It’s dividend income update time. One of my favorite times of the month as I get to review my previous month of passive income received from my dividend income portfolios.
On a side note, July was the first time ever I did not reinvest my dividends. This isn’t by choice, rather my broker, Capital One Financial, has stopped reinvesting all dividends until later this year when they complete their transition to E-Trade which bought them out recently. I have to admit, it kind of sucks not being able to automatically reinvest dividends for the next few months but there are worse things in life than that. In the meantime, I’ll be building up cash positions in my accounts which I haven’t done in about ten years.
At least I could find comfort in one thing, my dividends are still rolling in. As we all know, the market may move up and down irrationally and seemingly on a whim while our dividends remain much more stable, reliable and predictable. Sure, dividends may not increase every year and a cut or elimination is even possible but the odds are greatly reduced when you diversify among different companies and sectors and focus on dividend quality (free cash flow, EPS and payout ratios). Forget chasing the high yield unicorns and focus on the boring lower yielding but sustainable dividends. In the long run you’ll be better off. With that being said, let’s take a look at my July 2018 dividend totals.
Dividend income from my taxable account totaled $297.93 up from $253.27 an increase of 17.6% from July of last year.
Dividend income from my ROTH account totaled $137.10 up from $129.56 an increase of 5.8% from this time last year.
Dividend income from my IRA account totaled $63.13 up from $1.93, a year over year increase of 3,171.0%.
Grand total for the month of July: $498.16 an increase of 29.5% from July 2017.
Brokerage Account
Year to date dividends: $3,140.95
| Date | Description | Symbol | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 07/02/2018 | DIVIDEND:KO | KO | $48.92 |
| 07/03/2018 | DIVIDEND:KMB | KMB | $52.21 |
| 07/11/2018 | DIVIDEND:ITW | ITW | $45.09 |
| 07/11/2018 | DIVIDEND:PM | PM | $45.53 |
| 07/13/2018 | DIVIDEND:MDLZ | MDLZ | $7.19 |
| 07/13/2018 | DIVIDEND:CB | CB | $6.75 |
| 07/13/2018 | DIVIDEND:JCI | JCI | $30.62 |
| 07/16/2018 | DIVIDEND:CAH | CAH | $24.65 |
| 07/25/2018 | DIVIDEND:GE | GE | $36.97 |
| Total: $297.93 |
ROTH Account
Year to date dividends: $1,226.57
| Date | Description | Symbol | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 07/02/2018 | DIVIDEND:KO | KO | $12.18 |
| 07/03/2018 | DIVIDEND:KMB | KMB | $7.55 |
| 07/11/2018 | DIVIDEND:PM | PM | $8.74 |
| 07/13/2018 | DIVIDEND:MDLZ | MDLZ | $9.70 |
| 07/30/2018 | DIVIDEND:BNS | BNS | $98.93 |
| Total: $137.10 |
IRA Account
Year to date dividends: $514.61
| Date | Description | Symbol | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 07/12/2018 | DIVIDEND:VTR | VTR | $57.33 |
| 07/31/2018 | DIVIDEND:LTC | LTC | $5.80 |
| Total: $63.13 |
Now those are some figures to get excited about. I realize that not every month will produce these great results as payout schedules can shift throwing year over year increases out of whack. As long as I’m on track to surpass my 2017 results I know I’m headed in the right direction and with half of the year gone by so far, 2018 is looking good.
Are any of these dividend stocks in your portfolio too? How was your July dividend income? Please let me know below.
Disclosure: Long all above
Very solid month, and love that growth in the IRA. For the month, I share only two holdings with you (KO and KMB) and it was a pretty quiet month in terms of payouts. I was more active with new capital though so working on feeding the machine.
DivvyDad recently posted…Dividend Income Report :: July 2018
Hi DD,
July is usually a very quite month relative to June when most companies pay their dividends. As long as you can post year over year gains it shouldn’t matter if it’s a quiet month or not. Happy to see we share a couple names. Keep buying quality stocks on a consistent basis.
nice work Keith.
That is some nice growth from last yr. Great bns payout! That is the only stock we share this month.
keep it up!
cheers
Passivecanadianincome recently posted…July 2018 – Passive Income Update
Hi Passivecanadianincome,
I’m sure you can appreciate seeing a Canadian bank in an American account. Says something. I love my TD, BNS and RY. Those are long term holds for sure. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
A nice solid month of increases.
Well done to you. Any increase is a win.
Hi BHL,
Thank you for your kind words and continued support. As long as I can post year over year increases I know I’m headed in the right direction.
Hut –
Wow… that’s some serious dividend income. Look at that growth rate, just sweet. Also – one helluva dividend from BNS. You have a few names I’d like, including BNS, and others. Keep it up DH, we’re on the move.
-Lanny
Hi DD,
You know my love for those large Canadian banks. I still hold TD, BNS and RY with no plans to shuttle those any time soon. Keep buying consistently. We’re on our way!
Hi DivHut. Not reinvesting the dividends would be a strange feeling. It’s strange when it doesn’t happen for one company, let alone the entire portfolio. As you said though, it will be nice to let the cash pile up and figure out how to deploy it all.
I saw ITW in there and couldn’t help but think of their recently announced 28.2% dividend raise. That ought to boost your forward dividend income!
Excellent YoY growth, too…. keep it going!
Engineering Dividends recently posted…Monthly Dividend Income (July 2018)
Hi ED,
Since going the DGI route about ten years ago I always reinvested my dividends. I’m sure that helped move the compounding snowball but now I’m introduced to another way of dealing with dividends, actual cash. This may change my perspective going forward. Love that ITW raise. It’s such an awesome company to hold for the long haul.
Good job. Nothing wrong with letting that cash buildup. I did that awhile back. Good companies paying you. Keep it up.
Doug recently posted…Dividend increase Main
Hi Doug,
I know it’s not a bad thing to let cash build up. It’s just a very different approach for me since I have never done that since going the DGI route about ten years ago. I have to admit, it is nice seeing real cash go into my accounts instead of just seeing additional shares. This might change my investing perspective going forward.
Nice work. For an off month, you are half way to seeing the four digit mark. Nice growth numbers. Keep making those quality buys.
Hi DD,
No matter which broker I end up staying with the plan will remain the same… make consistent buys in quality names and let the compounding magic do its thing.
Another solid month of dividend income, DivHut! Nearly $500 on 29.5% yoy growth is impressive! I’m beginning to let the cash build up more as well. I’m still buying at least once per month instead of several times per month. As you mentioned, all that matters is moving forward towards your yearly target. Keep it up!
Reverse The Crush recently posted…637% YOY Percent Change & New Dividend Income Record | DIU # 14
Hi RTC,
Exactly. Some months we show tremendous year over year growth and others less than stellar. As long as we are on track to beat our previous year total we should be happy. Typically I make one or two buys a month. As long as I am making at least one buy I know I am remaining consistent with my DGI portfolio build up which only translates into stronger year over year gains. Slow and steady. That’s the name of the DGI game.
Awesome! Keep up the great work, DivHut.
R2R
Hi R2R,
Thank you for your continued support. As you know, I plan to do more of the same.
That’s a very impressive July! I like how you mentioned that dividends keep coming in despite any volatility in the market. That’s precisely one of the reasons I decided to DGI in the first place.
Hi KD,
It’s true. Seeing dividends roll in during market turmoil only seems to comfort me when it appears the world is falling apart.
I have to agree Keith, there is something comforting about auto reinvest. For many years that is what I did, but switched to cash accumulation and lump sum investing about 5 years ago. Periodic lump sum fits better with my personal situation now. Tom
Tom @ Dividends Diversify recently posted…Back to School
Hi DD,
That’s the beauty of personal finance, it’s personal. We each must do what we feel comfortable doing. No two people are in the exact same financial situation. For me, it was all about automatically reinvesting dividends and letting the compounding magic work on its own. Now that I’m collecting cash it may change my perspective on how I deal with my dividends going forward. We’ll see.
Congrats on another great month DH! Love the 30% YOY growth. Keep it up! 🙂
My Dividend Dynasty recently posted…July 2018 Dividend Income
Hi MDD,
Thank you for your encouragement and continued support. It will be more of the same for me going forward.
Congrats on a fantastic July! I like how you mentioned that dividends keep rolling in regardless of the volatility in the market. In my opinion, that is one of the major advantages of the DGI strategy.
Hi KD,
You said it. It can be difficult to tune out all the financial media noise we are bombarded with on a daily basis and simply hold on and let those dividends roll in and do their compounding thing. I think those who simply maintain a “hands free” approach to their portfolios do better over the long haul.
Hey DH,
Great progress YOY on your totals. Many of the same names in my portfolio with the biggest increase coming by way of BNS as I’ve more than doubled down on this name through 2018 from the start of the year.
Take care,
Ryan
Hi GRB,
No complaints from me about my July totals. It’s all about consistent investing and riding out all the noise we hear from the financial media. Love my BNS. Happy to be a fellow shareholder with you!
I’m often torn with the dividend reinvestment strategy – if I was holding an index funds, I’d certainly go down this path, but these days I prefer to let the cash accumulate and deploy it in investments I think are the best value for that cash as a given point in time.
Either way, your strategy seems to be working well! You can’t go too wrong with solid dividend paying stocks!
Cheers, Frankie
Frankie recently posted…Fund Performance Update July 2018 – Frankie Fights Back!
Hi Frankie,
From day one I reinvested all my dividends automatically. Maybe now that I’m forced to take cash for the next few months I’ll gain a different perspective and deploy my dividends differently. We’ll see. In the meantime, it is nice seeing cash build up in my stock accounts and deciding where I’d like to invest on my own.
Looks like a great month Keith! So close to crossing $500 for July! Things are finally starting to move back in the right direction for us although we won’t be investing heavily until hopefully Dec/Jan while we focus on paying down our debt. It sucks but it’s the smart thing to do to free up monthly cash flow. Getting our 2 non-mortgage debts off our balance sheet will increase our monthly free cash flow by around $850 and gives us in the neighborhood of $3-5k of investable cash each month. So yeah I’m pretty excited about the next few months.
Once we stopped investing on a regular basis because of life I started turning the DRIP on for several positions. It might not be ideal valuations for purchases but it keeps the snowball rolling and progressing. I’m undecided on what to do once we do get back to monthly investing.
Hi JC,
Looks like you have a good plan for your finances going forward. I think I’d do the same as you as I’m quite averse to any type of debt. Reducing your overhead will free up a lot more monthly cash and will give you peace of mind too. Before you know it we’ll be in a new year and you’ll be able to push your investing back into high gear. For my portfolio I always reinvested automatically no matter where a stock’s price, value or dividend stood.
Wow, amazing month again. You must be proud of your dividend stocks paying you another big 3-digit dividend number altogether. A 29.5% YoY growth is just the result of hard work and investing in great quality names with ITW, KMB and MDLZ.
Congratulations with a solid month
Hi dividendcompounder,
Always appreciate the continued support and encouragement. This portfolio was built up over a decade, slow and steady, share by individual share. I’ll keep my focus on the stocks I currently own as I have no immediate plans to add any new names.
Keith,
Solid month again, I like a lot of names you got there.
Keep inspiring all of us.
Dividend Pursuit
Hi DP,
Thank you for those kind words. I plan to keep doing more of the same going forward and am glad to be a part of our DGI community.
Great results! It must be strange not reinvesting the dividends. But it maybe also a good thing to try something different with lump sum just like Tom (albeit forced at the moment 🙂 )
Hi MR,
Believe me, I’d much rather have all my dividends automatically reinvest but as you said collecting cash might give me a different perspective as to how I allocate my funds going forward. There are worse things in life and this should be my biggest “problem” I face.
Hi Keith,
like always nice results on your side. I also could improve my dividend income in June and July significantly, and I am back to blogging again :)…
Cheers
Div.Income recently posted…Update Crypto Investment August 2018
Hi DI,
Everyone can improve their dividend income results. It’s not about having a lot of money rather making consistent, small investments over time. This is a marathon. Thank you for commenting.