I received $137.21 in taxable dividend income for May 2021. To be honest, I feel like I’ve been stuck in the $100 range for a long time, and the monthly dividend chart shows that. My dividends in the 1st and 2nd month of the quarter have grown slowly in the last three years. This is partly due to my emphasis on adding VTI, and also my loss of income from Boeing and Disney last year.
I’m ecstatic to see $137 for May. I’ve added major contributions to my TXN, PG, ACN, and HRL holdings, and each of those have given me great increases in the last year.
| ticker | total_payout_2021 | total_payout_2020 |
|---|---|---|
| TXN | $23.46 | $15.30 |
| ABBV | $19.50 | $17.70 |
| PG | $18.27 | $6.33 |
| ACN | $14.08 | $7.35 |
| SBUX | $13.50 | $10.66 |
| LOW | $11.40 | $10.35 |
| VZ | $10.67 | $10.46 |
| HRL | $10.54 | $6.10 |
| AAPL | $9.02 | $8.20 |
| HAS | $4.08 | $4.08 |
| CL | $2.70 | $2.64 |
| $137.21 | $99.16 |
Dividend Growth
| percent_increase | annual_increase_dollars | |
|---|---|---|
| AAPL | 7.32% | $2.40 |
| CL | 2.27% | $0.24 |
| PG | 10.03% | $6.34 |
| Total | $8.98 |
A lot of people were disappointed with Apple’s increase this year considering their low yield (0.71%) and their skyrocketing price (quadrupled in the last five years). I get excited about big dividend hikes, but Apple could have announced a 1% hike this year and I’d still be a proud owner.
Colgate-Palmolive is one of my smaller holdings. Its maturity is what first attracted me, but I haven’t added to it since I’ve shifted more into a growth mindset. The 2.27% raise matches the expectations I had.
Last but not least, PG produced an exciting 10% increase. 65 years of dividend increases – I’m glad I bumped PG to one of my top holdings in the last year.
At my 1.51% average portfolio yield, I’d have to invest $595 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 | $5.84 | $8.98 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $53.30 |
| dividend_reinvestments | $1.61 | $1.62 | $8.89 | $1.64 | $1.95 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $15.71 |
| new_contributions | $68.26 | $60.80 | $67.00 | $61.99 | $56.84 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $314.88 |
| Total | $70.95 | $71.77 | $103.94 | $69.47 | $67.77 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $383.90 |
I’ve managed to contribute $4,000 per month to my taxable account each month this year. This is going to go a long way toward a rolling snowball eventually, and I can thank setting some 2021 goals for keeping my motivated.
I mentioned some major plumbing work last month. This month, it’s a full exterior repainting of my house. I have been leaning heavily on my emergency fund. Without that, I’d have to take out some loans. It sucks to set a chunk of cash aside and have it do nothing, but in this case, it’s helping me save ~3-4% of interest.
To keep my contributions up, and also replenish my emergency fund, I’ve been doing a little side hustle. Instead of playing so many video games, I’m doing coding in my free time. I did the learn to code cliche, made a career change, but the side work is a really nice bonus that I didn’t expect.
Purchases – ACN, NEE, RSG, VTI
Keeping with my 2021 goals, I added more to a few of the top positions in my portfolio.
Purchased 0.47 shares of Accenture (ACN) @ $286.17/share
I have been picking a stock to reinvest dividends into until I reach a full share, then shift to another stock until I reach a full share in that one. Last month it was UNH, and now I’ll add to Accenture until I have an extra whole share.
Purchased 1.0 shares of NextEra (NEE) @ $74.99/share
NEE is one of my newer holdings, but I want to build it up a bit more. Luckily I actually have the opportunity to average down on a stock I like.
Purchased 16.0 shares of Republic Services (RSG) @ $110.20/share
I gave RSG a huge boost in my portfolio, where it is now the #3 individual holding I own, above Visa. This is part of my goal to “water the growers” – RSG has treated me very well and I want to proactively give it the best chance I can to deliver down the road.
Purchased 10.0 shares of Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTI) @ $216.59/share
Another 2021 goal was to send at least half my contributions to VTI. I have been slightly exceeding 50% so far this year, and it is really nice to have the peace of mind that I hold a range of companies I normally wouldn’t hold individual shares of. I believe in hive intelligence, and am realizing more and more that this may be a long-term investment style. Maybe I’ll bump my goal to 60% in 2021!
A nice little bump in the dividend income this month, Dozer. You should see more dividend boosts like that with your continued $4K investments each month. That’s the way to grow that portfolio… and the income that comes with it.
How about that 33% dividend raise from LOW recently!? You should see the benefit of that in August. I’d take more raises like that!
I see HAS paid you a dividend in May. HAS hit my radar this month. I’ve been hoping for a dip below $90 (3% yield), but it didn’t quite make it. At $85/share I’d definitely be interested in establishing a position.
Thanks ED! HAS is an interesting company. I originally thought I’d capitalize on their Marvel partnership with all the Avengers movies. The Avengers fever must have already been baked into the price when I bought it. The price has mostly stayed the same since I bought it, and the dividend has actually stayed the same since April 2019.
They are investing into online games which is hard to bet against, so I’m holding (but not adding). I’m curious to hear if you do buy it and I’ll watch for a post if you do!