Just when you thought summer was winding down, I am writing this in blistering heat out there – as it has just about touched 90 degrees here in Northeast Ohio. Last month I said it was raining dividends, well this month – we are scorching dividends baby! We are now EIGHT months down with FOUR monstrous months left to kick butt. I have been spending even more time to see where things are looking, financially, and let’s just say it’ll be a grind through the end of the year. Let’s grab that cup of coffee and see my August results!
Dividend Income
I received a total of $582.36 of dividend income in August. This, though not as substantial as other months, was the best August I’ve ever had, handsdown. This makes sense, due to all of the increases, investment and reinvestment that occurs throughout the year. Outside of that, everything went smooth, with dividends coming and being reinvested. September cannot come soon enough. The 401(k), Health Savings Account (HSA) and all dividends are automatically invested/reinvested and helps take the emotion out of timing & making a decision. Also, to find out why I max out my 401(k) and HSA – please refer to the 3rd part of my tax series, (though I have the breaks on the 401k, as I recently posted due to the 6 month waiting period) as that describes the magnitude of benefits to increase the amount you can invest due to reduction in taxes. Here is the breakdown of dividend income for the month of August!
In total, I had 18 different companies that paid me during the month of August, including retirement accounts. You’ll see the differences from a year over year perspective below, as this was 42.74% higher than last August! Kinder Morgan’s (KMI) higher dividend is in play, as well as more Procter Gamble (PG) coming in, not to mention dividend increases from Caterpillar (CAT) and John Deere (DE) came in as well. On the “R”/retirement account side of things, it’s nice seeing everyone in double digits and can’t wait to see which one breaks the $100 barrier soon. Anyone have money on Citizens & Northern (CZNC) or HCP Inc. (HCP)?
Similarly, I have split out between the individual stock amounts and the retirement accounts, as the ” – R” indicates a retirement account dividend (or the furthest column to the right). 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 $243.90 (up from $181.50 last year) or 42% of my income from retirement accounts and the other 58% was from my individual taxable account portfolio. Additionally, this shows from retirement accounts that I’m all ready for my set it and forget it mentality to keep that income going. To see my portfolio – one can go to our portfolio summary page.
Dividend Income Year over Year Comparison
2017: 
2018: 
So what happened month over month? Well, due to switching brokers, I no longer own RMR (see 2017 above), as they purged anything less than 1 share. That was fine by me, as it was received from a spin-off. KMI is obviously larger and same with PG, as stated earlier. Further, we have new names in Starbucks (SBUX), West Rock Co (WRK) and Delta (DAL); as well as Hormel (HRL). It’s been a crazy, busy year and the dividend growth engine is full-fledged as well. It’s hard to point to just one thing for the comparison to last year. It’s a straight combination of dividend growth, dividend reinvestment and additional capital. The trifecta to fuel the engine!
Dividend Increases
A month wouldn’t be a month without high quality companies increasing their dividend! See the small chart below for the details on the dividend increase announced this month from my portfolio.
One solid dividend increase occurred in August, according to me. I know Canadian Imperial (CM) increased theirs, but that is a hard one to track, with the ever-changing currency exchange rate. In order for me to add $3.28 to my dividend income, I would have to invest $94 at 3.50%!
Dividend Income Conclusion & Summary
The name of the game is to learn and act in the right manner, using what you have learned. The plan is to maximize every dollar for investment opportunities and live a balanced life. My hope is my dividend income, shown above, shows the community that one can use dividend income as a revenue engine to take back control of your life. Dividend investing, once you learn the right way, becomes easier to do and starts to make quite a bit of sense!
As I discussed in my normal monthly expenditures article, this dividend income would cover 59% of my average $984 monthly expense, which includes the mortgage, property taxes, insurance and utilities. This would cover the principal and interest on the mortgage and even utilities. Property taxes, not so much. In similar fashion – all of the investing from last year and moves this year, shows that my aim to save 60% of my income, and making every dollar count, has allowed promising results already this year.
Are you making every dollar count, everyone? Anything above that prompts any further questions from you? The August month was a boom for me, and this is the type of growth that I’d love to continue to see, no doubt! As always, I am excited to read the comments and thank you, the community, for stopping by; as you are helping me on my journey to financial freedom!