Dividend Income

August Dividend Income and Net Worth Report – 2018

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August’s dividend income was a massive success.  I’ve really reached a point in my dividend investing journey where every month’s dividend income feels substantial.  And, it’s a great feeling!  Net worth has worked its way up slightly this month as well, even with some ridiculous cash expenses.

 

August Dividend Income

In a fun turn of events, I was able to more than double the dividend income I received in August 2017.  While this has been the trend for the last few months, this YOY doubling will soon end.  Now, while we are a looking back to the past, my August dividend income has increased a whopping 457.1% since August 2016.

This month I received $1,031.92 in dividend income!  On average, I was paid $39.68 from 26 different companies!!  This month’s dividend income is a solid 122.3% increase over August 2107.
That’s $567.71 more dividend income than last August!

Dividend Income - August 2018


Here is a chart of my passive dividend income progress over the last 3 years.

The dividend portfolio has been updated.

This month’s dividend income covers my utilities, groceries, internet, cell phone and car insurance for the month.

August Dividend Increases

Here are the realized dividend increases I received this month.  Thanks to the Trump tax cuts, this was another nice month of double digit increases.  Four of my holdings increased their dividends by over 10%!  My future income is banking on significant and steady dividend increases, so this was a welcome month. All in all, August turned out great with a total of 7 dividend raises.

Dividend Increases - August 2018

NameTickerNew DivOld Div% IncreaseEx-DatePayment Date
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc.CBRL1.251.204.17%7/11/188/5/18
Lowe's Companies, Inc.LOW0.480.4117.07%7/23/188/7/18
Starbucks CorporationSBUX0.360.3020.00%8/7/188/23/18
Fastenal CompanyFAST0.400.378.11%7/23/188/21/18
Deere & CompanyDE0.690.6015.00%6/27/188/1/18
National Retail Properties, Inc.NNN0.500.485.26%7/29/188/15/18
Caterpillar Inc.CAT0.860.7810.26%7/18/188/19/18

August’s dividend increases add $92.44 in annual dividend income!   Investing in dividend stocks is fantastic!

Net Worth

I barely squeaked out a gain in net worth this month.  The market did fine, but unexpected expenses almost turned the month red.

Let’s do the numbers…

Cash

I spent some big money this month.  Unfortunately, we had a few emergency expenses pop-up that set us back, big time.  Fortunately, we had the cash reserves to handle these expenses without going into debt.

First, my wife’s car brake booster stopped working.  This was clearly a safety issue and had to be repaired at once.  That was $700.

Next, my AC stopped working in my car.  I ended up needing to have my AC compressor replaced.  While this wasn’t an emergency, it is really hot in Atlanta, and my car/sauna needed to be repaired.  That was $750 out the window.

Finally, our home PC of 8 years, a laptop, kicked the bucket.  Fortunately, this happened close to the labor day holiday and we were able to get a solidly specced replacement at a great price.  There goes $950.  I haven’t played any video games on a computer in 10 years… but now I have a setup that should handle that demand nicely, if needed.

I still have a large horde of cash.  This is sitting in a high yielding (well, as high as you can find) money market account cash is earning 1.85%.  However, with the 10yr at almost at 3%, I might be making some moves.

Real Estate

Not a whole lot of developments here on the real estate front.  I received an updated property tax bill.  The new, revised property bill is still over 5k.  I have appealed their valuation and am waiting for the tax commissioner to provide a hearing date.

I’ve been keeping my eyes open for any new rental property deals in my area.  No luck yet.  Everything is so expensive right now.

Wrap-up

I’m thrilled with the progress I’m making.  My new favorite part of writing these reports is updating my portfolio with the dividend raises I received in the month.  I can’t believe I haven’t been doing that from the start.

I’m worried about the trade war with China and the consequences of this new round of 25% tariffs on 200 billion dollars worth of goods.  This is going to be a big deal if no agreement can be reached with China.  We, USA citizens, could be in for a really rough ride if no bargain is struck.

I’m going to continue to look for the best values I can find just like I did with this August new purchases of a little over $4,000.

 

How did you do this month?  Break any records?

I'm a dividend growth investor who is aiming to retire early in 4 years at the age of 45. My goal is to live off the income my dividend portfolio and rental property produce exclusively and leave the corporate rat race. I hope you will join me in this journey!

10 Comments

  1. Great dividends received last month… glad you were able to pay out the unforeseen expenses without breaking the bank. I can only imagine the feeling of having your expenses covered by your dividends.

    • Blake

      Thanks DRD. It is indeed a great feeling to have a good percentage of monthly expenses handled by dividend income. I’m very motivated to make that percentage 100%. Can’t come fast enough 😉

  2. You have to love those 4-digit months! The YoY growth is fantastic, and compared to two years ago that is down right ridiculous! Looks like we share 10 holdings from August, and I should be adding an 11th if the price will come down a bit more and hit my limit order.

    It is nice to have the cash reserves when unexpected expenses do arise, and like you I keep considering my plans for cash to see if I can improve on the 1.85% without losing too much flexibility.

    Great update and look forward to your September results!

    • Blake

      Thanks DD. I’m surprised it’s only 10… but glad it should soon be 11. It’s hard keeping a large cash position, right? There are thousands of things that try to separate one from their money everyday. Patience is hard. Thanks for stopping by, always glad to hear from you!

  3. Pig –

    Breaking records, investing money and living your life is the way to do it. Just crushing it! Set a record myself, but gosh damn – over $1k is steller. Nice job DP, keep grinding and plowing.

    -Lanny

  4. Good job. Some good companies there. We share 6 of them. I think a trade war could get us some good buying opportunities. That’s also an awesome YOY increase. Keep it up.

    • Blake

      Thanks Doug! I agree about the trade war and buying opportunities. However, I would prefer that to not be the catalyst for a massive correction.

  5. Wow. That is some great returns that you have seen. It is always nice when we have saved some cash for when these types of emergencies happen. Hopefully you will get a good resolution on your property tax case soon. Overall, good job Dividend Pig. Thanks for sharing

    • Blake

      Hi MD. It’s been a heck of a ride. While the gains will begin to slow, as long as they keep moving up (even slowly), I’ll be happy! Thanks for stopping by!

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