Dividend Update - May 2014


May was a solid month for dividends and pretty much steady as she goes.  These dividend updates reflect all dividends that I receive through my investing pursuits and I hope can help inspire you to take control of your own finances and invest to build a passive income stream.  What you use that stream for is up to you, whether it's to fund early retirement, just provide some FI/FU money, or even to provide for an annual vacation; the key is that it can provide options and opens up all sorts of possibilities.  You can check my dividend income or progress page to see what dedication to an investment plan can give you.  I was able to set a personal best in dividends received during March which is great motivation and helps to keep me on track.

I received a total of $244.51 in dividends in my FI portfolio in May and have received a total of $1,387.81 through the first five months of 2014 and over 50% of the dividends I received in all of 2013.  I'm 30.84% of the way towards my goal of $4,500 in dividends received for the year so I'm off pace to hit my goal as of now but I think with additional investment and dividend increases I should be able to get close.  With half the year almost done it'll depend on whether I can get two dividend payments from each additional purchase.  The Roth IRA continues to see very little growth as I can't make new contributions due to being above the income threshold but I'm not too worried about that.  The main thing is to make sure the taxable account continues to increase month after month.  I didn't receive any dividends in my Roth IRA during May so I'm still at $66.51 for the year.  For my FI portfolio, May saw a 8.9% increase over February 2014 and a great 182.7% increase over May 2013.  Step by step, month after month is the name of the game with dividend growth investing.

I wasn't very active in the markets during May as the markets didn't present a lot of opportunities and I was quite busy dealing with my grandfather after his fall.  I did initiate a new position in YUM Brands (YUM) though and I hope to get a chance to add to the position at better valuations.  With the new purchase and dividend increases, my forward 12-month dividends increased to $4,332.63.  My forward dividends are now 86.65% of the way towards my goal of $5,000 by the end of the year.  That's now over $360 per month that I can expect to receive barring further increases or purchases.  It's exciting to see the forward 12-month dividends continue to move higher and higher as they will eventually allow me to reach financial independence and at least contemplate retiring early.  My Roth IRA's forward 12-month dividends ended May at $225.03.  Back in mid-April I turned off automatic dividend reinvestment for all positions in my portfolio to try my hand at putting capital to work at the best value possible.  So reinvestment won't add to dividend growth going forward.

Below is the chart showing the monthly dividend totals for each year that I've been investing as well as the monthly average.  It's not always an increase as some companies have weird payout schedules and eventually some positions will get dropped, but the long-term trend is what matters.  It's great to see that my 2014 average through the May is at $277.56 and well above 2013's monthly average of $212.23.  With more contributions/investments and expected dividend increases the gap should widen that much more.


FI Portfolio - Dividend Income
Company Dividend Amount DRIP Shares
Procter & Gamble (PG) $29.87 --
AT&T (T) $9.70 --
Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) $91.75 --
Air Products & Chemicals (APD) $14.14 0.118
Realty Income (O) $10.16 --
HCP Inc. (HCP) $44.23 --
American Realty Capital Properties (ARCP) $16.03 --
General Mills (GIS) $14.46 --
Verizon (VZ) $6.89 --
Starbucks (SBUX) $7.28 --
May Total $244.51
2014 Total $1,387.81


I've updated my Dividend Income page to reflect May's changes.

How did your dividends do in May?  Are you on target to reach any of your dividends goals for 2014?

Comments

  1. PIP,
    Consistency wins the race. Portfolio and progress is looking good here. Hitting the Roth IRA income limit is bittersweet. Sucks you can't contribute anymore, but you know you are making good money with your day job. I've gone in and out of the income limits over time. I hit it when I was single, then when we got married we were below, then went above, and now we're back below again because my wife is not working. I just posted about this subject. Keep a close eye on the income limits because they grow every year and your combined income will change over time.
    -RBD

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RBD,

      Consistency is definitely the name of the game. Yeah there's no real complaints about being above the limit because it means our income is doing very well. We might get back under the limit this year but I need to check our tax situation closer to the end of the year. I think we probably won't fund it until next year before we submit our tax return.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  2. Congrats on the dividend income, PIP. Steady is good and the upward trend continues, which is always great to see.

    Best wishes
    R2R

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. R2R,

      Up and to the right is always good even if it's not as much up as I'd like. Now I need the markets to pullback some to give some better opportunities. I'm sitting on a mountain of cash which I don't really like to do. Maybe it's time to take a look at RE again. I keep going back and forth on that one but I've got plenty saved up for a down-payment or some huge DG purchases. If I put all of my free cash into the markets right now I could add about $1k to my forward dividends which is very tempting.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  3. Congrats on your steady income growth. My May dividends also increased quite a bit compared to May of last year, though nothing close to what you have :) But consistent dividend growth is the key here I guess.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DGJourney,

      Being consistent is the biggest factor in your success, especially on the saving side of the equation since that fuels your investments. I'll stop by and check out your blog soon, it's been crazy busy the last week or so.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  4. PIP - Great month and from some solid companies. Consistent dividend payments is definitely a good thing. By the way, congrats on such a significant year-over-year increase in your FI portfolio. You are absolutely killing it with the 182% year over year growth. Way to go!

    Keep up the great work. Best Wishes! AFFJ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AFFJ,

      I wish I could keep that same growth rate up YoY but I know that's not going to happen. I think I might still see some 100% growth rates next year but that will probably be the end of it. Of course the actual $ increases is what really matters.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  5. Hi PIP, solid month, yet again! Keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dividend Dream,

      It wasn't my best month but it was an improvement from the same month last quarter so I'm happy.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  6. Really like your new position of YUM. Great global brand in emerging markets! May looking solid man. Good work!

    Good Day and Grind On!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A-G,

      I'd like to add more to that YUM position for all the reasons you mentioned. I think it could be a dividend darling for the next 20 years or so. Hoping to get a chance to put my mountain of cash to work.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  7. PIP, these are cool results. Nice to see what stocks paid what. I think I will add a similar table to my reports too. My May was great too, mostly in my ROTH which I do not report. My taxable was a bit low in may as far as dividends, but my options premiums were great! Good job on your side! Congrats to your persistence and success!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Martin,

      I report on my Roth although I probably shouldn't worry about it, especially since it's so small in comparison to my taxable account and I most likely can't contribute to it this year. I'm thinking of getting back in the options game but I'll have to see what kind of opportunities are out there. Glad you like the reports, I really like my month by month comparison graph.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  8. Looking good. I'm thinking about giving YUM some business right now. Best wishes!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CI,

      Well as a shareholder I appreciate that and hope you enjoy!

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  9. Pursuit,

    Another nice, solid month, my friend. And I love the SBUX investment. That's one that has been on my mind lately.

    Keep it up!!

    Best regards.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jason,

      I just wish I had bought more SBUX. We'll get another growth scare or pull back in the markets to give us better opportunities. Now we just have to remain patient and be selective with our purchases.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  10. Thanks for sharing your most recent dividend update. Solid month from solid payers. One question... Are you concern about rising interest rates affecting your REIT plays, HCP, O, ARCP for example?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DivHut,

      It was a solid month but June is going to be great. I'm more concerned about ARCP's ability to weather a rising interest rate environment than O and HCP but that's due to their huge focus on major acquisitions. Higher interest rates will lead to higher debt payments which will make acquisitions less feasible financially.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  11. Congrats on building a nice portfolio! April & May are usually slower months for dividends (at least for me) so it's nice to look back a year and see the increases as you've done.

    Have you considered doing the backdoor Roth contribution if you're over the Roth income limit? This is only worthwhile if you have a Traditional IRA that has 100% post-tax contributions, or you don't have one so you can add $5500 of post-tax contributions to it and then convert to your Roth. Do check before doing it in case the rules have changed this year (I don't believe so but I've not checked).

    Keep on compounding! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dividend Life,

      Yeah the backdoor Roth conversion is exactly what I'd like to do but I have about $16-7k in traditional IRA from a rollover from my previous job. And since I can't convert the full $5500 to a Roth I just don't want to deal with the hassle of it. Plus I know we're in a much higher tax bracket than we'll realistically be in FI/ER. I guess I should probably try to shelter as much money as possible but that early withdrawal penalty takes away the tax advantage. Time to do a bit more tax research to see what some options might be.

      The Jan/Feb schedule are typically slow for me as well. Well compared to the Mar schedule. That chart really helps to keep me on track and makes it very easy to do comparison both for YoY and QoQ.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete

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