Lanny’s September Dividend Income Summary

Here we are folks.  The third quarter has come to a close, the weather has fluctuated from very cold, back to very hot in the span of a week.  Leaves have fallen off of the tree, but I still see people laying out here in Northeast Ohio.  Time is moving fast and we must keep up with adding value and productivity to our lives.  September marks a very exciting quarter end for us dividend investors and I’m excited to share the results!

dividend income

Dividend Income

I received a total of $1,357.92 in dividend income this September.  I can’t believe it, another record month for September (almost catching June’s summary).  That’s also quite a bit of reinvestment for me and I am very fortunate to be in this position.  Honestly, most of this is fully automated, outside of individual brokerage stock purchases.  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.

First, there are four new companies that are paying on a quarter-end basis.  Three are new investments that were made this year, such as Kroger (KR), Grainger (GWW) and Delta Airlines (DAL).  $34.98 in dividends were delivered by these companies and I’m very grateful for the dollars sent my way.  As each quarter turns, reinvestment occurs and the snowball builds.  This time next year, knocking on wood, I’ll experience dividend increases and the amounts will for sure be larger.  The final company I am referring to here is Kraft (KHC).  They have recently shifted their dividend schedule to the quarter-end periods and, therefore, are new to this month.

Similarly, I have split out the taxable and the retirement accounts, as the ” – R” indicates a retirement account dividend (or the furthest column to the right).  I separated these two, as I like to know what portion of my dividend income is coming from 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 $547.21 (up from $348 last year primarily due to new investment, as well as dividend reinvestment & dividend increases)  or 40% of my income from retirement accounts and the other 60% 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: sept-div-inc

2017:

The results above show that incredible growth can occur in a 365 day span.  First, I will reference BHP Billiton (BBL).  The dividend I received last year was a “laughable” $17.93 and without any new investment, I received $57.00 this year.  They have bounced back from the downturn in the oil/energy industry and are rewarding their shareholders from the rebound.  Further, Pfizer (PFE) paid me a dividend last year of $19.54 and due to the January investment into PFE made this year, this jumped to $29.87.  My Vanguard (VINIX) fund has exploded from $192.36 last year, all the way to $374.36 this year, close to doubling (see my above reference to why I max out the 401(k)).  Overall, my dividend income received from the stock market investments increased 34.5% from 2016 to 2017.

Dividend Increases

September ends up being a fantastic month for dividend investors.  Bert also has pointed out quite a few in his expected September dividends article, to which provided a sneak peak at could have occurred in my portfolio.  A whopping five companies increased their dividend this month, up from the three last month and the four from last year.  The biggest shock came from McDonalds (MCD).  Now, I knew that MCD’s dividend yield was becoming fairly low due to the price surge they have experienced in the last year, but I still was only expected a 4-5% increase.  Instead, “I’m lovin’ it” rang through my ears, as the investors received an incredible 7.45% dividend increase.  Norwood Financial (NWFL) was very busy this past month, with a 50% stock dividend and an increase to their normal dividend of 3%, which works just fine by me.  Lockheed Martin (LMT) stayed consistent with a 10% increase.  In order to achieve this much forward income, one would have to invest $1,573 at 3.50%!  Thank you very much (companies) for the dividend increases this month!

Dividend Income Conclusion & Summary

This is the month where being a dividend investor is fun.  I am so lucky to have experienced such growth in a year’s time.  I know that we are all in different positions and I hope (we’ll see, hindsight is always 20/20) that I am maximizing every dollar for investment opportunities and living a balanced life.  My hope is that my month of dividend income above shows the community that one can use that revenue engine to take back control of your life.

As I discussed with my updated – normal monthly expenditures at the moment, this dividend income would cover over 100% of my average $984 monthly expense for my house, including utilities.  In addition, my auto loan is finally gone and I am soon going to be able to deploy the additional capital into new investments that are opportunistic.  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 me to achieve lofty goals that I set in place for my 2017 year.  LET’S GO!!!!

How did your quarter-end wrap up?  Did you hit dividend income milestones?  Were you able to make any final dividend income stock purchases before the month finished?  Would you also say you are on track to hit your goals for the year, with three months left?  Any questions that you have for me, relating to what I have posted and shared above?  Please leave your questions, comments and feedback below!  I am looking forward to reading and responding to them and  truly appreciate everyone for stopping by!  As always, best of luck and happy investing everyone.

-Lanny

54 thoughts on “Lanny’s September Dividend Income Summary

  1. I see you’re up early getting your post in just like me! I love these September updates since they’re often so big. Yours is awesome and it’s great to see such growth y/y.

    Your 34.5% growth is just a hair above mine so it’s great to see we’re both seeing such great numbers! Just speaks to the power of the set it and forget it method of investing. I haven’t done much with my portfolio beyond my standard investments and the growth is huge much like yours!

    • Time –

      Early bird gets the worm, right? haha. September is awesome, bottomline, lucky no doubt.

      WE are both in the RIGHT direction. Automation is awesome and using it is key. Growth from not much maintenance is great, haha, it feels weird sometimes, right? I’ll take it regardless. Thanks for the comment, as always!

      -Lanny

  2. Lanny-
    Congrats on a huge month! That’s amazing growth and it’s great that it covers your monthly expenses for the house already!
    I like that you calculate how much approximately you would need to invest to cover the growth from companies that raised their dividends this month – it shows the power of dividend growth investing.
    Great job and keep those monthly updates coming!
    -BI

    • BI,

      Appreciate the comment. All about getting that >=100% expense coverage, right?!?! Ah, the journey is interesting. The power of dividend growth is real, purely evident by the amount needed for just the production from dividend growth!! Let’s stay after it BI!

      -Lanny

  3. Lanny,

    Wow! That’s an impressive number for September. Y’all’s numbers are such an inspiration. I’ve received my first two dividends this quarter, and posted them on a new page on my site. My September dividend was a WHOPPING $4.05. I’m so excited to see it grow though.

    Brian

  4. Woot nice one Lanny. Thats a fantastic dividend income. Huge that it covers your mortgage already! I like how you pointed out the dividend growth of tht oil company you didnt even out more.money into! Keep it up.

    • PCI –

      Appreciate it as always. Have to keep going though, need to keep going. Even though these results are great, still so much work to do, but I’m up to the damn challenge and am even moreso fired up!!!

      -Lanny

  5. Hey Lanny,

    1357$ is one impressive number for a single month – congrats!! And a lot of familiar names in the mix. Your yoy growth rate of 34,5% is amazing. Keep going like that and you’ll reach FI sooner than later.
    My Sep dividend income was 483$ which was an increase of 24% compared to last year. Really motivates me to push my savings rate even higher.
    If you have the time, this is the recent blog post:

    https://dividendsolutions.wordpress.com/2017/10/01/dividend-income-september-2017/

    Greets,
    DividendSolutions

    • DS –

      Thank you for the comment! I hope you are right on the sooner than later, haha. And Dayum – almost $500 is massive!! I will def. stop by your post and check it out. Thanks for sharing and talk soon.

      -Lanny

    • Geek –

      Haha, I wish there was half FI. LETS GET TO FULL FI, COME ON!!!! We cand o this. And those funds are doing awesome, bottomline; HUGE boost to the income figure. We are on the right path, and need to keep marching on.

      -Lanny

  6. Heya Lanny, that’s some serious income you got there! Gotta love it. Also impressive growth year over year. Glad to see we are fellow shareholders of several companies.

    I’m a little bit afraid to ask, but would it be possible to include my dividend income report in the next ‘Dividend Income from YOU the Bloggers!’ post? That would be absolutely awesome! 😛

    – Albert

  7. Wow, Lanny, rock on to your # as well bro (thanks for the comment on my site!). 60% is a huge amount to save – I’m nowhere near that with a wife and two kids! My goal this year was $13k in passive income and a 29% savings rate – think it’s going to be very close as to whether I not I achieve (or fail!) at both of them. Keep it up,

    Passive Income Dude

    • Dan –

      Of course! Still, your passive income number is HUGE with a 29% savings rate; two kids I am sure is/makes that very difficult. YOU can do it though, every inch matters, a few months push. C’mon Dan!

      -Lanny

    • Dozer,

      Very cool name, by the way. Try to split it out, because heck, if I was bringing all of that from a “ready to use now”, I may consider even stronger throwing in the towel to pursue other ventures full-time! Almost there, and dammit, the taste is getting sweeter.

      -Lanny

  8. Great job, Lanny! I’m adding a new goal to my site. Beat Lanny’s dividends! Haha. You got me beat by about $130 this month, but I’ll be trying to catch up the next couple months!

    Scott

    • TI –

      Oooh, trying to make a new goal/challenge? Haha, loving it and hey – it can be motivating for both of us. $130 isn’t too far off, honestly, especially since I’ve been stale from making a purchase for two months almost. Wait… two months, I need to do a little more digging here for an opportunity! haha.

      -Lanny

  9. Great report Lanny. What’s interesting is that I also have GWW but I didn’t get any dividends. I’m guessing I didn’t own the stock in time to receive the September dividends. You’ve experienced awesome year-to-year growth, which is very inspiring. Looking forward to next month’s report.

    • DP –

      Thank you for the post! You may have missed the ex-dividend date then, eh? I am sorry, but you know you’ll get it at least in December!!! And appreciate it, the growth has been nice to see, but I have to keep the momentum, no doubt. Looking forward to the challenge.

      -Lanny

    • Matt –

      My level? You are going to surpass me, come on! Trust me on that one. You know we appreciate the love you have for the Diplomats and coming by to check the updates means a ton. Anything interesting you are seeing out there? Keep us posted, curious on your viewpoints on things!

      -Lanny

  10. You’ve got it rolling now, Lanny! Well over $1K, and a hefty bump from VINIX thanks to your focus on contributions to the retirement account. Just terrific that the income from this month would more than cover your expenses. No purchases for me in the past month, but I like where I finished, with over $800 for Sept. I crossed $7K in annual forward income, too, so that was a nice milestone. I’m going to have to ramp up my efforts if I want to catch you, though!

    • ED –

      MAN!!! NO way! You crossed $7K? Congrats, that is nasty, and you are almost at $600/month then. I look forward to two metrics – $10K and $12K. $12K will be very exciting, to see that average $1K/month in dividend income. Seems so far, yet I believe it’s actually closer than I think. You’ll breeze by me, I have a feeling. Keep engineering your way through, you’re killing it.

      -Lanny

  11. Wow Lanny, what a haul! Financial freedom doesn’t often come in one big whoosh, but in small pieces. That’s what you are getting. Your housing and utilities are covered and you have enough left over to buy food for the month. In a few months, some other bills will be covered by dividend income. Piece by piece you are building your financial fortress that will safeguard you for the rest of your life – well done!

  12. Great month! Love quarter ending months. Any time you break 1k a month is awesome. You dividend increases alone are half of my entire months dividends collected haha. Keep that snowball rolling!

    • Dividend Daze –

      HAHA, Guess what – you’ll be in the same position, if not better, very soon, believe that! Keep the Dividend Daze magic working and it’ll keep sprouting more income for you, lets go!!!

      -Lanny

  13. I’m jealous of your VINIX dividend. In the middle of last year my company exchanged that index with the investor class trust (or something like that) similar fund and that one does not dish out dividends. I just hope that dividend is being reinvested into the fund and the growth stays the same as the VINIX fund.

    Anyways, congrats on the stellar month!!!

    ADD

    • ADD –

      Agh, No!! Did they really? Why would they do that?! Was there some expense they would save on the corporate side? I hope so too, for your sake, however, once you/if you do leave, once you roll that over – the options will be endless for you!

      Appreciate the motivation and comment, as always, talk soon!

      -Lanny

  14. Lanny,
    That is a great month. The 3rd month of every quarter is always the best, glad your accounts are punching that hard. Should put you in a great position to be FI a lot sooner than most people could imagine.
    – Gremlin

    • Gremlin –

      They are trying to go the distance in the boxing ring, that’s for sure. I managed to battle through another round, but am back on my feet needing to do more and work harder. Let’s go Gremlin, and let’s keep moving.

      -Lanny

    • AMS –

      Appreciate your post! Their stock has been wonderful lately, very strong results and a better than normal dividend increase, when most are going the other way. My girlfriend and I were walking to Target the other day and looked at a McDonalds line on a Sunday afternoon and… PACKED with double lines going outside at the drive thru. No idea how, but I nodded my head and said “thank you”!

      -Lanny

    • Robot –

      Hopefully I can keep it up; after grinding at work all day, traveling all over the middle of no where towns (haha, I do sometimes enjoy them though, easily) and I know one thing, though. This truly makes me happy and if I can somehow share experiences, actions and thoughts throughout this journey to help even one person, then it was worth it. Let’s keep the positivity up together, Robot, and march forward.

      -Lanny

  15. Congrats Lanny! Amazing dividend ncome. Great work breaking the $1000 mark for the month. I managed to break a milestone this month lol. I cracked the $8000 mark in forward annual dividend income for the first time. This is exciting! 🙂 Keep up the good work Lanny! Thanks for the post!

    • Dynasty,

      Cracking $8,000.. wow; you guys are breaking milestones left and right, which is awesome, since I have article about that EXACT topic – so many milestones to celebrate. Congrats, and Thank YOU for sharing your comment and achievements.

      -Lanny

  16. I could see PEP increasing their dividend in the next couple of quarters based off past history. I love them especially during football season. Drinks are on sale at Walmart more often with great product placement and always fun and innovate commercial ads! 🙂

    • SMM –

      I can see that coming very soon actually; they usually do it in February, I believe, where they set the stage for the upcoming year in dividends. Pepsi is incredible, no doubt, their product offerings run very deep.

      -Lanny

  17. Nice Lanny, big month that is setting you up for a massive, massive December. That $55 extra bucks from raises isn’t anything to scoff at either. Going to be pretty fun setting those goals for 2018!

    • Stacker –

      I agree. That additional forward income will actually be put to use in the 4th quarter, which is always nice too. Cannot believe you just dropped a 2018 reference, time moving that fast, really? Kills me! Can’t we just freeze it for a year or two? haha. Appreciate the comment!

      -Lanny

  18. Wow you’re on the highway to financial freedom through passive investing! That’s great that your dividend income this month will cover your monthly payments, and congrats on paying off the car. McDonalds- increase in dividend of >7% that’s fantastic! I just recently added a small position in MO (Altria) and am excited to start receiving their dividends.

    • GYM –

      Thanks for your comment and hope I can stay on the road to the destination. Nice move on Altria, that had a GREAT dividend increase this year, and have had great results for quite some time. I actually bought Altira for my Mom’s portfolio a handful of years back and it’s been one of her best performers – strong dividend growth, no doubt. Congrats on making moves and looking forward to your progress!

      -Lanny

  19. Now that’s a serious haul for the month of September. Congrats! You can already feel what it’s like to cover some of your monthly nut. It only gets better from here. Stick with those known solid dividend payers and you’ll do well over the long haul. Like you, I was also ‘lovin’ the MCD dividend raise. Man, to go back 2+ years and back up the truck on that stock when everyone was crapping all over it. Stock in the low $80s yield was high 3% close to 4%. Never listen to the crowd or financial media or anyone but yourself. MCD of yesteryear can be a GE, HRL or GIS today that is being crapped upon. Buy the unloved names. Great job. I’ll be posting my results on the 15th. Hope to make your dividend round up.

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