeline. Hopefully I’ll be able to report at least another January increase of +20% in 2017 haha

      Bert

  5. Solid year over year increase. You can never complain about getting a 28% pay raise. Always a fun and inspirational update. I have continued to make my buys in January as I have every month since I became a DGI’er. I think that staying consistent with your investments and trying to time market or other macro conditions leads to the best long term results. Thanks for sharing and look forward to reading your dividend income round up.

    • Keith!

      Thank you very much. All I know is that pay raise I just received in dividend blows my actual salary increase out of the water. Be patient and consistent is a great theme and a key to success as a long term investor. I love the purchases in January and February so you can capture all four dividends during the year. I like this trend, so I’ll try to make another strong push next January as well. It seems like the strategy is working out very well for you my friend.

      Take care and congrats on setting the table for a strong 2016 for you as well.

      Bert

  6. Hey Bert,
    nice buddy, lovely yoy increase! And solid numbers for the months. We are actually in the same ball park as you (as far as monthly dividend amount is concerned). But since we only started with dividend investing in July of last year, no YOY reports for us just yet.
    Unfortunately, we all had the flu and were all under the weather exactly during the “dip”, so we completely missed the buying opportunity. We still bought a few shares at reasonable levels during January, but no large numbers.
    Love the updates, keep em’ coming!

    • Thanks,

      Welcome to the same ballpark here. We may be in the same ballpark, but your dividend growth rate is blowing mine out of the water! Don’t worry about missing the dip, there will be plenty of others for you to unload your capital into and pick up some great stocks trading at a discount. I’m kicking myself for not buying O, but I wanted to be patient and see if I could get it at the right price. Unfortunately, that price is far away now and I’m a little annoyed at myself for being stubborn. But you know what, I”ll get it eventually during the next go around.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Bert

  7. $103 is awesome! Anything above the $100 is awesome though. I used this recent January downturn to pick up more Realty Income “O”. It worked out well, but I’m a sucker for that monthly paycheck.

    • Thanks Wallet! I’m pumped that I’ve finally eclipsed the $100 mark each month. Seems like I crossed a different level as strange as that sounds. I’m jealous you added shares in O while the price was down. I was very close to pulling the trigger and ended up waiting one day to late. Now I’m really kicking myself. But I know there will be other opportunities out there, so I need to remain patient and keep on waiting for the next one.

      Take care and thanks for stopping by!

      Bert

  8. Good job, Bert increasing the passive income, 28% is awesome and Congrats to Lanny also for his close to $400 income that you do not need to work for. Lot of folks depended on KMI and hope there are not this year. Keep racing bud!

    • Thanks R2R! The KMI was just a speed bump in the journey. We will get over it and move on, no matter how much it sucked. Hopefully their ducks are all lined up, shored up their finances, and the price of oil increases so they can start raising that dividend!

      Thanks for stopping by.
      Bert

  9. On a constant payout basis you still eeked out almost a 1% gain QoQ and it looks like some of that difference is due to FX issues. Just keep steady with your investing and the dividends will take care of themselves. I’m interested to see what company you invested in since it wasn’t one you were watching.

    • Thanks JC for the analysis there. I think I just need to focus on the consistent dividend payers going forward and avoid the noise of mutual funds and semi-annual dividend payers. They pay differently so I should review their income differently as well.

      Also, I have the purchase article set to be published on Thursday, so you’ll know soon enough. It isn’t a sexy company by any stretch, but I’m excited about their long-term prospects and their dividend. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts about it.

      Take care and enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

      Bert

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *