Dividend Income Update – September 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.

September broke all kinds of records for me. It was a really special month. Although my recent Freedom Fund update showed an all-time high in portfolio value, I place much less emphasis on the total value of the Fund than I do the dividend income it generates because Mr. Market’s assigned value to the companies I invest in is fickle. Values fluctuate up and down sometimes quite wildly. However, the dividend income is steady and consistent. And that’s what I really love. You know why? Because my bills are also steady and consistent. Instead of having to sell off a percentage of my assets that are fluctuating in value in order to fund my lifestyle, I’ll be receiving steady income that can be predicted with a fair amount of accuracy.

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 2013 Dividends Received

  • Intel Corporation (INTC) – $54.00
  • ConocoPhillips (COP) – $37.95
  • Aflac Incorporated (AFL) – $35.00
  • Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) – $17.86
  • Phillips 66 (PSX) – $8.44
  • Southside Bancshares, Inc. (SBSI) – $13.20
  • Chevron Corporation (CVX) – $40.00
  • Emerson Electric Co. (EMR) – $24.60
  • Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) – $36.40
  • Lorillard Inc. (LO) – $55.00
  • Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) – $66.00
  • Avista Corp. (AVA) – $16.78
  • Realty Income Corp. (O) – $7.26
  • American Realty Cap Prop Inc. (ARCP) – $7.58
  • McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) – $46.20
  • Harris Corporation (HRS) – $16.80
  • Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS.B) – $22.50
  • BHP Billiton plc (BBL) – $29.50
  • Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (DLR) – $35.10
  • PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP) – $43.70

Total dividends received during the month of September: $640.87

A new record! When I seen the total I hit this month my mouth just dropped. I can’t believe that just a little over three years since starting out with five grand, a desire to change my life and a thirst for knowledge that I’m seeing over $600 in passive income in just one month. It’s truly incredible. It’s months like this that keep me inspired to keep going, because I know that financial independence is indeed possible using the dividend growth strategy. The tangible nature of dividends play into a self-fulfilling cycle of progress where the passive income keeps growing and inspiring me to inject even more fresh capital which buys new investments into high quality companies which pay out even more dividends. The new dividends inspire me and pay for the new investments which then pay out even more. Then you throw in the organic growth of the dividends themselves via dividend raises from the individual companies and you have an absolutely wonderful system.

This was a big improvement over the $357.82 in dividends I received during September of 2012. That’s an increase on the order of 79.3% on what was already a pretty big total. I’m extremely pleased with this. I know progress in terms of percentages won’t keep up at this rate, but as long as absolute totals keep improving at levels like this I’ll be more than happy!

I was able to cover just over 40% of my expenses this past month by dividends alone. That’s almost a full half of a lifestyle paid for because I made great decisions with capital time and time again over the course of the last few years and realized that I’m not delaying gratification at all.

My goal is to receive $3,500 in dividends during the year of 2013. September is now over, and there’s only three months to go until 2014 comes to a close. Where does time go? With nine months marked off the calender I have been able to accumulate a total of $2,887.32 in dividends over the course of this year. I’m now quite confident I’m going to exceed my dividend income goal at this point.

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

Full Disclosure: Long all aforementioned securities.

How about you? Was September a fantastic month of dividend income? 

Thanks for reading.

Special note: I’m going to be out of town from Thursday – Sunday. I’m visiting family in Michigan for a birthday celebration, and hence may be slow to respond to some comments/emails. I’ll do my best to keep in touch with everyone!

Photo Credit: sscreation’s/FreeDigitalPhotos.net  

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62 Comments

  1. I earned $600 for the first time this past July. What a feeling! I know just managed to get over $700 this past month. It’s an amazing feeling seeing that cash roll in.

    Imagine once it starts hitting the $1K mark. That would be fun.

    Assuming that your December dividends are similar to September then December’s dividends alone will allow you to reach your 2013 dividend goal. Add October and November in there and you’ll be passed the $4K mark for sure.

  2. Congrats on swtting a new personal best! I can’t wait until I can get to that level. I’m glad that our house purchase is finalized so I can start investing my excess monthly capital again. Your progress is so inspiring to many of us. Keep up the good work!

  3. Wow! What a great month! Man, I am even excited about this month for you. Keep feeding that money making machine! ;]

    I too had a breakout month receiving $163 this September, not too shabby.

    Take care,

  4. Awesome! I’m pretty sure you will be able to “retire” in one or two years time.
    Your blog (and income from it) plus dividends and you are set to freedom 🙂

  5. Congrats and nicely done, DM! I am halfway there 🙂 My Sep 2013 passive income was $325

  6. Wow, September was a sick month for you! Come on over to Thailand and you’re already as good as retired. Hey, actually, if you’re ever interested in writing a post on how you “could” retire in Bangkok RIGHT NOW just for the fun of it, I’d be happy to help you out with some of the numbers. Onward and upward!

  7. What a great month DM :)!

    Maybe i am little of topic here, but i wanted to ask your opinion on current economic situation with the goverement shutdown etc. I know that you shouldn’t really try to time your buys, but could this lead to some better prices for great companies? What’s your opinion on the topic? 🙂

    Read your blog for a while and i think it’s awesome what you doing. Wish you best of luck with all of your goals!

    // Young amateur investor from Scandinavia.

  8. DM great job shattering your records! I’m watching all these people panic in the news because they are government workers who have been furloughed. At the same time we are celebrating our successes due to the fact our capital has been working harder than ever for us. Keep up the hard work and it will be great to see you break the $1000 passive income per month mark.

  9. Congrats on achieving 40% this month, that is truly incredible. September was an awesome month for me as well. A great month for everyone!

    It’s months like these that bring a lot of encouragement and show the power of the DGI strategy. Keep up the good work, I think between your blog income and dividend income you’ll be able to cover your expenses all the way.

  10. Awesome.

    I see all that cash from all these companies and I see groceries, paid for, cell phone bills paid for and more. All thanks to companies that pay to be shareholder consistently.

    Great stuff.

    Mark

  11. Wow …It seems like yesterday you were only make less than $75.00 a month in dividends and now you are making over $600 in a one month period.

    You will escape the rat race before you know it.

  12. Hi DM, that’s great. I should hit £6,000 in dividends this year. Easily £12,000 next year. I’m mid forties years old with a family and only seriously learnt about dividend investing about 18 months whilst reading blogs like yours and others and many books.I am mainly in UK FTSE 100 shares but have started to add USA shares. UK shares mainly pay dividends twice a year. I was invested in fixed rate bonds with coupons of 5-6% for many years. I’m trying to release this money into the stock market slowly when I see value. Currently I have 21 FTSE100 and 5 S&P 500 (PM,O,HCP,T,SO) stocks. If I was knowledgeable about Dividend Growth Investing 10 years ago, I would be very wealthy now. I have been relatively frugal all my life without knowing it – no flash cars, large house, endless shopping etc As it is, I will easily reach FI by 50.

    Jon, London, UK

  13. I just love this updates, they really show the progress in the best possible way. My money making machine did a wonderful work in September also and i feel like rewarding it by making it even more powerful in October :). Time is our friend, its not bad do be an DG-investor.

    I hope you have a wonderful trip to Michigan and a great weekend!

    /Per from Sweden

  14. Amazing. Well done and congratulations. This website is one of the reasons I started looking into DGI, took the plunge, and now blog about it as well. Thank you.

  15. A Dividend Dream,

    Thanks! It was a great month. I’m really blessed to be in a situation where passive income of this magnitude is coming my way. I’ll keep it up for as long as I can. 🙂

    Hopefully your journey is proving to be just as fruitful.

    Best wishes!

  16. FFDividend,

    Haha! Yeah, you’re right. I’m getting close to the level where the dividends will pay for rent for the rest of my life. Of course, rent is pretty cheap for me right now and that may not always be the case. However, I”ll try to boost the dividend income faster than my rent can increase. That way I always stay ahead. 🙂

    Take care!

  17. Roadmap2Retire,

    Nice job! That’s a very nice total right there. That’s right about what I received last September, so it’s definitely possible to scale that up even more so quite quickly. Good luck, and keep it up!

    Best regards.

  18. $25000 Dividends,

    Looking good! You’re killing it. You’re getting closer and closer to that $25k goal of yours. Keep it up!

    I think you’re right about me exceeding my goal by a healthy margin. I’m really excited to see if I do indeed pass up $4k this year. We’ll see how it goes.

    Cheers!

  19. Pursuit,

    Thanks! I appreciate the support.

    Yeah, you’re in a great spot now. You’ve got the house purchase under your belt and now that that’s done you can make sure your high income keeps working for you. You’re going to be passing me up for sure in no time. 🙂

    Best wishes.

  20. DividendVet,

    Nice job! That’s $163 you wouldn’t have had otherwise, and that’s some serious income that can be put to work. The compounding snowball starts out small but becomes large quite quickly. Just keep adding a little at a time and watch it roll downhill. Look out below!

    Take care.

  21. Jakub,

    I’m definitely in a much better spot than I would have anticipated myself to be in right now. The dividend income and blog income just about paid for all of my expenses over this past month. Now that doesn’t happen very often, but it sure feels amazing when it does. Hopefully months like this start to occur more often! 🙂

    Freedom is definitely the name of the game. And I hope you find yours as well!

    Best wishes.

  22. Tyler,

    Thanks for stopping by all the way from Thailand. I’m really intrigued by that country. The low cost of living is of course the main reason, but there is so much more to it than that. There is the natural beauty, the culture, wonderful food, tropical climate and (what seems like) kind people. I’d love to visit someday.

    You’re right. The dividend income I received this month could have paid for a relatively comfortable lifestyle in a city like Chiang Mai.

    I actually wrote a quick article about retiring cheaply overseas a while back, although it focused on the Philippines if only because the visas are a lot easier to get there if you’re looking for permanent residency. Thailand makes you jump through a lot of hoops. Of course, these hoops are probably worth it considering all the upside to living there.

    Enjoy your time in the Land of Smiles!

    Best regards.

  23. Anonymous,

    Hey, a visitor from Scandinavia! Great to see you stopping by.

    I don’t really have an opinion on the shutdown, to be honest. I ignore political noise like this. 10 years from now we’ll still be eating Big Macs, drinking Coca-Cola and putting gas in cars. However, it’s highly likely we won’t be talking about the government shutdown. I focus on the long-term and individual company fundamentals. Looking at macroeconomics and political events requires a crystal ball, and even “experts” don’t know what they’re talking about half the time. I recommend you ignore the noise and focus on what you can control: saving and investing.

    Best wishes!

  24. Investing Early,

    Thanks!

    I’m with you. While others are focusing in on Washington D.C., I’m focusing in on the dividend income my wonderful portfolio is generating and using my energy to find great opportunities with which to invest that income. It’s a lot more fun than discussing politics, that’s for sure.

    $1k/mo will indeed be wonderful. I’m anxiously awaiting that day. I don’t anticipate hitting levels like that for a few more years now, but it’s fun to watch it get closer and closer.

    Keep up the great work on your end too!

    Take care.

  25. Spoonman,

    I’m sure you had an excellent September as well. You’re pretty far ahead of me, so I know you had a big smile on your face when you tallied up the month’s numbers. I haven’t been to the ERE forums in a week or so, but I’ll try to stop by soon and check in on your progress.

    I agree with you. Big months like this go a long way, literally and figuratively. Seeing over $600 in income I didn’t have to work for really reinforces my resolve.

    Cheers!

  26. Mark,

    You got that right. CVX sent me dividends so I could put gas in my scooter. WMT paid me cash with which I could use to buy products from PEP, which also sent a hefty check my way. It’s a wonderful cycle!

    Best wishes.

  27. Investing Pursuits,

    Thanks! The success is really wonderful. The great thing about this is that if I can do it anyone can. This blog is a live documentation of the wonderful powers of consistent savings and investing, combined with the magic of compounding. You get these three on your side and you’ll do very well in life. 🙂

    I hope we both escape the race sooner rather than later!

    Take care.

  28. Jon,

    That’s fantastic! You’re doing wonderful over there. Being able to become FI at 50 is no small feat. Especially since you’re starting a bit later than some. Keep it up!

    Best wishes.

  29. Per,

    Time is definitely our friend as investors. Keep feeding the machine and it will keep rewarding you month after month. A little input turns into a lot of output over time. Rinse and repeat. 🙂

    Best regards.

  30. BidAskDividends,

    Thanks for the kind words! I’m glad that you found some inspiration in my journey to start investing and start blogging as well. Investing is rewarding in so many different ways, even beyond just the financial aspect of it. It’s really just wonderful.

    Blogging is a lot of fun. It’s also incredibly rewarding, while also being very time consuming. I hope you continue to write and enjoy it. You’ve got a great looking site!

    Best wishes.

  31. Roger H,

    You’ve got that right! Money never sleeps, and it definitely doesn’t go on vacation! However, I do! Money continues to work for me even while I’m enjoying time with the family. It’s a great relationship. 🙂

    May our money continue to work for us!

    Take care.

  32. DM,

    Very nice month! Congrats on a new record! Hope you are enjoying your time in the home state. It was raining this morning, but beats the cold and snow I guess.

  33. DM, keep going strong with your plan. I have been doing something similar since 1998 and this year my dividends are going to come in around $27,000 for the year. I remember my goal in 2010 was 10 in 10 ($10,000 in 2010) and now 27 in 13. The snowball is truly rolling downhill and growing exponentially. My life is so peaceful and without stress knowing my money is an employee and is working hard for me everyday. SE

  34. Very impressive!

    It’s a been a treat to follow along the past couple years. The next couple years are going to be even better. Let’s see, you now have a sizable income stream pouring in every month. It’s going to grow automatically from reinvestment, plus the dividend increases themselves. And you’re raking in a higher salary. And you have sizable side income from the blog. It seems yields from new investments are a bit lower than couple years ago, but you’ll easily overcome that with massive monthly cash infusions.

    You’ll be able to bow out way before 40 if you so choose!

  35. Wow what a month for you! I broke $500 for the first time, so Im catching up to you! Isnt it fun to see these numbers go up and up and up???

  36. SWAN,

    Thanks! It was a great month. Numbers like this don’t roll in every month, which makes it all the more special when they do. 🙂

    I had a great time back in Michigan. It’s always nice to see family and reconnect; I miss them a lot. The weather was a bit cool, which is a nice change from the heat in Florida.

    Congrats to you on a great month as well!

    Best wishes.

  37. Anonymous,

    Awesome to hear of success like that! $27k in dividends is amazing. I know I’m still a long way from that type of passive income, but knowing that other people are out there seeing numbers like that keeps me inspired. Keep up the great work!

    I agree with you. Knowing that your money is working for you means you don’t have to work so hard for yourself. That’s fantastic.

    Best regards!

  38. CI,

    Thanks for the kind words. It’s been a treat following your progress as well. Your success so far has been incredible considering your means. You’re doing a great job leveraging your savings rate and managing your investments.

    I hope you’re right about me being able to reduce my workload before 40. We’ll see. I know life happens fast and things change, but the progress so far has been really great and I’m thankful.

    Keep in touch!

    Take care.

  39. Anonymous,

    Great job breaking $500! I broke that mark for the first time not long ago myself. You’ll be blowing by $600 before you know it. Onward and upward. 🙂

    Cheers!

  40. Impressive return.
    September isn’t the greatest month for me, October is like 6 times better… Yeah I have some difficulties to have constant payment over this year but anyway I haven’t enough stocks for now (only 8).
    Keep it up

  41. My September dividend total: $3.64 from KO (My very first one!)

    Your posts serve as a constant reminder for what you can do in a few years time. I look forward to
    following your journey as I begin mine.

  42. JF Baconnet,

    I wish my monthly dividends were a bit smoother, but most of the companies I’m invested in pay out during the last month of the quarter. Not a big deal as long as it’s budgeted for.

    Keep it up! You’re doing great.

    Best wishes.

  43. Mark,

    Thanks for stopping by.

    Congrats on your first ever dividend! That’s very exciting. It’ll build rather quickly. Just keep watering your dividend tree and it’ll grow bigger than you ever could have imagined. 🙂

    Best of luck!

    Take care.

  44. DM,

    You certainly do have a healthy stable of dividend payers there! One comment I have is aimed at the sheer numbers of individual players you hold—which can be a good thing or a bad thing:

    The “good” rests in the fact that you have acquired the “safety in numbers” element, in common with mutual funds. The “bad” would materialize only if you engaged in frequent trading/manipulation of your existing crop of stocks. Obviously, transaction fees would become a factor if/when you trade often on many stocks, without a significant number of shares on each.

    In other words, it’s a lot more expensive to trade on 20 shares @50 bucks than 1,000 shares @50 bucks per. [When I started out in the market game, I thought I should own the world…then, once I commenced to sell and replace some 50 different securities on an ongoing basis, soon enough I was hit by the sticker shock in the form of accruing transaction fees.]

    But, having followed your interesting columns for several months, it appears that your end intent is to buy and hold, while keeping mid-game adjustments at a minimum. You show a pattern of picking up solid investments in the first place, so very little need for adjustments there. Good work!

    My other question/comment deals with how you view your dividends (you may have addressed this issue in the past, and I apologize if I missed it):

    Initially, at the time I first read one of your columns and concomitant battle plan—to quit working at 40 and live off your dividends—I naturally assumed that you would utilize the DRIP strategy during the accumulation years. Yet, in a recent Dividend Mantra report, you shared with your readers the dividend payments you had received for September. Surely, you did not actually cash these out, rather than leave the accumulating shares in the kitty, to compound over the years? Please clarify.

    I do understand, of course, that, once you turn 40, your intent is to receive the dividends in cash, from that point forward. And, hopefully, owing to the reinvestment of dividends over the years prior to this milestone, you will have built up your nest egg to the level needed to live comfortably.

    I realize that your intent is to live with frugality (both now and then), which is indeed a virtue, no matter how much money at your disposal. But I would prefer to believe that your future frugal lifestyle will not be out of necessity!

    Best to your future success,

    Phil

  45. Phil,

    Thanks for stopping by!

    As far as your question regarding dividends go, I don’t spend the dividends. I selectively reinvest them as I wrote about a while back here:

    https://www.dividendmantra.com/2011/07/do-you-drip.html

    I choose to selectively reinvest rather than DRIP because I want to try and avoid reinvesting fresh capital back into a position that might be overvalued. In addition, I add fresh capital to my brokerage account every single month (via my day job), and so I’m spending the same amount in terms of commission fees either way.

    I hope that helps clear up my position. 🙂

    Thanks for the support!

    Best wishes.

  46. Hi i am new here and i was reading this is very cool i have investments in two different stocks. i have a qustion how much money do you have invested to get this divends?

    you prob have to have like a couple of thousand of dollars??

    thank you

  47. oh i see very cool so i see you have over 100,000 dollars but i am confused how did you do that since 2011 i read in the about you that you loss 65000 dollars so my qustion is how did you build up to 100000??

  48. avi,

    I started investing in early 2010 with $5,000. The portfolio you see now was built from that foundation over the course of the last three years or so.

    The “loss” you speak of was the inheritance I completely wasted when I was 21 years old. That money was long gone and spent before I started this journey. The inheritance hit my bank account back in 2003 and was spent over the course of a couple years. I built back up from basically nothing.

    I hope that clarifies for you.

    Best regards.

  49. wow thats amazing from 5000 dollars you build this portfolio?? so you mean i can do the same thing that your doing? can you please teach me. right now i have 2000 + in a site called compushare i have intel and other compnay dont know off hand and i do dividend reinvestment with them. i used to put every month 50 dollars in the account but i dont have the 50 dollars to put in so i stopped that.

    thank you

  50. Avi Lang,

    Wealth is not built over night. It’s built through hard work, persistence, living below your means and investing wisely. Search through my archives and you’ll see how I did it.

    Good luck!

    Best regards.

  51. ok i understand. one more question what site do you use to buy stock and build your portfolio? where in your archives should i read first please lead me the way?

    thank you

  52. Avi,

    I use Scottrade for my broker. As far as my archives go, I would simply scroll through and pick the articles you find appealing. You can start all the way from the beginning if you’d like to see the evolution.

    Best regards.

  53. investlikeafool,

    Thanks! This was a monster month for me. I’m definitely grateful for the progress I’ve made thus far. It’s been an incredible journey so far.

    I don’t know if I’ll be able to hit $1k in any month next year. It would be wonderful if I could, but I somehow think I’ll far short of that mark. 2015 is quite likely for such a feat, however. 🙂

    Thanks again for the support!

    Take care.

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