Lanny’s December Dividend Income Summary

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!  Hope everyone had a blast finishing off the year and are ready to set 2018 on fire!  What better way to ensure to light this year up, than a record-setting month of Dividend Income?  That is my case and point.  I am beyond thrilled and excited to see the figures everyone is putting up, showcasing the blood, sweat & tears everyone has endured to this point.

Dividend Income

I received a total of $2,009.22  in dividend income during December of 2017.  HOLY SH*T, HOLY SH*T, HOLY SH*T!!!!!  Hold on, as I go and change my boxers.  WOW.  December has luckily been the best month I have ever experienced in my investing journey and the proof is officially deep in the pudding.  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, as that describes the magnitude of benefits to increase the amount you can invest due to reduction in taxes.  Grainger (GWW), Delta Inc. (DAL) and Kroger (KR) were the new investments made this year, sending checks my way.  Outside of those dividends, the remaining growth is through dividend increases and reinvestment, as well as one additional contribution to Pfizer (PFE).  This doesn’t include the massive contributions from the 401(k) and HSA, as mentioned.

There were 25 entities paying me in December.  I am still in awe and shock, therefore, I apologize in my thoughts being gathered.  I shouldn’t be too stunned, given the massive amounts of contributions made and staying the course with my companies I’ve owned above.  When I think about my taxable accounts (everything in the first two column/sections), 20 out of 22 companies increased their dividend this year!  That is a 91% success rate, and I’ll take it.  The two exceptions were DowDuPont (DWDP) and Shell (RDS).  DWDP did not increase their dividend primarily due to the acquisition finally closing and cleaning their operation up.  Shell, given the oil industry still semi-struggling, did not increase their dividend again.

Similarly, I have split out the taxable and the retirement accounts, as the ” – R” indicates a retirement account dividend (or the furthest column to the right).  I separated these two, as I like to know what portion of my dividend income is coming from retirement accounts that I cannot touch until 59.5 (barring any other usage rule I could use).  Here, it shows that I received a solid total of $1,244.09 (up from $1,007.53 last year primarily due to 401(k) & HSA, as well as, dividend reinvestment & dividend increases)  or 61.9% of my income from retirement accounts and the other 38.1% 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

2016:

2017:

So what are the differences here?  Mattel (MAT) fully cut their dividend, hence no payment from them (bastards!).  As mentioned earlier, quite a few new faces, with the purchase of Kroger (KR), Grainger (GWW) x 2 and Delta (DAL).  Further, the reinvestment and dividend growth is phenomenal, as that’s the fuel to a lot of the fire.  Year over year, the dividend income increase was 19.57%!  Very excited about the increase over these 12 months.  If I keep up the same pace, we are looking at over $2,400 next year!

dividend increases

We all know by now, the power of the dividend growth rate is real!  3 incredible companies increasing their dividend is always welcomed in my house!  Additionally, Bert talked about a few of the dividend increases in his Expected December 2017 Increase article.  To be honest, all increased their dividend as expected.  It was Realty Income’s (O) turn to increase their dividend for the upcoming quarter, AT&T (T) increased their $0.01 per share per quarter and Pfizer (PFE) stayed consistent with a $0.02 increase per share per quarter.  In order to achieve this much forward income, one would have to invest $461 at 3.50%!  Thanks for the dividend increases!

dividend income conclusion & Summary

The name of the game is to learn and act in the right manner to what you have learned.  The plan is to maximize every dollar for investment opportunities and live a balanced life.  My hope is that my month of dividend income 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 with my updated – normal monthly expenditures at the moment, this dividend income would cover over 204% of my average $984 monthly expense for my house, including utilities.  Covering my expenses that are fixed, two times over, is surreal… In addition, my auto loan is finally gone and I am able to deploy the additional capital into new investments that are opportunistic.  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 me to achieve lofty goals that I set in place for my 2017 year.

As always, excited to read everyone’s December income reports and start to compile our monthly article for everyone.  2017 was a whirlwind year and 2018 will be even wilder.  I am exhausted, but need to find each piece of motivation to step forward, not backward.  Only one life for us to live, and let’s make it meaningful, challenging and fun at the same time.  Excited to read the comments below and thank you, the community, for stopping by; as you are helping me on my journey to financial freedom!

-Lanny

77 thoughts on “Lanny’s December Dividend Income Summary

  1. And boom goes the dynamite! $2k during December is fantastic. Great job Lanny. The commitment and consistency to regularly invest is really starting to take shape. 2018 is going to be a killer year for you.

  2. “HOLY SH*T, HOLY SH*T, HOLY SH*T!!!!! Hold on, as I go and change my boxers. WOW.”

    Had me laughing really hard and my wife told me to shut up because it was too early and cold outside.

    Congratulations! Nice monthly outcome. The percentages of covering expenses that you listed are key.

    If you receive $1mm in passive income but you spend $2mm…I’m not a math expert though…

    Again, congrats Lanny. Keep steaming ahead.

    • Mike –

      Hahahaha, exactly, I had to a few times as well. It’s funny, I estimated around $1.8K and then it jumped to $2K once mutual funds went final. All about keeping it light and funny here, haha and glad your wife loved/enjoyed it.

      And you are right – the math is simple. Need the PI > Expenses and you are good to go. If only every month was like this.. haha. 2018 – time to make it ours Mike!!

      -Lanny

  3. Nice! That’s a whole month of expenses for many people. The snowball is really rolling for you for sure. I hit 3 figures for the first time in December. Pretty stoked about it.

  4. That is some crazy passive income you collected in December! Love quarter ending/ year ending months. Always the best for dividend payments. I remember when you crossed the 8k mark and now you have 1/4 of that in a single month. Keep inspiring! Here’s to an awesome 2018!

    • Daze –

      Always the best, always a bang and always surprised in one way or another. Wow… you are right, I remember then too now that you brought it up. I am growing up Daze!! haha. Gosh, time and consistency are so damn powerful!

      -Lanny

    • Money H –

      Thank you for following along, we are all about this community and hope you enjoyed it. Will spend time tonight reading your blog too!! We are here to push each other and know that this dream is possible, it’s gosh damn possible.

      -Lanny

  5. Unreal Lanny, WAY TO GO!! $2000 is some serious change and will certainly speed up even bigger numbers in the future. $2,000 at 3.5% is another $70 a year. Not to mention $2000 is like making a whole purchase from hard earned cash which is not so easy to do.

    Congrats and wishing you the best in 2018!

    ADD

    • ADD –

      Thank you so much, it does feel unreal. I agree, it does feel like making a purchase and if I can keep the growth rate up in 2018 – then those figures will be even bigger. It’s funny – how fast and how much you want today, but also trying to enjoy the ride in the process.

      -Lanny

  6. December is a great month! Congrats on the huge numbers. I had a similarly awesome December,owning a lot of mutual funds/ETFs in retirement accounts. I also try not counting on it until 59.5, but that doesn’t make it any less real income. Love the updates.

  7. Wow, what a record setting month! I’ve got ROK (gotta love that dividend raise this month) and recently bought TGT, but not before the ex-div. I’m seeing lots of divs from my watch list stocks in there too, like DAL and KHC. Keep up the good work- dividend investing is a very rewarding hobby!

  8. Wow! Now that’s a serious passive income total. I share your excitement. As you mentioned, regular investments and more importantly, staying the course, all created these amazing results. There’s no shortage of reasons to quit the market and wait on the sidelines however, that’s not a way to create an ever increasing passive income stream. As long term investors we know that we’ll be holding stocks through some tough times, hold a few dividend cutters too, but on the whole with a diversified portfolio and staying in the game is the only way to achieve these results. Awesome! Let’s start 2018 on a strong foot.

    • Hut –

      Thank you, we both are doing very well! A diversified portfolio couldn’t be even more important than when you go through one entity that cuts their dividend. It’s almost like a bullet hitting a very strong piece of armor. Does it sting? Sure. Does it shatter your armor or pierce anything? Not a chance. The legs keep moving and the battle continues on! Thanks again DH for coming by.

      -Lanny

  9. @Lanny – congrats. Updates such as these inspire everyone else to continue the course. $2,000 a month in passive income is amazing. Great work, here is looking forward to your December 2018 update 🙂

    I will probably post about my December passive income soon too.

    – Desi Guy.

    • Desi –

      Thank you – Take it from me – I once received $10 in dividend income, to $100, to $1000 and now… $2000, its real and its legit. It’s actually happening and I am in disbelief a bit, still. Just wow…

      -Lanny

  10. Congrats Lanny on reaching the 2k mark!

    I also reached an important point in December, getting paie over 1000$ In dividends In a month for the first Time in my Life ! And it came in as a surprise since one of my REITs pays Twice in December (the November div on the 15th, the December div on the 29th), And I Keep forgetting about it.

    I don,t have a blog, but I started following you guys around the same Time Last year, amongst a few other bloggers, and that’s What got me into tracking my dividends in a more thorough and organised fashion. Hence, I now know that my 1143$ received in December represents a 49% yoy increase!

    It’s guys Like you who got me into the habit of getting super-hyped in front of Excel sheets each and every month! So thanks a million and all my best wishes for 2018 from Québec city, Canada !

    Sébastien

    • Sebastien –

      HECK YES!!! Congratulations!! This is awesome and truly am honored you follow us. Love that you track your investments in excel – the only way to go. Spreadsheets are amazing and I would be lost without them. So exciting to update them, no doubt. Best of wishes to you as well, and thank you again for coming by!

      -Lanny

  11. “The name of the game is to learn and act in the right manner to what you have learned. ”

    I absolutely love this sentence right here.

    Congrats Lanny. You produced some great results for December. I love to see your strategy working so well for you. I am excited to see you strive for your goals moving forward. Thanks for sharing.

    • More Divs –

      Wow, this means the world throwing that quote in here. It’s true. We all learn, but fail to practice mos of the time. Time to act if we can!!

      I appreciate it and you as well. Consistency. Sticking to what works. Doing more of it : )

      -Lanny

  12. Congratulations Lanny. You. Earned. Every. cent.
    A stellar year and incredible growth in your dividend income. Obviously your approach is paying off!
    I hope Santa brought you some new boxers to go with those fat cheques!
    And I hope your 2018 is off to a flying start mate –

    Best,
    WF30.

    • WF30 –

      Haha, too funny. I appreciate the comment, as always. Saving, investing, rinsing & repeating has worked wonders. Hope both of our 2018s are starting off well, mine has been interesting thus far, haha.

      -Lanny

  13. Holy smokes. You got that snowball moving now. Will be awesome to see it grow over the years. Even the Mattel cut didn’t hurt you that much. That is one of the things I want a portfolio where a cut will swallowed up by dividend growth. Keep it up.

    • Doug –

      Thank you and you are right – it is gosh damn powerful, if you ask me. Extremely lucky and it’s funny – Mattel made a little nip in the portfolio and wasn’t felt much. Thank you again, onward to progress!

      -Lanny

  14. Awesome Lanny. Congrats on a huge and successful December and what a great way to close out the year! I enjoyed following your progress last year and looking forward to doing the same in 2018. Definitely an inspiration for 2018.

  15. Whoa! 2K! Way to blow up December, Lanny! Love the fairly even distribution from all the payers in the taxable account, too. You’ve got the ball rolling as we head into 2018. With that auto loan a thing of the past, you should be able to ignite the portfolio once again this year. Congrats on all the well-deserved achievements.

    • Engineering –

      Thank you, very much. The taxable account needs some attention : ) Would like to see a triple bagger from one of them soon! AT&T or LMT may be the closest or even PM, we’ll see. In time it will happen, as investments are hard to come by at the moment. Appreciate the motivation, though, ED – every bit helps.

      -Lanny

  16. Woww !! Very Impressive, 204% of your average monthly expenses including utilities is magnificent. I love it. Great work there. Good Luck with everything you do up there, Lanny.

    Congratulations and happy investing.
    TDK.

  17. Wow. Truly amazing Lanny. You know, I used to think only truly mega dividend investors got over $2k, but you’re part of that group too! Haha. Excellent work. All that saving and re-investing has truly gotten your family to a wonderful position. Amazing work. You (and Bert) are an inspiration to everyone here!

    Here comes $3k!

    Mr DDU

    • DDU –

      What’s funny is I used to think $500 was insane, then $1,000, then $1,500 and so forth. How the heck did I even end up here? I tell you what – it’s just sticking to the plan, saving money and putting it out there to work. Lucky to know how and to be able to do it. It’s this community right here, fueling this engine. Very lucky!

      -Lanny

  18. Amazing work Lanny! I just recently broke the £200 dividend mark for the first time and can’t be happier. I can’t wait until the day I receive £2000 and can change my boxers also. Keep up the amazing work!

    • Alex –

      Congratulations, what a milestone – cherish it. That’s one of the best things of being a dividend investor – the milestones along the way. Appreciate the comment, you’ll get to $2K and hopefully I can reach new heights as well!

      -Lanny

  19. Hi Lanny,
    I guess you are tired of those comments already but I had to stop by and congratulate you with a MASSIVE month!
    I am happy to have received dividend raises from O and T as well. I am in another weight category, though 😀
    Keep it up!
    -BI

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