No everyone, this is not an elaborate April Fools joke. I am actually posting my dividend income article before Lanny this month. Somehow, some way, he has always managed to publish his article first. Well not so fast my friend! I am ready to roll here and review my March dividend income. The final month of every quarter is always my favorite because a large percentage of companies pay their dividend in this month, so each day is action packed. It really makes each day exciting! Let’s take a look and see how much dividend income I received this year and how it compares to the same month last year.
March Dividend Income SUmmary
This month, I received $324.83 in dividend income, which is a 124% increase from March 2015! I am smiles here and could not be more excited about the results. Check out the table below to view a detailed breakdown :
Man, I still can’t believe it. I never thought I would be here this soon in my investing career. As you can see by the length of the chart, there were a lot of moving parts that contributed to the growth of my income over the last year. I can’t promise that I will highlight them all, but here were some of the major contributors to my triple digit growth rate.
- Compared to last year, I received dividends from 10 new companies over the last month….10! One of my goals last year was to invest $15,000 in “New” Capital in 2015 and I knocked that goal out of the park. Now, I am starting to reap the rewards as the dividend checks continue to roll in. Hopefully I can replicate the magic because I increased the amount I am looking to invest in 2016.
- Lanny and I made some strategic purchases during the first quarter. Our strategy during January and February was to make sure we invested in companies that would allow us to collect four dividend checks during the year. In the first quarter I initiated large stakes in both Pfizer and T.Rowe Price and snuck in before the ex-dividend date. Thus, I was able to receive their first quarter dividend payment this month. These two purchases alone provided me with $55.38 in dividend income. Thank goodness we thought that plan through and were able to receive the dividend payments. While what I am about to say is meaningless, I think this fact is funny. Pfizer was the first dividend check I received this month and T.Rowe Price was that last dividend check I received. What are the odds of that?
- Taking a step back here, I just realized that three of the ten stocks that I purchased over the last year were on my “Always Buy” list. These stocks were MMM, EMR, and JNJ. I created my “Always Buy” list to identify five companies that I would love to have at my portfolio and I could purchase in a sudden flash sale. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised though; I clearly liked those stocks when I created the list so of course I’m going to try to purchase them if I can. Hopefully I can add the other two to my portfolio; however, it would take a pretty substantial decrease in Target’s stock price for a purchase to happen any time soon.
- This will be my last point here, but it is the thing that has me feeling the best as the calendar turns to April. I have experienced months with more income in the past. Each December, I receive over $1,000 in income due to capital gain distributions and year-end dividends from my mutual funds. While it is awesome receiving that income, I always am cautious to anticipate earnings like that annually because of the dependency on capital gains. What happens if the fund performs poorly and doesn’t have any gains to distribute. So why am I excited? Of the $324 in dividend income I received, only $8.56 came from a mutual fund! The dividends received are core dividends. I was about to write that I could expect to receive dividends quarterly, but I stopped myself and started laughing. How could I make that statement after what happened to KMI, BBL, and other oil companies over the last year. I love the fact that over $300 is coming from stocks though! That’s a really cool feeling.
DIVIDEND INCREASES & STOCK PURCHASES
None & None. What? How can this be possible? Well, Lanny summed it up pretty well at the beginning of the week when he complained wrote about not purchasing a stock in over a month. Stock prices continue to rise and there just aren’t that many discounted stocks available. I don’t want to buy a stock just to buy a stock, so I will stockpile cash and wait for the perfect time to strike. Patience….patience…..patience. In terms of dividend increases, I am a little surprised no announcements were made in March. On the bright side though, April will be a much more exciting month as I am eagerly awaiting the big dividend increase announcements of PG, JNJ, and IBM. The foundation stocks are about to deliver big for us in April….Can’t wait!
Summary
Months like these add fuel to my fire. I want to keep scraping and finding every dollar possible to invest and grow my dividend income. I couldn’t be happier with the results…how could I be upset with a +100% growth rate? While I”m still behind many of you in the community, I feel as I took a big step closer in my journey towards financial freedom. However, I still have a long way to go. So now it is back to the grind. Time to focus and keep on investing.
How was your March? Did you set any records? Were you able to find any hidden gems to purchase during the month?
Bert