Dividend Income Summary: Lanny’s September 2023 Summary

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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 2023 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) and on SoFi.

Related: 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, aka Dividend Reinvestment Plan or DRIP for short. This takes the emotion out of timing the market and BUILDS onto my passive income stream!

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 – September 2023

Now, on to the numbers… In September, we (my wife and I) received a dividend income total of $4,987.23. SO close to $5,000 this month for our family. The quarter-end dividend income months sure are juicy.

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.

2023 has been one heck of a year. The market has swung up and lately has swung down, with the S&P 500 still hanging above 4,300 and up 13% for the year.

The Fed paused a rate hike in September, will likely remain in a hold pattern for November, with a modest chance of an increase in December. Inflation continues to rock upwards, beating expectations continuously. What are we doing? Always buying dividend stocks and ETFs, of course. Turning off the noise ALWAYS!

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

We are closing in on $5,000 for September months, which is awesome. Fortunate. Lucky. However, hard work, high savings and consistently invested in the market produces these results. This isn’t 1 day in the making but almost 15 years in the making, folks.

Vanguard’s High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM) is consistently just pouring in dividends and being reinvested. We earned almost $900 this quarter in dividend income from our favorite ETF.

Further, a few dividend aristocrats are paying OVER $100. Archer Daniels (ADM) has joined the club. Of course we have Target (TGT) and Aflac (AFL). McDonald’s (MCD) is getting closer, with over $80. After the recent dividend increase – we may be able to reach it come Q4-2024.

The BHP Billiton (BHP) dividend was MASSIVE. They pay 2x per year and I’ll take it.

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 $1,480.76 or 30% of the dividend income total, similar to last month. This still left over $3,500+ in the taxable account! $3,500+ in taxable dividends is great to see. I look forward to when this is $5k on the quarter ends!

Dividend Income Year over Year Comparison

2022: 2023:

Our dividend income is up… $384.62, an 8.35% jump.

This is what dividend investing is about. Increasing your passive income, by consistently investing in the market and letting dividend reinvestment do the trick.

The negatives first. Intel’s (INTC) dividend cut is now seen. Going from $62 down to $13. Now that stings.

Jackson Financial (JXN) is really starting to sprout, going from $57.55 to $69.55, a $12 increase.

Shell (SHEL) is starting to rebound on the dividend, going from $50.83 to $69.90, love to see a $19.07 increase!

My Pfizer (PFE) position was steadily growing this year, hence the increase from $67.14 to $81.66, now that I own over 200 shares.

Next stop is $5,000 for sure. In fact, would love to be aggressive and see $6,000 this time next year.

Dividend Increases

dividend investing, dividend increases

8 dividend increases (VYM and SBUX count as 1 each, the W = Wife’s account). I love the consistent growth in income!

The best dividend increase? Starbucks (SBUX). They just keep it oh so consistent with dividend yield and dividend growth.

The biggest surprise? First Energy (FE). I was down and out with my local utility player, from Akron, Ohio, but they surprised with a nice 5% dividend increase!

In total, dividend increases created $69.79 in additional passive dividend income. I would need to invest $1,994 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 interested in our dividend stocks to buy in 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!