Lanny’s March Dividend Income Summary

We know what time it is.  This is one of the best months to be a dividend investor, as we wrap up a quarter-end.  The market finished off an impressive note, closing up 13% for the year, thus far.  The weather is finally warming up, as I believe we even received a 60 degree day or two in the month.  This was a fantastic month of investing and earning dividends, which truly shows the power of time and consistency pushes you forward.

Dividend Income

I received a total of $2,259.89 of dividend income in March.  This is the FIRST time I have crossed $2,000 in a non-December quarter-end!  Am I able to continue this stretch?  Potentially.  I’ll discuss what caused the large pops and what I can anticipate going forward.  Additionally, my wife earned $1,024 this month and I am still debating on how to incorporate that into the analysis, which I don’t mind this problem, right?  Therefore, combined, we earned almost $3,300 for the month!  That is financial freedom, in a gray area, of course.  We have retirement accounts that earn quite a significant portion of those earnings.

Further, 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.  Here is the breakdown of dividend income for the month of March!

As you can see, the taxable income is on the left and the retirement accounts are under the title to the right.  You can tell, I did not have one taxable dividend that was over $100.  In fact, I had 26 companies paying me within my taxable account.  BHP Billiton (BBL) had a massive dividend and that was due to a special distribution they did this go-around.  Further, there are currently 9 out of 26 companies that qualify as dividend aristocrats. 

I am anxious to see what Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) does this year, relating to their dividend, as mostly all oil players have smidged their dividend up recently.  Further, given IBM’s acquisition of Red Hat and the tribulations they have gone through, I am curious what the dividend increase will be like for them, given they yield a healthy 4.45% (I am anticipating ~4% growth, we shall see!).  

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 $1,189.24 (up from $599.84 last year) or 52.6% of my income from retirement accounts and the other 47.4% was from my individual taxable account portfolio.  This ratio increased from last year due to receiving a larger VINIX dividend – as capital gains were distributed, as well as Vanguard’s high dividend yield (VYM) being added, packing a solid punch.  Lastly, 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

2018:

2019:

Now, I will compare the previous year’s linked month to this month.  Again, another incredibly high growth rate, as my dividend income was up 51%!  My goal is to be well over $3,000 in dividend income next year (not including my wife’s account).  An extra $741 will take a massive effort, but you KNOW I’m ready to take the challenge.  Further, April will have incredible aristocrats increasing their dividend, as well as other companies, such as IBM.

There are many changes here, but is primarily on the retirement side.  My Health Savings Account (HSA), is now invested into a few low-expense ratio, no trade-fee exchange traded funds (ETFs).  This added more income than ever before.  Further, Vanguard’s High Dividend Yield (VYM) is new, versus last year.  This could have shown bigger growth, as HCP paid in February, as opposed to March (like last year).

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.

Fairly minimal here, March is normally a quiet month to say the least.  However, my favorite Italian market producer, Armanino Foods of Distinction (AMNF), came through with a double digit increase!  Realty Income (O) stayed in their consistent ways and threw in a little nugget.  The dividend increases above represent an investment $166.28 at 3.50% to accomplish this feat.

Dividend Income Conclusion & Summary

The name of the game is to apply what you learn through financial education.  The next steps are to maximize every dollar for investment opportunities and live a balanced life.  My plan is to show that dividend income can be a revenue engine.  A revenue engine that can allow you to take back control of your life.  Dividend investing, once you learn the right way, becomes easier and starts to make quite a bit of sense!

There is a nice adjustment to my most recent monthly expenditures article.  My property taxes increased by 14%.  Therefore, my new average is $1,040 per month  Therefore, my current dividend income would cover 217% of my average $1,040 monthly expense.  WHOA!  I can cover the monthly house expenses TWO times over, without missing/skipping a beat.  The greatest fact is I can cover the housing expenses plus EVERYTHING else in a given month – food, gas, entertainment, you name it.

Again, the amount, though, needs to come from my taxable account, as more than half of my dividend income this month came from retirement vehicles.  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.

Best March in the books!  Did you crush records and entered new territory than ever before?  Ready for the next level and to continue to grit and grind your way there?  You know I am, therefore, YOU are NOT alone.  LET’S GET IT!  I truly hope that you can see the power of this, in hopes of brightening your financial journey.  Thank you again, good luck and happy investing!

30 thoughts on “Lanny’s March Dividend Income Summary

    • Dynasty –

      A lot of grit, saving and grinding. However, the VINIX had a capital gains built in, we’ll see what June has in store, may be less than what the payout was this go around. Very fortunate to have received this, it’s crazy!

      -Lanny

  1. Thar is an awesome growth considering the size of last years payout. You should be proud of the accomplishment and best of luck on your march to breaking the 3K mark.

    • Ken –

      Thank you. I am proud, it’s weird saying that, but also it’s a sad feeling, as I wish everyone/people that I love also were at or ahead of these figures. I know it can be all gone tomorrow, but damn, I am going to make the best of it. Thank you Ken, as always.

      -Lanny

    • PCI –

      Thank you, thank you. Those monthly expenses are creeping up – and isn’t even lifestyle, damn property taxes!!! If anything – other expenses are in check/less, but my county decided to sucker punch me big time.

      I wish this were all taxable, I’d be done, NO DOUBT. Then, could focus on what I enjoy doing more. Almost… there.

      -Lanny

  2. Wow, Lanny! $2,260 in one month?! Are you kidding me? Congrats on another incredible month. Keep on crushing it and rolling that dividend snowball down the hill, especially with the taxable income.

    • Kody –

      Thank you for the comment. I know, it’s crazy right? Just FRICKEN NUTS! I remember reading a few bloggers and I thought it would be crazy the day one would cross $100, $1,000 and damn… I cannot believe it.. over $2,200?! Lucky, hard work, and time. LETS GO!!

      -Lanny

  3. This is a great proof how powerful DGI can be if you stick to it. Congrats on the fantastic monhtly income, Lanny.
    I hope to cross the 2K mark one day too. Too see others achieving it, is a huge motivation to stay the course.
    All the best!
    -SF

    • SF –

      This is proof and it’s the pudding. Can you taste it? It is real. It is powerful and damn, I am glad that I started doing this YEARS ago. You’ll get there. I remember never thinking/thinking it would take FOREVER. It happens, it happens quick. The best bet is to stay the course and be consistent. Boring works.

      -Lanny

  4. Lanny,
    That is a killer month. Does your VINIX reside in a Roth or a 401k account? Man that is what I want to see in my account in the future. It shows that staying dedicated and focused on dividend growth works!
    Great to see it.
    – Gremlin

  5. Wow, that is quite a YoY change. Good luck with with reaching the $3K mark this time next year, a increase of 33% is certainly doable when you have the DGI trifecta working for you. Shoot, some may say your setting the bar low for next year given you just experienced a 50%+ YoY increase 🙂

  6. Congrats on a monster month. I wouldn’t worry too much about how to incorporate totals from your wife. Just report it as one account. Over time it will all even out in terms of year over year growth reporting. So many great names paying you too. Happy to see we share quite a few! Every dollar counts 🙂

    • Time –

      It is wild, for sure. So much goes into this, monitoring, finding the right stock, consistently saving, rinsing and repeat. I know 5 years from now – who knows where it will be. I know I’ll be glad we started this path and journey. No doubt.

      -Lanny

  7. Holy cow Lanny! And big congrats on that expense coverage! 217% is amazing! We crossed $1k again in March I expect to continue doing so barring some kind of catastrophe. Including all of our accounts with individual stock holdings we were up over $1,300. So there’s no real complaints from me.

  8. Way to go! Increasing your passive income by about 1k since last year. That is more money than people find in their paychecks and you did it passively. Keep it up, plenty of year left to go. Hope to see some nice dividend increases.

  9. That’s a massive month Lanny! Congrats once again on such a great improvement from last year! You should see the light in the tunnel already, as it shouldn’t take long to reach FI if you continue to progress like this!
    BI

    • Broke Investor –

      Thank you very much and next year is set up to be even better. I just try to be relentless, each day. I have my timeline.. and gosh damn, I want to be there, beyond emotions.

      -Lanny

  10. Remarkable job this month, Lanny! Over $2,000 in dividend income is incredible! Although, it might even be more impressive that you achieved 51% YoY growth at this level of outcome. I love how you refer to your dividend income as a revenue engine. That’s exactly what you created. I also had a good month as I hit an all time high. Looking forward to more dividend updates in the future!

    • RTC –

      THANK YOU!! I know, that was out of no where. Can’t wait to read yours. Very lucky, a lot of saving and finding new ways to put more money to work. Which… there is more work to be done.

      -Lanny

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