Lanny’s April Dividend Income

As time passes, so does a month of collecting dividend income. Four wild months are already in the books and the sun is shining here in Cleveland.  Talk about a rarity these days.  As spring is upon us, I think, it’s time to see what the 4th month of dividend income was able to bring and it marks 1/3 of the year being over. Now to the results

dividend income

Dividend Income

This month, I received a total of $312.84.  This was a record April month that I have ever had, especially in comparison to last year’s April of 2013 dividend income.

April Dividends Screen

Similarly, I have split out between the individual stock amounts and the retirement accounts, as the ” – R” indicates a Roth IRA dividend (or the furthest column to the right, I forgot the “R” on O).  I separate these two, as I like to know what portion of my dividend income is coming from those retirement accounts that I cannot touch until 59.5 (barring any other usage rule I could use).  Here, it shows that I received a total of $28.75 or 9.2% of my income from retirement accounts and the other 90.8% was from my individual taxable account portfolio.  To see my portfolio – one can go to our portfolio summary page.

Comparison

Now, I look back at 2014 April’s total.  The total then was $147.70.  From a pure percentage stand point, a growth rate of 111.81% isn’t too shabby if you ask me.  If I keep that up, this time next year will be over $624, I would be pretty happy with that.  As you can see, there were a few stocks that have started paying amazing dividends, including Philip Morris (PM), that paid a whopping $80 over to me in April, thanks for me making a decision to selling LO an scooping them up instead, I’ll take it.  Having 9 different companies outside of retirement accounts paying me is very cool!  It’s my own little organization that is bringing money to my door and, I’m keeping that one unlocked!  My April next year is already projected to be higher, so the future looks bright, bright indeed.  $312.84 for the month – this covers my auto loan with $30 to spare – so I can say it covers an auto loan (damn debt) and my internet then for my house?  Not too bad.

Dividend Income Increases

Here is where the fun begins or continues?  I love this dividend investing journey and cannot be more ecstatic about a few dividend growth increases my portfolio brought to the house this month.  Here is the chart to show the dividend increases, including the before and after:

DGR April

Pumped.  PG had a dismal 3% increase, that MDP definitely let his thoughts out.  However – IBM more than made up for it with a whopping 18% dividend income increase!  They raised their quarterly distribution from $1.10 per quarter to $1.30 per quarter or from $4.40 per year to $5.20 per year, loving this, thank goodness I bought them multiple times, definitely made the biggest impact to the portfolio.  I also purchased JNJ during the month and hours later, their dividend increase of over 7% came across the screen, so I picked up a little more in mere hours, not a bad day at all.  KMI has continued with their statement on wanting to have a target dividend amount and this month proved they are still on the track – Thank you!  Overall, the dividend increases added $28.09 to the projected income amount – I am definitely happy about that, in a single month, perfect!  This goes to show why the dividend growth rate is crucial for your portfolio.  Also very excited about what May will bring, beginning next week!  (I am calling it – dividend increase to Pepsi on Tuesday May 5th)

Conclusion & Summary

As I discussed back then with my normal monthly expenditures at the moment, this $313 covers 33% of my average $942 monthly expense for my house, including utilities.  It’s nice knowing that a slower month of dividends is already covering 1/3 of my living expenses for the house.  This is something I never stop to really think about.  All of the investing from last year and moves this year, show being frugal to save 60% of my income help me in achieving lofty goals that I set in place for my 2015 year.  I am looking forward to the Month of May, further dividend increases, making some purchases hopefully and receiving a nice reinvested dividend income month (Day 1 and I have already received $82, wahoo!).   How did everyone’s April go?  Surpass and crush your prior April?  Marching closer to covering your monthly expenses?  Would love to hear about it, post on below and share your stories and thoughts, thanks!

-Lanny

25 thoughts on “Lanny’s April Dividend Income

  1. Congrats on the new record for April, it’s always a good feeling to achieve a new high total for a month. Those are some pretty hefty dividend increases there as well which should help you even higher. I’m also looking forward to see what Pepsi does with their dividend. Hoping for the best!

    • Captain,

      Thanks for rolling in!

      It’s funny how often it’s the “best month of ___”. Why is it? Because of our consistency in investing, dividend growth and dividend reinvestment.

      You know what – we already know Pepsi’s raise, now that I think about it – it was 7.25/7.3% that was announced in February but takes effect here in June. I’ll take it!

      Thanks again CD< talk soon! -Lanny

  2. Looking good Lanny! 33% of living expenses is pretty significant stuff, Congrats!

    I’m right around the 25% mark in covering our mortgage so I’m pretty pumped about that. Best thing about these posts is the amount of extra money you are receiving due to dividend raises. They are just a beautiful thing!

    • Div Dream,

      It’s a nice coverage, I don’t think May will be as strong, but June is around the corner, and we ALL know what that means; damn I want to hit $1K in dividends for a month bad.

      Nice job to you ADD! 25% coverage is quite amazing, knowing that you have expenses covered with your dividends, so sweet.

      Thanks again for coming by.

      -Lanny

  3. Congrats for a wonderful April! You’re on track to achieve your goals for sure. These are really the best posts since they show us the power of dividend investing. Thanks for sharing and hope you have a great May.

    – HMB

    • HMB,

      Thanks for coming by! The power of DIV INVESTING IS REAL!! haha. I am about $1200 away from my projected income goal too, by the way, and it’ll take some clawing to get there, but I’m pushing forward!

      Thanks again and lets stay focused.

      -Lanny

  4. Awesome April for you Lanny. It’s such a wonderful feeling isn’t it to keep tabs on your dividend income? I couldn’t be any more happier for you. Like you, I was smiling receiving hundreds. I just can’t believe the progress for all of us. It’s amazing. keep your head up and keep hustling hard. You won’t regret the sacrifices today for a better tommorow. I promise you. Cheers to us.

    • DH,

      Thanks my man. It is a great feeling keeping tabs and seeing the growth between each year, it’s awesome. I was coming through your page and am about to comment there on it, but you destroy it every month in div income! It’s amazing.

      We are all going to keep pushing and hustling hard, we have to and it’ll bear awesome prizes for the future.

      -Lanny

  5. Congrats Lanny and thank you for sharing! That is definitely a fantastic April. And $82 on May Day is a heck of a start for this month. Keep up the great work and like us I’m sure you are looking to add more JNJ now that it is a 3% yielder.

    All the best.

    FD

    • FD,

      Thank you so much! May day had picked up that’s for sure! It’ll be a little bit lower of a month for me, but I’m sure the growth will be amazing compared to last year. JNJ is a solid one- every excited about the price they are at right now with the yield and historic DGR, it’s awesome. Picking up any soon?

      -Lanny

    • MDP,

      I’m Italian, we kick ass, eh? haha, but honestly, I need to crack $1,000 in dividend income, it is killing me here for a single month. June is my push date now, I have to climb that mountain, or it’ll kill me. Joking, it won’t and my next goal would be the $1,500…

      Thanks – let’s get after it MDP, LETS MAKE SHIT HAPPEN.

      -Lanny

    • Divocedff,

      Thanks for the post! The snowball is real, it’s alive! I’m pumped that my snowball will be an avalanche soon, patience and time… it’s hard but it’s worth it. Thank you for stopping by and the motivational comment!

      -Lanny

  6. Congrats on all those dividends! Looking forward to the day I receive $300 in one month. Those are some great pay raises as well. I purchased JNJ right before the announcement as well and I’m looking to add some more soon.

    • DividendEmpire,

      You’ll get there. If you are in on this method of investing – you.will.get.there. Mark those words. And you’ll surpass that, trust me, you’ll be ahead of where most of us are, just have the drive and proper planning to get there. Pumped for you, keep us updated!

      -Lanny

    • DivDev,

      Not there yet, right?! I need to keep it gong, it sometimes can get exhausted, but it’s all in our control of what we can/can’t do. I really appreciate the kind words. At 27 years old, I feel I’m behind, why?!

      Keep at it as well Div Developer, we have goals!

      -Lanny

  7. Lanny that’s excellent dividend income! You’re making excellent progress. Covering 33% of your expenses with your dividend income is very awesome. Keep up the good work!

    • Tawcan,

      Thank you! Similarly above, I just feel like my expenses are either too high or my dividend income is too low.. and I need to do more for some reason.

      How do you feel? Feel like you are right on track?

      -Lanny

    • Mike,

      Thanks, another month down… have to get through the first full week of July.. I’ll have MUCH more capital to get these amounts higher, fricken weddings, who gets married, right?

      -Lanny

  8. Nice job. The numbers just keep amassing. Good luck.

    Keep cranking,

    Robert the DividendDreamer
    AKA — Seeking Dividends

    Follow me on Twitter– Seeking Dividends@DividendDreamer

Leave a Reply

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