Dividend Update - September 2018

Dividend Update - September 2018

It's the end of one month and the beginning of another so it's time for my favorite update: my dividend update.  These dividend updates reflect all dividends that I receive through my investing pursuits. I hope they 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 open up all sorts of possibilities. You can check my dividend income or progress pages to see what dedication to an investment plan can give you.

Boom!  September saw a huge uptick in dividends.  That's fairly normal since the majority of my positions pay out in the end of quarter month and there was a milestone crossed as well.  My FI Portfolio produced...drumroll...$1,033.15 for the month!  That's my first comma month for that portfolio!  My FolioFirst Portfolio also chipped in another $10.46.  My Roth IRA got back in on the action too with $52.22 of dividends for the month.  Across all 3 accounts I received a total of $1,095.83 during September.

FI Portfolio

As I mentioned above my FI Portfolio produced $1,033.15 in dividends last month.  Compared to June that's a solid 5.0% increase.  However, compared to September of last year the increase was a whopping 14.3%.  The growth was fueled primarily from dividend growth and some select dividend reinvestment although the purchases I made with my dividend stockpile helped out too.

What I think really shows the power of dividend growth investing is that the YTD, through September, totals for 2018 is about $160 higher than for 2017.  That's a healthy 9.7% bump and has mostly been due to dividend growth rather than new purchases.

Roth IRA Portfolio

As per usual my Roth IRA skips the mid quarter month; however, it came roaring back during September.  Compared to June 2018 the quarterly comparison showed a solid 15.4% increase.  Looking back at September 2018 the year over year change is a whopping 26.2%.  And that's all from dividend increases and reinvestment.  I reinvest all dividends in my Roth IRA at this time.  

Dividend Raises During the Month

The pay raises just keep on coming.  September saw another 4 dividends being raised up among my FI Portfolio positions.  You mean a company I own a piece of, albeit tiny, wants to pay out more of their profits to me just because I own part of the company?  Sign me up!  

Combined those 4 companies boosted my forward 12-month dividends by $60.42.  Through the end of September I've had 47 announced raises from 42 of the companies that I own combining to increase my forward 12-month dividends by $450.77.

What's really amazing is that organic dividend growth this year has already surpassed 2017's total of $267.57 by nearly 70%.  

Looking Forward

Dividend increases and reinvestment helped to bump the forward dividends higher during September, but what really moved the needle was the 4 different purchases that I made during the month.  I've covered 3 already, but haven't had the time to write up about the 4th.  Combined those 4 purchases pushed my FI Portfolio's forward dividends up by $152.44.  Even better is that the cash to fund the purchases came from prior cash dividends since we're still focusing on getting rid of our non-mortgage debt.

My forward 12-month dividends for my FI Portfolio ended September at $6,682.46 while my FolioFirst forward dividends are at $91.05.  That brings the total taxable account forward 12-month dividends to $6,773.51  My Roth IRA's forward-12 month dividends increased to $395.74.  Across all 3 accounts, assuming no dividend cuts or position size changes, I can expect to receive at least $7,169.25 in dividends over the next year.

Monthly Average

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, as we saw above, and eventually some positions will get dropped, but the long-term trend is what matters.  

The rolling 12-month monthly average for my FI Portfolio is at $507.63 per month which is a solid $34 above 2017's monthly average of $473.37.  I also officially cross the $500 month mark which means over $6,000 of dividends received over the TTM!

Monthly Comparison of Dividends Received From FI Portfolio

Dividends Received Breakdown

Dividends Received Breakdown September 2018

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

How did you do in September for dividends?  Cross any milestones or personal bests?

Let me know in the comments below!