Dividend Update - March 2013

Wow, I can't believe that March has come and gone.  Time just keeps going faster it seems, which is all the more reason to reach FI as early as possible.  It's time for another installment of my favorite monthly update; the Dividend Update.  March set a new monthly record for dividend income.  It's great to see the dividends continue to add up and compound.  This was a 581% increase over March 2012, of course that's off a much smaller base to compare to.  I hadn't really been able to start investing really heavy in dividend growth stocks since I needed to pay off some debt.

Much of my portfolio pays out during the March, June, September, December schedule, so I can always expect them to be great months for dividends.  March was right on track on that front.  In my FI portfolio I received a total of $352.33 in dividends and my Roth IRA brought another $32.00.  I only made one purchase in March where I picked up 50 shares of Lorillard, which will add another $110 in annual dividends before any increases or reinvestment.  With the new purchase and reinvested dividends, my FI portfolio forward dividends sit at $2,178.30 and in my Roth they are at $214.95.  The FI portfolio forward dividends are now 62.24% of the way towards my goal of $3,500 by the end of 2013.

FI Portfolio - Dividend Income
Company Dividend Amount DRIP Shares
Waste Management (WM) $3.85 N/A
Wells Fargo (WFC) $3.35 0.096
Conoco Phillips (COP) $11.14 0.194
Bank of America (BAC) $1.61 0.126
McDonald's (MCD) $79.53 0.806
Intel (INTC) $33.25 1.608
Halliburton (HAL) $70.73 N/A
Phillips 66 (PSX) $2.52 0.041
Emerson Electric (EMR) $14.58 0.258
Walgreen's (WAG) $18.64 0.465
Harris (HRS) $30.05 0.675
Cummins (CMI) $11.56 0.103
Target (TGT) $36.00 0.542
Aflac (AFL) $15.75 0.322
Centerpoint Energy (CNP) $19.77 0.834
March Total $352.33
2013 Total $437.10

Roth IRA - Dividend Income
Company Dividend Amount DRIP Shares
Wells Fargo (WFC) $6.42 0.185
Norfolk Southern (NSC) $25.58 0.342
March Total $32.00
2013 Total $47.91

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

Comments

  1. Nice!

    March was a pretty good month for me too dividend wise.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MyFIJ,

      I like when Mar, Jun, Sept, and Dec roll around because I rack up most of my dividends then so I get to see more validation of the process. I'd like to get a little bit more diversification on the payments though, but I'm not settling for that if there's better value elsewhere.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  2. Nice! Obviously a fantastic increase over the prior year! It will be nice for you in the next couple of years to look back at your update posts like this and see how your have really progressed from the start.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. W2R,

      I wish I could keep this kind of increase up, but I won't be seeing this much increase normally. I had very little dividend income then so the % looks awesome, but the dollar amount was still pretty hefty.

      I'm looking forward to being another year or two down the line to see how far I've come. It's a validation of the fact that this is a solid strategy.

      I still have a lot of work to do to reach my goal for this year though.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  3. Nice. I would guess you achieve your $3,500 goal at this rate. Have you found that having a dividend income goal changes how you invest? By that I mean you buy higher yielding stocks rather than the one with better value? I know I've falling into that trap a bit from time to time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Headed Home,

      I've been tempted to try and juice the yield, but so far so good with not giving in. In the end combining value and dividend growth investing should be a winning strategy. I don't have that many that are high yielders although I did recently pick up some LO and VOD that will help to speed along the DG process.

      I should hit my goal, although if the market doesn't ever really give us a solid pullback I'll probably come up short because I just wouldn't have made that many purchases. I'll still be receiving some income from that capital though through option premium.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  4. You are doing great. A lot of us have the majority of our payers on the M/J/S/D schedule. I'm not too worried about that yet as I'm far from FI. Keep on compounding those dividends!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AAI,

      Yeah, unfortunately it just happens that way. I know I won't have it completely diversified by the time I reach FI, but a little bit would be nice. Even with it being heavily stacked on the M/J/S/D schedule it won't be too much of an issue but will just require some budgeting. I more want it for reinvestment purposes because since I currently have the DRIP on for most of my stocks it'd be nice to have some reinvestment at other times because it's not like the market picks that schedule to have it's dips.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  5. Pursuit,

    Great month! That's a fantastic month of dividends for you. March is always a nice way to start the year off, as a lot of the companies that us DG investors are invested in pay out their first lot in March. Good stuff!

    Great job growing the blog. Glad to see things off and running for you. The more of us out there providing inspiration, the better!

    Best wishes!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DM,

      It was a great month, though I'm sure well behind the level you hit. I've been annoyed at the lack of real value, although I'm very close to making a few purchases.

      I hope that this blog can help inspire and motivate others because that gives me more motivation to keep coming up with new ideas.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  6. Very nice dividend portfolio. I hit $375 for March with just a single stock (AGNC). A lot of folks mention that the dividend of $5/shr/yr isn't sustainable, but I will sit on a couple hundred shares and trade the other 100-150 shares at opportunistic times to get not only the dividend, but a little bump in addition to the portfolio.
    I'm not taking advantage of DRIP, but I'm seriously considering doing just that when I approach $1,000/yr or more in dividends.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chris,

      That's a good chunk from just one stock! I'm the opposite though with the DRIP, once it becomes a much more significant amount I'm probably going to turn off the DRIP for most positions and selectively reinvest, but to each their own.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  7. Very interesting income statistics. Keep up the good investing ideas you will achieve your goal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Walt,

      Thanks I just hope to continue building up the dividend income. The biggest thing is to stay focused towards the goal. My current job is wearing on me and it keeps me motivated to save and invest a large portion of my income.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  8. Nice monthly dividend total! I had to chuckle at the 581% increase; I also had (just barely) a triple-digit percent year-over-year increase in March, but I know that's going to be very rare in the future. However, I'll gladly settle for double-digit percent increases. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DGM,

      Yeah, if only I could continue to repeat that kind of increase. Now that my portfolio is getting to a nice size, I'll gladly take double digit increases, which should be pretty easily attainable through additional contributions and dividend increases. Keep up the good work.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete

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