Thanksgiving….done.  Black Friday and Cyber Monday have officially passed and the damage was not too significant.  I sit here today in disbelief thinking that November is already over and 2018 is rapidly approaching.  Time flies and it seems to only go by faster and faster with age.   Now that the calendar has turned and we have entered THE BEST dividend income month of the year.  But before we start counting down the days until we received our mutual fund distributions, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look and see how I performed in November.  Here is my November Dividend Income Report.

November Dividend Income Report

In November, we received $274.98 in dividend income, a 71.66% increase compared to last year.   In addition, as I have mentioned the other ten dividend income summary posts this year, this is the first year I have included my wife’s dividend income, so my growth rate is slightly skewed because of her results.  So I always calculate the growth rate of my individual portfolio and back out her results.  Even after excluding my wife’s dividend income, I posted a 24.39% increase.  Bodda bing bodda boom!  The chart below provides a detailed summary of each individual dividend we received:

Here are some highlights from the chart above:

• Take a second to look back at my August Dividend income summary when I received $278.51 in dividend income.  Do you see any new holdings this quarter compared to the last?  Nope.  That’s right, my dividend income for the second month of the quarter increased $3.39 due to the power of dividend investing (dividend re-investment and dividend increases).  Fundamental dividend investing right there.
• The only difference is the timing of the SBUX dividend.  The company pays their final dividend at the beginning of December rather than the end of November.  So I received a slight decrease this month but will benefit in December.
• My wife and I have fairly large positions in AT&T, and this does not even consider my recent purchase discussed below).  This month, AT&T paid us a combined $71.46.  Receiving 2.12 shares via dividend re-investment was amazing as well, and this alone added $4.15 to our forward dividend income.
• Hopefully the KMI dividend increases that were discussed become a reality in 2018.  If so, watch out, these income reports are going to receive a nice bump!
• After reviewing the income from CVS, I may look to add to this positions while the price of the stock is down.  I love owning CVS, but would like to receive more than $7 per quarter from them.  Keep an eye out for CVS on my December watch list.

Portfolio Updates During The Month

Each month I also like to discuss any major events/happenings that occurred in my portfolio.  First, the most exciting update I have is that we were able to add to our position in AT&T.   The low prices just  became too appetizing.  What’s crazy is that now my wife and I are going to receive over $86 in quarterly dividends from the telecom giant.  And this doesn’t even factor in their upcoming annual dividend increase.  Man I cannot wait to publish my February 2018 Dividend Income Report with the updated figures!

Speaking of dividend increases, I received both good and bad dividend announcements in the current month.  First, SBUX announced a 20% dividend increase this month, which added $5.53 to my forward dividend income!  Gotta love it and the company continued their streak of great dividend increases.   Keep it up SBUX.   On a negative note, the newly consolidated DWDP finally announced their first dividend payment.  Lanny actually told me about this one as I was writing this article, which is funny timing.  The $.38/share quarterly dividend is $.08/share lower than DOW’s individual dividend of $.46/share.  The reduction in the dividend payment reduced our forward dividend income by $11, which sucks.  But hopefully management has a plan to produce solid annual dividend increases.

Dividend income report summary

One again, I am excited about our results for this month.  How could I not be?  The fruits of our labor continue to pay off.  We always talk about it on this website, but every dollar really does make a difference in the long run.  Saving a dollar on an expense by asking for an additional discount or earning just a few extra dollars by side-hustling goes a long, long way.   We are heading into December and heck, even 2018, with a full head of steam and are ready to kick some butt going forward.  Everyone in the community continues to post great results and motivates us to give it our all.  Now the goal is to keep pace with the rest of you that are out there crushing it!

What was your dividend income total for November?  Did you receive a dividend income from any new companies during the month?  What dividend increases did you receive and what was the dollar impact?

-Bert