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 September 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 – September 2021

Now, on to the numbers… In September, we (my wife and I) received a total of $4,154.72 of dividend income.  ANOTHER $4,000+ month!  This is a quarter end, where the mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs) are hot and heavy! 

However, I can’t help but admit what is happening with dividends this year.  Dividends are simply BACK and stronger than ever.  Companies that either paused or cut their dividend during the coronavirus, i.e. the global pandemic, have now resumed and/or increased their dividend.  In fact, some – such as Shell (RDS), have increased their dividend MULTIPLE times.

I do hope we get through this pandemic and the delta-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.  Need to make sure the dividend cash flow remains safe!

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

Well, I have no words to say.  Even though receiving dividend income for a quarter-end is always better than a non-quarter end, earning this amount is staggering.  In addition, BHP Billiton (BBL) paid a very handsome dividend, which almost hit $350 to my account.  That reinvestment was nice!

In addition, OVER 11 dividend aristocrats sent dividend checks my way.  To be a dividend aristocrat, a company must have increased their dividend for 25 consecutive years, without a break.

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 $1,644.95 or 40% of the dividend income total.  This still left over $2,500 in the taxable account!  That would be a financial freedom figure, no doubt about it.  My goal is to have the taxable account reach that each and every month.

For those that are curious, $2,500 in taxable dividends per month is the equivalent of receiving $30,000 in annual dividends.  That is not even considering the immense tax benefits of the dividend income.

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

DIvidend Income Year over Year Comparison

2020:

2021:

What a year it has been.  First, the growth year over year stands at 25%!  An increase of $822.74 from last year… and we CRUSHED through $4,000 in SEPTEMBER BABY!

I am not even sure where to start.  The dividend from KeyCorp (KEY) stands out, as the dividend is now over $100, at $105.99 vs. $72.05 in the past.  This is mostly due to reinvestment and new purchases made in my wife’s account.

Target (TGT) stock is also making noise in my portfolio, as the dividend I received was over $109 and that doesn’t include my wife’s dividend she receives in her Roth IRA.  The growth in Target’s dividend is strictly reinvestment and dividend growth, speaking like a true dividend aristocrat!

I have to mention – the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM) is crushing it.  My wife & I earned $45.14 in 2020 in our taxable brokerage account.  This dividend snowball blossomed to $295.60 in 2021.  Sticking to my investing in Vanguard strategy has continued to been the constant beat to the hear to of my wife my portfolio.  Looking forward to when the amount is $500!

Dividend Increases

I beat the 3 dividend increases last month in August, with 5!  5 dividend increases and they were all fairly stellar with one exceeding expectations.  Which company increased their dividend that exceeded my expectations?

Philip Morris (PM) had an over 4% increase!  I was actually anticipating a dividend increase in the range of 2-3%.  Therefore, this tobacco stock’s increase of 4%, far exceeded my expectation, plus – the increase added over $22 to my forward income.

Lockheed (LMT), one of the biggest defense contractors, stayed consistent with an almost 8% dividend increase.  This juiced my dividend income stream forward by $32.

Related: The Impact of The Dividend Growth Rate!

In total, dividend increases created $81.36 in additional passive dividend income.  I would need to invest $2,324 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 October, 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!