Dividend Income Update – September 2012

Another month has passed by, and it’s time for me to post an article on my favorite subject: dividend income. The reason why I love to post articles on dividend income is because it’s pure numbers. It’s hard to argue the success of long-term dividend growth investing when you can slowly and surely see dividend income rise over time and get closer to covering one’s expenses.

Boy, what can I say? This month was simply wonderful. I achieved my highest dividend total ever! I’m simply blessed to be able to continue my journey and receive dividends from companies that continue to do a great job in their respective industries and pay me as a capital investor. Huge monthly dividend totals put a smile on my face like almost nothing else. It’s months like September that reinforce my belief that my journey to financial independence before 40 is possible.

I hope these monthly dividend income reports provide inspiration for any investors out there that are just starting out. It’s easy to see these payments rising month after month and it shows that it’s possible to one day pay for monthly expenses with dividends, which would provide an investor opportunities and freedom to pursue other interests than full-time work. Without further ado:

September 2012 Dividends Received

  • ConocoPhillips (COP) – $36.30
  • Aflac Incorporated (AF) – $24.42
  • Intel Corporation (INTC) – $27.45
  • Wal-Mart Stores, Inc (WMT) – $15.11
  • Phillips 66 (PSX) – $5.40
  • Southside Bancshares, Inc. (SBSI) – $12.60
  • Emerson Electric Co. (EMR) – $24.00
  • Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) – $16.50
  • Chevron Corporation (CVX) – $36.00
  • Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) – $42.70
  • Avista Corp. (AVA) – $15.95
  • McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) – $28.00
  • Harris Corporation (HRS) – $14.80
  • Unisource Energy Corp. (UNS) – $17.20
  • PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP) – $41.39

Total dividends received during the month of September: $357.82

Whew! That’s a monster month. Of course, it took 15 companies all paying out in the same month for me to accomplish this. That’s more than half of my portfolio. So, I expect the next couple of months to be relatively light due to this.  I can’t believe in just a little over two years I went from receiving $0 in passive income a month to receiving over $350 in passive income in a single month. Patience and perseverance is key, my friends, to building a solid portfolio of passive income generators. This is by far my biggest one-month dividend tally ever!

This total is a lot higher than what I received in dividends last month, mostly due to the fact that I had such a large percentage of my portfolio all paying out this month. And, what’s most impressive is the fact that the dividend total I received this September is over double what I received last September. Awesome!

This month, I was able to cover a full 26.4% of my expenses through the passive income of dividends. It’s pretty amazing to me to be able to pay for more than a quarter of my bills by way of dividends.

I’m now ahead of goal of receiving $2,000 in dividend income through the year of 2012. I’ve now received a total of $1,849.72 in dividends throughout the calender year of 2012. I’ll now easily surpass $2,000 with a full three months to go. I’m now 92.5% of the way towards my goal!

I’ll update my dividend income page to reflect September’s dividends.

Full Disclosure: Long all aforementioned equities.

Thanks for reading.

Photo Credit: sscreations

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36 Comments

  1. Wow! Over $350 in one month is awesome. I think i might be able to hit that by the middle of next year, so I have some work to do. That’s awesome that you’re going to pass your $2,000 dividend goal for the year. And ahead of schedule too. I’ll come up a little short this year but that was to be expected with half the year going towards debt payment instead of investing. Congrats again.

  2. Nice DM, very nice! Seeing those amounts adding up is pretty amazing. It is motivating to watch a plan come together. Watching your consistency and discipline is highly motivating.

    Can’t wait to hear where your total dividends end up for the year.

  3. Wow, $350+ in dividend is really amazing! Keep up the good work. I need to step up my investing if I want to keep up with you.

  4. Congrats on your best month ever. September was also my best month ever. I picked up shares of INTC, NSC, and WM this month so December will be even better. Keep up the good work.

  5. Headed Home,

    The last ex-dividend date for NSC was on 8/9/12, so my September purchase did not qualify. That’s ok though, the price is attractive for the long-term investor and the dividend income from that purchase will start gearing up next year.

    Thanks for stopping by. Hope your journey is going well.

    Best wishes!

  6. DGM,

    Thanks!

    Yeah, this was a sweet month. Man, if only every month could be like this!

    I’ll definitely sail past my goal, which is great. I’m very excited and can’t wait to see what the future brings us. You’re also doing great, and you’re sailing past your own goal!

    Best regards.

  7. PIP,

    Thanks for the support. I’m blessed to be able to continue building the passive income stream.

    I certainly hope you’re able to hit your marks as well, and there is definitely nothing wrong with paying down debt before investing. It’s what I did as well before I started this journey. I only now have low-interest student loan debt…but it’s tax deductible.

    Best wishes!

  8. The Stoic,

    I’m glad you find motivation in the reports. They also motivate me. Every time I tally up the monthly reports and they blow past last year’s totals it really gets me juiced up to keep going.

    Consistency and patience is definitely what this is all about. It’s a get-rich-slowwww plan! 🙂

    Looking forward to seeing your progress as well now that you have an income source. Glad to see you had a great summer off!

    Take care.

  9. Henry,

    Thanks for the support. This was my biggest month ever, but I do suspect the next couple months to be significantly less due to such a large portion of my portfolio paying out at once.

    You’re doing a great job yourself, and last I knew you had a heck of a portfolio with some companies I’d love to own.

    Best wishes.

  10. Chad,

    Thanks so much. September was certainly kind to me.

    Nice buys there. I really like INTC and NSC at these levels. I noticed WM has been quite weak lately. I LOVE the business model, but the stock leaves a little to be desired for me. Do you think the growth will be there in the future? I suppose with employment picking up there will be more garbage, so that could help.

    Best regards!

  11. Larry,

    Thanks!

    Definitely not a bad idea to pick up INTC at these levels. I only wish I would have waited with my last purchase. The company looks solid for the long-term, as far as tech goes.

    Keep in touch!

    Take care.

  12. …,

    Wow, awesome job with the dividend total. I’m really anxious for the day I can receive $400 in one month as well. Great job!

    I use Scottrade. So far, so good.

    Best regards.

  13. CI,

    Thanks so much. I certainly agree that the plan is working. Patience and perseverance are the keys to success.

    I hope I can get there even before 40. Every week that goes by that I spend 55 hours a week at a job that I don’t care for is one less week I have left on Earth to do the things I enjoy.

    You’re doing excellent as well! I hope to catch up to you by the end of next year. Keep up the great work!

    Best wishes.

  14. DM,
    Congrats on your awesome month! Dividend income investing is so much fun because you can see the passive income grow over time. Awesome to see you hit new milestones and thanks so much for blogging again, I read your blog every single day!
    All the best,
    Ian

  15. Gotta love seeing the numbers add up! September was a great month indeed. You got to the $350 mark, and I managed to clear $200 for the first time. I’m sure you are also looking forward to another huge payout in December!

    That’s awesome that you’ve been able to continue to make such tremendous progress. At this rate, you’ll probably be close to covering 50% expenses by the end of next year.

    Good stuff, I look forward to following the progress.

  16. Great job, DM! This was month was good to both of us as I, too, surpassed $350 in dividend income for the first time. With continued investing and dividend increases, you will have easily blown away the goal you set for yourself at the beginning of the year. And the wonderful thing is that you could have seen this coming 10 months ago. THAT is the beauty of dividend-growth investing!

    Keep up the great work and I’ll be looking forward to your next update!

    -Samir

  17. Once construction picks up again the growth will be there I believe. Once the housing construction market turned down, their revenue started to stall. Not having all that construction waste hurts their revenue. This is a long-term “utility” dividend play for me. 4.4% is a nice quarterly check.

  18. PPC Ian,

    Thanks so much for following the journey, and thanks for staying in touch.

    I appreciate you stopping by and I really hope you find inspiration with the passive income growing.

    Hope all is well.

    Best wishes!

  19. FI Fighter,

    September was great for you as well. I’m with you, and also looking forward to a big December to end the year with a bang.

    You’ve been making tremendous progress as well. Not only do you already have a really solid stock portfolio, but you also have the rental property.

    You’re far ahead of where I was a couple years ago. Great job!

    Best regards.

  20. Samir,

    We had similar numbers for dividend income in September. You have a great portfolio, and some pretty high yielding stuff in there, so I suspect you’ll be getting used to such high payouts pretty soon. Good for you!

    I agree: the predictability and reliability of dividend growth investing is fantastic. It takes the market gyrations, and the associated worry, out of the equation for the most part.

    Take care!

  21. Great job! The Dividend Train keeps chugging along, dont you love it? This was my best month also, I received $390 in dividends. Hard to believe, watching that money just show up in my account! Hoping December will be over $400 for me, what a milestone! Maybe you’ll be there too!

  22. Anonymous,

    The dividend train does continue to chug along, and I’m most grateful to be on board!

    Great job on your dividend total in September. I’d love to hit $400 in December. That would be amazing to already hit monthly totals that high in only my second full year of investing. Either way, I’m very happy with how 2012 is turning out.

    Keep up the great work! Best of luck for your continued journey.

    Best regards.

  23. HappyCow,

    I will definitely consider adding an REIT or two into the portfolio at some point. They offer an inflation hedge and above-average dividends, albeit with much slower growth. They are also taxed differently.

    Currently, I find it difficult to find value in REITs, but I do like this space.

    Best wishes!

  24. Cool post very informative. I just found your blog and read through a few posts although this is my first comment, i’ll be including it in my favorites and visit again for sure.

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