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 July 2024 dividend income results! Were records set? Almost to financial freedom? One day and one month at a time!
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: Dividend Diplomat Stock Screener
Related: Financial Freedom Products
Related: 3 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!
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 … $10,000+ in a single month. My 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 – July 2024
Now, on to the numbers… In July, we (my wife and I) received a dividend income total of $2,836.82. Incredible. Vanguard and Fidelity really came through in these months, that you will see, as instead of paying in June, they paid in July.
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 was up 24%. 7 months down in 2024 and the S&P 500 is still up almost 13%, despite the recent sell offs. Unemployment is starting to tick up recently, are the high interest rates doing their job and companies profits declining?
The fed has now paused for 12 months, as they let data and the interest rate hikes they’ve done over the last 2 years really sink in. We have a high likelihood of a rate cut in September, but too much speculation is happening beyond that date. Time is ticking on that FOMC meeting.
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:
As stated earlier, Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF (VOO) and Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG) really came through, despite not paying in June. Then, my 401k dividend from the Fidelity S&P 500 index (FXAIX) also paid a huge amount, over $700!
The big utility player, National Gridd (NGG) paid me two dividends in July and was over $540! Wow. I don’t anticipate that, and they only pay every 6 months, I’ll take it.
Canadian Imperial (CM) continues to send money back to shareholders, I reinvest, buy more shares and will get a bigger dividend next quarter.
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 $1,015.50 or 36% of the dividend income total. Therefore, the majority of the dividend income came from my taxable account. LET’S GO!!
Related: Maximizing your Roth for 10 Years… Then Set It & Forget It!
Dividend Income Year over Year Comparison
2023:
2024: 
Our dividend income is up… $1,415.69 or 100% increase from last year. Pumped! Wish I could always keep that up.
What changed?
The obvious answer is the $727.46 from FXAIX coming in hot and heavy! Further, VIG and VOO are significantly higher for me than last year, due to buying Vanguard ETFs every single day.
Unfortunately, not all good news, as Leggett & Platt (LEG) dropped that dividend cut, significantly reducing the dividend.
Dividend reinvestment and dividend increases were huge from Broadstone Net Lease (BNL) and Philip Morris (PM).
Time to crack $3,000 next year, let’s go!
Dividend Increases
I received 3 dividend increases this month. Slow and steady. August is actually starting off to a solid start, too. Which dividend increase is the best?
This is easy. Orrstown Financial (ORRF) killed it here for me with a 15% dividend increase. That’s a HUGE increase for a financial instituton, 100%.
Smuckers (SJM) appears to be going through a tough time here, as well, with a low dividend increase.
Related: The Impact of The Dividend Growth Rate!
In total, dividend increases created $26.35 in additional passive dividend income. I would need to invest $752 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 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, dividend news, stock purchases, etc., please see our YouTube video (below), subscribe to our channel and check us out! Accordingly, 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!
