The Stock Market or S&P 500 is up well over 4,500 now.  However, it all doesn’t make sense to me, as unemployment benefits end, millions aren’t even considering work and hiring has come to a halt.  In addition, Hurricane Ida has wreaked havoc on the southern coast – prayers go out to everyone impacted.

Time for positive news, as the dividend income results for August were solid and growth has continued in 2021.  Let’s dive in, below!

Dividend Income

Dividend Income is the fruit from the labor of investing your money in the stock market.  Further, Dividend Income is my primary vehicle on the road to Financial Freedom, which you can see through my Dividend Portfolio.

How do I research & screen for dividend stocks prior to making a purchase?  I use our Dividend Diplomat Stock Screener and trade on Ally’s investment platform (one of our Financial Freedom Products) – commission free.

Related: Dividend Diplomat Stock Screener

Relates: Financial Freedom Products

I also automatically invest and max out, pre-tax, my 401k through work and my Health Savings Account.  This allows me to save a TON of money on taxes (aka thousands), which allows me to invest even more.  In addition, all dividends I receive are automatically being reinvested back into the company that paid the dividend.  This takes the emotion out of timing the market.

Related: Tax Strategy – Part 3 to Reduce Taxes & Increase Investment.

Related: The Power of Dividend Reinvesting

Related: Why I Don’t Time or Predict The Market

Growing your dividend income takes time and consistency.  Investing as often, and early, as you can allows compound interest (aka dividends) to work it’s magic.  I have gone from making $2.70 in a single month in dividend income to well over $4,000+ in a single month.  A NEW dividend income record was set in March of 2021. Was it broken this month?!  The power of compounding and dividend reinvestment is a wonderful component to the portfolio.  Each and every month, whether big or small, I continue to report the passive income that dividend investing provides me.  Why?

*Not pictured is my wife’s dividend income above*

I want to show YOU that dividend investing makes it possible to achieve financial freedom and/or financial independence.  We all start somewhere, but consistently investing, compounding (reinvesting) dividends and keeping it simple, allows you to be in a significantly better position than most.  Further, if I can grow this portfolio and income stream, YOU can too.

dividend income – August 2021

Now, on to the numbers… In August, we (my wife and I) received a total of $1,307.71 of dividend income.  We crossed one thousand dollars again in an off-month.  Another strong month of dividend income and the 4-digit mark is becoming more and more consistent, this was even higher than July and May’s results.  In addition, dividend increases are heavy – as we discussed in our recent YouTube video.  Heck, John Deere (DE) and many others have increased their dividend TWO TIMES in a single year!  Therefore, those increases have propelled this income stream higher.

Despite the pandemic from COVID-19, dividend income continues to grow, due primarily to additional investment and reinvestment.  During the month of August, my wife and I actually invested over $4,500+ into dividend producing stocks!

Further, though the dividend cuts hurt very bad, I know we did not take the worst of it.  Dividend increases have also helped fuel the income growth.  Dividend increases are discussed below and that’s one of the best feelings of being a dividend investor.

Related: Dividend Cuts: Pandemic Impact on Lanny’s Portfolio

Here is the breakdown of dividend income for the month of August, between taxable and retirement (far right column, under “Retirement”) accounts.  In addition, “W” means my wife’s account:

As you can see, the Verizon (VZ) dividend continues to be a large component now.  I am aiming to reach 100 shares, as I discussed in my dividend stock watch list for September blog post.  I am closing in on owning 100 shares of Verizon, only 10 away from this blog post.  So CLOSE!  Also, they JUST announced a 2% dividend increase, I’ll take it!

In addition, if you haven’t seen our latest YouTube video, I also talked about Kinder Morgan (KMI) and how they are BACK on the stock watch list.

Lastly, as for our retirement accounts, we received a total of $387.87 or 30%.  The other 70% was from the individual taxable portfolio that can be used for everyday expenses.  I need to keep bolstering the taxable account, as that passive income stream can be accessed today/right now.  The taxable dividend account ALMOST produced ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS of passive income this month!  However, I continue and will always maximize the 401k and IRA, as that continues to pay-off in dividends, literally.

Related: Maximizing your Roth for 10 Years… Then Set It & Forget It!

DIvidend Income Year over Year Comparison

2020:

2021:

First, the growth is amazing.  A 23% growth streak or almost $300 of an increase!  Here are a few items that stick out to me.

Verizon (VZ) is new and the dividend is almost over $50 per quarter.  In fact, next quarter of November 2021, the dividend from Verizon will be over $50 reinvested back into more stock.

AbbVie (ABBV) has had a nice dividend growth streak going and that’s all dividend reinvestment and growth to explain their growth from 2020 to 2021.  This is also the same with one of the best dividend aristocrats of Realty Income (O).

Procter & Gamble (PG), a TOP 5 Foundation Stock, had a solid dividend increase this year of 10%.  That is well above their dividend growth rate average and added quite a bang to the portfolio.

Overall, solid yearly performance and the growth rate, if kept constant, would equate to being over $1,600+ next year in 2022.  We are going to CRUSH that dividend income goal, to say the least.

Dividend Increases

3 dividend increases came in for my stock portfolio in August.  One was definitely a surprise, one beat my expectation and the other was always a pleasant to receive.

I am going to tip my hat off to John Deere (DE) with their 16.66% dividend increase.  Why do I tip my hat off to this wonderful dividend growth stock?  That dividend increase marked the SECOND increase for John Deere this year, which has now increased their dividend by 38%!

Illinois Tool Works (ITW), a dividend aristocrat, came in with a better expected dividend increase at 7%.

Lastly, one of my favorite, consistent community based banks – Muncy (MYBF), increased their dividend almost 3%.

Related: The Impact of The Dividend Growth Rate!

In total, dividend increases created $25.23 in additional passive dividend income.  I would need to invest $721 at a 3.50% dividend yield in order to add that income.  Thank you for the increases, as I didn’t have to come up with the capital to create that form of income!

Dividend Income Conclusion & Summary

The name of the game is to apply what you learn through financial education.  The next steps are to maximize every dollar for investment opportunities and live life on your own terms.  My plan is to demonstrate that dividend income can be a revenue engine.  A revenue engine that allows you to take back control of your life.  A revenue engine to help you reach financial freedom.  Dividend investing, once you learn the right way, becomes easier and starts to immensely make sense!

Excited for the future, no doubt.  Further, all of the investing from last year and moves this year, shows that my aim to save 60% of my income, and making every dollar count, has provided the dividend growth.

If you are just starting out on your investment journey and you aren’t sure to start – please see the articles mentioned throughout this post.  We are trying to bring you financial education and help you reach your financial goals.

Further, if you are starting out and/or want to know the Top 5 Stocks we always recommend, please see our YouTube video, subscribe to our channel and check us out!  We’ll help break down further investing topics not only on this blog, but by showing you through video!

As always, thank you for stopping by, leave your comments and questions below.  Good luck and happy investing everyone!