BNL - Dividend Income Summary: Lanny's November 2023 Summary
2023-12-21 04:00:00 ET
Summary
- Growing your dividend income takes time and consistency.
- Market in 2023 has swung up and lately has swung down.
- In total, dividend increases created $136.94 in additional passive dividend income.
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 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 of 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.
I also automatically invest and max out, pre-tax, my 401(k) 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 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 its 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 of 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 2023
Now, on to the numbers. In November, we (my wife and I) received a dividend income total of $1,561.20 . Dang! Didn't crack the $2,000 mark this month, come on. It's okay, 2024 - maybe?
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, let dividend growth and reinvestment do their 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, and - thanks to the Fed and everyone's interpretation that the rate hikes are over, has swung back up. The S&P 500 has popped again, nearing all-time highs, is closing in on 4,800, and is up 25% for the year.
The Fed has now paused for 3 months, as they let data and the interest rate hikes they've done over the last 21 months really sink in. Expectations are for rate cuts next year. Will it be 2? Will it be 3? Who knows, I turn off the noise and keep investing.
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:
Not too many big hitters here, but I did recently cross 100 shares of United Parcel Service ( UPS ) with the dividend you see above. I believe logistics in this economy are key, access to data, history, and operations is key right now. I look forward to the "continued" rebound of UPS.
This is also the big telecommunications dividend month, as you can see. Verizon ( VZ ) and AT&T ( T ) are providing massive cash flow my way, over $178 in dividends combined. I currently DRIP those dividends.
CVS ( CVS ) provided a nice, healthy dividend of $58 my way. They just increased their dividend by 9.9% and I'm building a 100-share position with CVS as well. Give me a few more quarters of dividends and I'll get there.
I also split out my retirement accounts in the far right column and the taxable account dividends in the left two columns. The retirement accounts are composed of HSA 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 $387.92, or 25% of the dividend income total, similar to last month. This still left over $1,100+ in the taxable account. I look forward to when this is $2k next year, hopefully.
Dividend Income Year-over-Year Comparison
2022:
2023:
Our dividend income is up $298.15, a 30% jump from last year. Heck yeah, let's go. Now this is what dividend investing is all about, steadily growing, and if I continue this pace - $2,000 is in sight for next year.
As stated earlier, UPS stock had a much bigger dividend, due to now officially being at 100 shares, boom.
My Provident Financial Services ( PFS ) dividend was also building, as I was buying more shares during the small bank crisis we had earlier this year, which is higher by approximately $11.
I am really looking forward to Kinder Morgan ( KMI ) having some form of break-out year at some point, but they are getting back to the old dividend amount, slowly but surely, this time in a much more safe manner.
John Deere ( DE ) is up almost $7 from the prior year, strictly due to dividend reinvestment and dividend growth. In fact, they are a beast with 3 dividend increases this year.
Dividend Increases
8 dividend increases, with dividend growth ranging from as small as 0.96% to as huge as 19.05%.
The best dividend increase? Aflac ( AFL ). Why? This dividend aristocrat just pumps out dividend growth, every single year.
The biggest surprise? Broadstone Net Lease ( BNL ). Why? REITs were getting punished this year and that was their second dividend increase this year. Loved it.
In total, dividend increases created $136.94 in additional passive dividend income. I would need to invest $3,912 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. Therefore, 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. Furthermore, all of the investments from last year and moves this year, show that my aim to save 60% of my income , and make every dollar count , has provided dividend growth.
As always, thank you for stopping by, leave your comments and questions below. Good luck and happy investing everyone!
Editor's Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.
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Dividend Income Summary: Lanny's November 2023 Summary