November came and went, that’s for sure.  Another off-month and fairly calm in the news-front, especially with the break of Thanksgiving coming at the end.  Without further-ado, time to jump into my November Dividend Income results!

Dividend Income

Dividend Income is the fruit of the labors for all investments being made.  Further, Dividend Income is my primary vehicle on my road to Financial Freedom, which you can see through my Dividend Income and my Dividend Portfolio.

I am adding to my Dividend Income with each Dividend Stock Purchase.  How do I research & screen for dividend stocks prior to making a purchase?  I usually put the stocks through our Dividend Diplomat Stock Screener and trade on Ally’s investment platform (one of our Financial Freedom Products).

See – Dividend Diplomat Stock Screener

See – Financial Freedom Products

I also automatically max out, pre-tax, my 401k through work and my Health Savings Account.  This allows me to save a TON of money come tax time (aka thousands), which allows me to invest even more.  In addition, all dividends I receive are automatically being reinvested back into the company that paid the dividend.  This helps take the emotion out of timing & making a decision.

See – Tax Strategy – Part 3 to Reduce Taxes & Increase Investment.

See – Why I Don’t Time or Predict The Market

Lastly, Dividend Increases add quite a bang to the portfolio, as well.  As you saw from my recent post in October, dividend increases added almost $330+ for the year through September!  I will update this again, at the next quarter-end (middle January), to show you how critical this can be for YOUR portfolio.

See – The Impact of Dividend Increases through September of 2019

During November, we (my wife and I) received a total of $839.45 of dividend income.  A record November (never gets old), and this is also assisted by the second month of showing my wife’s dividend income, but just in general – quite a few new positions and dividend increases.   Each month, luckily, I have been able to have a record month throughout 2019, each beating the prior year’s comparable month. As stated earlier, this is also the second month where I am showing our combined Dividend Income and she surely packed a nice punch : ) 

Here is the breakdown of dividend income for the month of November!

Well, well.  AT&T (T) of course, in total, provided the biggest bang this month, coming in for a total of $160.36, when factoring in my wife’s position in her retirement account.  Further, you can tell we like our AbbVie (ABBV) lately, as this came in at a total of $74.81.  Further, packing a solid jolt of caffeine is Starbucks (SBUX), with a total of $52.29 for the month.

Here, it shows that we received a total of $348.98 (up from $246.65 last year) or 42% of our income stemmed from retirement accounts and the other 58% was from the individual taxable portfolio.  This % for retirement accounts stayed very similar, compared to last year.  Why?  There was a combination of growth from both taxable and retirement, that didn’t change the allocation, essentially.  Even adding my wife’s totals didn’t alter the concentration much. 

See – Maximizing your Roth for 10 Years… Then Set It & Forget It!

Dividend Income Year over Year Comparison

2018:

2019:

A dividend increase, year over year, of $142.96 (when including my wife’s dividend of $143.41 last year in November with my $553.08)… This is a solid 21% growth rate from prior year.  I cannot believe it, but I know it’s true.  In the words of Kurt Angle, “It’s Damn True”.  First, as you have seen from my $500,000 milestone article, we have been steadily investing consistently over the last 3 years.  Second, since we are in November, all of the dividend increases and dividend reinvestment throughout the year is really starting to show.  Loving the dividend engine at work.

The only real, “new”, investment is Abbvie (ABBV) and everything else is either adding to positions, such as Delta (DAL) or organic growth.

In total, this November was higher by $143 or 21%.  At this rate, $1,000+ for next year?  Let’s get it!  Dividend increases and dividend reinvestment should take care of most of the growth.

Dividend Increases

Most of these names were anticipated increases from Bert’s article on Expected Dividend Increases, except for WestRock (WRK) that announced in November vs. October.  FirstEnergy (FE) continues to surprise with their 2nd increase in a row.  Lastly, Muncy (MYBF) came in with ANOTHER dividend increase, no complaints from me.  For the most current version – see Bert’s Expected Dividend Increases in December and see if your stock is on the list.

My favorite has to go to…well… it’s a split!  I have to first nod to FirstEnergy (FE) for surprising us.  Then, Hormel (HRL) continues on their beautiful rendition of lower-yield but high dividend growth rate.  Thank you both and all others for your beloved dividend increases.

Overall, $36.94 added would require an investment of $1,055 at 3.50% yield, in order to produce that result.

See – The Impact of The Dividend Growth Rate!

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 allows you to take back control of your life.  Dividend investing, once you learn the right way, becomes easier and starts to immensely make sense!

There is a nice adjustment to my most recent monthly expenditures article.  Sadly, my property taxes increased by 14% in 2018.  Therefore, my new average is $1,040 per month  Due to that, my current dividend income would cover 81% of that amount.  We are getting closer to making “ends” meet in the “off” months of being a Dividend Income investor.  Dividend investing is insanely real, I can literally taste freedom.  So.  Damn.  Good.

Excited for the future, no doubt.  Further, 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.

Team, strap in.  We are in the LAST month of 2019.  Are you reaching your destination?  I hope so.  I can taste it, one month closer to the goal baby!  Financial Freedom, Financial Independence, insert your freedom phrase here, awaits!  Please share your thoughts, questions and feedback below!  Excited to read how everyone did this month, as well.  Thank you again, good luck and happy investing!