3 quarters down….1 quarter to go. Fresh off my recent 2016 goals review, I am inspired and looking forward to an exciting finish to 2016. The 3rd month of the quarter always brings an exciting dividend income summary because of the mutual fund payouts. And I can’t wait to show you the progress I have made in just 12 months. Let’s dive in and take a look at my September dividend income summary.
September dividend income summary
In September, I received $380.56 in dividend income compared to $224.46 in September 2015. This results in a 69.54% dividend growth rate! MAN, I couldn’t be happier with the results. For those keeping track, that is more than double Lanny’s dividend growth rate over the same period (**Cherry picked stat.**) as summarized in his September dividend income summary. Kidding Lanny, you’re four figure dividend income figure in September steps on my month. This just goes to show that this hard work is paying off and the results of what we are all doing here are real! There is a lot to dissect here in the table above, so here are some of the highlights/major contributors to my growth rate over the last 12 months.
- In 2016, I have added three positions with a cost basis greater than $3,000 and the impact from these large purchases really adds a punch. It is no coincidence that these three positions, Pfizer, T.Rowe Price, and Target, were three of my six largest dividend checks for the month.
- Speaking of Target, there is something to circle back to here. If you recall, I initially purchased 50 shares of Target earlier in the year and added 30 more shares in August. The second purchased JUST MISSED the ex dividend date, so the $30 received in September on represents only a portion of the dividend check I am expected to receive from them on an ongoing basis. Watch out December!
- The income from VINIX, my employer sponsored 401k plan, is really starting to grow. While my altering wasn’t as drastic as Lanny’s, I left Part 1 of his tax adjustment series inspired to increase my 401k contribution to maximize my tax savings. We contribute twice a month to our 401k plan and my per paycheck contribution increased from ~$140 to $250 after I finished reading Lanny’s article. The results in ~1.25 new shares each paycheck (depending on the price at the time of the contribution of course) and each share adds $1.07 in projected dividend quarterly. Six contributions each quarter would result in over $6 in increased dividend quarterly. The dollar amount may not seem like a lot, but the position paid $24.44 in dividends September and adding $6 on top of that would result in an awesome dividend growth rate! In all seriousness, I recommend going back and reading Lanny’s tax adjustment series if you haven’t already and hopefully you will leave it as inspired as I was to make a few easy changes to maximize your savings.
- I’ll never get tired of looking at the table and seeing the slight increases that are a result of dividend re-investment and dividend increases. Sure, the increases from these two sources may not have the same impact as adding new positions, but in aggregate, the increases can make quite the difference in the long run. That’s why I love this game and do everything I can to invest as much into dividend growth stocks as possible.
September dividend increases & purchases
I benefited from two dividend increases in my portfolio this month, MCD and PM. MCD announced a 5.6% dividend increase that resulted in $2.67 in additional annual dividend income while PM announced a 1.96% increase that resulted in $1.25 in additional annual dividend income. I had higher hopes for PM considering some of the dividend increases announced by other tobacco companies; however, I really can’t complain too much as a small increase is better than no increase! In terms of purchases, I added one new position to my portfolio in September when I purchased 50 shares of Cardinal Health. This purchase added $89.78 in annual dividend income.
summary
Finally, in the third quarter, my portfolio’s dividend snowball finally picked up some steam. A 69% dividend growth rate provides me with a TON of momentum heading into the fourth quarter. I was able to cross the $3,000 in forward dividend income mark in the last quarter and I’m looking to cross $4,000 as soon as possible. Now that the two of us have published our dividend income summaries, we get to work on our favorite piece….summarizing the dividend income from many of our fellow dividend growth investors in the blogging community. Hopefully everyone was able to mirror our great months!
Did you have a strong month of September? What was your dividend growth rate? What were your key contributors to success? Did you have any awesome dividend increases announced?
Bert