Crushing $12,000 in Projected Dividend Income (as well as another goal too!)

Everyone, I made it.  I made it to this illustrious milestone.  I can’t believe this moment.  In November, after one of my dividend stock purchases, I crossed over $12,000 in projected dividend income!

Crossing the $12,000 milestone means a great deal to me.  I am sure you already know why, but this is the moment that you can see an average of $1,000 in dividend income depositing into your account.  I sit and look around my house, close my eyes and picture if there was someone working as hard as I am and walks over to me, to hand the $1,000.  Only difference is, the businesses that I own, are doing all of this work now.  Milestones are a true part of being a dividend income investor.

Now, I haven’t wrote about milestones in quite some time.  Heck, it was back in December of 2016, where I talked about crushing through $8,000.  I’m going to make this statement and will bold it.  In less than 2 years, I have added OVER $4,000 in projected dividend income, or a 50% boost!  What is funny is, it just doesn’t seem that long ago.  Well, it was close to 730 days ago and I’ve added, roughly, around $90,000 into the portfolio, this is including dividends received and reinvested.  I did not necessarily publish this goal for 2018, but I keep an internal goal and $12,000 was the measure for the year.  I began the year at $9,733.33, therefore, I added $2,266.67 to my forward income and then some, during 2018.

How I Crossed crushed $12,000 in projected income

It all came last week, on my purchase of 21 shares of AbbVie Inc. (ABBV), to which added almost $90 to my forward dividend income.  There were, of course, a few dividend increases and dividend reinvestment that occurred, which added even more to my forward income.  Therefore, as of this writing, I am not just at $12,000; but I am actually at $12,120.83!  Talk about CRUSHING over the $12,000 threshold baby!

Here is a wild estimate that I want to share with the community.  When using a dividend reinvestment calculator (no more contributions or market appreciation) but anticipate a 3.25% yield on the portfolio with a 6.85% dividend growth rate, that reinvestment and dividend growth propels me close to $40,000+ in income in 13-15 years!  Obviously, that won’t be the case, as I’m doing everything I can to make every dollar count right now and road to $40,000 will be much shorter.  That is the snowball effect, that we consistently refer to.  Another fun fact, as long as all goes accordingly, this is just the beginning and this snowball is only going to be bigger and faster!  Example: Prior to this milestone, it was taking me around 8 months to add $1,000 in forward income.  This period was when I was tracking each $1,000 religiously (i.e. from $5k to $6k, etc.).  I have brought the average to approximately 5.5 months, in order to add $1,000 in forward income – a 31% improvement!  That is pure speed, consistency and compounding.

How else did I get here?  One might ask.  It all came down to having a high savings rate. I never let my expenses spiral out of control and whenever I would start to see a utility or monthly bill start to creep up – I did my best to squash it.  Whether that was paying the car loan off early to save interest and open up cash flow or if it was to make another insurance change to reduce my expenses, it was done (See: Bills to Review Annually).

This did not come with just saving on expenses.  2018 marked the year of big, life events that altered routes, made things very stressful and life is still hectic to this writing.  In July, I left my employer of 7 years in public accounting and accepted a Controller position at a local financial institution, to explore my passions and to work towards a better “work-life” balance, if there is such a thing.  Not only was that a hurdle and battle internally & externally to get through, I got MARRIED THIS YEAR!  Yes, I got married in October to the love of my life and I couldn’t be more happier about being so lucky.  However, saving for & planning a wedding, while switching jobs, being a public accountant and the this being the first time we are living together with our families in different geographical directions (even family in different countries), led to an extremely stressful/suffocating year.  We got through it, but damn, I was tired.  This took funds away from being able to invest, but I never allowed that to be an excuse to not achieve goals set.

Cruising past $7,200 Dividend income within Taxable account

In addition to not only crushing $12,000 in total forward income, a few months ago I set an individual taxable goal to exceed $7,200 in that account.  You guessed it.  Due to the significant amount of purchases in my taxable account (thanks to the career switch and not being eligible to contribute until mid-January), I had quite the capital to deploy into dividend income producing stocks.  I have invested heavily in names, such as, Illinois Tool Works (ITW), Leggett & Platt (LEG), WestRock Co. (WRK) and National Grid (NGG).

At the time of the the goal article, I needed to add $686 in forward income and in 4 months!  However, I was committed to making this happen and the community witnessed this, as I started to write bulk purchase articles, relating to my activity in 10-15 day increments.  I am now at approximately $7,218 in forward dividend income, within my taxable account.  Obviously, the stock market has been on a rollercoaster, but I do my best to not try to time the market.  It’s been doing stock analyses and making decisions based off of our Dividend Diplomat Stock Screener.  Since I started the new job, I deployed over $16,500 in new capital that I have saved and that wasn’t easy, trying to save for a wedding, but gosh dammit, I had to get it done and do… “what’s best for business”.

2019 Expectations

Now, it’s always nice to go crazy, pound my chest and scream, “I DID IT” (in Rocky’s voice), but it’s a great time to look at what’s to come.  2019 will be a new year.  A clear year.  We aren’t planning a wedding.  I am not anticipating  job change.  We are not anticipating any form of move, from a house standpoint.  Therefore, this has the sound of a, “let’s step in the ring and kick some ass” music.

First, my wife and I will have combined portfolios.  I have been working on hers for about 3+ years and let’s say – she has her own dividend engine brewing, as her portfolio is pumping out over $3,000 per year.  Therefore, we have well over $15,000 in dividend income per year going forward into 2019.  A stretch goal will be to add $3,000 in forward income throughout 2019, ultimately crossing over $18,000 in forward income.

Second, I’ll be able to contribute (pre-tax) to my 401K starting in mid-January.  This will start consistent, dollar-cost averaging throughout the year and the maximum deferral amounts are now at $19,000 in 2019.  This could have the potential to open up more capital to invest, due to the tax savings, $0 in fees for the 401k for trading and taking the emotion out of the picture.

Lastly, I’ll wrap this up by saying thank you to the community for sticking with me this year, with Bert and the Diplomats.  It’s an honor to write as often as we do and be a part of this thriving group –  taking down own milestone at a time.  I know Bert had to bear witness to the year that this was and yes everyone – you better believe the young one was my best man in the wedding.  I am excited to have the new year start and to have the engines firing on all cylinders.  Earn money, save money, invest money; then you rinse and repeat.  LANNY OUT.

39 thoughts on “Crushing $12,000 in Projected Dividend Income (as well as another goal too!)

  1. Congrats! It is a wonderful wealth building formula that of course you know I fully subscribe. I run those organic dividend growth projections on my financial calculator too. It’s just so real I can’t believe even more people in the world do not get on board. Tom

    • Thank you Tom –

      Running the trifecta on the dividend portfolio and knowing what it takes to get to those goals is insanely hard and hilarious, at the same time. So much capital, consistently infusing into companies and watching the portfolio crush it, even while the market slides down – is hard, it’s fricken hard, as you know. Guess what – if it was easy, we would all be doing it.

      -Lanny

  2. Congratulations on hitting your milestone!!! I think that’s the best part about dividend investing, no matter how volatile the markets are you still get paid every month! (as long as you have a diversified portfolio that is).

    My wife and I recently retired from the rat race utilizing this method(we’re in our 40’s). It sounds like you will be financially independent in no time!

    Ernest

    • Steps to Early Retirement –

      Thank you, thank you – the values go up and go down, but the dividends keep rolling in, stronger and better baby!!!

      And HELL YEAH – congrats on the escape, HUGE!!!! So young – can’t wait to read more on your blog, as I have been a frequent visitor.

      -Lanny

  3. Congratulations Lanny on the crazy yet successful year. Man I can only imagine the feeling of having an account generating over $12k in passive income. And you did it in such a short frame of time. Congratulations on the wedding and the new position. Good things are coming your way friend. Even though it may get rough at times, staying course will u douyably bromg you back to calmer seas. You are an inspiration to us all who are part of this PF community. Hopefully we will all reach the milestones you have set in place.

    Best of luck with 2019 good sir.

    • PIV –

      Thank YOU. I appreciate it. It’s been a challenging year – investing, changing careers, wedding, etc.. It’s been very challenging, but perseverance and seeing that light at the end, kept the train moving. Thank you, again, PIV.

      -Lanny

  4. Congreatulations Lanny
    What a good job..
    , With the articles your are both writing you inspire the community here so much.
    Every time when I talk to friends I refer to your website/blog to read some articles.

    Regards
    Willem

  5. Congratulations on all accounts Lanny, and thank you for sharing this journey with all of us! You’ve accomplished a great deal and I love that you’re keeping the foot firmly planted on the gas pedal. Here is to a joyous and prosperous year in 2019 and one that I have no doubt will see you reaching your goals and knocking off additional milestones!

  6. Lanny,
    Congrats man! Way to crush the goals. Now you have an army of robotic servants working for you, throwing cash your way – faster all the time. And what do they ask of you? To just keep doing whatever it is you want to do.
    $1000 a month is, in my humble opinion, the most major milestone. Its where you go from being reliant on your day job influencing your portfolio to where it starts to really blossom independently of yourself.
    – Gremlin

  7. Congratulations Lanny! What a wonderful achievement! Saving significantly more than you spend and putting that money to work in dividend stocks is clearly the lesson here. I wish I would have known this at your age 😉 Keep up the fantastic work, you guys are doing great things!

  8. Congrats, those dividends can certainly help investors stay focused. It certainly feels good to watch those dividend roll in. I also like to see those share prices increase over time for my lower yielders. I am not averse to making those homemade dividends. My homemade Apple dividends over the Summer were 100x larger than the real cash dividends. Thanks for the great posts.

    • Dale –

      Thank you very much. That’s so sick, by the way, relating to Apple. Further, I love dividends when prices are low, as it makes that reinvestment that much more powerful. Let the snowball roll on!

      -Lanny

    • TBI –

      Thank you for coming by and the amazing words. That means the world to me. If I can motivate, inspire and move the needle for one person – then I have done what I have set out to do. We all can do this. We all can be incredible with our money and make it easy, at the same time. Just have to commit. 2019 is going to be a fun one.

      -Lanny

  9. Hey Lanny!
    Im an dividend Investor from sweden and i love your blog. And congratz to the wedding! I wish you the best of luck! Anyway, where do you get the best update/info about your ”stockpicking”? Im using dividends.com to screen US stocks.i have a portfolio whit about 25 US stocks but do you got Any tips? The swedish stockbrockers don’t have have a shit about dividend history,common payout or what so Ever!

    Have a good one!

    • William –

      Thank you and hello to Sweden! I go to dividendinvestor.com, nasdaq.com and yahoo.com/finance, including some info from FinViz.

      We have a TON of tips – see our dividend diplomat stock screener – one of the pages linked above. Further, you can see more detailed stock analyses on our profile at SeekingAlpha – worth a check to see how we are evaluating companies!

      Thank you William and dividend invest onward!

      -Lanny

    • MDD –

      Thank YOU! It does feel like I finally made a big step, but the community has kept the engine going. A lot of time spent, a lot of savings and a lot of dividend income later – still have room to go!

      -Lanny

  10. Congrats Lanny! $12,000+ in forward annual income is an absolutely incredible milestone. Here’s to the next $12,000, which should be quite a bit faster!

  11. Well done. We always write about our mini milestones from time to time when we do our monthly dividend income updates and they all feel great but this was a huge one! Congrats on a busy and productive 2018. Let’s see what 2019 will do.

  12. Fantastic Post Lanny! Congrats on all fronts! Loved reading this. To hear $18,000 combined dividend income between you and your wife is incredible! With that kind of income coming in, and my house paid off, I’d be looking to go part time soon lol — I hate working! Miss my boy too much while I’m at work.

    Congrats again! Good luck in 2019.

  13. Hey Lanny
    That‘s an amazing milestone you crushed. Your dividend machine is gaining more and more steam.
    Our current forward dividend income for 2019 is at around usd 9‘000, targeteting USD 10‘000.
    Let‘s all work hard and keep motivated to crush milestone after milestone.
    Cheers

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