Quarter 1 of 2016 is officially in the books, which means a quarter end month of dividend income has occurred! The reason why I specifically mention the quarter-end, as this is typically a larger than normal month for dividend income, as there are substantially more payers in the U.S. that pay on those specific months as opposed to others. This also marks my fifth busy season as an auditor being completed and I can wake up on Saturday not feeling like I need to be working for the firm, feels nice. This is also one of the exciting time periods where we will read on individuals breaking their record for dividend income for the month! All great news here. Without any more introduction, let’s take a look at what Dividend Income was received for March 2016!
Dividend income
This month, I received a total of $884.85, which is a whopper once you dive into the analysis of the year. This is also with a heavily reduced BBL dividend, as they as well – cut their dividend by 3/4! The agony! However – the other hard working companies continued to pay resounding dividends and you also will see new names on the list below. In total – 25 companies paid me this month, not too shabby, here are the stats:
As you can see above, quite a few dividend aristocrats – Aflac (AFL), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Archer Daniels (ADM, whom are on my watch list), Target (TGT), Mcdondalds (MCD) and even T. Rowe Price (TROW; whom we made large investments into earlier); and some of these such as MCD & JNJ are a foundation stock for any dividend investors portfolio. Very, VERY lucky to have so many strong companies paying me this month, it’s quite amazing. If you see a number next to the ticker, that is the date of when the dividend was received, but I happen to accidentally leave the day in there. Apologies!
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 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 huge total of $263.12 or 30% of my income from retirement accounts and the other 70% was from my individual taxable account portfolio. We all know my set it and forget it mentality to keep that retirement income going, but also pumped to see that I had 10 companies pay me in my taxable individual account. To see my portfolio – one can go to our portfolio summary page.
Comparison
Something that I like to do now is attach in prior year’s dividend income, which the image is copied in below, with 2015 first and 2016 to follow.
2015:
2016:
To begin, I had only 20 companies in March of 2015’s income summary and I had 25 total in this year’s post. Always a plus here and so damn thankful. What’s funny is that each company has paid me more except …. ding ding ding – you called it, BBL. I went from receiving $73.16 from them to receiving $20.21. The greatest calculation is seeing no new purchases, but seeing increases from each company year over year, for example Realty Income (O) experienced 10% growth, Target (TGT) had 10.77%, AFL had 7.83%, Pfizer (PFE) had 10.8%, Lockheed Martin (LMT) had 17%; all just amazing growth in income each period, Loving it. Year over year (YOY), my income grew by 10.9% from dividends received – always a pleasure having that large of an increase, thank you all again. It would have been better, but the combination of BBL and other dividend cuts throughout the investing platform has led to slight decreases in my retirement distributions amongst the ETFs & mutual funds. It’s okay though, 10.9% growth overall is fine by me!
Dividend income increases
We will say – nothing significant to report here. April, however, should be fun : )
Conclusion & Summary
As I discussed back then with my normal monthly expenditures at the moment, this $885 would cover 94% of my average $942 monthly expense for my house, including utilities. This % is dramatically higher than last year (last year = 85%). 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 2016 year. What do you guys think of my month of March? Seeing nice YOY growth or did you also get heavily burned by BBL? See anything off or something I should be on the look out for? How did ya’ll do? Always an exciting post to read from others. Please share your insight and comments and thank YOU again for stopping by!
-Lanny
Wow awesome month Lanny keep up the amazing job #crushingit.
Matthew,
Thanks! I will continue the hashtag trend of crushing it – though I wish I could have jumped over 4 digits again. Agh. To June I shall! THat’s my goal. Obviously need to get through April and May first haha. Thanks Matt, talk soon!
-Lanny
Great post! Do you see BBL moving back up anytime soon? Looks like that was one of the only company really hurting you a lil bit 🙂 Thinking of adding PFE to my portfolio, seems like a great company, anyone has thoughts on that one?
All the best for Q2!
SC
Thanks SC!
BBL – I think it all is dependent on the price of our favorite commodities, truthfully. No one can sustain for too long low valuations here. That was the one that stung and continues to sting.
How’s it going for you? Q1 is wrapped and onward to Q2, leggggo!
-Lanny
Hi Lanny,
Thanks for your quick reply!
Just starting dividend investing around 2 months ago so let’s say Q2 is about consolidating my portfolio, getting educated. I am 24 yo, based in Belgium. NWM http://www.nomorewaffles.com/ blog is really helping out and giving me valuable tips on how to deal with Belgium Taxes!!!
Any starter tips on KEY companies to own stocks from in the current economic situation?
SC
SC,
Tips on key companies to own – consumer non cyclical. Can never go wrong with JNJ, PG, AT&T, etc.. Thoughts?
-Lanny
I’ve been hearing JNJ a thousand times since I started dividend investing XD….seems like the number 1 stock to own for dividend growth !!! I just think JNJ stock is a bit expensive to buy right now…?hoping for a small dip and i’ll def buy ! Will also be looking at PG and UN
Would be great if I could have your thoughts on something. How much of an impact would another major financial crisis have on your dividend investments?
– SC
Another great month, Lanny. Congrats on the dividend income and keep up the great work!
R2R
RM2R,
Thank you, I’ll try to keep getting better, we all can be better, let’s keep our focus on and our goals in our sight an p going one direction – forward! All the best.
-Lanny
Keep hustling it up Lanny. You’re doing awesome bud. Life changing and as we continue on this wonderful journey, we grow and become more humble and confident that it’s possible to get the hell out of the rat race. Don’t stop pushing yourself. Cheers.
Hustler,
Thank you very much. We need to keep our confidence, because this is proof – this is proof that confidence, hard work and passion gets you there. Soon, I will have a comma in front of that and all of the little guys paying me will be stronger. Cannot wait. Thanks hustler for the kind words!
-Lanny
Nicely done, and with 94% of your basics covered you are doing very well!
CF,
Not well enough! JK, Jk, it is a journey, but a tough one – knew it wouldn’t be easy, but DAMN! It’s worth it though, everything that is hard, makes the fruit taste that much better. Keep going, thats what we can do!
-Lanny
Wow Lanny, that’s a fantastic dividend income! It’s totally awesome that the dividend income is able to cover 94% of your housing expenses. You’re on your way to FI! Amazing that you received dividend income from so many sources too. Keep up the great work.
Tawcan,
Thank you very much! Almost there, except the caveat being some of that is from retirement accounts. We need to keep going, that’s for damn sure! We got this!
-Lanny
hey Lanny, great that you received already $8845.85!
think that was a mistake, but 884 Dollar ist a awesome dividend income too!
keep it up!
best regards
Chri
ED,
Thanks Chri!! Appreciate it, even if I didn’t really get the 8845 as I wrote earlier (I did fix the number!). It’s not too bad, would have loved to break 1K, but this then gives us something to reach and aim for, right? That’s what it’s about sometimes, that figure/goal in mind and figuring out a plan that works the best to get there. Time is killing me lately!
-Lanny
Congrats Lanny! That is an impressive total! I love seeing the YoY growth from individual companies. As the capital grows larger, that 11% growth results in significant numbers. The joy of compounding!
Keep up the great work
ADD,
What’s tough is – I need better than 11% growth next year to hit over the 1K mark, need to do a heck of a lot more! It’s been killing me – over 45 days now with no new stock purchase. Bah! Patience, right? Patience? Thanks for coming by, as always.
-Lanny
Hey nice job Lanny! A very nice increase and a very nice total. You can nearly live very basically without working, sweet. Good luck for the rest of the year 🙂
Tristan
Tristan,
Thank you! Looks like I had a little typo in there, all fixed now. And yep haha, if all I needed was shelter, heat and electricity – I would be just fine! Appreciate it and lets keep our foot on the pedal eh?
-Lanny
Yeah, if you are willing to hunt/grow your own food, plus collect your own water and you’re free. Live the (hermit) dream! Don’t stop until the job is done.
Tristan
T,
Yep – I could always go to the Cleveland woods and see what type of “game” is out there haha. No Stopping, keep running.
-Lanny
Lanny, I almost had a heart attack. You have a typo, but it’s a good one. Your dividend total has an extra * – it says – $8,845.85 🙂
Now that I’m breathing again, congrats on a fine month. Your on the cusp of a $1k month hopefully by the end of the year.
IH,
I almost just had a heart attack too! Great catch – just fixed/updated on the find! I know I was on the cusp of 4 digits again, kills me not crossing that mark! Back to the grind to get there, right? No slowing down here!
-Lanny
Great stuff Lanny! Even if you didn’t get that $8,800+ month! When I first read that I like holy cow where’d all that capital come from? But then I saw your table with the breakdown. Still great stuff especially since you nearly passed $900 even after the BBL cut. Diversification is key to DGI as some companies can fall on hard times but the rest of your holdings can pick up the slack.
$900 that you did not have to work for is pretty impressive, even with the cut from BBL. Doing nothing over the next year, other than reinvesting the dividends should get you pretty close to four figures. Add some more capital, and it’s likely to be worth even more.
Chris,
Thank you and I could not agree more – but yep, that BBL still stings!
I think no doubt this time next year – growth + reinvestment, no doubt my man.
Thanks for stopping by, greatly appreciated and lets keep at it!
-Lanny
Inspiring results as always and from many solid dividend payers. You already know that I prefer the lower yielding aristocrats for their safety. Even with the BBL misstep things are rocking and rolling. Just goes to show how resilient this investment strategy can be. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to your dividend round up.
DivHut,
Thank you very much DH!! Thanks for sharing your articles as well, it works, it really does and at some point – this can produce cash flow for everyday living and we can focus more on being happy and even more so on doing what we want. LETS Keep this Ship Sailing! Thanks DH, pumped.
-Lanny
Lanny,
10%, even with that BBL issue is still great. That means your money is 10% more effective. Keep it up.
– Gremlin
Grem,
Thank you! I know, I know the BBL brought it down but still managed a 10% increase from last year. LETS GO!!! No stopping us now.
-Lanny
Hi there,
it seems you guys had a good month! Keep working on that portfolio.
Kisses,
Mrs. Moneypenny
Hi Lanny,
That was an awesome month and having 94% of your house expenses paid while you sleep is fantastic!
Keep up the great work and I look forward to reading your next purchase!
Best wishes,
-DL