Dividend Update - December 2019

dividend growth investing | financial independence | freedom | dividends

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.

And just like that 2019 has come and gone and we're on to 2020.  2019 was a great year for our investing and especially our dividends and December was no exception.  

During December my FI Portfolio produced $1,123.66 in dividends with my Folio First portfolio chipping in another $9.99.  My Roth IRA added $95.64 while my Rollover IRA contributing $307.91.  That puts my taxable account dividends at $1,133.65 and the December total at $1,537.20 across all accounts.

Making Money While I Sleep

The power of joining the ownership class is that those companies can work much harder for you than you can.  Think about it.  By myself I have to devote my own time to my regular job in order to make money.  However by buying a stake in a high quality business I now get to leverage my own time that I exchanged for money into companies that are working around the clock to make products or provide services for their customers.  Those companies are working 24/7/365 which means that I make money even when I sleep.

During December the companies I own paid me $49.59 per day or $6.20 per hour assuming 8 hour work days every day of the month.  For the year those numbers are $27.03 per day and $3.38 per hour.




FI Portfolio

As I mentioned above my FI Portfolio produced $1,123.66 in dividends during December which is our 6th ever month over $1k and 2nd month over $1.1k.  Compared to September, December showed a 2.0% increase.

The year over year comparison gives a better idea of the growth with less possibility for fluctuations due to odd payout schedules.  Compared to December 2018 the increase came in at a solid 8.5%.  The YTD total for 2019 came to $7,045.25 or 11.8% higher than 2018's total of $6,299.35.

Roth IRA

My Roth IRA generated $95.64 in dividends for December.  That's a solid 3.4% increase from September.

Compared to December 2018, 2019's total was a whopping 82.2% higher.  Of course, much of that was due to new purchases, but it was still a strong improvement compared to the prior year.  The annual total for 2019 came in at $525.70 which was an excellent 46.1% increase compared to 2018's total of $359.72.

Rollover IRA

In March I mentioned that I would start reporting on my Rollover IRA.  The bulk of those funds are invested in dividend growth companies, although there's a few that aren't, so to give the cleanest picture I will show just the dividend growth investments during my monthly reports.  That being said I'm not too worried about any particular month/quarter of dividends since my current plan is to be a bit more active with these funds than I would in my taxable accounts.  

Companies fall in and out of favor with market participants throughout the year and I want to attempt to capture some of that change in emotion.  If I feel a company is undervalued I'll purchase shares and won't sell until the story changes or the market price hits what I feel is at least 1.3x "fair value".  This is just a little experiment that I wanted to try and if I feel it's too much hassle or that I'm constantly taking 2 steps forward and 1 step back then I'll revert back to my bread and butter buy and hold strategy.

As such the time period comparisons are less important for this account since I want to take a more active approach.  

That being said, my Rollover IRA produced $307.91 in dividends during December which was a 1.2% increase from August.  The year over year comparison looks much better at a 66.1% increase although much of the change was due to new purchases rather than dividend growth.  The YTD comparison for both years has 2019 showing a 58.9% increase compared to 2018.

Dividend Raises During the Month

December was another solid month of dividend increases to round out the year with 4 raises being announced.  Combined the 4 companies in my FI Portfolio boosted my forward 12-month dividends by $10.81.  Throughout 2019 I received 50 increases from Thus far in 2019 I've received 46 increases from 45 of the 54 companies within my FI Portfolio combining to increase my forward 12-month dividends by $327.14.

Looking Forward

My forward 12-month dividends for my FI Portfolio ended November at $7,829.28 while my FolioFirst forward dividends are at $101.25.  That pushes the total taxable account forward 12-month dividends up to $7,930.53.  My Roth IRA's forward-12 month dividends increased to $649.67.  My Rollover IRA's forward 12-month dividends are at $2,363.73.  Across all 4 accounts, assuming no dividend cuts or position size changes, I can expect to receive at least $10,943.93 in dividends over the next year.

Monthly Average

The following chart shows 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 $587.10 per month which is $62.16 or 11.8% above 2018's monthly average of $524.95.
dividend growth investing | dividends | financial independence | freedom

Dividends Received Breakdown

Dividends | Financial Independence | Dividend Growth Investing
Dividends Received Breakdown December 2019
I've updated my Dividend Income page to reflect December's changes.

Did you set a personal best during December?  How did 2019 fair for your dividend totals?

Let me know in the comments below!

Comments

  1. How could I not smile when reading this report JC?? Your dividend income total this month was HUGE. Let's talk about the laundry list of amazing dividend stocks that paid you without lifting a finger. I always love the breakdown of dividends per day and dividends per hour. Its a fun way to put numbers to paper and visualize the cash we receive while sleeping.

    Bert

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bert,

      Thanks! Yeah December, like all end of quarter months, are by far our best. Making $50 per day without having to do anything sure is nice!

      All the best.

      Delete
  2. You have been killing it JC. That is an impressive month and year. I notice that your not dripping all of your positions. Any particular reason why?

    -Jason

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jason,

      I've taken a very mixed approach with regard to DRIP. Most of the DRIPs that are on are positions that I either believe are cheap right now or positions that I really want to build up. Granted the DRIP won't do much, but every little bit helps.

      Delete
  3. Real nice job! Been following your blog for a while and love your portfolio. We share many and many others are on my shopping list. It really helps me direct my research!

    - John

    ReplyDelete

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