May 2024 Dividend Income

 

It's fitting that I recently finished listening to "Raising the Floor", a book talking about the need for a universal basic income, as today we come to that time of the month where we discuss what is very likely to be the most effective mechanism to fund a basic income: dividends.

I've been at this about six years now.  There have been headwinds, hurdles, and setbacks to be sure. I've got quite a bit of distance to go before I cross that threshold, but I've still made it quite a distance in the aforementioned timespan.  How did the last month pan out?  Let's dive in and see, shall we?

Nasdaq Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.59

General Mills (GIS): $1.93 (IRA)

General Dynamics (GD): $0.37

AGNC: $1.62

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.30

Clorox (CLX): $1.36 (IRA)

Apple (AAPL): $0.02

Kinder Morgan (KMI): $3.23

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.16

Colgate (CL): $1.50 (IRA)

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.57

Tanger Factory Outlet (SKT): $1.54

Gold Hedged Bond Fund ETF (GOLY): $0.07

Lowe's (LOW): $3.30 (IRA)

WisdomTree (DON): $0.12

AT&T (T): $4.70

Verizon (VZ): $7.48 ($0.83 taxable/$6.65 IRA)

Invesco High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $0.17

JP Morgan Premium Equity Index (JEPI): $2.61 (IRA)

Baird Aggregate Bond Fund: $5.92 (401K)

Paychex (PAYX): $2.64

Hormel (HRL): $4.67 ($1.84/$2.83 IRA)

Omega Healthcare (OHI): $5.61

Westrock (WRK): $2.33

Procter & Gamble (PG): $5.60 ($2.58 taxable/$3.02 IRA)

Realty Income (O): $10.13  ($7.82 taxable/$2.31 IRA)

Publix: $95.69 ($67.27/$28.42 401K)

The taxable sub-total comes to $104.38.  Retirement accounts brought in $59.85.  Thus, the grand total for the month clocks in at $164.23.  

Interest came in at $8.42.  The "foundation" account brought in an "additional" $0.16.

There was one round of buys on Robinhood and I added another share of Realty Income (O).  Sadly, still can't do the weekly buys, but I am adding to it when I can so that I can get closer to that 100 share goal.  Moves were made on other fronts (liabilities, savings, fundrise) courtesy of both an "extra" paycheck as well as my tax return coming in.

All in all, it was a solid month.  Mid-quarters rarely disappoint.  We'll see how the next quarter end month fares in comparison.

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February 2024 Dividend Income

 

It's the beginning of the new month after leap day, so let's see if the dividends did any leaping.

General Dynamics (GD): $0.33

AGNC: $1.56

Main Street Capital (MAIN): 0.55

Tanger Factory Outlet (SKT): $1.44

Gold Hedged Bond ETF (GOLY): $0.06

General Mills (GIS): $1.66 (IRA)

Apple (AAPL): $0.02

Kinder Morgan (KMI): $3.11

GlobalXSuperdividend ETF (SDIV): $0.30

Paychex (PAYX): $2.37

Inverse Cramer ETF (SJIM): $0.05

Clorox (CLX): $1.18 (IRA)

Papa Johns (PZZA): $0.19

Lowe's (LOW): $3.30 (IRA)

Starbucks (SBUX): $0.37

Westrock (WRK): $2.31

WisdomTree Midcap Dividend Fund (DON): $0.12

JP Morgan Exchange Traded Fund (JEPI): $2.40 (IRA)

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.15

Colgate (CL): $1.31 (IRA)

Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.31

Procter & Gamble (PG): $5.22  ($2.40 taxable/$2.82 IRA)

Invesco High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $0.18

Baird Aggregate Bond fund: $4.88 (401K)

Hormel (HRL): $4.36  ($1.53 taxable/$2.83 IRA)

Realty Income (O): $9.75  ($7.44 taxable/$2.31 IRA)

Omega Healthcare (OHI): $5.49

Verizon (VZ): $7.47  ($0.82 taxable/$6.65 IRA)

AT&T (T): $4.64

Publix: $64.34   ($41.73 taxable/$22.61 401K)

Subtotal in the taxable accounts came to $77.47.  Retirement accounts threw in $51.95.  All in all, the grand total comes to $129.42.  

Interest brought in $7.36.

Pretty light month as far as buys go.  There was one round of buys on Robinhood (you can read about it here).  

I did buy a share of SoFi's weekly dividend paying ETF (WKLY).  It would have been a great add, building up a position that paid weekly would have made those "off-season" months go so much smoother.  Alas, I found out a few minutes after I bought it that they were going to be shutting it down, thus I sold it.  I did make a good ten cents on that day trade; still, it's a pity.  I did buy a share of Hormel to even that out.  Maybe one day Vanguard will create its own weekly dividend paying ETF, fingers crossed.

The recurring buys continued for the first half of the month.  I re-paused them, as the snowbirds are going to be leaving soon so I have to brace for water treading.  The only one still going is the $50 into Best Buy. It's something, at least.

I was surprised to see the Inverse Cramer ETF pop up this month.  E-trade had shown that it only paid in December so I hadn't really given it much thought.  It turns out that that ETF is shutting its figurative doors as well.  It's a shame, that one would've been interesting to watch.  I never watched "Mad Money", but the meme was (and still is) pretty amusing. 

Nothing too out of the ordinary this month, just keep things chugging along.

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November 2023 Dividend Income

 

Another month has passed and 2023 moves into its denouement. As is tradition, we open the month by looking at what the month prior delivered in terms of dividends.  The mid-quarters are always a big one for me, so this should be interesting.  What's better is that this makes for a nice prelude to the infamous December dividend numbers.  I'm definitely looking forward to that.  Until then, though, let's see how turkey month fared.  

Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.42

J.P. Morgan Exchange Traded Fund (JEPI): $2.87 (IRA)

Armanino Foods of Distinction (AMNF): $0.66

AGNC: $1.50

General Dynamics (GD): $0.32

Tanger Factory Outlet (SKT): $1.43

Apple (AAPL): $0.02

Westrock (WRK): $2.30

Papa Johns (PZZA): $0.18

Hormel (HRL): $4.23   ($1.48 taxable/$2.75 IRA)

Clorox (CLX): $0.92 (IRA)

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.24

Kinder Morgan (KMI): $3.06

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.13

Paychex (PAYX): $2.34

WisdomTree Midcap Dividend Fund (DON): $0.08

Lowe's (LOW): $3.30 (IRA)

Invesco High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $0.17

Omega Healthcare (OHI): $5.38

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.27

AT&T (T): $4.55

Starbucks (SBUX): $0.37

Verizon (VZ): $7.46 ($0.81 taxable/$6.65 IRA)

Procter & Gamble (PG): $5.20 ($2.38 taxable/$2.82 IRA)

Baird Aggregate Bond Fund: $4.97 (401K)

Realty Income (O): $9.12 ($6.82 taxable/$2.30 IRA)

Publix: $62.73 ($41.73 taxable/$21 401K)

Had to save the best for last with that Publix dividend.  They really do most of the heavy lifting for this quarter month, but I'm not complaining.   

The taxable sub-total comes out to $76.64.  Retirement accounts threw in $47.58.  All in all, $124.22 came in the past month.  You can check out last quarter's and last year's numbers here and here for a frame of reference.

Interest clocked in at $4.91, which is about on pace with several of the individual positions, so it's not bad in all honesty.

Pretty light month on the buying front.  There was one round of buys on Robinhood and, of course, the automatic recurring transactions.  I did reimplement the $1/day buys into Ethereum and Doge, so the crypto engine is back up and running.  There are just two more things I need to put into place before I'm back to where I was before the mid-year pause.  

It was a solid month overall.  It's good to get some momentum going into the next year.  Before that, though, the aforementioned December dividends await.  It's going to be a banger, no doubt.

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August 2023 Dividend Income

 

Mid-quarters are a doozy; well, for my portfolio anyway.  As there's no time to doddle, let's dive right in.

Campbell's (CPB): $4.11 ($0.41 taxable/$3.70 IRA)

General Dynamics (GD): $0.32

AGNC: $1.45

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.25

AT&T (T): $4.19

General Mills (GIS): $0.72 (IRA)

Kinder Morgan (KMI): $3.01

Wisdom Tree Midcap Dividend Fund (DON): $0.08

Tanger Factory Outlet (SKT): $1.33

Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD):  $0.44

Lowe's (LOW): $3.30 (IRA)

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.24

Westrock (WRK): $2.07

Starbucks (SBUX): $0.34

JP Morgan Exchange Traded Fund (JEPI): $2.32 (IRA)

Colgate (CL): $0.63 (IRA)

Omega Healthcare (OHI): $5.26

Apple (AAPL): $0.02

Paychex (PAYX): $2.32

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.13

Hormel (HRL): $4.21 ($1.46 taxable/$2.75 IRA)

Papa Johns (PZZA): $0.18

Procter & Gamble (PG): $5.19 ($2.37 taxable/$2.82 IRA)

Invesco High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $0.17

Verizon (VZ): $7.31 ($0.78 taxable/$6.53 IRA)

Clorox (CLX): $0.90 (IRA)

Realty Income (O): $9.01 ($6.71 taxable/$2.30 IRA)

Baird Aggregate Bond Fund: $4.04 (401K)

Publix: $60.76 ($41.73 taxable/$19.03 401K)

The taxable sub-total comes to $75.26.  Retirement account total comes in at $49.04.  All in all, this month brought in $124.30 in dividends.  Very small growth compared to last quarter, but it has been an annoyingly stagnant one, so that is to be expected.

Interest clocked in at $4.25.

Very light month as far as moves go.  There was the $50 into Best Buy.  Beyond that, all I did was re-initiate automatic dollar a day buys into Colgate (CL), Kellogg (K), and General Mills (GIS).  I can't go at it like I was at the year's opening, but it does feel good to at least start getting that ball rolling again.

I also upgraded my Robinhood account to their "Gold" program.  It gets a bigger match on IRA contributions and offers a 4.9% interest rate on the cash in your account. Still not quite at that ING 5% standard set back in the day, but very close. It does cost $5 a month so it'll be operating at a loss in the short term, but long term, this will definitely yield positive results.  The only downside is that with most stock dividend yields below that; it's going to feel like I'm losing ground every time I make a stock buy.  Can't think that way, though.    

Still 4 months left in the year.  Still a good chunk of time to build some upward momentum to end the year on a high note and set the stage for 2024.

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July 2023 Dividend Income: U G L Y This Month Had No Alibi

 

Another month has come and gone.  As such, it's time to take a moment to look back to see how the dividends looked.  Quarter openers are my weakest month, but surprises do happen from time to time.  So, let's see how things fared.

Domino's (DPZ): $0.11

PepsiCo (PEP): $2.08

Kraft Foods (KHC): $1.94

Coca-Cola (KO): $5.26 ($1.58/$3.68 IRA)

SpartanNash (SPTN): $1.12

Paramount Global (PARA): $0.52

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG): $0.78

Vanguard US REIT Fund (VNQ): $0.99

HP (HPQ): $0.29

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): $3.66 ($0.51/$3.15 IRA)

Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF (VOOG): $0.09

Vanguard Utilities ETF (VPU): $0.58

Kimberly Clark (KMB): $6.00 ($1.28/$4.72 IRA)

Iron Mountain (IRM): $3.92

JP Morgan Exchange Traded Fund (JEPI): $2.87 (IRA)

AGNC: $1.43

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.24

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.13

Best Buy (BBY): $10.01

McCormick (MKC): $0.05

WisdomTree (DON): $0.04

Franklin Resources (BEN): $3.42

Realty Income (O): $8.99  ($6.69/$2.30 IRA)

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.25

Invesco High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $0.17

Armanino Foods of Distinction (AMNF): $0.66

Baird Aggregate Bond Fund: $4.14

The taxable sub-total comes to $38.88.  The retirement sub-total is $20.86.  All in all, the portfolio pulled in $59.74.  Interest clocked in at $4.05

It didn't break triple digits like the other two quarter months, but it's a pretty decent number on its own.  On the other hand, a lot of Vanguard ETFs pushed their pay date back, so the number is artificially inflated to a certain degree.

I do like how the Best Buy position is progressing.  That $50/month and dividend reinvestment combo has certainly gotten results. It's really doing most of the heavy lifting this time around.

Speaking of buys, I made four rounds of buys on Robinhood (which you can read about here, here, here, and here).  I also added a share of AT&T (T).  Just about every other investor out there is holding at best or dropping the stock altogether, but I figured for $13, why not?

I also threw $20 into Fundrise.  It was a 50/50 split between the regular fund and their innovation fund, which is more akin to venture capital focusing on tech-based startups.  From what I've read, the name is the best part, but I figured I'd take advantage and branch out a bit.  If I can get in on their IPO the next time that opens up, then I'll have the trifecta as far as that site is concerned.

It was a light month, but car maintenance is a huge pain and it really jacked up my budget this month. The checking account took a hit and I damn near maxed out my credit card, so I did.  I've already started chipping away at it, but I'm going to actually have to breach my "pay in full each month" system for a little while.  Rest assured; I am not looking forward to it.

Oddly enough, market gains offset the losses this month.  It's mostly just on paper, as I'm not selling those stocks anytime soon, but it did make updating the balance sheet a slightly easier pill to swallow.

Still, we endure and move forward. The year's not over yet.  Setbacks can be shaken off and pieces can be put in place to set things up for future growth and success.  

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May 2023 Dividend Income: Time Out

 

Better late than never, it's time to round up the dividend tally for the month of May.  While the quarter-end is generally the dividend investor's strongest month, my portfolio deviates from that in that the mid-quarters are also something of a heavy hitter.  It's been a slow and steady crawl, but the numbers are consistently becoming more impressive.  How does this month stack up?  Let's find out.

Armanino Foods of Distinction (AMNF): $0.66

AT&T (T): $4.13

Campbell's Soup (CPB): $4.10 ($0.40 taxable/$3.70 IRA)

Verizon (VZ): $7.28  ($0.76 taxable/$6.52 IRA)

General Mills (GIS): $0.46 (IRA)

Publix: $58.66 ($41.56 taxable/$17.10 401K)

Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.21

AGNC: $1.40

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.24

General Dynamics (GD): $0.31

Clorox (CLX): $0.69 (IRA)

J.P. Morgan Exchange Traded Trust (JEPI): $3.40 (IRA)

Lowe's (LOW): $3.15 (IRA)

Hormel (HRL): $4.11  ($1.36 taxable/$2.75 IRA)

Kinder Morgan (KMI): $2.96

Omega Healthcare (OHI): $5.15

Proctor & Gamble (PG): $5.17 (2.35 taxable/$2.82 IRA)

Realty Income (O):  $8.15 ($5.85 taxable/$2.30 IRA)

Tanger Factory Outlet (SKT): $1.31

Colgate-Palmolive (CL): $0.50 (IRA)

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.13

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.24

Apple (AAPL): $0.02

Westrock (WRK): $2.05

Paychex (PAYX): $2.28

Starbucks (SBUX): $0.34

Papa Johns (PZZA): $0.17

Invesco High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $0.16

Wisdom Tree (DON): $0.07

Baird Aggregate Bond Fund: $3.69 (401K)

The taxable sub-total comes out to $74.11.  The retirement accounts clocked in $47.08.  All in all the grand total comes out to $121.19.  Crossed the 3 digit threshold, which the most recent quarter end did not.

For further frame of reference, you can check out last quarter's numbers here and last year's numbers here.

Interest clocked in at $3.42

In addition to the Robinhood buys (which you can read about here and here), I also bought 3 shares of Realty Income, 1 share of Franklin Resources (BEN), 1 share of VF Corp (VFC), and 1.67 shares of Publix.  The automatic recurring buys went on for the first half of the month, but had to be put on hold after a curve ball that punched a hole in my savings.  So, the next couple of months will likely be less active as I move to more defensive maneuvers.  The $50/month into Best Buy is still going and I'm still putting money into the 401K, though I did reduce the contribution percentage.  All of the other stuff will be re-established when things are shored up, but for now, I'm actually kind of enjoying the breathing room. 

We're coming up on the end of the first half of the year.  That leaves plenty of time to shake off setbacks and move the needle forward.  

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February 2023 Dividend Income

 

Another month rolls on by, which means that it's time to look back and log the dividends.  February is a shorter month, but the mid-quarter is the heavy hitter for me (barring December) so there's still a lot to cover.  As such, let's dive right in.

Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.20 (+$0.01 from last month, +$0.02 QoQ)

Publix: $32.39   ($20.70 taxable, $11.69 401K)

AT&T  (T):  $4.08  (+$0.07 QoQ, +$1.16 YoY)

Verizon (VZ): $7.28 ($0.75 taxable/$6.53 IRA) (+$0.01 QoQ)

AGNC: $1.35  (+$0.01 MoM, +$0.05 QoQ, +$1.06 YoY)

J.P. Morgan ETF (JEPI): $3.55 (IRA)

Lowe's (LOW): $3.15 (IRA)

General Dynamics (GD): $0.28 

Clorox (CLX): $0.07 (IRA)

GlobalXSuperdividend ETF (SDIV): $0.13

Colgate (CL): $0.05 (IRA)

Hormel (HRL): $4.09 ($1.34 taxable/$2.75 IRA) (+$0.23 QoQ, +$3.33 YoY)

Kinder Morgan (KMI): $2.87   (+$0.32 QoQ, +$1.46 YoY)

Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI): $5.03 (+$0.11 QoQ, +$1.97 YoY)

Proctor & Gamble (PG): $4.91 ($2.17 taxable, $2.74 IRA)  

Realty Income (O): $4.91 ($2.67 taxable, $2.24 IRA) (+$1.17 MoM, +$1.31 QoQ, $3.89 YoY)

Tanger Outlet (SKT): $1.17

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.13

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.24

Apple (AAPL): $0.02

Papa John’s (PZZA): $0.15

Westrock (WRK): $1.76

Paychex (PAYX): $1.99

Invesco High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $0.15

Starbucks (SBUX): $0.33

Wisdom Tree (DON): $0.01

Baird Aggregate Bond Fund: $2.87 (401K)

Taxable sub-total: $47.52

Retirement sub-total: $35.64

Grand total comes to $83.16.  This is down a bit from last quarter, but with no Sprague Resources, I knew that was coming.  I'll recoup the loss in time, and it is still a pretty good number, overall. It's more than double from last year's, so I really can't complain about that.  

Interest clocked in at $2.61

There were 4 rounds of Robinhood buys, which you can read about here, here, here, and here.  Beyond that, it was just the things that I had already talked about at the beginning of the year.  I added four more shares of Realty Income via the weekly purchase and the daily VTI/crypto/gold and silver buys keep chugging along.  The Best Buy purchase did finally go through, it just took a few days for some weird reason.  The same thing happened again this month, but that'll count as March's purchase.  I am glad I started doing that, though. It's good to see the position start growing in earnest.

There were a lot of dividend increases announced this month.  I need to get back in the habit of tracking those, but suffice it to say, it was nuts.  There were some dividend cuts too.  Intel cut theirs, as did VF Corp.  The latter is especially vexing.  Not only is it the larger position, but it was a dividend king.  It sucks to see such a streak end.  On the plus side, if they only cut their dividend once in the past 50 years, it'll be quite a while before the next potential one, right?

2023 keeps chugging along.  It's weird that we're already on the cusp of Q2, but time does have a tendency to fly.

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November 2022 Dividend Income

 

The time has come to give thanks for the dividends that were received the past month.  The mid-quarter months are always something of a humdinger around here and this past month was no exception.  There's a lot to cover, so let's dive right in.

Armanino Foods of Distinction (AMNF): $0.60

Sprague Resources (SRLP): $8.35

Campbell's (CPB): $4.10 ($0.40 taxable/$3.70 IRA)

Publix $30.37 ($20.36 taxable/$9.71 401K)

AT&T (T): $4.01

Verizon (VZ): $7.27 ($0.74 taxable/$6.53 IRA)

Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.18

Lowe's (LOW): $3.15 (IRA)

AGNC: $1.30

General Dynamics (GD): $0.28  

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.12

Apple (AAPL): $0.02

Procter & Gamble (PG): $5.00 ($.26 taxable/$2.74 IRA)

Hormel (HRL): $3.86 ($1.26 taxable/$2.60 IRA)

JP Morgan Exchange Traded Fund (JEPI): $4.85 (IRA)

Realty Income (O): $3.60 ($1.37 taxable/$2.23 IRA)

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.13

Kinder Morgan (KMI): $2.55

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.16

Omega Healthcare (OHI): $4.92

Tanger Factory Outlets (SKT): $1.15

Paychex (PAYX): $1.97

Westrock (WRK): $1.74

Starbucks (SBUX): $0.33

Papa Johns (PZZA): $0.15

Invesco High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $0.15

Wisdom Tree Midcap Dividend Fund (DON): $0.08

Baird Aggregate Bond Fund: $2.31 (401K)

With the IRA now being a factor, I've found a new way to lay things out.  I actually like it better as it streamlines things substantially.  

The sub-total for the taxable accounts came to $54.58.  Retirement accounts threw in $37.82.  Grand total comes to a whopping $92.40.  Dang.  That's crazy, coming up on the triple digits in a non-December month.  It's gonna be sweet.

Bad news, though, is that Sprague went private so that's the last time you'll be seeing that one.  It was a heavy hitter, so crossing the aforementioned threshold is going to take a little longer, but we move forward. On a similar note, Lumen eliminated their dividend, so I sold off that position.  It's fewer things to monitor and it does give me some cash to redeploy so it isn't without an upside.  As of now, the plan is to use that to help fund 2023 endeavors because I have plans.

Interest clocked in at $1.74

In addition to the buys on Robinhood (that you can read about here, here, and here,) I also made single share buys of VF Corp (VFC), Paramount Global (PARA), and Kinder Morgan (KMI).  On top of that, I bought around 3.5 shares of Publix.  It's an asset I plan on utilizing more going forward.  

The portfolio has been updated accordingly.

The mid-quarter month continues to be a force with which to be reckoned.  It is but an appetizer, this time, as next month...next month is gonna be fun.  

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Robinhood Buys: 10/5/2022

 

It's the super-science edition! Go Team Venture!

AT&T (T): $2

Verizon (VZ): $2

Lockheed Martin (LMT): $2

General Dynamics (GD): $2

Intel (INTC): $2

Apple (AAPL): $2

Microsoft (MSFT):  $2 

IBM (IBM): $2

HP (HPQ):  $2 

Lumen Technologies (LUMN): $2

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September 2022 Dividend Income: I Don't Want to Come Back Down From This Cloud

 

We move one step closer to the end of 2022.  In fact, we enter the final stretch as the fourth quarter of the year begins.  For most investors, the quarter end is the highlight month for dividends.  Historically for me, that hasn't been the case, but things can always change and 2022 has been pretty crazy, so an upheaval wouldn't be that surprising.  Will it turn out to be the case?  Let's find out, shall we?

Kroger (KR): $1.74 

SJW: $3.52 

Intel (INTC): $0.28 

Unilever (UL): $0.17 

JM Smucker (SJM): $0.19

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): $0.61

Pfizer (PFE): $1.25

Microsoft (MSFT): $0.03

Emerson (EMR): $0.33

Exxon Mobil (XOM): $7.81

Yum (YUM): $0.17

Lumen (LUMN): $1.44

Walgreen’s Boots Alliance (WBA): $1.04

AGNC: $1.27

Target (TGT): $0.41

Chevron (CVX): $0.41

3M (MMM): $0.47

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.14

Realty Income (O): $3.54

Wendy’s (WEN): $1.32

ConEd (ED): $0.57

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.13

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.10

NextEra Energy (NEE): $2.61

Hershey’s (HSY): $2.07

Home Depot (HD): $3.80

McDonald’s (MCD): $0.34

Flowers Foods (FLO): $1.46

VF Corp (VFC): $1.69

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Fund (VIG): $0.50

Vanguard High Dividend Yield Fund (VYM): $5.45

Kraft Heinz (KHC): $1.75

Invesco High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $0.11

Lockheed Martin (LMT): $0.40

Schwab US Dividend Equity Fund (SCHD): $4.89

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.06

Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.19

Vanguard Total Market ETF (VTI): $4.48

Vanguard REIT Fund (VNQ): $0.95

Wisdom Tree (DON): $0.05

Schwab US Dividend Equity fund (SCHD): $4.46

T.Rowe Price (TROW): $4.80

That brings the sub-total to a whopping $67.  This does include IRA dividends as well.  I'll need to figure out a way to separate those at some point.  So, no, that's not a taxable sub-total.  Still a pretty hefty chunk of change, especially in comparison to last quarter and last year.

The 401K also threw in a little bit

 

Baird Aggregate Bond fund: $2.08

DFA US Small Cap: $1.63

That sub-total comes to $3.71

All in all, dividends clocked in at $70.71.  That is how you end a quarter. It even beat the most recent mid-quarter total.  Those IRA buys clearly made a difference and set things right, allowing the quarter end to reclaim its throne.... well for now anyway.  In the meantime, though, I'm really looking forward to seeing what sort of numbers December ends up presenting.  Considering the humdigger last year's was, this one should be quite a bit of fun.  Admittedly, I was hyped before, but with these IRA moves, it just makes it that much more enticing.

Interest clocked in at $1.21.  Yeah, the contrast between saving and investing is pretty stark.  Still, it's better than nothing and Current is starting to pick up steam.  I'm at semi-daily payments now.  Sure, it's just a penny here and there, but momentum is momentum.

I welcome any positive movement, especially as the balance sheet got clobbered this past month.  Diminished assets and higher liabilities; no bueno.  This coming month is going to be even worse on that front.  I'm going to do what I can to cushion the blow, but it'll still be pretty fugly.  

Will still be investing what I can, of course.  These downturns are a bit of a gut-punch, and it can be frustrating to work and invest only to see the numbers shrink, but you just have to think of that fiscal zenkai boost that'll come when the market does bounce back.  

Speaking of investing, that acts as a nice segue to the next portion of the post.

In addition to the buys on Robinhood (which you can read about here, here, here, and here) I also made single share purchases of Paramount Global (PARA), AT&T (T), and Walgreen's Boots Alliance (WBA) over on E-Trade.

Over in the IRA's, I bought 6 shares of Stanley Black & Decker (SWK), 7 shares of Schwab's US Dividend Equity Fund (SCHD), 8 shares of JP Morgan ETF Trust (JEPI), 4 shares of Kimberly Clark (KMB), 12 shares of Scott's Miracle Gro (SMG), and 12 shares of iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF (DGRO).

I also sold off my position in Store Capital (STOR) after hearing that they were being sold.  I don't think I ended up getting a dividend from them, which is a shame (especially since they announced one last dividend increase shortly after,) but the announcement did drive the price up, so I got a pretty good return on that front.  That did help pay for one of those buys, though I honestly don't remember which one off the top of my head.

That marks the last of the IRA capital.  It's sad.  I'm not going to lie, that was fun.  Now all I can do is wait for the dividends to replenish the cash supply until it hits a point where I can make a substantial buy.  I mean, technically, now that I have a working printer, I can put money in, but truth be told, I'll be firing money in so many directions over the next year or so that I don't mind putting that on hold for a little while.  At least that prevents me from having to set up another account either on E-trade or somewhere else.

The portfolio has been updated accordingly.

September was an interesting month overall.  There's still one quarter left to go.  Plenty of time to move the needle and set the stage for 2023. 

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August 2022 Dividend Income

 

Another month has come to pass.  Before we go forward, let's take a glance back at what the month prior delivered in terms of dividends.  The mid-quarters are my powerhouse month, so this should be interesting to see. 

Publix: $20.36

Armanino Foods of Distinction (AMNF): $0.60

AT&T (T): $3.37 (+$0.09 QoQ, -$0.76 YoY)

Campbell's (CPB): $0.22 (no quarterly change, +$0.07 YoY)

Verizon (VZ): $0.68 (+$0.10 QoQ, +$0.49 YoY)

General Dynamics (GD): $0.25 (+$0.05 QoQ, +$0.19 YoY)

AGNC: $1.25 (+$0.62 QoQ, +$0.80 YoY)

Sprague Resources (SRLP): $8.16 (+$0.35 QoQ, -$2.77 YoY)

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.14 (no quarterly change, +$0.10 YoY)

Apple (AAPL): $0.01

Hormel (HRL): $1.26 (+$0.05 QoQ, +$0.46 YoY)

Kinder Morgan (KMI): $2.51 (+$0.08 QoQ, +$0.47 YoY)

Omega Healthcare (OHI): $4.17 (+$0.10 QoQ, +$1.00 YoY)

Proctor & Gamble (PG): $4.99 (+$2.94 QoQ, +$3.94 YoY)

Realty Income (O): $3.54 (+$2.25 QoQ, +$2.44 YoY)

Tanger Factory Outlet (SKT): $1.04 (+$0.02 QoQ, +$0.68 YoY)

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.12 (+$0.05 QoQ, +$0.10 YoY)

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.10 (+$0.02 QoQ, +$0.08 YoY)

Westrock (WRK): $1.33 (+$0.01 QoQ, +$0.32 YoY)

Paychex (PAYX): $1.96 (+$0.06 QoQ, +$0.50 YoY)

Starbucks (SBUX): $0.30 (+$0.18 QoQ, +$0.21 YoY)

Papa Johns (PZZA): $0.14 (+$0.03 QoQ, +$0.09 YoY)

Nasdaq Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.20 (+$0.17 YoY)

Wisdom Tree (DON): $0.05 (+$0.02 QoQ, +$0.03 YoY)

That brings the sub-total to $56.75, which is up $7.82 from last quarter and up $29.17 (though Publix's pay date shift has more to do with that than anything).  

IRA buys boosted some positions pretty nicely.  A lot of bloggers compartmentalize, but since it's all the same position, I figured I might as well lump it all together.  Although, now that I mention it, I have been compartmentalizing Publix's dividend (we still have the 401K payments, remember).  I could just end up lumping that altogether too and save myself a little bit of trouble.  I mean, the line between retirement dividend and taxable is already blurred anyway, right?  We'll see.

Speaking of the 401K, those numbers are thus

Publix: $7.97 (+$1.32 QoQ)

Baird Aggregate Bond Fund: $1.86 (+$0.34 QoQ, +$1.00 YoY)

That sub-total comes to $9.83, up $1.66 from last quarter and up $5.01 from last year.

Grand total comes to $66.58.  Can't complain about that, not at all.

Interest clocked in at $0.94.  

Current is chugging along nicely.  It's starting to pick up steam and will hopefully negate the drop that was caused by the IRA shift.  

Fundrise is also coming along.  It is paying dividends, but I'm not including that here, as I have ideas as to how to incorporate those numbers going forward.

This was a quasi-light month as far as buys go.  I only had two rounds of buys on Robinhood (which you can read about here and here.)  On E-Trade, I made single share buys of Omega Healthcare and VF Corp.  That's...it.

Most of my stock activity took place in the IRA's, where I continued to redeploy old capital at a pretty solid clip.  I added 8 shares of SJW, 10 shares of Hormel, 2 shares of Hersheys (HSY), 5 shares of VYM, 1 share of VOO, 3 shares of VTI, 3 shares of Lowe's (LOW), 2 shares of Sherwin Williams (SHW), 2 shares of Home Depot (HD), and 4 shares of T. Rowe Price (TROW). 

Quite a few new positions, but they were ones I was planning to add eventually, and they are a bit pricier.  I didn't really want to deal with more fractional positions on Robinhood, so I figured I'd get a dose of them here.

Oh, and the portfolio has been updated, though a majority of the changes were negligible this time around (excluding the IRA buys, natch.)

All in all, this was a solid month.  With the IRA buys, the quarter ends might start becoming a powerhouse in their own right.  It would be more in line with how most investors end up operating.  It's definitely going to be fun to watch how the next few months play out, though.  Should help a rough year end on a slightly higher note and maybe build some positive momentum for 2023.

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July 2022 Dividend Income: Where the Hell Did You Come From!?

 

Like sand through the hourglass, these are the dividends of July.

PepsiCo (PEP): $1.74 (+$0.22 QoQ,  +$0.40 YoY)

SpartanNash (SPTN): $1.06 (+$0.21 QoQ)

Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.39 (+$0.29 QoQ, +$0.36 YoY)

Wisdom Tree (DON): $0.09 (+$0.06 QoQ, +$0.08 YoY)

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.14 (+$0.09 QoQ, +$0.12 YoY)

Dominos (DPZ): $0.08 (+$0.06 YoY)

Invesco High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $0.20 (+$0.05 QoQ)

Coca Cola (KO): $1.42 (+$0.49 QoQ, +$0.57 YoY)

Paramount Global (PARA): $1.22 (+$0.01 QoQ)

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): $1.77 

Kimberly Clark (KMB): $1.21 (+$0.01 QoQ, +$0.06 YoY)

Iron Mountain (IRM):  $3.73 (+$0.04 QoQ, +$0.19 YoY)

HP (HPQ): $0.09 (+$0.01 QoQ)

AGNC: $1.24 (+$0.65 QoQ, +$0.91 YoY)

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.14 (+$0.03 QoQ, +$0.10 YoY)

Realty Income (O): $1.31 (+$0.05 QoQ, +$0.22 YoY)

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.09 (+$0.02 QoQ, +$0.07 YoY)

Franklin Resources (BEN): $2.60 (+$0.03 QoQ, +$0.18 YoY)

Leggett & Platt (LEG): $1.37 (+$0.08 QoQ, +$0.73 YoY)

Best Buy (BBY): $6.54 (+$0.07 QoQ, +$1.49 YoY)

McCormick (MKC): $0.04 (+$0.03 QoQ)

That brings the sub-total to $26.47, which is up $3.69 from last quarter, but down $7.62 from last year.  That's due to Publix's dividend being off, so I can let it slide....this time.

That's just the sub-total, though. We've still got 401K dividends to cover.

DFA US Small Cap: $1.35

 Baird Aggregate Bond Fund: $1.71

That sub-total comes to $3.06.  Put em together and the grand total comes to $29.53.  So close to the $30 threshold, but no cigar.  Will happen next quarter, though. 

Interest clocked in at $0.69.  

In addition to the buys on Robinhood (which you can read about here, here, here, and here) I also made single share buys into Paramount Global (PARA), Wendy's (WEN), AT&T (T), and Franklin Resources (BEN).

But I didn't stop there.  Nope, I also picked up 9 shares of Realty Income (O), 2 shares of Vanguard's Total Market ETF (VTI), 19 shares of Store Capital (STOR), 8 shares of Coca Cola (KO), 6 shares of Exxon Mobil (XOM), 6 shares of NextEra Energy (NEE), 10 shares of Campbell's (CPB), and 10 shares of Verizon (VZ).

So, in the middle of June, Capital One did away with their IRA savings accounts. "Custodianship" was relinquished and passed elsewhere (ie. the accounts were moved to another financial institution.)  The huge perk here is that all the money that I had been slipping into those accounts the past 3 or so years that was just sitting as cash collecting interest can now be pumped into the market.  This is also why the interest payment is substantially lower than it has been.

There are, however, quite a few downsides.  This place is a bit of a dinosaur as it still charges per-trade commissions (hence the larger buys which stand in stark contrast to my more usual scattershot investment approach,) has no automatic dividend reinvestment option, and doesn't even have online deposits.  If I want to put money in, I have to print out a form and mail them a check. It's not the best.

Hopefully, they get their act together, but in the meantime, I've got some money to play with.  I've been doing about $500ish from each of the two accounts each week, so I am hanging with the big dogs for the nonce.  If I maintain this pace (which I see no reason why I wouldn't,) I've got about two more months' worth of capital left, then I'll have to wait for the dividends to replenish them before I can make more moves in those accounts.  

This is gonna be fun.  Should also see a decent spike in the numbers going forward.  It's good because there are times lately where it feels like the numbers have been stagnating.  This could provide a decent jumpstart to the proceedings.

After a month like that, I of course, had to update the portfolio, which I did.  You can read it here.

Kicked the second half of the year off with a pretty good bang if I do say so myself.  There's still five more months to move the needle.  Let's see what we can do.

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May 2022 Dividend Income: Bracket Breaker

 

Word to your mother, it's time for the mid-quarter dividend post.  Why do this? Because dividends are awesome.  It's a rising income floor that can be used to fund...well, anything: life, creative endeavors, philanthropy, whatever.  

Now, for most investors, the numbers peak in the quarter-ends.  My portfolio, however, bucks the trend and seems to do its best work in the mid-quarters (barring December, which has become a powerhouse in its own right.)  So, with that, let's get right to it.

Publix: $20.36 (+$3.62 QoQ and YoY)

AT&T (T): $3.28 (-$2.02 QoQ, -$0.14 YoY)

Campbell's (CPB): $0.22 (-$0.02 QoQ, +$0.10 YoY)

Verizon (VZ): $0.58 (+$0.13 QoQ, +$0.46 YoY)

General Dynamics (GD): $0.20 (+$0.05 QoQ, +$0.17 YoY)

AGNC: $0.63 (+$0.08 QoQ, +$0.31 YoY, +$0.04 from last month)

Sprague Resources (SRLP): $7.81 (+$0.19 QoQ, -$2.82 YoY)

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.14 (+$0.07 QoQ, +$0.10 YoY, +$0.03 from last month)

Apple (AAPL): $0.01 (- QoQ)

Omega Healthcare (OHI): $4.07 (+$0.09 QoQ, +$0.96 YoY)

Realty Income (O): $1.29 (+$0.06 QoQ, +$0.22 YoY, +$0.03 from last month)

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers (SKT): $1.02 (+$0.46 QoQ, +$0.66 YoY)

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.07 (+$0.04 QoQ, +$0.05 YoY, +$0.02 from last month)

Hormel (HRL): $1.21 ($0.04 QoQ, +$0.43 YoY)

Kinder Morgan (KMI): $2.43 (+$0.17 QoQ, +$0.95 YoY)

Procter & Gamble (PG): $2.05 (+$0.88 QoQ, +$1.02 YoY)

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.08 (+$0.03 QoQ, +$0.07 YoY, +$0.01 from last month)

Westrock (WRK): $1.32 (+$0.01 QoQ, +$0.31 YoY)

Paychex (PAYX): $1.90 (+$0.36 QoQ, +$0.47 YoY)

Starbucks (SBUX): $0.12 (-$0.03 QoQ, +$0.05 YoY)

Papa John's (PZZA): $0.11 (+$0.02 QoQ, +$0.09 YoY)

Wisdom Tree (DON): $0.03 (+$0.02 YoY)

That brings the sub-total to $48.93.  Just shy of breaking the $50 without the 401K, not too shabby.  There were some small reductions in a couple of positions, which is kind of weird, but it didn't really make a difference in the grand scheme of things.  The overall trajectory is still going in the right direction as it's up over $6 from last year.

Speaking of the 401K, those dividends were as follows:

Publix: $6.65 (+$2.26 QoQ, +$2.94 YoY)

Baird Aggregate Bond Fund: $1.52 (+$0.35 QoQ, +$0.63 YoY, +$0.23 from last month)

That sub-total comes to $8.17

All in all, the grand total comes to $57.10.  Just shy of $60.  It'll be nice to see this crack the triple digit threshold.  At this rate, the day may come sooner than we think, but we'll see how things play out.

Interest clocked in at $4.97

In addition to the Robinhood buys (which you can read about here, here, here, here, and here) I also bought 4 shares of AGNC on E-Trade.  

I'm making decent progress towards the two goals I have set for each branch of the portfolio.  It's funny, I did cross the full share threshold on a few positions on Robinhood, but I didn't actually get around to updating it just yet.  Eh, hopefully I'll knock a few more positions off and reduce the workload by that much more...so many digits past the decimal; it vexes me.

This whole hunkering thing is pretty vexing too.  I've had to do it before at this time of year, but it is still annoying.

On the plus side, while the "off-season" budget is basically the same from years past, I have the added perk of continuing to juice up the 401K and build up more Publix stock, which didn't happen that much during this time of year before.  So, long term, this still works out better.  I'm hoping to set things up so that I won't have to hunker as much later on down the line because, like I said, it's annoying.  I prefer momentum.  Still, you get what you can when you can get it.  With inflation being what it is, it may not be much, but anything is better than nothing.  We are coming up on the second half of 2022, thus we plow forward.

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April 2022 Dividend Income: Kaio-KEN!!

 

Another month comes to a close, and thus, we mark the occasion by logging the dividends.  Will it be a surprise record breaker?  Let's dive in and find out, shall we?

PepsiCo (PEP): $1.52 (+$0.09 QoQ, +$0.32 YoY)

SpartanNash (SPTN): $0.85 

Invesco High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $0.15 (+$0.14 YoY)

Coca-Cola (KO): $0.93 (+$0.07 YoY)

Paramount Global (PARA): $1.21 (+$0.48 QoQ, +$0.97 YoY)

Kimberly Clark (KMB): $1.20 (+$0.03 QoQ, +$0.06 YoY)

HP (HPQ): $0.08 (- QoQ)

Iron Mountain (IRM): $3.69 (+$0.05 QoQ, +$0.21 YoY)

AGNC: $0.59 (+$0.09 QoQ, +$0.28 YoY, +$0.03 from last month)

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.11 (+$0.03 QoQ, +$0.08 YoY, +$0.03 from last month)

Franklin Resources (BEN): $2.57 (+$0.02 QoQ, +$0.28 YoY)

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.05 (+$0.02 QoQ, +$0.04 YoY, - from last month)

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.07 (+$0.03 QoQ, +$0.06 YoY, +$0.01 from last month)

Realty Income (O): $1.26 (+$0.04 QoQ, +$0.21 YoY, +$0.01 from last month)

Leggett & Platt (LEG): $1.29 (+$0.85 QoQ, +$0.88 YoY)

Best Buy (BBY): $6.47 (+$1.35 QoQ, +$1.45 YoY)

McCormick (MKC): $0.01

Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.10 (-$0.02 QoQ, +$0.09 YoY)

Wisdom Tree (DON): $0.03 (+$0.02 YoY, same as last month)

Armanino Foods (AMNF): $0.60 (+$0.30 QoQ, +$0.35 YoY)

That brings the sub-total to $22.78, which is up $5.33 from last quarter and up $6.08 from last year.

Not too much on the 401K front, the Baird Aggregate Bond fund threw in $1.29 and that was about it.

That brings the grand total to $24.07.  Interest threw in $5.03, which isn't too shabby all things considered.

In addition to the Robinhood buys (which you can read about here, here, here, here, and here) I also made single share buys of AT&T (T), Procter and Gamble (PG, Coca-Cola (KO), SpartanNash (SPTN), and Tanger Outlet (SKT) over on E-Trade.  The AT&T buy was the impromptu one that I made when I saw that the price had dipped below $20.  

I've been trying to get all of my E-Trade positions over the one-dollar dividend mark not taking into account any Robinhood holdings.  All I have left is AGNC, Armanino, and SJW.  It's gonna be good.  It'll also be good to get back to adding to positions that aren't People's United, Tanger, and SpartanNash.  I think they've been neglected the past couple of months.

The real move made this month had nothing to do with me.  Rather, Publix announced a stock split.  This is a rather nifty little accounting hack where a company's stock price is cut to a fraction of what it was, but the number of shares goes up in the same ratio.  It's like a controlled correction.  The dividend per share is less, but doing the math, I think they snuck in a dividend increase, but we'll talk about that next month.  Suffice it to say, the number of Publix shares held increased substantially. As such, when the price goes up, the shareholder's net worth increases much faster.  Of course, the opposite holds true as well.  When it goes down, so too does the individual's net worth.  If you're just holding, you could argue it's a moot point, but it is worth bringing up. In any event, I am looking forward to being able to acquire more shares at that reduced price going forward.

The portfolio has been updated accordingly

April also brought several dividend increases.  Coke, Pepsi, Armanino, Franklin Resources, SpartanNash, Best Buy, and Tanger all upped their dividends.  That last one is the most encouraging as they had suspended their dividend at the beginning of the pandemic.  They still aren't to where they were, but that increase did close the gap quite a bit.  It's just good to see them getting back on the horse after being thrown for a loop.  Their aristocrat streak may be over, but at least they're shaking it off quick.

All in all, April went well.  The dividend numbers weren't jaw dropping, but they were solid.  It was also one of the more active months for the portfolio.  With the snowbirds going home, it was a good way to end the season.  The next few months will be interesting, as I simultaneously hunker down and try to keep some semblance of momentum going.  Throw in all the madness on the macro front and you have a bizarre tight rope to have to walk.  You do what you can with what you've got, and that's really all you can do.  Beyond that, how things play out is anyone's guess.

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