VTRS - Bert's March 2023 Dividend Income Summary
2023-04-18 02:32:00 ET
Summary
- Not only do most companies pay dividends in the third month of the quarter, mutual funds and ETFs do as well.
- We received $5,299.66 in March dividend income. This was a 6.93% dividend increase compared to March 2022.
- We received over half our income from mutual funds and ETFs in March; however, the percentage was over 10% lower.
- We received $1,968.79 from stocks this month compared to $1,874.72 in December.
We’re back with another dividend income summary. March is always a great month to review. Why? Not only do most companies pay dividends in the third month of the quarter, mutual funds and ETFs do as well! So we are excited to see some insane, eye-popping dividend income totals for March. Let’s dive right in and review Bert’s March Dividend Income Summary!
Why I Invest in Dividend Stocks
I invest in dividend stocks to grow my passive income. One day, my dividend income will be large enough to cover my monthly expenses and allow us to retire early. That is why we are relentlessly searching for undervalued dividend stocks to buy. To put our hard-earned cash to work.
We save a high percentage of our income each month, to help fuel our dividend stock portfolio. Having a high savings rate is a key pillar of our strategy and helps fuel the fire and push the snowball further downhill. While we are waiting to invest our money in the market, it is earning a high interest rate in accounts. There is nothing more critical than maximizing every dollar in your savings account.
The 3 primary savings accounts I use are:
- SoFi – 4% APY on all savings accounts (lower for your checking account). The race for deposits is intense ! Banks and credit unions are offering great savings rates.
- CapitalOne 360 Savings – 3.40% APY – we use Capital One for our checking and savings account.
- Wealthfront – 4.30% without promotion.
How Do We Find Dividend Stocks to Buy?
That’s easy. We use our dividend stock screener with every stock purchase! This simple, 3-step stock screener is designed to identify undervalued stocks with a strong payout ratio that have a history of increasing their dividend. Fundamental dividend growth investing at its finest.
The three metrics of our screener are:
- Price to Earnings Ratio less than the S&P 500
- Payout Ratio less than 60%
- History of Increasing Dividends
- Dividend Yield (Bonus)
We use this stock screener for each purchase and have consistently done so for 10+ years on our journey to financial freedom!
Bert’s March Dividend Income Summary
We received $5,299.66 in March dividend income. This was a 6.93% dividend increase compared to March 2022. Let’s freaking go everyone. We were able to maintain our high March dividend income total for consecutive years.
In December, I showed the split between dividend payments from individual stocks and mutual funds/ETFs. Since this is such a high “fund” paying month, it is important to understand the percentage of income from each type of investment. In December, 65% of our income came from mutual funds and ETFs due to the extra capital gain distributions. In March, the percentages told a different story (as you’ll see in the chart below).
We received over half our income from mutual funds and ETFs in March; however, the percentage was over 10% lower. We only received 54% of income from this source. I was pumped up that dividend stocks accounted for such a large percentage of our monthly dividend income. In fact, when we compare the income from individual stocks quarter over quarter, we realized a nice 5% gain. We received $1,968.79 from stocks this month compared to $1,874.72 in December.
Now, let’s get to the individual stock breakdowns. I created two charts showing individual payments received. The first chart breaks down the individual dividend checks from mutual funds and ETFs while the second chart breaks down the dividend payments received from dividend stocks!
As usual, I have a few observations about our dividend income for the month:
Observation #1: Individual Dividends Are On The Verge of Crossing $2,000
I mentioned this in the last section, but it's worth mentioning again. The ETF dividend payments are great; however, I’m really excited about the growth in our individual dividend stock payments. The fact that we are about to cross $2,000 every third month of dividends received from individual dividend stocks is something to be excited about.
That is why investing in stocks consistently is so important. Keep pushing your income forward and watch it grow. Two of the individual positions I’ve been purchasing lately, Tyson Foods ( TSN ) and Qualcomm ( QCOM ), are the largest growers on this list.
Observation #2: Reducing Small Positions Will Be Welcomed This Year
On our YouTube Channel, I discussed in a recent video about how we shut down 3 positions and used the proceeds to invest in American Tower ( AMT ) . The positions closed paid us tiny dividends in March [T.J. Maxx ( TJX ) ($.61), Smucker's ( SJM ) ($2.41)] and another paid no dividend at all. The point is that it is great trimming the positions in the bottom right column of our income chart in an effort to build larger dividend-paying positions. Not only will there be less companies to follow, this will also create larger-paying positions in the long run.
Observation #3: Let’s Not Forget About Funds
My previous observations have focused on stocks. The other interesting aspect of our portfolio is that the mutual fund and ETF payouts remained strong in March. In fact, many of the funds experienced strong dividend growth this quarter that helped produce insane dividend income figures. My wife is adding two shares to SCHD every week going forward and we made a huge ETF move to swap ITOT for SCHD. This should further bolster our June dividend income once the dust settles from these transactions!
Summary – March Dividend income
Another strong month to end the quarter. It is all smiles here in our household, especially as we push towards financial freedom! You can’t complain anytime you receive nearly $4,300 and experience a solid year-over-year dividend growth rate. Seeing results like these want me to push ever hard and continue investing every dollar we can to grow our passive income.
Did you have a record setting March? What was your March dividend income total? What percentage of your income came from funds vs. stocks?
Editor's Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.
For further details see:
Bert's March 2023 Dividend Income Summary