Another month behind us, and another month where I received dividends from quality companies and reinvested those funds into new investments. I’m compounding my wealth one month at a time. It’s definitely no get rich quick scheme, but it will get you rich slowly and surely. And that’s just the way I like it. Slowly and surely.
The dividend income from November was one of my larger months, and was much larger than the income I reported last month. This was due to one of my holdings, Telefonica S.A. (TEF) (ADR) paying out in November, one of its semi-annual payments. Having a large month, in terms of dividends, is really timely right now as the markets continue to swing wildly up and down due to fears of the euro zone crisis becoming worse. Those swings create opportunity, and the more capital to take advantage of them the better.
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 2011 Dividends Received
- Abbott Laboratories (ABT) – $34.08
- The Procter and Gamble Company (PG) – $26.78
- Telefonica S.A. (TEF) (ADR) – $105.41
Total dividends received for the month of November: $166.27
Another wonderful month, in my opinion. I should note that the dividend received from TEF includes the Spanish withholding taxes already removed. So, in essence, that dividend was actually a little larger as I’ll receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit next year but I like to include the actual cash that hit my brokerage account. You can look at foreign dividends either way if you fully expect to receive the taxed portion. Going forward, this is how I’ll always include foreign dividends on these reports as I always have in the past.
For most of the year I’ve thought of myself being far behind my goal of receiving $1,200 in total dividend income for the year of 2011. I have received a total of $1,020.16 in dividends through November. With this large month, and an expected large month in December, I may actually catch up and hit it. If I don’t, I’ll be pretty close. I’m pretty excited about that, because when I first set this up as a goal of mine I was receiving pretty small dividend sums. For January and February of this year, I received less than $70 combined. So, this was an aggressive goal. We’ll see how 2011 finishes up. At any rate, I’m excited!
I’ll update my dividend income page to reflect November’s dividends.
Full disclosure: I’m long ABT, PG, TEF.
Thanks for reading.
Nice!
Anonymous,
Thanks! I appreciate it.
Thanks for stopping by. Take care!
I like seeing how the dividends continue to grow with each contribution and time passing. I didn’t really notice it much at first, but since I have a fairly decent amount invested, the compounding is becoming quite visible. =)
Very nice,
That check from TEF was large indeed. It seems that almost half your portfolio pays in December, hopefully it’ll be enough to reach $1200.
Have you thought of goals for 2012?
Your blog is very inspiring by the way. Kind of makes me want to do one too.
Keep up the good work.
Stuart
Congrats. Very inspiring.
If you have just a slight increase from September dividends then you will hit your goal.
Great job mantra! Keep it up bud,
DividendPartisan
Well done!!!!
Still gonna hold ABT?
I am! 🙂
Mantra,
Nice progress! Have you considered posting your total returns (maybe every quarter?) so that we can get a sense for how your overall portfolio is doing . I know your focus is dividends but posting the capital growth would be good too. Anyways great blog and a nice portfolio of stocks that you own
Nice! I have all three holdings you name in this post. I am investing in dividend paying stocks for almost 3 years now. This year I will pass 2k in dividends.
Keep the good work!
Henry,
The compounding starts to work its magic after a few years and some real capital behind it. Time and capital really provide the power behind compounding, and you’ve got both on your side my friend. Best of luck with your investments.
Best wishes!
Stuart,
Thanks for the encouragement and kind words. If you start a blog, make sure you stop by and shoot me the address so we can keep in touch.
BTW, I liked your picks for your recent buys. ITW and UNS both seem pretty solid. ITW has run away from me a bit, as has everything else. It’s an expensive market right now. Hopefully, we get some bad news out of Europe in the next week.
As far as 2012 goals, my dividend income goal will be to receive $2,000 in dividends which will be challenging but achievable. From there, I’ll look to increase it by at least $1k per year. We’ll see how it goes.
Take care!
me myself and I,
Thanks!
As Stuart alluded to, quite a few of my holdings pay out in December so we’ll see how it goes. It’s going to be very close indeed. I’m looking forward to see how it all shakes out.
I’m glad you find it inspiring. That’s the reason I do this.
Keep in touch!
Partisan,
Thanks for stopping by.
You keep up the great work too. Let’s see what 2012 brings us.
Take care!
My Own Advisor,
I do plan on holding ABT at this time. Although I’m a bit disappointed by management’s decision to split the company I think it’s still attractive at these levels with a well-covered dividend so I have no reason to sell. If management gives me a reason to sell then I will do so. Glad to have you as a fellow shareholder!
Thanks for stopping by! Keep in touch.
Anonymous,
I thought about including that somewhere. At one time I had a column including cost basis on my google spreadsheet tracking my holdings, but it was too wide to include on my page. In the end, it’s very easy to figure out how well I’m doing because I include all my purchases (and cost basis) as well as dividends on this blog. I update monthly, so it’s fairly easy to figure out my progress if you’d like.
In the end, as you stated, it’s more about the dividends and the passive income. I only include the value of the Freedom Fund because it gives everyone a sense of how much money one needs to invest in order to receive the dividend values I’m discussing. I am, in the end, just looking to be as transparent as possible as everyone follows this journey.
Best wishes!
Traderlatino,
Thanks for stopping by and adding that.
What’s your thoughts on TEF, since you are also a shareholder? I’m a bit concerned about the debt load and the sustainability of the dividend going forward. I’m watching that holding more closely than any of my other equity positions.
Keep in touch!
Great job D. Mantra. I own all three as well so again maybe great minds think alike. Ha!
Anyhow, I wanted to ask u on a previous post ur thoughts on INTC at the current price around $25. I wanted to get it @ about $22 but it started to run away. I’ll have some capital at the middle of the month and am looking hard at INTC.
Like I said, I wanted to ask u on a previous post but just like ur divys, ur articles keep coming faster n more furiously. How far back do u look at older posts and
respond to comments?
-Rock the Casbah
Great job! I also own ABT and PG and am more than happy to receive the dividends especially when the dividends increase.
You’ve got a good portfolio and the steady dividend increases over time will only add to your monthly income!
Rock the Casbah,
You own all three as well? Good stuff! What’s your thoughts on TEF going forward? I’m a bit concerned about that debt load and at this point I think there are better European telecoms to get into…including VOD and FTE. I know TEF is looking to offload some underperforming assets to reduce the debt load. I’m carefully watching at this point.
INTC is still a solid play. I think it still has some value at these levels, albeit less than when it was trading at around $20-22. I think at those levels it just had extreme value and people may have finally picked up on that. At any rate, solid business, great dividend that’s quickly rising..what’s not to like?
I always try to respond to every comment! That’s how I roll. 🙂
Best wishes!
Kanwal Sarai,
Thanks for stopping by. Gotta love those increasing dividends!
Great to have you as a fellow shareholder in PG and ABT.
Take care!
Good Job Mantra, you are an inspiration to young and old alike—I am 43:}. We are both focused on dividends I see, but we dont own very many of the same stocks. MO is the only one I see we share. I also own CNP, O, VZ and NLY. I think all these are pretty conservative investments except for NLY, which I may trim after the New Year. O is flat for the year, but CNP and MO have done well. I also have small stakes in a few other stocks. What do you think of these positions?
MrGreenshanks,
Thanks for stopping by and I really appreciate your support and encouragement.
As far as some of the stocks you mention, a few of them are a bit aggressive for me, but you are older than I am so that might be fair. I’m a little concerned by some of the mREIT’s like NLY. Some of the high yields are just a return on capital through share price erosion, no? And, NLY just cut its dividend. That’s generally the opposite of what I’m looking for and most DG investors will try to anticipate a cut and get rid of a stock, like I did with TEF recently.
But again, our age differences will probably mean we’ll have different positions and there is nothing wrong with that. I think O and VZ are pretty solid there. I own VZ’s wireless division through VOD and it’s 45% ownership.
I applaud you on living frugally and marching faithfully toward your goals. I wish you the best of luck and please keep in touch!!
Best wishes!