Lanny’s July Dividend Income Summary

Another month down and another month closer, they say.  Closer to financial freedom!  This pursuit of financial freedom and/or financial independence has been such a ride, I cannot wait for what’s to come.  The fireworks have come and gone and now we are hitting into the peak summer heat here in Ohio and it will start to cool down towards the end of the month, as Fall begins to enter our territory.  Hopefully that means that just the temperature outside cooling and that my portfolio’s dividend income is heating up!  Let’s dive into my dividend income results from the month of August!

dividend income

Dividend Income

This month I received a total of $370.67.  Now this wasn’t an all-time record like last month, but this is a record earning month for my July dividend income articles.  This is what I (as well as most of the community) consider an “off-month” for dividend investing, as the quarter-calendar end months are typically more robust.  I always imagine that once the dividend income in this off-months reaches 4 digits, that financial independence should be right around the corner.  See my chart below and what occurred in July to lead to these results.

Interesting, eh?  Actually, Kraft (KHC), as we have been talking, has a quarter-end pay schedule, therefore, is no longer paying in July.  This entity, though, was replaced by my investment in Cisco (CSCO) recently, helping to offset the non-KHC payment.  Similarly to last year, Philip Morris (PM) has carried the torch as the biggest payment here, representing approximately 25% of the income.  This will/should decrease overtime as I make additional investments in new companies and additional capital in current investments.

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 solid total of $36 (up from $32.43 last year due to dividend reinvestment & dividend increases)  or 9.7% of my income from retirement accounts and the other 90.3% 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:

July Div Inc

2017:

So from last year’s July dividend income statement to this year’s income statement, the increase was 6.18%.  Damn, that’s it?  Well, as stated earlier, the Kraft (KHC) dividend payment schedule change doesn’t help.  Further, looking at the dividend income above, all of them are greater than last year, which is always a good sign.  The two largest dividend increases year over year happens to be Realty Income (O) at 10.45% & Canadian Imperial (CM) at 15.85%.  O’s is very easy to explain, they increase dividends almost at least quarterly and in-conjunction with a monthly dividend reinvestment occurring, equates to solid dividend income increases year, after year.  With CM, this is a combination of dividend increases, in addition to the strengthening of the Canadian Dollar at $0.80 US to 1 CAD.  I will gladly take these increases, no doubt!

Solid results here.  Do I want better dividend income increases?  You betcha.  With my latest August Stock Watch List, Cisco (CSCO) is high on my list, so I may double my position, which will then produce better results for this month, as well as their other quarterly counterparts.

Further, I traditionally talk about my dividend increase announcements over the month of July.  Sadly, there were none, so that section of this article will be removed.  I hope that this gets on track in August, such as those companies on Bert’s August Dividend Increase list!

Dividend Income Conclusion & Summary

As I discussed with my updated – normal monthly expenditures at the moment, this $370.67 would cover ~38% of my average $984 monthly expense for my house, including utilities.  Looking to boost my dividend income, as my auto loan is almost at an end and I look forward to unlocking a new cash flow source, so the dividend income this  month and going forward will taste that much better.  In similar fashion –  all of the investing from last year and moves this year, show being frugal to save 60% of my income, that every dollar counts, has helped me in achieving lofty goals that I set in place for my 2017 year.  LET’S GO!!!!

Not sure that I actually notate this, but all of my dividend income is being reinvested.  I know, some may say with the overvaluation in the market that I should turn it off.  However, I try not to time the market and I’d rather let dividend reinvestment do it’s thing.  Further, I know my dividend income is going to be higher, because I won’t let it stay stagnant or go the other direction.  Obviously, I will ensure this in a prudent fashion, but we need to just go for it, in every single that we do, and this includes investing into strong dividend income producing stocks.  Though this month had an increase, it does need to be better if I want to be financially independent any time soon.

How did your July dividend income summaries go?  I am waiting on the flurries to start trickling in, so that we can summarize them in our post for everyone.  I love to see the different companies individuals own and see their progress each and every month.  I am looking to make a few dividend stock purchases coming up, as I’ve been on the sidelines for almost two months, and you know how that usually goes for me… haha.  Thanks everyone for stopping by, wish everyone the best of luck and happy investing out there!

-Lanny

50 thoughts on “Lanny’s July Dividend Income Summary

  1. Looking good, Lanny! I wish my off months would give such a return 😉
    On the dividend side were still going slow, haven’t bought anything in the past 6 months now (know how you feel) But, we did bought a rental property in July! Starting from years end, it will bring us some decent income every month.

    • Divnomics –

      Appreciate the comment! Whoa, it’s been 6 months since a purchase?! Well, you do have another asset producing income, that’s a fricken awesome move. Div, you are making splashes, pumped.

      -Lanny

  2. I think we also had about a 7% yoy return this past month, was a bit disappointed too. Got to take a look to see what caused this. Other than that, you are doing well my dear fellow!

  3. Not a bad month at all considering it is an off month. Your growth percent may seem small but amount wise, that small percentage is about all I made for the whole month! And I had over 90% growth from last year haha. Either way, when every little bit counts, as long as it is growing it is a positive. Keep it up!

  4. You had positive numbers all around, so congrats on another solid month, even if it’s an off month. I definitely agree with you on reinvesting dividends. I do so no matter what the market does. It’s just more simple that way and you constantly have your funds working for you.

    I haven’t done my calculations yet. I’m heading out to do salsa dancing but will crunch the numbers later tonight. Who knows, maybe i’ll make it on this month’s list of income producers. July isn’t going to be earth shattering by any means. August on the other hand should be GREAT!

    • DP –

      Like to always hear on what others do with their dividend, even if the market is at these heights.

      You will, don’t you worry, post that article, come on!!! Enjoy the salsa dancing.

      -Lanny

  5. An increase is still an increase. Good work. I like the idea of more CSCO. They seem to still be floundering around a bit but they are one the old tech giants that need time to right the ship. At least they are not IBM and going in the wrong direction. They have a sizeable position in my portfolio right now.

    ADD

    • ADD –

      Thanks for the comment, and yes, more CSCO may have went down yesterday 🙂 Stay tuned for that. They actually dropped even further today. Keep an eye on CSCO to ensure revenue and margin stay consistent, only thing I’m keeping my eye on.

      -Lanny

  6. Yep, July is such an off month. I’m still working on my blog post about how I did in July, but it sure wasn’t anything like June. The only thing keeping it from being a super snoozefest was B & G Foods deciding to pay its (5+%) dividend on the 31st instead of the 1st like usual.

    Still, $370 is quite a respectable sum- good work on almost paying off that auto loan, that cash flow is going to be sweet!

    • Meow –

      Excited to read your post and to see how you did. Oooh, I see, I see, nice that you were able to squeeze that in then!

      I am SO close on the auto loan, in 30 days – she will gone : )

      -Lanny

  7. I recently starting investing in dividends recently, and stumbled across your site. I’ve been reading your articles (which I love, as I get to learn some, and see what you and others are investing in) and wanted to ask a question. But first, I’ve been investing since October 2015, and my July dividend was about $15 (mainly fueled by Cisco, and some small holdings in monthly REIT stocks. But I did want to ask, what are your thoughts on sites like Computershare (which is the direct investment site for Cisco), as most stocks there have fees for DRIP investing and recurring investments? It allows partial shares as well. Would it be more worthwhile to go to an app like Robinhood, where you don’t get partial shares, but there is no DRIP or recurring investment fee? Any insight from all is appreciated! Thanks, and keep up the good work!

    • NTD –

      Great question. I do avoid Computershare due to fees and tracking of stock ownership. I use CapitalOne Investing, due to being able to reinvestment into partial shares for no fee, at all! Should give them a review : ) Let me know what you think.

      -Lanny

    • MDD –

      You know, you are right, even though the amount in the current eyes doesn’t seem to be substantial, but damn, so lucky to say $370 hit my account and more will come later on. Lucky, happy and eager to keep improving, that’s for sure. No slowing down at all. LETS GO!!!

      -Lanny

  8. Nice work, Lanny! Another month… more healthy dividends collected. I also reinvest all my dividend income, so you have some company. I know you’ve been itching to increase that CSCO position… I’m looking forward to see if you pull the trigger on that purchase.

  9. Another great showing for a slow month. We love those end of quarter months so much that it’s a little tough to go from those highs to the muted results following. Still, you managed to put up a nice year over year increase with a lot of quality names. As you stated above another month closer to FI. Keep up the good work!

    • Hut –

      Thank you very much for the comment. Exactly, just finished commenting that it’s hard to come off of June into July. Adding more to CSCO helps this month out going forward, also, excited that a few dividend increases could also help substantially as well. I see you made some recent moves, excited to check out. Talk soon DH.

      -Lanny

  10. Hey Lanny,

    that’s a nice result for a month like July…it’s defenitely an off month for me too, almost “cruel”. I added Cisco recently and think of buying more shares at this level.
    I like TOT in your portfolio, thought about purchasing them, but opted for Royal Dutch Shell. What kind of taxes do you have to pay with TOT, as a stock from France. I read that they have high taxes on dividends and that it’s a little bit complicated to get some ot those back…

    Best Regards,
    DividendSolutions

    • DS –

      Uh oh, very NICE on adding CSCO, so hard to pass up with the yield, earnings, balance sheet and outlook.

      I have owned TOT for so long, it’s not even funny, there is a foreign tax fee, that gets credited back to me come tax time. I get it back in a dollar for dollar at the end. I do have Shell though as well!

      -Lanny

  11. Lanny,
    Looks like a solid month to me, all increases are good. I went from 73 to 390 aussie Dollars in July. Pretty sweet, but than again I am just in the second year of my investment journey. I think I only have PM from your list this month, I am happy with them so far 🙂
    DividendWombat

    • DW –

      DANG! WOW! Nice job, that’s a great “Growth Rate as a %” if I could say so myself.

      Only second year, but already pretty high up there, imagine what two more years is going to do. We’ll def. find out!

      -Lanny

  12. Slow month but still great results!

    We did pretty well in the SLM household, didn’t break any new records but I’m not gonna complain about it 🙂

    • MDS –

      I appreciate it! Almost $400 I guess isn’t that bad, just hard when you come out with that after June’s amount, haha.

      I agree, need to keep crushing it and keep climbing the mountain, a mountain that is climbable, that is.

      -Lanny

  13. The first month of the quarter is always pretty low for me. Relatively few companies seem to pay out in Jan, April, July, and Oct. I love the monthly payout schedule for O and might add to it when the time is right. I’m assuming that you saying that you reinvest means that you DRIP instead of holding onto dividends for a month or two and then making a larger purchase?

    • Chris –

      You are right, you are exactly right. I do love O and wish they hit my right price points to buy more!

      I do DRIP, you got it, takes the questioning out of my investment, plus – no fees : )

      -Lanny

  14. Hi Lanny,
    Nice dividend income for July, and it’s awesome that about 38% of your expenses is covered. You’re more than a third of the way done! Once your dividends cover your monthly expenses, you’re set. Thanks for sharing.

    • CI –

      Thank you very much and it’s comforting know that my expenses are remaining on a tight “check” and that my income is growing faster than my expenses are growing. That’s the plan! Hopefully, though, I can keep the same or higher growth rates up on my income, need to be done here : ) ahaha

      -Lanny

    • Stacker –

      I hear ya on the PM. Hoping that new purchases will shrink that a little bit, PM is a monster, though, at the moment in my portfolio (I used to own Lorillard, refused to own RAI, sold LO at a peak price point post merger announcement and moved $ into PM).

      Appreciate the comment, talk soon Stacks!

      -Lanny

    • DDU –

      Always appreciate your comment. You are right, hard to complain when the increases are real dollars that more than likely cover additional utility payments or a tank of gas or two. Other sources of income covering expenses is what this is about!

      -Lanny

  15. 38 percent coverage of bills is awesome. Someday most of everything or everything will be paid for that’s when you’ve done it. Keep it up

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