This is what dividend investing is all about!  Investing in dividend stocks allows YOU to earn dividend income, the best passive income stream!  Bias, you better believe it.

Time to dive into Lanny’s February 2022 dividend income results!  Were records set?  Almost to financial freedom?  One day and one month at a time!

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

Related: Financial Freedom Products

Related: 3 Financial Products to Create Wealth in 2021

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 … $10,000+ in a single month.  A NEW dividend income record was set in December 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 – February 2022

Now, on to the numbers… In February, we (my wife and I) received a dividend income total of $1,269.53.  We kept the consistency with over $1,000 in dividend income, as we crossed $1,110 back in January.  It’s a shoe-in for March.

The amount and number of stocks listed below show you what it means to buy and hold for the long term.  Most of the positions I have owned for YEARS, letting dividend growth and reinvestment do it’s thing.  This is what dividend investing for financial freedom is all about.  The passive income stream is growing at a RAPID pace.

2022 is off to a volatile start, stock market has roared up and also roared down.  The war between Ukraine and Russia is wild, sending the interest rates and oil prices all over the place.  In addition, the Fed will be meeting soon to go over interest rates, as the main focus, as they try to “fight” inflation.

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

So what happened in dividend income this month? Ah the AT&T (T) dividend that will be short-lived, as the reduction will happen here in a few months.  The spin-off for Warner Media Discovery will be interesting.  Of course Verizon (VZ) is there for the back-up.

In addition, the dividend aristocrats of General Dynamics (GD), Caterpillar (CAT), Procter (PG) all had great dividend payments, that were reinvested into more shares.  Love the DRIP!

I also split out my retirement accounts in the far right column and the taxable account dividends are in the left two columns.  The retirement accounts are composed of H.S.A. investments, ROTH and Traditional IRAs, as well as our work 401(k) accounts.  In total, the retirement accounts brought in a total dividend income amount of $418.84 or 33% of the dividend income total.  This still left over $850 in the taxable account!  Need that to be at $1,000 for an off-month, almost there everyone!

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

DIvidend Income Year over Year Comparison

2021:

2022:

You have to love the power of dividend reinvestment and dividend growth, truly reasons why you see such big increases from 2021 to 2022.  Overall, dividend income is up approximately 43%.  Where are the increases coming from?

First, new positions, as stated earlier, of Provident Financial Services (PFS), as they replaced Peoples United (PBCT) after they were acquired.  In addition, my Verizon (VZ) position was just starting to build then.  Now look at it… over 10x the amount.

Second, Procter & Gamble (PG) has been doing well and we experienced a nice 10% dividend increase from them.  Therefore, PG is much higher.

Lastly, it’s truly dividend reinvestment, dividend increases and consistently investing that fuels the growth.

Overall, a solid dividend month.  Would love to see this closer to $1,500, though.  Time to keep investing if the market shows any signs of declining.

Dividend Increases

6 more dividend increases during February 2022!  Quite honestly, this month started off a strong dividend investing year, as I believe 2022 will be extremely beneficial to be a dividend investor.

WHOA!  Look at the first name on the list.  UPS – United Parcel Services (UPS) is CRUSHING IT with a 49% dividend increase, adding OVER $70+ in forward dividend income.  Check out the latest YouTube video take on UPS Stock!

Related: Earn up to 8.00% on your money with up to $250 sign up bonus!

In addition, T. Rowe (TROW), a reliable dividend aristocrat, came swinging with a double digit dividend increase.  3M (MMM) on the other hand… another terrible increase.  Not sure what to do with them.  Do you sell or just hold the stock?

Related: The Impact of The Dividend Growth Rate!

In total, dividend increases created $136.24 in additional passive dividend income.  I would need to invest $3,892 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 interest in our dividend stocks to buy for February, please see our YouTube video (below), 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!