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 November 2021 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 $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 – November 2021

Now, on to the numbers… In November, we (my wife and I) received a total of $1,206.89 of dividend income.  SO Pumped, in total, we made it over the $1,000+ mark in dividend income in an “off” month here.  So grateful to be in this position, though this is both taxable and retirement based.  

The list below holds many dividend aristocrats but also many dividend growth stocks.  2021 has shown that dividend stocks are resilient, as dividend growth has been very strong this year.  Now that the pandemic is mostly behind companies, businesses are returning to crushing earning expectations & increasing their dividend payouts.

I do hope we get through this pandemic and the Omicron-variant dies down, with hospitalizations and deaths plummeting.  That’ll send positive vibes throughout the economy and, in turn, should help businesses continue to be profitable.  Supply chain needs to come back to full force, too.  Need to make sure the dividend cash flow remains safe!

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

Sadly, this is another one of the last few quarters of receiving such a heavy dividend income total from AT&T (T).  Time to see what the new WarnerMediaDiscovery company will be.  Time will tell!

I do love the dividend income I am receiving from Procter Gamble (PG), Norfolk (NSC) and Verizon (VZ).  Those dividend totals should continue to increase year after year.

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 $395.30 or 33% of the dividend income total.  This still left over $812 in the taxable account!  If there was a comma in there, I’d be financially free.  My goal is to have the taxable account reach that each and every month.

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

DIvidend Income Year over Year Comparison

2020:

2021:

Such a solid dividend growth from the prior year.  $212.28 higher than prior year or a 21% dividend growth rate.  What were the large impacts, year over year? 

WestRock (WRK) really is bringing the dividend back up, since being reduced during 2020.  In addition, my position with General Dynamics (GD) has grown significantly since last year.

Outside of Citizens & Northern (CZNC), I wonder who will be my next dividend stock that produces over $100+ in dividend income each quarter?  I wonder if AbbVie (ABBV) will be the next dividend stock to do so!

Dividend Increases

I had 3 increases in August, 5 dividend increases in September, 5 dividend increases in October, will this trend continue?  You betcha.  I had 5 dividend increases in November!  Which company increased their dividend that exceeded my expectations?

The best increase here has to be Aflac (AFL).  Hands down, bar none.  You don’t just come out with a 20%+ dividend increase and expect me not to do anything, right?  JUST WOW!

Related: Earn up to 9.00% on your money with up to $250 sign up bonus!

No other real surprises here.  All fairly expected and consistent.

Related: The Impact of The Dividend Growth Rate!

In total, dividend increases created $100.30 in additional passive dividend income.  I would need to invest $2,865 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 December, 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!