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.
Looking back, October was a relatively quiet month for me in terms of making several separate buys. Over the course of the month I made only one tranche of buys which saw me add to my Dover Corporation (DOV) holdings in my taxable account and Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) in my ROTH account. With that CAT buy, I have officially fully contributed to my ROTH for 2015 and thus will not be able to make any new buys in that account till 2016 which is kind of a bummer as I would still like to add to my Canadian banks at current levels. In any case, the dividends continue to roll in which is really what we’re all concerned about. With that being said, let’s take a look at my October dividend totals.
Dividend income from my taxable account totalled $269.94 up from $231.75 an increase of 16.5% from October of last year.
Dividend income from my ROTH account totalled $96.30 up from $53.52 an increase of 79.9% from this time last year.
Dividend income from my IRA account totalled $0.00 equal to $0.00 from this time last year.
Grand total for the month of October: $366.24 an increase of 28.4% from October 2014.
Brokerage Account
Year to date dividends: $2,629.61
Date | Description | Symbol | Amount |
---|---|---|---|
10/01/2015 | DIVIDEND:KO | KO | $29.89 |
10/02/2015 | DIVIDEND:JCI | JCI | $17.42 |
10/02/2015 | DIVIDEND:KMB | KMB | $30.69 |
10/06/2015 | DIVIDEND:CB | CB | $8.42 |
10/06/2015 | DIVIDEND:ITW | ITW | $30.45 |
10/14/2015 | DIVIDEND:DEO | DEO | $73.94 |
10/14/2015 | DIVIDEND:PM | PM | $37.47 |
10/14/2015 | DIVIDEND:MDLZ | MDLZ | $5.37 |
10/26/2015 | DIVIDEND:GE | GE | $36.29 |
Total: $269.94 |
ROTH Account
Year to date dividends: $829.82
Date | Description | Symbol | Amount |
---|---|---|---|
10/01/2015 | DIVIDEND:KO | KO | $9.58 |
10/02/2015 | DIVIDEND:KMB | KMB | $6.21 |
10/14/2015 | DIVIDEND:PM | PM | $7.19 |
10/14/2015 | DIVIDEND:MDLZ | MDLZ | $7.26 |
10/29/2015 | DIVIDEND:BNS | BNS | $66.06 |
Total: $96.30 |
IRA Account
Year to date dividends: $96.36
No doubt the strong continued growth in my ROTH account can be attributed to my Canadian bank holdings, The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), The Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) and Royal Bank of Canada (RY) as I have been adding to those names monthly for well over a year. October also saw a semi-annual dividend payment coming in from Diageo plc (DEO) which also enhanced the totals for the month.
Are any of these dividend stocks in your portfolio too? How was your October dividend income? Please let me know below.
Disclosure: Long all above
Excellent dividend progress! Hopefully I will eventually have a good dividend portfolio like you. 🙂
Jeff recently posted…Net-Worth Update October 2015: $37,804 (+$3,195/+9.2%)
Hi Jeff,
Thank you for the kind words. In time, you too can build up a well diversified dividend portfolio. Just don’t chase yield and stick to the high quality “known” companies instead of the unicorns out there. My portfolio may not be highest yielding, but it does let me sleep well at night. Than you for commenting.
Sleeping well is key! I hope to one day own MDLZ as well. Nice work
JT
JT recently posted…October 2015 Divis
Hi JT,
Sleep is very important. Why worry about your investments’ dividend sustainability when chasing high yield when you can stick with lower yielding and growing stable dividend payers instead. At least that’s my take. Thank you for commenting.
A great month! Well done and keep this dividends pumping! October’s pretty quiet for us though. One thing I’d love to own from your stocks mentioned is Diageo, who’ve been on my watch list for the longest time but never high enough for me to bite the bullet… Maybe soon though!
M from theresvalue recently posted…Is it Time to Sell Direct Line?
Hi M,
I was pleased with the totals considering that October is not a “big” dividend paying month for many companies. Keep watching DEO. It’s been a while since I added to my holding in that stock and I would love to add more but waiting for better pricing/value first. I wish they’d pay quarterly instead of semi-annual though. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
Great job Keith. Over 350 for the month is awesome bud. Keep up the great work. Chart is trending upwards.
Thanks for sharing these wonderful dividend posts. They are my favorite for sure! Enjoy the fruits of your labour bud.
Gonna be tons of deals just in time for christmas 🙂
Cheers buddy.
Dividend Hustler recently posted…October 2015 Dividend Income Report.
Hi DH,
Thank you for your continued support. No complaints on my end for the passive income totals 🙂 As you stated, …”trending upwards,” which is key. As long as I can continue to post good year over year results I’m a happy camper. As always, I appreciate your comment.
Solid month considering October is a slower paying month for dividends. Your consistent investing is really paying off as your multiple portfolio’s all showed excellent YoY growth. Consistency really is the key to DGI. Being able to invest your savings month after month, year after year, is boring at times but the results after you stick with it for even a short period of time is pretty amazing. I really need to take a more in depth look at Diageo. Love the business model and the company is solid.
JC @ Passive-Income-Pursuit recently posted…Weights
Hi JC,
Always appreciate your continued encouragement. You already know that I feel that consistency is the one key element in being a successful dividend growth investor. There’s always a stock or two out there that offers decent value and yield no matter what the market as a whole is doing. We can’t get scared by the headlines and wait for a “better” time to invest. No time like the present and the other key element to success, time. DEO is such a solid company owning numerous brand leaders in their respective spirits categories. It has really performed so well during good times and bad. Economic headwinds, currency headwinds, people still drink. A consumer staple at its finest. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
Nice job! Thanks for the inspirational post. Helps me keep focused on what is important and also hope that it is possible for me someday as well!
-Adam
Adam – IWTRS recently posted…Summary of Recent Buys – Week of October 18
Hi Adam,
Every dividend growth investor loves writing and reading these income updates. No doubt, they give us all further inspiration to continue doing what we are doing as well as show, in real life, and not some economic or investment theory, how dividend growth investing really works with real numbers. Thank you for commenting.
Nice progress, DivHut. Keep that income growing slowly and steadily!
R2R
Roadmap2Retire recently posted…Chatter Around the World – 120
Hi R2R,
That’s the name of the game, growth. I just want to keep posting good year over year results then I know I’m doing something right. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Congrats on a great month. Over $350 in dividends with 30% growth YoY is impressive.
Dividend Growth Journey recently posted…Portfolio update – October 2015
Hi DGJ,
Thank you for the well wishes. While I don’t have a particular year over year figure I’d like to achieve, I do realize that any time I can get double digit growth, it’s a good thing. Thank you for your continued support.
DivHut,
Nice month. I share KO and GE with you for this month. Looks like you are going to break $3k in dividends this year! congrats and keep up the good writing.
– Gremlin
Dividend Gremlin recently posted…October Review / November Preview 2015
Hi DG,
Always appreciate the kind words and support. I’m hoping to top $4k in dividends between my taxable, ROTH and IRA this year. We’ll see how things develop as 2015 draws to a close. Happy to share at least two dividend names with you. It sure has been a long, long time since I added to my KO and GE though. As always, I appreciate your comment.
You are building up a nice snowball. Next stop, FIRE.
Financial Velociraptor recently posted…Buy/write PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (PMT)
Hi FV,
Bit by bit we are all adding to our little snowball. It’s always encouraging to read these updates as it just highlights real world growth in our passive income. Thank you for commenting.
Good job building the passive income from dividends. Almost 400 bucks is a great month if you ask me. I’m still calculating the totals on my end. But I believe I didn’t reach 300 as my big month was in Sept.
EL @ Moneywatch101 recently posted…How Do I Define Success
Hi EL,
Thank you for your kind words. Just think, all our past buys culminate in our present day dividend income. No matter the amount, it’s a passive income stream that is a lot more reliable and predictable than many jobs or other sources of income. Look forward to reading your October totals. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
Congrats DivHut for yet another solid month of dividend income. Getting almost $400 is great, that just means you got your money to work hard for you. 🙂
Hi Tawcan,
I’m happy with the results. As I have commented elsewhere, the proof that I’m on the right track is my continued year over year growth. As long as I can put up decent growth in my dividend income, I’m happy. As always, I appreciate your comment.
As always, it’s the percentage increases that never fail to impress. A 28% in your taxable account dividends is definitely an impressive feat. And all for no extra work.
I couldn’t imagine what I would have to do to increase my paycheck by 28%. Probably blackmail the CEO.
Sincerely,
ARB–Angry Retail Banker
ARB recently posted…The Bank Is NOT The Best Place To Order Checks!
Hi ARB,
As long as you make consistent buys every single month, no matter the amount, you’ll be able to put up some decent year over year growth rates. For me, that’s as important as the actual dollar amount that rolls in as it shows the progress and growth of my passive income stream. I think many people read about these year over year increase and think, “big deal,” but if they put it into perspective as you have with your example of a pay raise, I think more would “get it.” Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
Hi Divhut,
Seems like you had a solid month. I did also receive quitte a few dividends in October. We don’t have much names in common this month ( only KO).
Cheers,
Geblin
Geblin recently posted…Stock purchases in October
Hi Geblin,
At least we share one name for the month. I was pleased with my October results considering it’s a month that is typically “slow” in terms of dividend distributions. Thank you for commenting.
Your dividend income is beautiful! Gotta be nice to reel in several grand a year from dividends. Congratulations on maxing the IRA as well, one less thing to worry about as the year comes to an end.
Best,
Alex
Alex recently posted…October 2015 Investment Purchases
Hi Alex,
Thank you for your words of support. It does feel good any time money rolls into your account without you having to lift a finger. Slow and steady wins the race, right? Considering my retirement account, I have been fortunate to be able to fully contribute every year for the last five years. If I can take advantage of growing my dividends tax free, I’ll take it. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
Congrats on your impressive level of passive income for the month. We both earned dividends from KO and BNS. That money works harder than you can.
Chris recently posted…October 2015 Passive Dividend Earnings
Hi Chris,
Thank you for your kind words. It’s a great feeling when your money can work for you 24/7, while you sleep, are on vacation, working, eating or whatever. The beauty of passive income. Happy to be a fellow shareholder with you in two fine companies KO and BNS. The Canadian banks still look like a steal at current levels. Too bad I cannot buy into them till 2016. Thank you for commenting.
Hi Div Hut
You are reaching your year end goal there!!! Almost there at least.
With the way you’ve been adding to stocks every month, it’s a matter of time before those money works harder than you 😉
Ooops, they already are, don’t they?
B recently posted…Things To Look Forward To In Life
Hi B,
Slowly but surely we are all headed in the same direction. My unofficial goal for 2015 was to earn over $4k in dividends between all my accounts and it looks like I’ll make it. It’s amazing how relatively small, consistent buys can snowball into real dollars over just a few years. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
Congrats DH! for scoring $350+ and over 28% growth, result of compounding and consistent buys you have been at. I own many of the same quality companies. Keep racing!
Race2Retirement recently posted…Dividend Income Update – October 2015
Hi R2R,
Thank you for your continued support. For a “slow” dividend month, October proved to be quite healthy in terms of income received. The year over year growth is something that just demonstrates that the dividend growth strategy works. I still don’t understand why some poo-poo this investment style. In any case, I appreciate your comment.
Keith,
Great month right there. Almost $400 for doing absolutely nothing. How could anyone not be incredibly happy with that result? 🙂
Keep it up!
Cheers.
Hi JF,
You took the words right out of my mouth. We already know the beauty of passive income and when you start reaching figures in the multiple hundreds or four figures even, you can see the real value and strength of long term dividend investing. As always, I appreciate your comment.
Heck Yeah Keith! Think of how insane it is that your income stream grew 28% in such a short timeframe. Where else do you see results this quickly. DOV and CAT are some great companies and I always have an eye on CAT. I have no idea how I held off on investing into this company. Oh well, there will nbe plenty of other opportunities I am sure.
Keep it up!
Bert
Dividend Diplomats recently posted…Lanny’s Recent Purchase – KMI (Again…)
Hi DD,
Opportunities will always present themselves down the road. The key is to jump on board when seemingly everyone else is leaving. I’m very happy, as you can imagine, about my year over year growth. As long as those numbers are strong I know I’m doing the right thing. Look forward to your dividend round up among the DGI bloggers. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
Great growth here and there. Gotta love that free money every month and it is growing higher and higher! Great job!
Cheers!
BSR
BeSmartRich recently posted…Oct 31, 2015 Net Worth Update: $136,623 (+$5,184, +3.9%)
Hi BSR,
Thank you for your continued encouragement. These monthly dividend income reports are truly the most fun to write and read online. I still wonder why so many do not jump on this long term investing strategy. As always, I appreciate your comment.
DivHut
Great dividend income for a slow month such as October.Your YoY increase is great for the grand total . and I like your buys – I did the same buys 2 months ago.
Keep the snowball rolling.
Sharon – Divorcedff
divorcedff recently posted…Dividend Portfolio Update – October 2015
Hi divorcedff,
Always appreciate the support from you and everyone else in our DGI community. Looks like the REITs will be good buys this month. Seems like the industrial names have come back too strong from their recent lows. I like the health REITs going forward and their yields and values are looking a lot more compelling. Building that passive income one month and one buy at a time. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
Great dividend received for the month of October. I have begun investing about two years or so ago and have what I think is a long road to go but am beginning to see movement in my own dividends earned year after year. Can’t wait to get to the point where my money is working harder than I am. DivHut thanks for the inspiration.
Hi Michael,
There’s no question that being a dividend growth investor is a long journey but once that real magic of compounding takes hold the passive income received will be truly amazing. Always happy to share my results as well as read the results of others. Thank you for commenting and your support.
Hi DH,
Congratulations on your continued progress. It always amazes me to see your results. I am working on diversifying my own portfolio and this is certainly inspiration.
Thanks,
Laura Beth
Hi LB,
Always happy to provide you with some inspirational dividend income progress. The beauty of this investing strategy is that your progress is easily tracked to the penny and watching your year over year performance is easy to gauge. Thank you for commenting.
Hi DH,
It looks like you made some nice picks for October. It must be encouraging to have such a great improvement YoY! I’ve got a few shares of KO for now, I would like to pick up more in the coming months. I also have my eye on CAT and GE medium term. We are on the same page regarding the top Canadian banks. I look forward to seeing how November shapes up. Have you seen big dips for your holdings in the past due to tax loss harvesting in December?
Cheers
Dividendniche recently posted…Dividend Income Update October 2015
Hi Dividendniche,
It’s all about picking “solid” companies and not chasing yield, diversifying, because frankly even the ‘best of the best’ can falter and being patient allowing compounding to work its magic over the years. From KO, to CAT and GE and more, all those names have a good chance of being around in the next decade or two or more. Why not own a piece of these great businesses along the way. I think the Canadian banks still have a long way to go before conditions improve for them at home and on a global scale. The only major dips I have seen in recent days has been in my REIT holdings as a good jobs number puts an interest rate hike in December back on the table. Of course, these are all just knee jerk reactions as everyone is worried that a rate hike will severely hurt a REIT business. For me, I’d like to use the opportunity to add to my holdings. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
Good stuff. I love the big Canadian banks as you know and have my eye on a few REITs as well. My goal is to have about 12-14% of my portfolio in REITs. It’s a long journey as you mentioned but I wouldn’t have it any other way
Dan @ Our Big Fat Wallet recently posted…First Impressions of Uber
Hi OBFW,
Between the Canadian banks and beaten down REITs, we certainly have a lot of different high quality, high yield names to choose from. Your mention of 12% – 14% REIT exposure in your portfolio seems a bit high. In fact, one of the highest totals when compared to other dividend blogs I have seen online. But I guess if that exposure is diversified among quite a few names you can mitigate any dividend or other risks those investments may pose. As always, I appreciate your comment.
Hi DivHut,
Love the diversification of your October dividends. As far as banks go, I’m only invested in Wells Fargo right now, which has done very well over the last few years in terms of capital appreciation (as well as increasing its dividend). However, it looks like I’m missing out on a lot of high quality Canadian banks and may have to consider investing in a few of those as well. Thanks for the update!
Scott recently posted…International Dividend Portfolio Tracker with Transactions Page
Hi Scott,
For a “slow” month, October has its nice share of diversified names paying me. For many years, WFC was my only bank stock in my portfolio. In fact I considered just one other American bank, USB but after reading about the large Canadian banks I decided to jump in to those names as well. Canada is facing its own headwinds with a weakened currency, low oil prices and a potential consumer/real estate debt crisis in the offing. All those factors have given us much better prices, value and yield among the Canadian banks as they all got hammered in the last year. They are definitely worth a consideration. Thank you for commenting.
Just purchased my first Canadian bank…Royal Bank of Canada (RY). I purchased it in my taxable account. I understand that there is a withholding tax (15%, I think) that will be taken, but then I can reclaim as a tax credit.
I noticed you keep your Canadian bank stocks in your Roth. Is that specifically to not lose out on the 15% withholding from each dividend? I’m debating if I should sell RY (eating the cost of the commission) and then add it to my Roth in January. The paperwork isn’t an issue, but I would hate to lose out on that extra little bit of compounding every quarter.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Scott recently posted…Recent Sales and Purchases – November 2015
Hi Scott,
Welcome aboard the Canadian bank train! Nice buy with RY. Right now my two favorite Canadian banks are TD and RY. To answer your question, I keep my Canadian banks in my ROTH to avoid the 15% withholding tax. I can understand keeping it in a taxable account if the overall position will be relatively small but if you plan on building up a sizeable position then the 15% withholding can be significant. It also depends on your time frame for your planned use of the dividends. I do not plan to touch any of my dividend income till I’m at least 60 so why not let the positions grow and compound faster in a tax advantaged account with zero withholdings. Just my take on it. I know Dividend Mantra keeps his Canadian banks in a taxable account because he plans to tap that dividend income at an earlier age and overall his positions are not that large. Hope this gives you a little insight as to my reasoning.
Congratulations on your dividend income! $366 is a nice chunk of change. This is very motivating for someone like me who just started investing in dividend stocks a few months ago.
Question – how do you decide which stocks to house in your Roth vs. your taxable account?
Great question, Charlene! For my portfolio, it comes down to largely a tax issue. Specifically I try to hold any REITs in my Roth IRA since those are otherwise taxed at your ordinary income rate rather than the more favorable qualified dividend rate.
Other people say that dividend paying stocks should be held in retirement accounts and non-dividend stocks (i.e., growth stocks) should be held in taxable accounts. The reason being that you pay taxes on dividends but don’t owe any capital gains taxes until you sell. Non-dividend paying growth stocks are inherently tax advantaged in that regard. However, you could have the same argument that it would be great to hold a huge capital gain in a Roth because you wouldn’t owe any taxes on it when you sell.
Other things to consider are foreign stocks. Some companies have tax treaties with the US (like in my question to DivHut regarding Canadian stocks). If I would have bought RY in my Roth, I would not have taxes withheld. However, you have to be careful with other countries because some still do take withholding taxes from you even if they are held in a Roth and in those cases, you cannot get that money back as a US tax credit. This is one situation (another being MLPs) where you could actually owe taxes on investments in a tax free account. Definitely not the best situation to be in!
I look forward to DivHut’s answer. A lot depends on your financial goals.
Scott
Scott recently posted…Recent Sales and Purchases – November 2015
Hi Scott,
You said it. My decisions are solely based on tax consequences which is why I keep my Canadian banks and REITs in a retirement account. The bottom line with holding any foreign company in a taxable or even a retirement account comes down to tax consequences. Some foreign stocks have withholding rates as high as 35% (Withholding Tax Rates by Country for Foreign Stock Dividends) and some 0%. My feeling is that any time you can take advantage of an income investment and not be subject to taxes or withholding, take it. It just helps that compounding snowball grow much faster.
Scott,
This is SO helpful – thank you so much for the detailed response! I have heard the argument for REITs and dividend stocks/non-dividend growth stocks, but never thought of foreign stocks and the tax implications there. Definitely something to take into account as I expand my portfolio!
Thanks again,
Charlene
Hi Charlene,
Thank you for your kind words and support. No doubt, that’s real money coming in that can pay for quite a few monthly expenses and, of course, the beauty is that it was earned passively. Keep looking into dividend stocks to build your own growing passive income stream but don’t chase yield, be consistent and have patience.
When deciding which stocks to put in retirement accounts such as a ROTH or IRA I look at the nature of the stock/company itself. For example, I own three Canadian banks, TD, BNS and RY in my ROTH. The reason for that is simple. Canadian stocks typically come with a 15% withholding tax on dividends unless they are held in retirement accounts such as a ROTH or IRA. By keeping my Canadian banks in my ROTH I receive the full dividend amount each quarter. Another example is from my REIT holdings. REITs do not pay traditional ‘dividends’ rather have ‘distributions’ that are usually taxed as regular income (higher tax rate than traditional dividends). By keeping my REITs in a tax advantaged account I am able to receive the full distribution without tax consequences. Of course, there are variations between an IRA and ROTH but my point is to explain why I keep certain stocks in retirement accounts versus my taxable account. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
DivHut,
As I said to Scott, thanks for taking the time to leave such a detailed response. This is very helpful to someone that is just starting to “dip her toes in the water,” so to speak. I currently only hold domestic stocks in my portfolio, but hope to expand my reach in the future. I had no idea the tax implications could vary so greatly with foreign stocks – the 35% withholding rate is very eye-opening!
I have so much to learn. Thanks again for taking a few minutes to help!
Charlene
Charlene @ The Sum Of Small Steps recently posted…Live For Today Or Save For Tomorrow?
Hi Charlene,
My pleasure. That’s one of the great things about our online PF/investing communities. We all tend to help one another as best we can.