I received $614.96 in taxable dividend income for September 2021. This is my new record for monthly dividend income! VTI is doing the heavy lifting, but I also have payouts from some of my favorite individual holdings this month (like MSFT and UNH).
I have been making larger contributions this year, but my portfolio is really starting to carry some of its own weight. My goal has always been to buy $1,000 per month in dividend stocks, and I look forward to the day that my monthly dividends cover that amount. For now, $615 in one month is a substantial chunk of that $1,000.
| ticker | total_payout_2021 | total_payout_2020 |
|---|---|---|
| VTI | $397.14 | $289.71 |
| BLK | $20.65 | $7.26 |
| MCD | $20.64 | $18.75 |
| UNH | $17.40 | $13.75 |
| NEE | $14.63 | $0.00 |
| MSFT | $14.56 | $11.22 |
| TRV | $14.08 | $12.75 |
| AVY | $10.88 | $9.28 |
| RTX | $10.71 | $9.97 |
| MMM | $10.36 | $10.29 |
| HD | $9.92 | $7.50 |
| MGA | $9.46 | $8.80 |
| NDSN | $8.67 | $2.73 |
| AWR | $8.03 | $7.37 |
| V | $8.00 | $6.30 |
| SO | $7.26 | $7.04 |
| IBM | $6.56 | $6.52 |
| NOC | $6.28 | $5.80 |
| JNJ | $5.30 | $5.05 |
| PFE | $5.07 | $4.94 |
| ADM | $4.81 | $4.68 |
| EMR | $4.54 | $4.50 |
| $614.96 | $454.22 |
Dividend Growth
| percent_increase | annual_increase_dollars | |
|---|---|---|
| AWR | 8.96% | $2.64 |
| NDSN | 30.77% | $3.36 |
| VTI | 0.12% | $1.76 |
| Total | $7.76 |
It was a fairly quiet month for dividend increases, but will take them. If I could get 9% increases for life, I would take it. AWR came through with a strong month.
NDSN stole the show for me though with the 31% increase! Nordson was one of the first companies I ever bought. At the time, I picked up four shares with a $0.27 quarterly dividend. I neglected the holding even though it gave me excellent growth. Over the last year, I began adding more to it and look forward to continuing adding to it.
VTI’s rolling three-year average dividend grew by 0.12% this quarter. Almost nothing to talk about.
I would have to invest $521 to generate this much income at my current portfolio yield (1.49%).
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 | $33.05 | $5.09 | $15.20 | $7.76 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $114.40 |
| dividend_reinvestments | $1.61 | $1.62 | $8.89 | $1.64 | $1.95 | $7.14 | $1.21 | $1.83 | $8.37 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $34.26 |
| new_contributions | $68.26 | $60.80 | $67.00 | $61.99 | $56.84 | $101.65 | $42.09 | $75.06 | $54.36 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $588.04 |
| Total | $70.95 | $71.77 | $103.94 | $69.47 | $67.77 | $141.84 | $48.39 | $92.09 | $70.49 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $736.71 |
I’m going to do my best to finish 2021 strong. We are now 75% of the way through, and this is the best I have felt about my five years of investing. My calculations tell me I’m crossing $300/month in average income.
I’m also diverging a bit from my focus on dividends. I do love seeing dividends come in, but I won’t be retiring any time too soon. That gives me the luxury of buying stocks without so much worrying about the yield number. However, I still think dividends are the most fun metric to track.
Another fun observation: I’m getting $50+ per month in dividends purely from passive reinvestments and raises. This is something that builds slowly with time. I wish I started investing earlier in life, but am glad I did when I did.
Purchases – AVY, NEE, LOW, VTI
4.0 shares of Avery Dennison (AVY) @ $218.90/share. Cost Basis: $875.60. Forward Income: $10.88/year
AVY gave me some concern when it didn’t increase its dividend for six consecutive quarters. Since then, they increased twice in four quarters and I was excited to keep adding.
10.0 shares of NextEra Energy (NEE) @ $85.35/share. Cost Basis: $853.50. Forward Income: $15.40/year
My newest holding in my portfolio is now also my 14th largest – ahead of MDT and behind MCD.
0.46 shares of Lowe’s (LOW) @ $207.31/share. Cost Basis: $95.67. Forward Income: $1.48/year
I rounded out a full share of Lowe’s this month via portfolio reinvestments. Time to pick another holding to build up a new share in.
11.77 shares of Vanguard Total Stock Market Index (VTI) @ $229.28/share. Cost Basis: $2,697.48. Forward Income: $33.31/year
Another month has come and gone where over 50% of my contributions went straight to VTI. (Plus DRIP reinvestment).
Looking great Dozer and congrats on your record! I had something similar in my September month albeit around half of your record 🙂
Very nice Mr. Robot!!! The rising tide lifts all ships (or something like that). Glad we have the market to help us grow.
Congrats on your record Dozer. That’s what it is all about my friend. Keep pumping and keep up the great work.
Bert
Thank you Bert! Hoping to keep the momentum into next year.
The totals just keep getting bigger, it’s a wonderful thing to see, Dozer. Congrats on a new record.
Lots of great dividend payers… almost all of them topped $5.
That NEE position is growing nicely. Love seeing BLK and UNH as two of your largest dividends.