I received $82.04 in taxable May 2018 dividend income.

This is up from $65.36 in May 2017, but is especially exciting after a restructuring toward more solid (in my opinion) companies with lower yields and better long-term growth prospects.

On top of that, I have slowly begun resuming contributions after a slow start to 2018. I still have yet to max out my Roth IRA, but am getting closer, and after that I will be able to accelerate my taxable contributions.

This last month has also involved some major changes in my financial picture. The summary is that I am newly (and happily!) engaged, my fiancee’s car needed replacement, and we are strategically combining our financial forces now. More on that in a separate post!

May 2018 Purchases

1 share of Hormel (HRL) @ $35.75/share; 1 share of Cisco (CSCO) @ $45.36 (Taxable Account)

Two small buys into lower-priced dividend growers. This is where my dividend income went.

1 share of Accenture (ACN) @ $150.86/share (Taxable Account)

This is one of my holdings I want to eventually have in my top 10-15. I feel good about its ability to work with almost every industry. I’ll keep adding a few more shares as I can.

6 shares of Medtronic (MDT) @ $79.22/share (Taxable Account)

I had bought one share in March as a bookmark to invest more later. Dividend growth since 1978 and a payout ratio of 35.9% – this is another company I will keep adding shares to.

1 share of McDonald’s (MCD) @ $160.68/share (Taxable Account)

When I think of companies that will be around when I retire and until I die, I think of McDonald’s. This purchase is acting as a bookmark for many more purchases in the future and honestly, it’s about time I got into McDonald’s.

2 shares of Eastman Chemical (EMN) @ $102.08/share (Taxable Account)

EMN has been one of my steady performers. It’s has a short, but bright dividend growth history, and a payout ratio of about 26%. Happy to bolster this holding! 

6 shares of VTI @ $140.01/share; 11 shares of VXUS @ $55.83/share (Roth IRA)

I continued to add low-fee, broad market ETFs in my Roth IRA account via VTI/VXUS. I love dividend growth investing, but VTI/VXUS gives me exposure to good companies that don’t necessarily pay or increase dividends (like Amazon and Google). I’ll sleep soundly knowing that these funds are automatically readjusted for me as times change.

May 2018 Dividend Growth

May’s dividend growth was dominated by ABBV’s dividend hike. In about one year, my yield on cost (YOC) on ABBV has increased from 4.0% to 6.0%, thanks to ABBV’s two consecutive, huge dividend increases in the last two quarters.

My dividend increases in May totaled up to $23.19 in additional annual income, which would have required $987 of additional investments at my current portfolio yield of 2.35%.

May 2018 Taxable Income

 

Head on over to my portfolio page if you’d like to see what companies pay me in other months!