Dividend Income Update – January 2015

moremoneyAnother 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.

The first month of the yearΒ is already behind us. Did January actually already happen? It may have seemingly flown by, but I still collected dividends from a number of high-quality companies that have a penchant for rewarding shareholders with their rightful share of profits. Nothing to remind you that a monthΒ actually came and went quite like a fistful of cash!

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 interests other than full-time work. Without further ado:

January 2015 Dividends Received

  • Baxter International Inc. (BAX) – $31.20
  • Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) – $18.24
  • Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW) – $16.98
  • PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP) – $50.44
  • Walt Disney Co. (DIS) – $17.25
  • Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) – $115.00
  • Altria Group Inc. (MO) – $41.60
  • Realty Income Corp. (O) – $12.84
  • Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (DLR) – $53.95
  • Medtronic PLC (MDT) – $11.29
  • Armanino Foods of Distinction Inc. (AMNF) – $14.40
  • General Electric Company (GE) – $39.10
  • Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) – $11.25

Total dividends received during the month of January: $433.54

That’s a great start to the year, in my view. It’s funny, but these reports oftenΒ cause me to reminisce a bit. I still remember when I first started my career in the auto industry. I was making less than $10 an hour to deliver parts to far-flung areas of the state for wholesale and retail customers. Not a hard job, but it paid as such.

These days my monthly passive income is more than I used to get paid for a week of giving up 40 hours of my life to do menial work. And this passive income will very likely grow and continue to hit my bank account, even while I do nothing at all for it.Β It’s awfully nice to get paid while you sleep. Past decisions to live below my means and invest that excess capital into high-quality business that pay and grow dividends will serve me well for the rest of my life, eventually replacing that old salary completely…and then some. Of course, I’m not done making those kinds of decisions, meaning the results will continue to compound.

I’m hoping to average $600 per month in dividend income this year, which will be a feat. This might be a slow start, but I’ve got 11 months to pick up the pace. And I’m just getting started.

This total is 24.6% higher thanΒ the dividend income my Freedom Fund generated last January. I consider that a very solid improvement. A good chunk of that improvement came via dividend raises themselves – PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP), for instance, increased its dividend by more than 15% last year. So you can see on last year’s report, PEP paid me $43.70. This year, they paid me $50.44. Seven dollars here and seven dollars there adds up over time, as these reports show.

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I was able to cover 17.1% of my personal expenses last month via dividend income. This was a lot lower than planned due to the fact that my computer crashed and I also hosted some family for a week. As such, my expenses were substantially higher than usual. But a coverage ratio of above 17% still isn’t bad. It’s certainly better than 0%, which is where I was five years ago.

What I really like about these reports is that you can see the consistently rising nature of dividend income through the combination of dividend raises, dividend reinvestment, and the infusion of fresh capital. This update offers a nice juxtaposition next to my most recent Freedom Fund update, which showed a decline in value due to the volatility of the broader market, which can affect my overall wealth. I often talk about why growing dividend income is preferable to live off in early retirement/financial independence in comparison to trying to draw down a portfolio that can wildly oscillate. These reports bear that out, albeit on a small scale.

I’mΒ very excited about the recent volatility across the market, which seems to be resonating from the energy sector’s woes. Not sure if I’ll be extremely active over the next month or two, as I have to conserve some cash in the light of very aggressive investing over the last six months, but I’ll be on the lookout for opportunities. And if I find any, you readersΒ will hear about it first.

One of my goals for 2015Β is to receive $7,200 in dividend incomeΒ throughout the year. This month’s result is a good start, and puts me 6% of the way there. That’s fairly similar to how I started last year off, and I ended up crushing my dividend goal for 2014. So this start possibly portends another great year. Let’s see how it goes!

I’ll update my Dividend Income page to reflect January’s dividends.

Full Disclosure: Long all aforementioned securities.

How was January for you? Have a great month of dividend income? Off to a solid start for the year?

Thanks for reading.

Photo Credit: holohololand/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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154 Comments

  1. Dear Friend,

    Great start of the year, 17.1% of your spending cover thanks to investing in high quality companies that reward very well their shareholder.

    In the US your are lucky as the dividend payment is payed almost every months. Here in Switzerland companies pay in one go between February and May, which sometime is not helping us investing at the right time, e.g: during a market dip, but can be the opposite as well.

    So I am awaiting anxiously the first dividend check that should arrive in March.

    Take care and looking forward the next monthly report!

    Cheers, RA50

  2. Jason,
    What a great start of dividend income! I love it! Your PM is hot! Its attractively valued right now (just added few shares few days ago!)
    “I hope these monthly dividend income reports provide inspiration for any investors out there that are just starting out” Heck I’ve been investing for almost two years now and seeing your results is very inspiring, don’t worry you are doing an awesome job there! πŸ™‚
    FFF

  3. Gosh, 17% coverage… rock solid for the first month of a quarter.

    I’m becoming more an more a fan of looking at my dividends, and passive income overall, in the view of hourly rates. Given 2,080 hours in a traditional “working” year, it is pretty wild to think that hitting the $600 per month average would mean you’re rocking almost a $3.50 per hour wage for each ‘traditional’ working hour of the year. Pretty awesome.

    Also, I always forget how big your PM exposure is until you post your first month of the quarter updates. Cornerstone for sure.

  4. 6% of your target is a solid result, Jason. And the best divi months are still to come.
    Keep rolling that snowball! πŸ™‚

  5. Over $400 for the month is definitely a great amount especially considering the fact that the 3rd month of the quarter is generally your best month. Having met 6% of your goal in a slow month, you will be crushing your 2015 goal in no time. You might want to bump up your goals a bit πŸ™‚

  6. Hi DM,

    Seems like a good dividend month to start the year. Hopefully you crush your dividend goals.

    Cheers,
    G

  7. Keep up the good work, Jason! You’ll get to your FI goal some day soon as you keep chipping away at it. I love your positive attitude and outlook on life, especially considering the circumstances you grew up in. Hats off to you, man!
    Alex

  8. Hi DM,

    Just want to say that I’ve been following your blog for a while and it’s been a great inspiration to me. Your blog shows the power of dividend growth investing. All your hard work living frugally and investing the extra has paid off. Must be great to see your dividends pay you more than you made 40 hours a week back then.

    Keep up the great work!

  9. RA50,

    I would love to own more Nestle, although I would have to wait for lower prices first.

    DM,

    You are doing well. Plus, you are doing better than Jan 2014, Jan 2013, Jan 2012, Jan 2011 and 2010 in total. While your dividends in Jan and Feb are probably going to be “lower” than your average, your March, June, Sep and Dec payment will bring the average up.

    I sincerely wish you to be able to keep earning side income, in order to reinvest those dividends and also be able to put more $ to work in stocks.

    Good luck!

    Dividend Growth Investor

  10. DM,

    Very nice dividend month, especially during a “slower” month. I picked up some more shares of BAX this morning. Also, seeing the higher dividends coming from company increases is the coolest thing.

    Thanks for the update!

    MDP

  11. Good on you, Jason! Looks like you’re continuing the steady and meticulous increase in dividend income, and I have no doubt that you will reach your goal by year’s end. I’ve just started publishing my own income/expense statement on my blog, which I am finding is a good way to keep yourself motivated and on track.

  12. DM,

    Congrats on a great month! You have been an inspiration to so many, myself included. I am on the other end of the spectrum having just started my journey last month. I will be chronicling my journey as well. I will be sure to include you in my blogroll if that is ok with you? Keep up the great work!

    FD

  13. RA50,

    Thanks for the support!

    I agree that we US investors are fortunate in that the dividend payments are generally paid out in quarterly installments. I could work around all my dividend income coming in all in one or two months, but I prefer the system as it stands.

    I can imagine the anxiety is high when you know that you’re going to be collecting a boatload of cash next month. That’s pretty exciting. πŸ™‚

    Appreciate you stopping by.

    Best regards.

  14. W2R,

    That’s a great way to look at it. I look at it that way too and wrote an article on that a while back, comparing my portfolio to an extra worker in the house, whereby the income it generates is like an invisible worker that goes out and works for me and gives me all their money. Even better, this worker doesn’t eat or use any utilities. It’s a very nice arrangement. Couldn’t ask for a better roommate. πŸ™‚

    My position in PM is a gift and a curse. Mostly it’s a gift, because those sizable dividends are helping me reload my BB gun fairly quickly. On the other hand, I have as much PM as I’ll ever need, which rules it out as a potential purchase today. I’ll take the gift over the curse, however!

    Thanks for stopping by.

    Cheers!

  15. Jos,

    I’m rolling away. Better yet, I’m putting less effort into the rolling these days as the snowball picks up speed. πŸ™‚

    Hope all is well over there with your own snowball!

    Best wishes.

  16. DGJ,

    Thanks so much. It was really a solid month. I have no complaints. All of these are great companies, and I’m truly glad to be a shareholder in all of them.

    I tell ya, I’ll be ecstatic if I can exceed $7,200 in dividend income this year. That’s ahead of pace by a good margin, so things are rolling along. I’m just doing my best to keep my foot on the pedal. πŸ™‚

    You’re doing great over there as well. Keep at it!

    Take care.

  17. FFF,

    Ha! I appreciate that very much. Glad the inspiration is coming through loud and clear. πŸ™‚

    PM is definitely attractively valued here. They have some headwinds in regards to currency and the potential spreading of plain packaging, but they’re a cash cow. As long as people smoke traditional cigarettes and/or RRPs, PM will collect a good chunk of those sales.

    You had a great month over there as well with the dividend income. The progress we can achieve is amazing.

    Best wishes!

  18. Alex,

    Thanks for that. I’ve had a tough go of it in some ways, but I’m also incredibly lucky in other ways. Being born in the US in the 80s is a huge advantage compared to someone born in, say, India in 1850. I’m just trying to take advantage of that as much as I can. Life is less what happens to us and more how we respond. πŸ™‚

    Hope all is well with your journey!

    Best regards.

  19. ACI,

    Thanks for following along. Appreciate the readership very much! πŸ™‚

    Looks like you’re doing very well over there, especially with the retirement accounts. Shouldn’t have a problem retiring at 56. You’re already quite far along.

    Take care!

  20. Great start to the year, DM. Congrats on the dividend income – now time to pile that back into the market and multiply it πŸ™‚

    Best wishes
    R2R

  21. DGI,

    Up, up, and away. Increasing YOY totals is what we’re after. πŸ™‚

    Appreciate all the support. This year may be the best yet in many regards. I’m very, very excited!

    Keep up the great work over there as well. 2018 is just around the corner.

    Cheers!

  22. MDP,

    Oh, nice move there on BAX. I have a feeling that the sum of its parts are worth more than the whole, and that will probably come around after the split. BAX anywhere near $70 seems like a solid buy to me.

    Looks like you’re going to have an outstanding year after that crazy 2014 you had with all those hours and capital you put away. And you’re still at it over there. Impressive. πŸ™‚

    Cheers!

  23. What’ a great way to stay focused and motivated. Sometimes it’s easy to get discouraged when the slow progress… especially on such a long term goal like FI in the next 8 years. At least, I know it is for me.

    Staying aware of the regular progress helps to realize that excluding new capital, reinvesting and growth should account for 4-8% growth in dividends for most investors, and new capital can easily add points on top of that. Not hard to see how a 10-25% CAGR on total distributions can add up very quickly, even as the rate of growth slows as the dollar values climb.

    Very anxious to initiate/add positions in some great companies. Looking forward to the rest of 2015!

  24. Steve,

    Things are looking very good. Surprisingly, I’m ahead of schedule. I didn’t think that would be the case with leaving my job last year. I’m fortunate. πŸ™‚

    I seen that report. Very nice, my friend. Your high income goes a long way toward achieving financial independence. One doesn’t even need to master frugality to hit a high savings rate with an income of $10k/month. You guys attained a great savings rate for your first fully tracked month. Keep it up!

    Best wishes.

  25. Geblin,

    Appreciate the support!

    The goal’s going to be a challenge, but you know I’m going to give it all I’ve got. I can do nothing less. πŸ™‚

    Thanks for dropping by.

    Cheers!

  26. I just put together my dividend update for January as well! Favorite time of the month, getting to read all of these updates πŸ™‚

    An extra $433 in your pocket is a great way to start off the year, and that’s a nice YOY increase as well. Looking good!

    (Also, that PM dividend – wow!)

  27. That’s a great start to the year. 24.6% increase compare to last year is pretty awesome.

    Looks like the markets are rebounding the last few days and the energy sector stocks have recovered a bit. I’m hoping that volatility will continue so we can all invest more money into energy sectors.

  28. Congrats with all the progress and that’s a great way to get things rolling in 2015. Best of luck in reaching the goal of $7200 in dividend income… I’m pretty sure you’ll crush it again this year.

    I’m working on pulling a lot of equity out of a property, so hopefully I’ll have a lot more funds to invest with this year. I’m looking forward to rebuilding my dividend portfolio πŸ™‚

  29. Ravi,

    Financial independence isn’t quick or easy. But it’s a lot quicker and easier than the alternative of working for most of your life. πŸ™‚

    I’m looking forward to seeing the conclusion of all of this in 2022. It’ll be great to see the dividend income chart start to curve upward, showing compounding in action. Best of all, the entire journey will be documented. Should be a lot of fun.

    But first, we have to live and love today. I’m sometimes guilty of not living in the present. A gift and a curse. Luckily, my fiance keeps me pretty grounded as she’s the polar opposite in that regard.

    Best regards.

  30. Tawcan,

    Thanks!

    Yeah, I’m hoping for the same. Just when you think the market’s heading lower, Mr. Market’s mood markedly improves. Just can’t time that kind of stuff.

    Looking forward to your update. πŸ™‚

    Take care.

  31. FI Fighter,

    Hey, that’s pretty exciting over there. De-leveraging and spreading the risk around a bit through less concentrated asset allocation probably isn’t a bad idea. I suspect that will also reduce the anxiety a bit for you, even if it potentially reduces the returns. It’s a careful balance, I imagine.

    Looking forward to seeing how that works out for you, either way. πŸ™‚

    Hope you’re feeling a lot better! I imagine this little sneak peek of FI is doing wonders. I know it did for me early last year when I took a couple weeks off of work to catch up and eliminate some burnout. Of course, I was never the same when I got back. I realized that I was done. Thus, I was free just a couple of months later.

    Cheers!

  32. FD,

    Looks like you’re just starting a blog up over there. Awesome! If you have any questions or need any help, be sure to let me know. πŸ™‚

    This is a very exciting time for you, just starting the journey. If you’re anything like me, you’ll find that the excitement doesn’t fade. It can actually increase over time as you get closer and closer to your dream.

    Looking forward to seeing your journey unfold. And I’d be honored to be on the blogroll.

    Best wishes.

  33. It’s funny how we change over time. I remember a past SO of mine and I got into many disputes centering around spending and how to balance today vs tomorrow. I know we both seemed to be on opposite sides more often than not.

    Today, I know it would be a challenge to have someone more on the spending side, but I do think I need someone further along the other direction to maintain some balance. Like you, I have the tendency to overdo things.

    Here’s to portfolio and personal growth in the year ahead!

  34. Hi DM,

    I’m a new reader and have been reading your recent posts and some of the older ones. Investing has become my favourite hobby and I hope I can become better at analyzing companies. I am a fellow shareholder with DIS and NOV. Might average down on NOV sometime in the future, it’s looking very cheap right now. Also might consider adding some PM because I haven’t got any high yielding stocks. Very solid month for you and I’m sure you will reach your dividend goal for the year.

  35. Time sure does fly by. I can’t believe that January is already in the rear view mirror. But, I guess when you constantly write and update a blog the days just seem to roll by. Breaking $400 for a month of income is amazing. As I always say, we are all on the same path headed in the same direction just at different points along the journey. I can’t believe that in less than three months DivHut will be turning 1! Keep inspiring with those articles and dividend updates. I’ll be posting mine soon as well. Happy to see quite a few names in common from your dividend payers and my portfolio too.

  36. The dividend crossover point will hopefully be reached in 2018 (fingers crossed). I also need to beef up the buffers in tax-deferred accounts. I am hopeful the obstacles I outlined in my annual goals do not materialize..

    Of course, the most important thing is to live in the present, and enjoy each moment. The journey is more fulfilling than the end goal if you ask me.

  37. DM,

    That total is sweet. I am excited with the notion of breaking $100, and here you are in a sort of off month blowing past $400. Hopefully this year can keep up that massive YOY increase. Looks like PM cannot pay you enough!

    Unrelated question, I had read something on ITW not being able to sustain its dividend. I don’t own them, but you do so I was going to ask what do you think of that idea? Personally, I don’t buy that advice after looking at their general information, but its nice to ask a true stock connoisseur.

    – Gremlin

  38. I was at 1643 divis this yr vs 1330 last year. This wasn’t the kind of percentage bump up I was hoping for, but still good progress. Probably 1/3 of total expenses due to ridiculously high rent in DC area. You did great, Jason.

  39. Seraph,

    Congrats on the big month over there. That’s a great start toward your goal of $1,300. πŸ™‚

    The PM dividend is always nice. I can only wish all of my stocks paid out like that. But I’ll take what I can get!

    Cheers.

  40. Sampo,

    Thanks for following along. Appreciate the readership very much. Hope you find a lot of value in the posts, old and new alike. πŸ™‚

    Sounds like rational moves to me. I got in on NOV a bit early, but I anchor my prices to value, not what may or may not happen to that price. That said, it’s certainly a better deal now, so I’m also strongly considering averaging down one more time in February. Averaging down has historically served me very well.

    Happy shopping out there!

    Take care.

  41. DivHut,

    Congrats on your upcoming blogiversary! That’s very exciting. πŸ™‚

    Looking forward to your dividend income update. I’m sure you had a great month with all the activity you’ve had over the last few months.

    Take care!

  42. Gremlin,

    Ha. I got that same ITW article in my email. I don’t even click on articles like that, as they seem to be nothing more than clickbait. ITW’s free cash flow is about as robust as it can get. They’re fine. πŸ™‚

    $100 is still a very solid dividend total, especially for January. You can see that it wasn’t all that long ago that I was in a similar position. Keep marching along!

    Best regards.

  43. DD,

    Tremendous! That’s unfortunate that more than $1,600 only gets you 1/3 of the way there, but I also don’t think your expenses are all that crazy for D.C. You’re probably on the low end. πŸ™‚

    I’m hoping to start reporting 1/3 expense coverage pretty routinely as well. I’m on the cusp!

    Thanks for sharing. Keep up the great work.

    Best wishes.

  44. I think that is a great start to the year as well DM! You are definitely getting to a point that the hard work you have done over the last few years is beginning to show results. Nice job man! πŸ™‚

  45. Looking good, DM. I suspect you’re going to blow away your expectations again this year by an even wider margin as your web content draws more viewers. We’ll see πŸ™‚

    Every time I see MO listed somewhere it reminds me of my biggest “miss” in 2014, when I had a trade locked and loaded to initiate a position somewhere around $35 a share and I took my finger off the trigger on the confirmation screen. Can’t win them all.

    I need to drop you an email about claiming the tax back on BNS. I’ve never done that before, much less through Scottrade/Turbo Tax, and I believe that’s the combo you use.

    Best,
    DWC

  46. Good luck with the goal Jason! As you are trying to add yield, have you been considering adding to your position in OHI? I am looking to add to my position here and it is looking like a ~4.9% yield on a great business. Would love to hear your thoughts!

  47. Stoic,

    Thanks, man. Really appreciate it! πŸ™‚

    Great decisions have a way of producing great results, but it’s even better with dividend growth investing because one great decision can produce a lifetime of great results. You’ve gotta love that.

    Appreciate you stopping by!

    Best regards.

  48. DWC,

    I certainly hope you’re right there in regards to blowing away the goals/expectations. I’m working very hard over here and writing more than ever. I’m excited. πŸ™‚

    You definitely can’t win them all. I’ve had a lot of misses over the years as well. LMT, V, and SBUX are just a few that come to mind. There’s a lot more, though. But the good news is that you don’t need to win them all. If you limit the losses, the winners will take care of themselves.

    The tax credit is actually really easy. TurboTax allows you to import your 1099 from Scottrade and the foreign dividend taxes withheld are already listed there. They pick up on it and show the refunded amount. But I’d be happy to help if you have any questions there.

    Cheers!

  49. Jason,

    Hmm, I’m not real sure about OHI here. That massive 36%+ run (before dividends) over the last year has pushed the yield to the lowest levels I’ve ever seen. For reference, the five-year average yield on this stock is 6.5%. I think there are a few decently priced REITs here and there, but they are, as a group, fairly pricey, in my view.

    Take care!

  50. IP,

    Thanks so much for the support. It’s much appreciated!

    Indeed, it’s always good to see those dividends rolling in. From the smallest to the largest dividend, I always have a smile on my face when I see fresh cash in the brokerage account. πŸ™‚

    Looks like you had a pretty solid month over there as well. Keep it up!

    Cheers.

  51. Thanks, DM. I didn’t realize Scottrade picked up on the foreign taxes and handle the refund automatically. Now all I need is for Scottrade to make my 1099 available and away we go πŸ™‚

    Best,
    DWC

  52. Good to see your consistent progress for another month DM. Focusing on dividends instead of market value makes it possible to see past the noise and where you stand on the long term goal – so I always appreciate these updates.
    January dividends collected for me were $977(taxable) + 553(401k)…should be better months ahead πŸ™‚

  53. Awesome chunk of cash DM! PM alone is giving out a lot of $$ And it looks like your smaller food company is paying out nicely as well, gotta love that ‘dough’ πŸ™‚ And it really is pretty cool to see the power of div increases as well. One of mine paid out a bit higher this month as well πŸ™‚

  54. Another great month Jason! You have to love PM, the gift that keeps on giving. I have a very similar about of shares, so the amount I receive from PM is practically identical. MO and PM are my cash cows.

    For non-US dividend holdings, do you calculate the amount in US dollars (after foreign currency adjustments) or do you ignore foreign currency conversions entirely?

    My target is basically the same as yours this year – Average of $600 per month in dividend income, total target of $7,200 this year. This month, I received $730+ CDN in dividends (although this is overstated as I did factor in currency exchange rates), and as the Canadian dollar has fallen considerably against the US, my US dividend holdings and market values have increased significantly.

    As for PM, do you think there is a stock split in the cards soon? I have been hearing rumours and discussion about this possibility for the last couple of years, although I don’t think this will happen for quite awhile yet.

  55. Jason,

    That’s a fantastic start of the year: 25% higher dividends is nothing to sneeze at. PM alone gave you 25% of total dividend income for this month.

    Keep the most important chart going up πŸ™‚

    Best,
    PIM

  56. hey jason,
    Not related to this post, but GILD just announced their first dividend. Would you consider this now, or would you want to wait a few years until they have a paying track record?

  57. Way to start of the year Jason! Very nice list of companies you have paying you dividends. And so true what you said…it certainly is nice to get paid while you sleep! πŸ™‚ Wishing you continued success in 2015! AFFJ

    BTW, I like the new chart. Looking forward to seeing it fill outward and hopefully upward this year!

  58. DM,

    Congrats on the great month. I can’t believe a month had already gone by. My goodness! Your comparison to your early auto career is remarkable. Just think, this is all PASSIVE income as well. 24% growth is amazing and I want to challenge others to find income sources that will grow at these rates ( of course I’m being dramatic, there ate plenty of other ways to do it. They just require much more work).
    My favorite part of this exercise is seeing all the new stocks that you receive income from this year compared to last year. It looks like you have a few new entrants this year!

    Keep up the great work!
    Bert

  59. pacer45,

    Big numbers there! Very, very nice. I’m not sure what I’d be doing with that kind of passive income, but I sure would be doing it well. πŸ™‚

    Appreciate the support very much. Keep up the great work over there!

    Cheers.

  60. DW,

    Thanks!

    PM is definitely doing the heavy lifting here. I don’t plan on ever buying any more PM shares, so the other stocks will fill in over time. But those big dividends will help that process along very nicely. πŸ™‚

    You had a very nice month as well. Your total is climbing!

    Take care.

  61. Winston,

    We share some cash cows there, that’s for sure. πŸ™‚

    The dividends received from stocks not domiciled in the US are shown as the exact amount that hits my brokerage account, which is after both foreign dividend tax withholding and currency conversion.

    I don’t foresee a split from PM anytime soon. I think that’s more likely when it crosses $100/share.

    Looks like you had a much better start to your year than I did. You’re well on your way to $7,200 in dividend income. Awesome progress. Keep it up!

    Thanks for stopping by and sharing. I’ll race you to $7,200. πŸ™‚

    Best regards.

  62. PIM,

    Appreciate the support. I think this is a solid start. If 2014 is any gauge, I should at least come close to $7,200. But we’ll see how it goes.

    Keep chugging along over there as well. Financial independence is out there waiting for us. πŸ™‚

    Cheers.

  63. Mantra,

    I’ll join on the discussion — the Pepsi increase from last year alone bears great fruitful results. Results that equate to owning a company that increases it’s dividend regularly and may be “boring” – but this is what it’s all about – which ultimately reduces your time to watch a stock price/news.

    Great month and great improvement from last year; 6% coverage from a January month with 17% coverage over expenses is rock solid. March is going to be the big one!

    Nice work again DM, just amazing what you have accomplished over the last few years… keep it up!

    -Lanny

  64. joel,

    GILD isn’t really on my radar right now. After the ARCP debacle, I’m going to stay a bit less flexible on dividend growth track records. I’d like to see at least five years of growing dividends before initiating a position from here on out. I might be okay with four if a fifth raise is on its way, but going after stocks with brand new dividends just isn’t in my wheelhouse. Could be a great investment, but there are plenty of great investments that fit the mold for me.

    Just my take on it. πŸ™‚

    Best wishes.

  65. Hey Jason! This is my first time commenting on your blog, but I admire the hell out of you for sticking to your game plan year in and year out. Always enjoy reading your posts! I may have missed it in the past but do you plan on adding AAPL to your holdings? I know theres a lot of pros and cons.

    Keep up the great work and thanks for always taking time to connect with readers!

  66. AFFJ,

    Indeed. I love sleeping. A lot. But I really love sleeping when I’m collecting cash at the same time. I’d rather count dollars than sheep. πŸ™‚

    Thanks for dropping by!

    Cheers.

  67. Bert,

    Indeed. Not only is this income more than a week’s worth of work back in the early days of my career, but it’s completely passive. Like some pieces of furniture say “No Assembly Required”, dividends come with directions that say “No Work Required”. Once you invest in a dividend growth stock, the work is mostly done. πŸ™‚

    The lineup this year is a bit different. I’m perhaps most excited about AMNF. The fundamentals are really impressive. I think big things are still yet ahead for this little company.

    Thanks for stopping in. Hope all is well!

    Best regards.

  68. Chris,

    Thanks so much for reading along. And I appreciate you taking the time to drop a comment.

    I’m at this with everything I’ve got. So we’ll see exactly what’s possible before I’m done. πŸ™‚

    Apple is an enigma. I’ve been hesitant to add for a number of reasons. I’m a little leery about tech in general. But perhaps even more concerning is the mammoth size of the company. They’re now a $700 billion company. So you have to wonder where they’re going? Is there more upside than downside there? How big can they get and how much money can they possibly make? And how much will they innovate and will that innovation keep the train going? Growing dividends is by far my biggest concern, but I’m also after attractive returns relative to risk. And for Apple to just double, they’d be a $1.4 trillion company.

    Of course, there is some enthusiasm there because they have a wonderful ecosystem, products people love, and enough cash on the balance sheet to keep the dividend and buybacks going for a long time. So I’m mixed on it.

    I’m not interested in investing very heavily in tech, but I do have room for another established player or two. We’ll see. Apple is a great company. I obviously missed the low-hanging fruit there. But they’re still growing, as their last report shows.

    Best wishes!

  69. CD,

    I’m very, very excited. Averaging $600 per month this year would be amazing. I’m already ahead of schedule, but that would push me even further. I’m doing my best. πŸ™‚

    Based on the last three months of dividend payments, I’ve averaged a bit over $490 per month. So there’s a big jump there. But I’m up for it!

    Thanks for stopping by.

    Cheers!

  70. What a fantastic journey! I’ve been watching this blog among a few others. I’ve got a child now so planning for our future is on my mind constantly. Your blog has really been the one to give me inspiration to start cutting expenses and finding dollars here and there to throw into my new Roth IRA. I just opened positions in CAT, EMR, MCD, OKE, and T on Friday and am looking forward to getting my snowball rolling! Thanks for the inspiration and keep up the great work!

  71. Thanks Jason! You have an excellent collection that you currently sit on that will just rain money on you for years to come. Tech is such a fickle industry.Also interesting that so much of Apples revenue doesn’t even come from their computers anymore.

    I really appreciate your thorough feedback and taking the time to respond.

  72. Great work DM!

    What a nice way to start the year with a 6% lead on your monthly average. Your annual goal is becoming ever more impressive, and without sounding like a broken record – It’s so motivating to see such vast increases YOY when you’re at that level. It really excites me!

    My YOY increases are extremely large at the moment, but I’m only just starting out. It’s nice to know that after 5 years I could still be getting 25% increases.

    Keep up the good work!

    Huw

  73. Great start to the year and I’m sure you’ll be able to pick up the pace and reach your goal! The PEP story you mention above is why I have really embraced this Dividend Growth Investing lifestyle. People outside of this world will probably laugh at you that you only received an extra $7 YOY from Pepsi but thats $7 this month and for the next 3 payments this year. Reinvesting that $28 gives you an extra $1 next year at 3.5%… And all of that is for doing nothing! Except making a great choice years ago to invest in a wonderful company that pays you more each year.

    Just think if you had $1000 of dividends from Pepsi and they gave you a 15% raise then… An extra $150! You can’t beat that. Compounding is an amazing thing and your portfolio is really starting to prove that.

    I can’t wait till I start bringing in the kind of income you do. Keep up the great work!

  74. Great start and good luck on your 2015 goal. Do you pay a commission for each trade? Have you ever written about investing in a Vanguard or similar dividend fund in stead of your strategy of individual stocks? Thanks.

  75. Hi DM,

    It would be interesting if you broke down the January YOY increase into organic growth and growth from dividends/fresh capital. Better yet, do it for AL 2014 compared to 2013. I think that would make for an interesting article.

  76. DM,

    Congratulations on increasing your dividend distributions by 24.6% from last January. My dividend distributions increased by 36.5% from last January. It is a great feeling seeing the results of compounding and dividend raises in the monthly totals.

    Thanks for sharing,

    Mr. Captain Cash

  77. Jason,

    These posts are always my favorite to read. It really shows what can happen when you are dedicated, and build toward a goal. It starts off slow at first, but once the snowball begins to roll, watch out!

    My only question is, have you ever considered investing in ETF’s such as SCHD which pays a dividend, and is traded like a stock basically. Obviously with 50 plus companies you are already quite diverse, but for someone who is just starting out, would you suggest looking into such options?

  78. Those are some nice numbers to kick things off. I’m aiming for $600 in dividends this year so, ~$50/mo. So far so good. Having your freelance writing center on financial analysis must make waiting around on the sidelines that much more difficult–you can’t take a week’s vacation from market-gazing until new capital’s ready to go!

  79. Another great month.

    I am an index investor. Just another way to go about trying to pile up cash and retire early.

    Just for comparison and looking at other ways, I’ll share what the bond portion of my portfolio made in January.

    We have $112k in an Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt Bond fund (taxable) (not an index per se, but a .20% ER low cost actively managed fund at Vanguard. We also have $108k in the Total US Bond Index fund at Vanguard (Tax-sheltered $). $220k total in bonds/index.

    These pulled in $475 in January. $321 was Federal tax exempt. Of course, there is risk with the 4-6 year maturity bond/index funds if/when interest rates start to rise. But hopefully less risk than an all stock portfolio.

    It is fun to watch the updates and do comparisons to the dividend strategy. Thanks again for the updates.

  80. Louis,

    Thank you so much. Appreciate you following along. The best part about this journey is being able to share it with readers like yourself…as well as watching all of your journeys unfold. πŸ™‚

    Sounds like you’re off to a great start over there. Those are all high-quality companies. A couple of them are having some short-term issues right now, but they should all continue to spit out cash for the foreseeable future.

    Keep it up!

    Best wishes.

  81. Huw,

    Thanks! It’s inspiring for me as well to see individuals like yourself consistently post up great numbers, bringing you closer to your long-term goals. πŸ™‚

    You’re doing great over there. Your savings rate is off the chart and it seems like you’re a completely different person than you were just a couple of years ago. The transformation that occurs along the way is really wonderful.

    Thanks for dropping by!

    Cheers.

  82. ADD,

    You’ve definitely embraced the lifestyle, my friend. Keep up the excellent work with the aggressive investing. Just like I’ve experienced, those decisions will pay off for you. πŸ™‚

    What I like about these posts, and the blog in general, is that there’s a clear progression here. There’s nothing hypothetical here that involves backtesting. Just real-time results in real life. The benefits of compounding are even easier to see and exploit when it’s being applied like this. I’m very excited to see how it all turns out.

    Keep at it and I’m sure you’ll surpass me one day.

    Take care!

  83. jon,

    Good idea. I actually plan on doing something a little different for this year and beyond. I’m going to start tracking dividend increases across the portfolio as it pertains to organic income growth. It’ll be a quarterly review. So it’ll discuss actual income growth in both percentage terms and absolute dollar amounts. πŸ™‚

    Thanks for dropping by!

    Best regards.

  84. It is inspiring to me! πŸ˜‰ Great improvement, nice list of holdings and the story is to be continued!! How cool is that? I too feel very excited to earn money while I sleep. Good job on the 17.1% of your spending as well! You surely are more frugal than me (can’t even say I’m frugal anyway…) so that impresses me.

  85. Josh,

    I compared VIG to dividend growth investing a while back. VIG is a similar ETF:

    https://www.dividendmantra.com/2013/04/why-i-vastly-prefer-dividend-growth/

    Now, VIG has been disappointing. The dividend growth, as I kind of anticipated, hasn’t panned out. It paid less in 2013 than it did in 2012. That was a trend I pointed out.

    SCHD seems to be a big improvement in comparison to VIG. Lower expense ratio, higher yield, and, so far, growth in the income. However, I see a couple of glaring drawbacks. First, the yield is much lower than what an investor could manage by doing it themselves. Second, the fund hasn’t been around that long so as to establish any kind of long-term record. So who’s to say it won’t pull a VIG and pay out less in one year?

    Their fund description reads on Morningstar partially as:

    “Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity is a passively managed ETF that targets high-quality stocks to provide moderate, sustainable income.”

    Moderate and sustainable being the key words there.

    I’m building my own fund that should provide a yield that’s well above-average with income that’s not only sustainable, but growing.

    That all said, it seems like a suitable replacement for those not managing their own portfolio. It provides more income than an index fund that tracks the total market or S&P 500 index and that income is growing at a nice clip. Just hard to really draw any concrete conclusions because it hasn’t been around that long. Not sure if it would be a better holding than holding the S&P 500 or the entire market or not.

    Hope that helps!

    Cheers.

  86. Jana,

    Haha. That’s a great point. You are correct in that writing about this stuff full-time does make it more difficult to not invest all the time. Good thing I’ve had some practice over the last few years. And, of course, I’m limited by my own capital. πŸ™‚

    You’re off to a great start there. I collected far less than that my first year at it. Persistence is incredibly powerful, so stick with it!

    Thanks for sharing. You’re doing great. πŸ™‚

    Best wishes.

  87. MCC,

    That’s awesome. Great increase there. As you probably know and have experienced, the gains in percentage terms shrink as the gains in absolute terms expand, but seeing the income grow by leaps and bounds is what we’re really after.

    That’s a great start to the year. Awesome stuff!

    Thanks for dropping by.

    Take care!

  88. Wade,

    Interest rates have remained surprisingly and stubbornly low, which goes both ways there with those funds. Less possible income, but the value of the funds isn’t hit hard. Vanguard’s a great company, so I’m sure they’ll maneuver correctly when the time comes. πŸ™‚

    That’s great that you’re able to follow along and compare to this strategy. That’s a lot of fun. I’ve remained on the sidelines in terms of bond exposure, but I wouldn’t mind some fixed income perhaps when the 10-year crosses 5%. Of course, that’ll also depend on what inflation looks like since fixed income is fixed.

    Thanks for following along!

    Best wishes.

  89. Hi,

    Can you please compare the total yield of your portfolio to the plain vanilla S&P500. Considering the broker commissions and the dividend taxes, would your not make more money long term by just copying the S&P500?
    Do you have any graphs of you portfolio to see?

    Thanks

  90. Nairiya,

    The total yield of my portfolio is right about 3.5% right now. That compares to 1.91% for Vanguard’s VFINX, which tracks the S&P 500 index. So that’s almost double the income, plus it’s going to grow much faster.

    “would your not make more money long term by just copying the S&P500?”

    My goal is to build a reliable and growing stream of income large enough to live off of so as to be financially independent. In this regard, no, I would not be better off by buying the S&P 500 index. Furthermore, stocks that pay and grow dividends tend to outperform the index over long periods of time anyway, if total wealth is really what you’re after.

    If you’re looking for a passive way to achieve (almost) market total returns, an S&P 500 index fund is your best bet.

    Cheers!

  91. Hi Jason!

    My name is Johannes, and I just started a new blog, this time in english. I’ve been blogging for about 2 years at a few different swedish blogs. And this summer I started blogging for a Swedish online broker, but in my strive towards living of passive income, and also my strive towards marstering English, I started an English blog.

    Talking a lot about my private economy, living, saving, and this time I’m thinking of blogging some about how everything works in Sweden for someone with the same goals as you.

    Also I would like to thank you for the inspiration that your blog gives me, and for the idea to go international that I got when reading your blog.

    Kind Regards,
    Johannes / Swedeconomist

  92. Jason,

    Keep up the good work! I appreciate your articles especially how you monitor and track your progress. You have helped give me some ideas to work on with my own investing and tracking what I am doing.

    I am still employed full time and contribute the maximum possible to my company 401k both pre and post tax.

    My last check of my dividend income shows a fair bit of imbalance in my monthly dividends. The Jan and Feb dividends streams combined are notably less than my Mar dividends. With Jan being the lowest of the monthly streams.

    As I get closer to retiring and using my dividends to support me and my wife I am considering options to replace my bi-weekly paychecks.

    I am curious if/how you plan to handle your dividends? Do you plan to try to get a balanced monthly dividend income stream? Or do you plan to have just feed the dividend income to an account from which you will draw an amount that represents an average monthly paycheck?

    I have heard recommendations for both but so far my portfolio has become heavily weighted in some months and much lighter in others.

    Thoughts?

    Mike

  93. Nice yoy increase. It would be neat to know the aggregate div raise yoy from all positions. only way I can think of doing it would be quite cumbersome..oh well.

    Keep up the good work!

  94. Mike,

    I think there’s an imbalance for many of us dividend growth investors. For whatever reason, a good chunk (perhaps an outsized number) of companies that tend to offer the quality, consistency, and yield we’re after seemingly pay out in the last month of every quarter.

    For some people, that’s a hassle. I personally don’t mind it.

    My take on it is this. If your budget is tight enough to save a substantial portion of your net income with which to invest fairly regularly, you should be able to manage budget shortfalls and windfalls fairly easily. I’d simply leave whatever excess funds are there from the March/June/September/December payout periods and use that money to make up for the months when dividend income is a little lighter. Plus, it’s a good idea to have a good chunk of cash sitting aside once you’re financially independent and not working at all/as much. That’ll smooth any oscillations in passive income.

    I personally only keep a few grand around right now because I’m taking in a lot of active and passive income. I also have significant credit to bridge any temporary emergencies. But I plan to keep a healthier cash balance way down the road, depending on how much active income I take in. Not only will my budget probably be tighter from less active income, but I’ll also be older which increases the likelihood of medical issues.

    Hope that helps! πŸ™‚

    Best wishes.

  95. took2summit,

    I actually plan on doing a quarterly update with all the dividend raises across my portfolio and showing both an average percentage raise as well as an absolute aggregate income raise. Should be fun to see how that goes. In the end, I’m most after a yearly total in terms of overall percentage dividend growth, which will be nice to track publicly.

    Cheers!

  96. Great job Jason, got around the same amount here aswell although i’ve done a dramatic rebalancing of my portfolio with a different focus so we’ll see how it goes. I think you’re off to a great start for 2015! cheers T

  97. I am just starting out on my own investing journey and I stumbled across your blog. I have been really enjoying your articles and insights on dividend investing.

    I know you post about monthly/ annual dividends as well as your portfolio balance, but do you ever provide information about the original cost base of your portfolio? If it’s not too personal, I am interested in seeing how much money you have contributed, separate from reinvesting dividends, to get an idea of your return on your initial investments. For example, you said the return is about 3.5% for your portfolio, but I assume that is 3.5% on it’s current market value. What is your return on your original contributions?

    I am looking forward to following your journey. Thanks!

    Newbie

  98. Johannes,

    Glad to hear you started a blog in English. Hopefully, that opens you up to a whole new audience. At the very least, you’ll be gaining valuable experience with a new language. That’s a win-win. πŸ™‚

    That’s fantastic that you’ve gained some inspiration from what I do here, not only to save and grow passive income, but also to share that with the world.

    Appreciate you stopping by from Sweden. Please stay in touch!

    Best regards.

  99. Tales,

    You still had a great month over there, even with the differing focus. That really speaks to the benefit of laying out the foundation, which allows you to take on different opportunities. Best of luck with some of the moves you’ve recently made. πŸ™‚

    Cheers!

  100. Newbie,

    Glad you stumbled upon my humble spot on the internet. Hope you stick around. πŸ™‚

    It sounds like you’re looking for yield-on-cost. I don’t track that privately or publicly. I just don’t find any value in it.

    If you’re after total return, it’s something I track privately but not publicly. It’s just not something that’s really a focus of mine or what I’m attempting to achieve. That said, the portfolio’s returned about 18.5% annualized since mid-2010 (when I started). That’s total returns using XIRR up to December 31, 2014. I haven’t run any calculations over the last month, as it’s not something I constantly look at.

    The 3.5% is current yield on the portfolio, not total return.

    Cheers!

  101. Jason,
    Very nice month in terms of passive income. I am happy to see that we share some of the same names for the month. I would love to add more T, BNS, and BAX this month. I ended up pulling the trigger on MSFT and VFC today after the recent dips they had. Keep up the great work and I look forward to seeing your updates.

  102. I love how you are detailing your passive income from dividend stocks. I am seeing another potential report coming to my own blog. Like Steve above, I just started publishing a monthly report on my site as well that details my income, spending, and net worth.

    All of my equity holdings are in a pre-tax account. So currently I am only reporting the month over month account value change. But when I throw some extra money in my after-tax account, I think I might follow your lead with a separate report (maybe quarterly) to detail passive income.

    The wifey and I were just talking last night that we need to start focusing on creating more passive income. The plan is to pick up another rental property hopefully during the second half of this year. Maybe put some money in a P2P lending account. And at some point I have it on my to do list to work on some monetization for my blog (but not until March). I promised myself to wait 6-months so I could focus on content and connecting with people, and getting in the swing of things. Did not want to burn myself out and flame out like a lot of bloggers do.

    I am in this for the long game.

    Looking forward to see you hit your goal of $7,200 in dividend income this year. You can do it!

    Cheers!

  103. Thank you for the quick response! Yes, I think yield on cost is what I was curious about, but the annualized total return also shows how well your portfolio has done and how much growth you have achieved. It is quite impressive! And it looks like you are off to a good start for 2015. Thanks!

  104. DM,

    Those seem like solid buys. Not a huge fan of tech, but MSFT is a lot more attractive after the drop. Nice job there with VFC a well. A really fantastic company.

    Appreciate you stopping by. Keep up the good work with those low expenses. πŸ™‚

    Take care.

  105. Gen Y,

    Sounds like a good plan over there. It’s definitely easy to get burned out on blogging. I’m almost surprised myself that not only have I made it this long, but that I’m also still writing so much. But I really enjoy it. πŸ™‚

    Best of luck with growing the passive income. A lot of good methods out there, including rental properties. All really depends on what works for you and your personality/goals.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Best regards.

  106. Adam,

    Glad you enjoy them. These are really my favorite posts. They’re the “meat and potatoes” of what we talk about and what we’re doing. And they also serve as the proof in the pudding that this works. πŸ™‚

    Hope your year is off to an even better start.

    Appreciate the support.

    Best wishes!

  107. Your dividend income is phenomenal! And your monthly dividend reports are always my favorite posts of yours (along with anything that starts with “Recent Buy”). Here’s hoping we all crush our dividend goals this year! My first year ended with me taking in more than $1800 in dividend income (I had a lot of cash sitting around). Unfortunately, going forward, it’s all paycheck money and my paycheck ain’t that big. That’s not stopping me from setting a $5000 goal for myself. I’ve got to aim high if I want to retire within the next 6 years, right?

  108. Congrats on a solid January, Jason. I can especially relate to comparing dividend income to jobs in the past. It’s so inspiring seeing how far you’ve come since then. I had a low total of dividends in the month myself, but it still equals a bad night serving tables. It’ll only go up from here, maybe a mediocre night next quarter πŸ™‚ Keep at it man, you’re progress is amazing to watch!

  109. Congratulations on a great start to you Dividend-income goals for the year. Looks like you’re in the right track once again. As always, I believe your goal is great because dividends are far more reliable than waiting on capital gains (can we even compare the two?!). Meaning, we cant always count on a company’s stock price to going up. However, a company that’s been paying dividends for decades is something more guaranteed. I believe that can give any investor peace of mind. Like you, I also love dividend stocks. Keep up the good work.

  110. Jason – you are wise beyond your physical age! “Life is less what happens to us and more how we respond. :)” – very well put!

    Regarding being fortunate to be born here – spot on, as someone who grew up in communist Russia, I can fully attest!

    Thank you for your tireless efforts and for motivating legions of your followers! You are a good man!
    Alex

  111. Joey,

    Congrats on passing $1,800! That’s fantastic. You averaged $150 per month and you just got started. That’s already probably covering a nice chunk of your expenses. πŸ™‚

    $5,000 is a big jump, so I’m sure you’ve done the math. That’ll probably require putting away at least $80,000 this year in investments at a 4% average yield. I wish you the best of luck. Big things come from small beginnings, as these reports show.

    Keep it up!

    Best regards.

  112. SWAN,

    Thanks so much. I’m certainly pleased with how this year is starting off. It’s a big move in the right direction. πŸ™‚

    Looks like you’re off to a great start in 2015 as well. Hope you nail that goal and even hit $3k!

    Cheers.

  113. Ryan,

    I know exactly how you feel there. I remember waiting tables in high school and my early college days. There were some days I’d only walk out with like $15. Life has come a long way since then for both of us. πŸ™‚

    Appreciate all the support. Looking forward to seeing us both progress in big ways this year!

    Best wishes.

  114. Mabel,

    Exactly. I’m purposely relying on dividend income to fund my early retirement/financial independence because they’re so much more reliable than selling off assets and relying on capital gains. The 4% SWR is generally safe, but I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of the research. Not only that, but not worrying about the stock market’s volatility is peace of mind. And I’m not quite sure you can put a price on that. πŸ™‚

    Appreciate the support!

    Best wishes.

  115. Happy,

    Thank you! πŸ™‚

    We’ll see how it goes, but I’m excited to see what the updates look like. Just hoping they remain inspirational, especially to those just starting out.

    Thanks for dropping by.

    Take care!

  116. There wasn’t much math done. Though I’ve been tracking my progress since the beginning. I put in a lot of money over the past year that I had “lying around”. As I’ve said, that is not happening this year. But that money came into my portfolio over time rather than right in the beginning, and the whole total hasn’t really had any time to make a significant impact (just the way ex-dates work, really). In other words, the amount of money I’ve generated in dividends is from a much smaller amount of money than the total amount I’ve put in. My new goal now controls for the fact that ALL of that money will be generating dividends.

    I measure my progress in quarters starting on the 14th of January, April, July, and October (why the 4th? Because that was the date of my first dividend, and I am a cheater). So far since 1/15 of this year, I’ve made $109. Compare that to the exact same time period of 2014 in which I made a mere $24. So time will tell whether it’s a realistic goal for me, but it’s a goal that I feel can be doable and that I am excited to work towards, even if I don’t make it.

    I just have to not buy any more ARCP’s and SDRL’s.

  117. Hi DM,

    I know you just added to NOV- what are your thoughts on OKE right now? How would you compare OKE and NOV at this time?

    Also, I got dividends in January AND February for the first time this year πŸ™‚ January was ~$5 and February ~$14 so far…I know it’s next to nothing, but we have to start from somewhere, right? In 2013 I made ~$117 in dividends and in 2014 when I started following you and learning about DGI, I made ~$386…I’m shooting for $1,000 for 2015!

    Thanks for sharing all that you do!

  118. Tabula,

    OKE and NOV are very different businesses, so it’s tough to really compare the two. I think that NOV is a better long-term value at $53 than OKE is at $47, though probably not by a wide margin. I doubt you’d go wrong with buying either of them right now. OKE offers a higher yield, but is, in my view, a higher-risk stock.

    Congrats on the growth there in your dividend income! Moving from $386 to $1,000 would be a big step in the right direction. And that’s very, very realistic. I wish you much luck with that! πŸ™‚

    Thanks for the support and kind words. I’m incredibly fortunate to be in a position to inspire people to change their lives for the better.

    Best wishes.

  119. DM – big fan of your site! I haven’t been able to run your portfolio calcs, but I would love to know if you can post whether you are beating the S&P500 index total returns. Either way, good to understand the comparison, and obviously the risk/reward is different with the S&P500.

  120. I too love these posts, not just to see your progress from basically zero to several hundreds of dollars, but also to hear fellow readers chime in with their progress.

    So uplifting to hear about people taking action and striving to become financially independent.

    I’m not really tracking my own investments, but I think I might of had $4-500 in dividends last year, with a lot of cash sitting on the sidelines (I know, you don’t have to tell me how terrible that is). Still awesome to see that small snowball start growing.

  121. Vivacious,

    I track my portfolio performance in terms of total returns privately. And that’s really just for purposes of making sure that I’m not way out of line. But beating or not beating the S&P 500 doesn’t matter to my goals, nor will beating it somehow help me with achieving financial independence by 40:

    https://www.dividendmantra.com/2013/12/why-i-dont-compare-my-portfolios/

    I find it weird/interesting/puzzling that so many people constantly compare themselves to a benchmark or to others. And why one would compare a small, concentrated portfolio that’s designed to build growing income to an index of 500 of the largest companies that’s designed for none of that makes no sense.

    I’ve lately been answering this question (my total performance relative to the market), but I’m actually going to stop doing so. Those explicitly interested in that seem to stop by the blog once and then disappear, and thus probably don’t really understand what this journey is all about.

    Edit to add: I’ve beaten the S&P 500 index by a slight margin from mid-2010 until the end of 2014. But that’s a pretty short period of time to compare and, like I mentioned, it wouldn’t matter anyway. Different risks, different goals, different everything. If I had trailed I’d still be just as far along to financial independence.

    Cheers!

  122. Sundeep,

    I agree 100%. For me, the value in this journey is less about my own progress, and more about inspiring others to change and seeing that change occur. They say it feels far better to give than to receive, and I see this in my own life. πŸ™‚

    $500 is the start of something wonderful. That’s more than I earned my first year at it, and not far behind my first full year of aggressive investing back in 2011. Keep at it!

    Thanks for dropping by.

    Best regards.

  123. Love the updates, thanks for doing then as they are a great inspirations to those of us just starting out. Your blog is one of the reasons i got into dividend investing last year so i’m excited to see money coming in this year.

  124. Gareth,

    It’s been an amazing journey. I’m so grateful that I’m in a position to share it and inspire with it. πŸ™‚

    Thanks for dropping by!

    Best regards.

  125. Great year start!
    I wrote here a few months ago, maybe a 12 month moving average would give good overview about your monthly income.
    Anyway, keep going!

  126. CG,

    I’m happy to share! πŸ™‚

    Glad you made a change there for the better. There are a lot of ways to build passive income and achieve financial independence, but this seems to be one of the most robust ways to do it. And I’d like to think it’s pretty fun. Watching the passive income grow and your freedom grow with it is an amazing transformation.

    Keep it up!

    Best regards.

  127. Nuno,

    A 12-month moving average is good, but I like to record actual and current income against actual and current expenses. Gives an extremely accurate view on exactly how close financial independence is. It’s very present, whereas the moving average is looking at past data.

    That said, plotting this data in a chart gives you your averages and you can see the goal becoming more realistic every day.

    Cheers!

  128. Have you ever considered writing about something else? Like starting a Fitness Mantra blog? Or Cooking Mantra? I’m not saying to end Dividend Mantra (absolutely not!!!!!) but just to branch out into something else and monetize your other hobbies and interests. I’m planning to do that myself with niche sites. I created an anonymous blog in regards to an industry I’m leaving and I plan to create a niche site about the career I’m entering. A niche site about fitness would be quite the “healthy” stream of passive income for you!

  129. Jason, love to see that you started posting the chart with your dividend income per month. Please post it every month as that would be very motivational for others.
    Can you refresh my memory? What is your annual dividend income goal? Meaning after what amount you retire 100%?

  130. The month was great too, even if less than you (jealous! haha j/k). It isn’t the highest tier biggest month but is in the mid tier one (payments aren’t uniform obviously, since I have quarterly and monthly payers stocks).
    January dividend paid is +30.76% comparing to 2014. Big change since I have been able to deploy in January when the TSX was hammered yet. I will deploy again during the tax loss season.
    Keep it up!

  131. Joey,

    It’s funny that you mention that. I was just talking to Claudia earlier today about writing about some different things at some point. There will be a point when I’ll have said everything I can say. It’s possible that I may even turn this into a travel blog a few years down the road, showing what it’s like to travel the world and live off of dividend income. I have a lot of ideas, but limited time.

    Unfortunately, there’s no way I could take on any more projects right now, though. I write between 40 and 50 articles per month right now. So I’m operating at about 110%. At some point, I’ll probably have to slow that down a bit, but I’m enjoying it right now.

    I’ve heard there’s some good money in niche sites if you know what you’re doing. But I honestly don’t have the time. And I probably lack the interest. I can only tackle something if I’m in it all the way.

    Cheers!

  132. Martin,

    You can also see a chart based on annual dividend income over at my ‘Dividend Income’ page. Like stairs reaching higher and higher. πŸ™‚

    My long-term income goal is $18,000 per year. At that point, I’ll likely be covering 100% of my expenses or I’ll be close enough to where I don’t really have to worry about working much anymore. As of right now, I think I’m about six months to a year ahead of pace.

    Have a great weekend!

    Best regards.

  133. farcodev,

    Great job over there. That’s a big YOY jump. Congrats! πŸ™‚

    I may be slowed down myself during tax time. First world problems.

    Have a great weekend. Thanks for dropping in.

    Best regards.

  134. Hi dividend mantra

    Its impossible to control extraordinary expenses, budgets are created to change/modify, in my case i will have extraordinary expenses in february, but our path is clear, in long term vision it won’t affect us

    Best regards

  135. finanasmania,

    We all have those extraordinary expenses come up from time to time, and probably more often than we’d like. I had one such expense myself this past month in the form of a laptop that crashed on me. Such is life. As long as you’ve got your base expenses down to a very reasonable figure, those extraordinary expenses won’t kill the budget. πŸ™‚

    Cheers!

  136. Ok, I look at moving average to “see” the trend in my income and expenses.
    But, again, each one has his own way to look at dat.
    Cheers

  137. This is my first post I have been following you since dec 2014. And I have learned more by following your journey and the comments by the various bloggers , then I have in reading investing for dummies! Lol! I finally to the plunge and purchased my 2 stocks starting my portfolio with NOV (20shares) & T (25 shares) i am nervous and excited at the same time. I also would like your input on my CVTRX and ABALX should I sell one or both of them? I have FUSEX from fidelity and Vanguard 2045 balanced fund. And I am 45 yrs old. CVTRX ($24,000) drip ABALX ($19,000)drip both were started in 2006 with automatic deposits of $100 per month for both accounts

  138. Fon,

    Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment! πŸ™‚

    Glad you found the blog and have found some inspiration here. I do my best to show what the journey to financial independence looks like and how dividend growth stocks fit into that journey.

    I don’t know those funds very well, but I can only say that I don’t see a reason to pay big expenses to a fund to buy stocks that I can very well buy myself. If I were to ever own any funds, it’d likely be a low-cost S&P 500 index fund or a total market fund. Maybe an international total market fund as well. That’d be it. I don’t see anything, based on a quick look, that shows that CVTRX and ABALX are somehow great holdings. High fees and low yields leaves very little interest. I can say that you’ll be losing some exposure to fixed income there, so that’s something to consider.

    Best of luck as you move forward!

    Cheers.

  139. Hi Friend!!!

    Congratulations!! Your story is really inspiring!!

    I have been following you and I am in my 3rd year of stock marked. I do as you do , collect good and profitable companies and my dividend income is increasing month by month.

    I am in Brazil, we don’t have a huge market as you have in US, but still, possible to develop a passive income with dividends.

    For us, small investors, is the only way.

    Hope you get to your freedom sooner that you planned!!

    Cheers

    Gilberto

  140. Gilberto,

    Thanks so much for the kind words and support. Much appreciated! πŸ™‚

    Keep up the great work down there in Brazil. Freedom is out there awaiting both of us. And I hope we both get there sooner than planned.

    Best wishes!

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