I received $525.88 in taxable dividend income for March 2021. VTI is my heavy hitter, but I also had 22 other payers this month. My third month of each quarter is always my best, but my income was 24% higher than the same time last year. I got some nice increases from BlackRock and Home depot, but also saw some of my recent contributions pulling their weight.
| ticker | total_payout_2021 | total_payout_2020 |
|---|---|---|
| VTI | $319.18 | $258.86 |
| MCD | $19.35 | $16.25 |
| BLK | $16.52 | $0.00 |
| UNH | $14.15 | $11.88 |
| NEE | $13.86 | $0.00 |
| TRV | $12.75 | $10.66 |
| MSFT | $12.32 | $11.22 |
| SBUX | $11.70 | $0.00 |
| MMM | $10.36 | $10.29 |
| RTX | $9.97 | $0.00 |
| AVY | $9.92 | $9.28 |
| HD | $9.90 | $7.50 |
| MGA | $9.46 | $8.80 |
| AWR | $7.37 | $2.44 |
| SO | $7.04 | $6.82 |
| V | $6.72 | $6.30 |
| IBM | $6.52 | $6.48 |
| NOC | $5.80 | $5.28 |
| PFE | $5.07 | $4.94 |
| JNJ | $5.05 | $4.75 |
| ADM | $4.81 | $4.68 |
| EMR | $4.54 | $4.50 |
| NDSN | $3.51 | $2.66 |
| BA | $0.00 | $14.39 |
| WFC | $0.00 | $9.69 |
| PFG | $0.00 | $5.04 |
| FLO | $0.00 | $0.76 |
| $525.88 | $423.47 |
I’m suprised to see how long this list has gotten. WFC, PFG, and FLO are all long-gone from my portfolio, and were mostly reallocated into BLK last summer. This month also marked the anniversary of Boeing’s cut. I held onto my BA shares because of their moat, but it was been a rough ride lately.
On the plus side, BLK and NEE are two new portfolio arrivals since this time last year, and landed in two of the top four payment slots this month (aside from VTI).
Dividend Growth
| percent_increase | annual_increase_dollars | |
|---|---|---|
| ADM | 2.78% | $0.52 |
| BLK | 13.77% | $5.52 |
| HD | 10.00% | $3.00 |
| MGA | 7.50% | $2.64 |
| MMM | 0.68% | $0.28 |
| PFE | 2.63% | $0.52 |
| VTI | 1.28% | $15.57 |
| Total | $28.05 |
My dividend growth has been fairly weak this year, but this month had a few brighter spots. BLK and HD both had double-digit dividend growth. VTI’s three-year rolling average increased 1.28% this quarter, which I liked. I also have a few “growers” that aren’t growing as fast as they have in the past. This includes PFE and MMM this month, but I can’t complain after seeing what BA has been through last year.
Not included on my list of raises is NEE. They raised their dividend 10%, but they are my newest holding, and this is my first payment I’ve received from them.
At a 1.57% average portfolio yield, I’d have to invest $1,787 to generate this much additional income!
Forward Dividend Income
| Year: 2019 | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dividend_increases | $7.00 | $3.10 | $36.71 | $4.55 | $5.99 | $22.83 | $3.01 | $5.04 | $13.20 | $6.44 | $2.61 | $29.35 | $139.83 |
| dividend_reinvestments | $2.47 | $-12.99 | $3.47 | $2.02 | $2.05 | $4.22 | $1.80 | $1.60 | $6.79 | $1.78 | $1.78 | $9.57 | $24.56 |
| new_contributions | $-0.30 | $6.03 | $0.02 | $1.06 | $0.03 | $-0.51 | $188.35 | $276.00 | $147.06 | $93.04 | $146.50 | $32.79 | $890.06 |
| Total | $9.17 | $-3.86 | $40.20 | $7.63 | $8.07 | $26.54 | $193.16 | $282.64 | $167.05 | $101.26 | $150.89 | $71.71 | $1,054.46 |
| Year: 2020 | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dividend_increases | $1.44 | $8.76 | $18.54 | $-52.15 | $-22.73 | $31.08 | $3.81 | $0.00 | $19.47 | $4.96 | $20.70 | $26.81 | $60.69 |
| dividend_reinvestments | $1.88 | $1.55 | $10.38 | $9.07 | $1.78 | $7.85 | $-3.23 | $2.50 | $8.02 | $1.57 | $2.07 | $9.03 | $52.47 |
| new_contributions | $2.24 | $17.81 | $37.11 | $-1.16 | $9.41 | $6.34 | $-30.23 | $11.93 | $-0.25 | $0.19 | $19.35 | $51.72 | $124.48 |
| Total | $5.56 | $28.12 | $66.03 | $-44.24 | $-11.54 | $45.27 | $-29.65 | $14.43 | $27.24 | $6.72 | $42.12 | $87.56 | $237.62 |
| Year: 2021 | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dividend_increases | $1.08 | $9.35 | $28.05 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $38.48 |
| dividend_reinvestments | $1.61 | $1.62 | $8.89 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $12.12 |
| new_contributions | $68.26 | $60.80 | $67.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $196.06 |
| Total | $70.95 | $71.77 | $103.94 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $246.66 |
2021 continues to be one of my best years for new contributions. I thought I’d surpass my forward income boost in the first four months of 2021, but I managed to actually do it in three months. This may be a sign of the snowball rolling – crossing my fingers! More accurately, I’m just fortunate to put more contributions into investments this year. Hoping to keep the momentum!
Purchases – BLK, HD, MCD, MDT, NEE, SBUX, UNH, V, VTI
March brought lots of new shares to my portfolio. I’m working on my 2021 portfolio goals, which includes strengthening the top of my portfolio. Let’s see how I did!
Purchased 1.0 shares of BlackRock (BLK) @ $679.25/share
Last summer, I sold a few poor performers and put the proceeds into BLK. This has really worked out well, and I hope to keep BLK for a long time as exposure to the finance sector.
Purchased 1.01 shares of Home Depot (HD) @ $248.70/share
Lowe’s has held one of the top spots in my portfolio for a long time, and Home Depot has held a much smaller spot. It’s hard to choose one over the other, and both have been good choices. I figured it was time to start building HD a bit.
Purchased 1.0 shares of McDonald’s (MCD) @ $207.51/share
When it comes to businesses that should be around a long time, McDonald’s has to be at the top of the list. I’ve actually started liking the food a lot more than I ever used to as well.
Purchased 1.0 shares of NextEra Energy (NEE) @ $83.06/share
My NEE market value is at $2,800, and I’d like to get it above $3,000.
Purchased 2.0 shares of Medtronic (MDT) @ $118.05/share
Medical devices and stellar dividend growth history – gotta like MDT!
Purchased 3.0 shares of Starbucks (SBUX) @ $106.75/share
It’s been almost two years since I last bought a share of Starbucks. Time to give it a little more attention.
Purchased 0.52 shares of United Health (UNH) @ $326.26/share
Another month of funneling dividend reinvestments into UNH for a few fractions of a share.
Purchased 1.0 shares of Visa (V) @ $216.21/share
Last month, I added to my MSFT and AAPL shares. This month, I added to Visa near the very top of my portfolio.
Purchased 11.56 shares of Vanguard Total Stock Index Fund (VTI) @ $198.50/share
One of my portfolio goals for 2021 was to contribute half of new money to VTI, and I’m slightly ahead of 50% in that department. VTI’s share price has climbed steadily this year and I love seeing this holding become more and more of a powerhouse. I also picked up 1.56 shares in reinvestment.