October was a busy month, no doubt and we eventually saw snowflakes on the first morning of November, yikes. Even though it is getting cold in Cleveland, the Dividend Stock Portfolio always is heating up baby! Without further-ado, time to jump into my October 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 October, we (my wife and I) received a total of $734.13 of dividend income. A record October (never gets old), and is not just based on the first 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. This is the first 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 October!
There was no-doubt that Philip Morris (PM) was going to be a triple bagger here, with $112.82, even with the merger talks with Altria (MO). Tupperware (TUP) is a drag on my dividend income right now, may have to make some form of decision with them. Also, we now have two Canadian Banks to showcase – Canadian Imperial (CM) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), as I wanted each of us to have one (plus my Aunt spent over 30+ years working for BNS and praises them everyday!).
Here, it shows that I received a total of $79.98 (up from $49.14 last year) or 11% of our income stemmed from retirement accounts and the other 89% 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.
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 $237.49 (when including my wife’s dividend of $28.37 last year in October)… This is a staggering 48% 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, my wife and I both have been investing a TON. Further, we have received increases from Realty Income (O), Medical Properties (MPW), Aramino Foods (AMNF), Cisco (CSCO), Illinois Tool Works (ITW), Philip Morris (PM); to name a few.
New investments, versus prior year, are Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Leggett & Platt (LEG), Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) and obviously my wife’s account has quite a few new names.. Talk about a mouthful. Dividend income is coming through all sorts of crevices this time around.
In total, this October was higher by $237 or 48%. At this rate, $1,100 for next year? Is this possible? It will be tough, but dividend increases, new investments, I’ll try my hardest. 2020 could be crazy!
Dividend Increases
These were all anticipated increases from Bert’s article on Expected Dividend Increases, except for Rockwell (ROK) that announced in October vs. November. For the most current version – see Bert’s Expected Dividend Increases in November and see if your stock is on the list.
My favorite this go around has to go to Visa (V). Why? This is the world as we know it and plastic has ruled all. Visa is one of very few in a HUGE ocean, think MasterCard, AmericanExpress and Discover. Further, earnings and volume continue to increase and this is just one bad-ass company, that’s for sure.
Overall, $15.84 added would require an investment of $453 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%. Therefore, my new average is $1,040 per month Therefore, my current dividend income would cover 70% 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.
Wow… only 2 months of the year is left and what a year it has been. 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!