Dividend Income Update – November 2013

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.

November was actually one of my lighter months this year, but I keep perspective that no matter how light, no matter how small the dividend total may be, this is still completely passive income that I didn’t have just a few years ago. Back in 2009, before I started this journey, any money I had was money I had to go out and work for. There was no money hitting my account without labor on my part, unless it was for a birthday or Christmas. Other than that, if I didn’t work I didn’t eat. Life is a bit different these days, thankfully.

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:

November 2013 Dividends Received

  • AT&T Inc. (T) – $22.50
  • Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) – $12.43
  • Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. (APD) – $14.20
  • Oneok, Inc. (OKE) – $13.30
  • Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) – $61.50
  • Realty Income Corp. (O) – $12.73
  • The Procter & Gamble Company (PG) – $30.68
  • General Dynamics Corporation (GD) – $11.20
  • American Realty Cap Prop Inc. (ARCP) – $7.58

Total dividends received during the month of November: $186.12

Again, not overly impressive on an absolute basis, but it’s still relatively great. I’m truly thankful any time I get cash money deposited into my account with no work on my part. I did nothing to earn this money except for make great decisions with past capital. Decisions like hastening gratification by investing in high quality companies that reward me as a loyal shareholder with a piece of the profit pie. Mmm, pie.

Again, it was relatively great. This was an improvement on the order of 27.9% over the $145.47 in passive dividend income I earned in November of last year. Not bad at all.

I was only able to cover about 7.5% of my expenses in November via dividend income. That’s mainly because I had one of the most expensive months I’ve ever experienced due to my decision to update my wardrobe for the first time in about ten years. I’ll be releasing the budget very soon! It’s not pretty, but it’s honest. And that’s what I offer here at Dividend Mantra: an honest look at one man’s quest for financial freedom.

My goal is to receive $3,500 in dividends during the year of 2013.With the eleventh month now behind us, I’ve received a total of $3,321.39 in dividend income this year. I’m surely going to exceed my goal by a fairly healthy margin as December promises to be a very strong month. I’m greatly looking forward to it!

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

Full Disclosure: Long all aforementioned securities.

How was your November? On your way to exceeding your dividend goals for the year? 

Thanks for reading.

Photo Credit: sscreation’s/FreeDigitalPhotos.net  

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54 Comments

  1. Not bad Dividend Mantra. It took you about 3 years to cover 25% of your expenses with dividend income. In less than 9 years should will be able to never have to work again (unless you find something you want to do)

    Not bad at all 😉 Good luck!

  2. DGI,

    Thanks for your profound support of both my blog and my journey. I do appreciate it!

    I’m about 1/4 of the way there now. It’s crazy, but my plan is actually working so far. 🙂

    Keep up the great work on your end!

    Best regards.

  3. Good job, as always. When I get a “slow month” in dividends, I always remind myself that what I’m getting is tremendously higher than when I started. I also remind myself of all the ice cream I could buy with those received dividends!

    November was an alright month for me, not a high month but not a low month either. No matter the amount, the pleasure of tallying up the dividends at the end of the month will never get old. It will always feel like I’ve found a way to hack life.

  4. Investing Pursuits,

    You nailed it: money working for me instead of me working for money. That’s the relationship with money I’d love to have. Money never gets tired or sick; it’s better suited to working!

    Cash flow is the name of the game. 🙂

    Cheers!

  5. Bryan,

    Thanks, man. I know you guys are doing well over there. I hope you guys enjoy your hiatus/sabbatical if you decide to go traveling. Sounds like a hell of an adventure!

    Take care.

  6. Spoonman,

    You’ve got it. Those dividends can sure buy a lot of ice cream!

    Dividend growth investing as a means to attain financial independence is definitely hacking life. There’s a lot of people that talk about being life hackers, but I can think of no way easier, more fun or true than this. Certainly you can make money online and do podcasts and stuff like that, but none of that is really passive, it’s just a job that’s a lot more fun than a traditional 9-5. Earning passive income and never having to work again is truly a hack.

    Best wishes!

  7. Great month DM! Can’t complain about receiving passive income at any point. As for my goals, while I haven’t caught up on all my posts, I’m looking good to exceed my 2013 goal for dividend income, but will probably come just under my goal for my P2P Lending investments.

  8. Life In Center,

    Definitely. I keep perspective. $200 is serious cash. I’ve occasionally thought about living in a cheaper locale like Thailand or Ecuador for a while, and this would probably be about 1/3 of my monthly budget in a place like that. The progress comes slow and steady with dividend growth investing. It’s not a get-rich-quick scheme, but you’re guaranteed to become very wealthy over time.

    Cheers!

  9. w2r,

    That’s awesome! Great news that you’re going to exceed your dividend income goal. You’re raking in the passive income between the dividends and the P2P lending income. Keep it up!

    Best wishes.

  10. Updating the wardrobe eh? That’s something that I’m way overdue for myself. I literally have clothes in my closet that I’ve had for over a decade. The fact that they still fit is a good though I guess. :-p

  11. DM,

    That is a strong year over year increase in November. Congrats on being able to exceed your yearly goal of $3,500 in 2013. Can’t wait to see what 2014 brings us all!

  12. Looking good 🙂

    It must feel nice to think that annually you’re already making a killing. Or by comparison your monthly dividend was about the amount my wife got in tax refund for a full year :0

    Keep it up DM!

  13. Very exciting progress! I really like these monthly updates. I also had a great year. I was able to meet my goal of paying off one of my rental properties…almost $50,000. That gives me a ‘monthly dividend’ of $425.00 (I compare rental income with dividend income). It was a struggle to keep the pace and add over $3,300 per month toward the payoff. Now it’s done! I have two mortgages left to go (approximately $122,000) before FI.

    Keep up the great work DM!

  14. What a Great Year! Congrats on another strong month. I pulled $70.80 for November, but that is up from $33.66 three months earlier, and $8.93 before that. So, not bad for the first year. Thank you for your update. Seasons Greetings, and good luck this month.

  15. Hi DM, Congrats!!!
    Just recouping back to normal after my rental home disaster. I posted my November dividend update got $87.17, also updated my Portfolio and Recent buy. My Portfolio is reaching close to $50000!!!! waiting for it. Currently it stands at $49787. Once I hit $50,000 will DO a celebration post on it, until then Bye and thanks for the support.

  16. You need to look into Guatemala. I was there for about 1 month and its extremely cheap. You can live pretty descent their on 1k per month and its amazing.

  17. Almost $200 is a solid total. I expect we’re all going to be setting some personal bests come December. My dividends received this year will be a bit lower than I’d hoped, but I’m just $10 short of my forward dividend goal with the purchases I made this week. Plus I’ve got another $280+ in forward dividends that will come on the books later this month, unless the markets really take off. I can’t wait for 2014 so I can set my own goals and check in on everyone else’s. It should be a great year for all of us. Keep up the good work!

    Thanks for stopping by!

  18. I have also received from AT & T and PG this month dividends. 🙂
    But smaller amounts than you 😉

    I think the greatest amount has “25000dividends” receive, with 671,39 USD for november.

    It’s like a race between the bloggers… who has to highest dividend income… 🙂

    regards
    D-S

  19. Captain Dividend,

    Fitting into my old clothes was the biggest problem of all. I’ve lost some considerable weight. Not to spoil the surprise, but I’m killing my weight loss goal for the year and I’ve got a mild six-pack going on. 🙂

    My old clothes just don’t fit. I used to be well over 200 pounds back when I was younger and really into heavy lifting. These days, I’d rather live more sustainably and trim.

    Good luck if you decide to buy some clothes, it’s an expensive change.

    Best wishes!

  20. Magallanes I,

    Thanks so much! Inspiring others is exactly what I’m trying to accomplish here. Best of luck with your investing efforts. Please keep in touch. 🙂

    Cheers!

  21. Pay off my rentals,

    Thanks! I’m definitely doing my best.

    Congratulations on your success so far. It sounds like you’re doing fantastic. Only $122k to go. Keep it up!

    Best regards.

  22. foreverdgi,

    Nice job on growing your dividend income. Keep it up. You’ll continue to see your income exponentially rise over time. Success breeds success. 🙂

    Take care.

  23. Dividend Mom,

    Glad to hear you have the rental home debacle behind you. That’s great.

    Can’t wait to see you cross $50k. Congratulations on everything you’ve done thus far. Keep it up!

    Best regards.

  24. D-S,

    Don’t be discouraged. You’ll catch up to me soon enough. 🙂

    A race, huh? I’m definitely losing. There’s some really fantastic and motivated dividend bloggers out there. I continue to be inspired. 🙂

    Best wishes!

  25. Pursuit,

    You’re doing great, man. I know the home purchase set you back a bit. But you’ll catch up in no time. Your income is enviable, as is your savings rate. Keep up the great work! 🙂

    Best regards.

  26. Not sure if it’s a race but in any event we are all out there running, getting fit and healthier and we will all eventually cross that finish line.

    It’s simply amazing that we have this online community and support network.
    Yours truly

  27. I don’t think it’s an all-out race, but there might be a bit of a competitive spirit in the air, which I think is only a good thing because it keeps us motivated to move forward. What we’re doing is not conventional for people our age, so it’s great to see kindred spirits succeed.

    I just can’t wait until a number of people in the community start using their dividends to pay for living expenses. At that point the inspiration factor will skyrocket and many others will join the fold.

  28. Spoonman,

    I agree. It’s definitely not common to see people our age have such spirit and motivation to reach financial independence so quickly in life. Although not a race, it’s really great to see the mutual support that the FI/dividend investing community shares. We all have our individual aspirations, but there’s a lot of support and inspiration going around. It’s really wonderful.

    I’m also quite excited for the day when some of us start reclaiming our time for ourselves. It’ll be extremely motivating for the rest of us to join in. One day at a time, but we’re all getting there!

    Best regards.

  29. Great progress on the income side. You can control how much you get paid by selecting the companies that fit your criteria and fit in with a specific ex dividend schedule. This will help you balance out the months your income is low compared to others.

  30. I love your blog. I enjoy reading this site every month to see your progress. Question-Do you find keeping track of taxes for REITS and MLPs to be tedious? From what I have read on REITS and MLPs…the tax treatment seems to be a little complicated.
    Matt in GA

  31. EL,

    Thanks! The progress thus far has exceeded my expectations. I’m thrilled. 🙂

    I agree. If one were to really want the monthly dividend tallies to be even, this could be relatively easily achieved. I don’t concentrate on dividend payout dates explicitly, so that’s why you see a lumpiness in my dividend income reports. This will likely smooth itself out a bit over time, but many of the companies in my portfolio just happen to share a payout for the last month in each quarter. It doesn’t really bother me that much, however, because I’m fairly talented in sticking to a budget. Excess dividends could just be applied towards the following month’s budget when I’m living off of my dividend income.

    Best regards.

  32. Matt,

    Thanks for your readership. Glad you like the blog. I hope you stick around!

    This will be the first year I have to worry about REIT ownership at tax time, so we’ll see how it goes. It will be a bit more tedious than traditional qualified dividends, because some of REIT dividend income is considered a return of capital. But REITs are typically good about releasing the right forms and making it relatively painless.

    I don’t own any MLPs, and one big reason is because of the tax complications.

    Best wishes!

  33. Thanks DM-

    For some reason I thought KMI (Kinder Morgan Inc) was a MLP. I guess maybe Kinder Morgan trades as a MLP and non MLP? I had an idea about gradually building up dividend income to live off earlier this year in January and Googled to see if others were trying this and if there were any good websites when I came across your site. I like your site the best because you track income and expenses to show it can be done without making an enormous 6 figure income. I agree with your philosophy of keeping low living expenses and think this might be most important to enable savings for investing. I started this year and have built up $1,210 in dividend income. Seeing your progress inspires me to keep going and hopefully in two years I can pass the $500 mark in one month for dividends. It must feel great and very satisfying to see your hard work pay off the past year. Keep up the good work.

    Matt in GA

  34. Matt,

    Ahh, KMI. MLPs can indeed be confusing. KMI is actually the General Partner of the KMP master limited partnership. This is an important classification, as GPs are taxed like normal C-corps. General Partners can be lucrative due to the Incentive Distribution Rights (IDR), which is an increasing share of the distributable cash flow within the partnership. That’s why KMI can acheive a much higher dividend growth rate than KMP over the long haul.

    Thanks for the compliments. Indeed, you don’t need a six-figure income to become financially independent at a young age. I started this blog to prove just that, and so far I’m on pace.

    Congratulations to you on your success so far! $1,200 in dividend income is exactly where I finished back in 2011 – my first full year of dividend growth investing. I’m quite sure you can acheive $500 in monthly dividend income in two years if you make a decent income and you’re able to save/invest more than half of it.

    Keep up the progress, and I hope you continue to find inspiration here.

    Best wishes.

  35. While it was not as high as other months, I think your November dividend total was still pretty good. If you were to back out your wardrobe expenses, then the dividends would have covered a greater percentage of your expenses. It’s awesome that you’re on track to beat your dividend goal for the year — good job!

  36. DGM,

    Yeah, great point there. Backing out one-time expenses my dividend coverage ratio looked a lot better.

    Thanks for the support! Regardless of the total, it was another fine month of wonderful passive income. I didn’t have to work for a dime of it. I made great decisions with capital many moons ago, and will be reaping the rewards many moons from now. 🙂

    Best regards!

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