April 2024 Dividend Income

 

Alright, you know what time it is.  Let's do this.

Paramount Global (PARA): $0.53

Kraft-Heinz (KHC): $2.19

Lockheed Martin (LMT): $0.52

Coca-Cola (KO): $5.67   ($1.79 taxable/$3.99 IRA)

Domino's (DPZ): $0.17

PepsiCo (PEP): $5.97 ($2.17 taxable/$3.80 IRA)

HP (HPQ): $0.31

AGNC: $1.60

Gold Hedged Bond Fund (GOLY): $0.07

Kimberly Clark (KMB): $6.24 ($1.36/$4.88 IRA)

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.29

Iron Mountain (IRM): $4.25

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.57

Franklin Resources (BEN): $3.66

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.16

Leggett & Platt (LEG): $2.56

McCormick (MKC): $0.08

Bank of America (BAC): $1.68 (IRA)

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

JP Morgan Exchange Traded Fund (JEPI): $2.76 (IRA)

WisdomTree (DON): $0.12

Armanino Foods of Distinction (AMNF): $2.73

Campbell's (CPB): $4.12 ($0.42/$3.70 IRA)

Baird Aggregate Bond Fund: $5.53 (401K)

Realty Income (O): $9.84 ($7.53/$2.31 IRA)

Best Buy (BBY): $16.07

That brings the taxable sub-total to $49.32.  The retirement accounts brought in $28.54.  All in all, this month clocked in $77.86 of dividends. Interest came in at $7.93 and the "foundation" account brought in $0.09.

There was just one round of buys on Robinhood, which you can read about here.  I also bought a share of Realty Income (O) and the automatic $50 to Best Buy went through.  That was the extent of it.

Pretty light month overall.  Still, progress was made in the right direction, so I will take it regardless. 

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January 2024 Dividend Income

 

New year, new dividend post!  Let's see how the new year started off.  

Paramount Global (PARA): $0.53

Hewlett Packard (HPQ): $0.31

WisdomTree Midcap Dividend Fund (DON): $0.08

Kimberly Clark (KMB): $1.30

Iron Mountain (IRM): $4.21

PepsiCo (PEP): $5.93 ($2.13 taxable/$3.80 IRA)

Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.49

AGNC: $1.54

Realty Income (O): $9.46 ($7.15 taxable/$2.31 IRA)

Main Street (MAIN): $0.52

Leggett & Platt (LEG): $2.51

Franklin Resources (BEN): $3.62

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.13

Gold Hedged Bond ETF (GLDB): $0.06

Best Buy (BBY): $13.84

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

Armanino Foods of Distinction (AMNF): $0.66

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

Baird Aggregate Bond Fund: $4.16

The taxable sub-total comes to $39.66. Retirement accounts pulled in $13.97.   That brings the total to $53.63.  

Interest clocked in at $7.27.

I went a little off the beaten path this month.  The automatic recurring buys continued (even added a couple).  

There were, of course, the Robinhood buys, that you can read about here, here, here, and here.

I also added single shares of Realty Income, the Inverse Cramer ETF (SJIM), the Unusual Whales Subversive Republican Trading ETF (KRUZ), the Unusual Whales Subversive Democratic Trading ETF (NANC).  

It's pretty well established that politicians have a knack for the stock market, so when I saw that these two ETF's existed, I had to try them out.  I was also intrigued by the "inverse cramer" ETF.  There's a running joke that whenever TV host Jim Cramer recommends a stock, the price soon plummets and vice-versa.  As such, a general quasi-facetious "rule of thumb" is to do the opposite of whatever he says if you want to be successful in the stock market.  This ETF takes that concept and runs with it.  Will it pan out?  Not sure.  These are dividend payers, but they only pay in December, so I'm not too incentivized to keep building them, but they will be interesting to watch, no doubt. 

I also added 7 shares of Bank of America (BAC) and 5 shares of Cheesecake Factory (CAKE).  These were done in my non-Robinhood IRA's.  There's no DRIP option there and with them charging per-trade fees, it seemed best to let the dividend cash build up and make this an annual event.  My original plan was to do it in December to accompany the big dividends, but January is always such a letdown, so I decided to hold off and use it as a way to not only keep the momentum going, but to give the new year a little boost.  I think it achieved the desired result and this was just year one, wait until we're five or ten years down the line.  That's gonna be fun.

Until then, though, we press on.  It wasn't a mind-blowing start as far as dividends go, but moves were made.  I said on Twitter that this was going to be more of a "setup 2025" year and I think that this did a decent job of getting started on that overall goal.

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October 2023 Dividend Income

 

Happy Halloween!  As October winds down, what better way to wrap things up than by seeing what treats the portfolio brought in over the last 31 days?  The quarter openers are generally my weakest month, but it should still be interesting, regardless.

Coca Cola (KO): $5.30   ($1.62 taxable/$3.68 IRA)

Paramount Global (PARA): $0.53

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): $3.49   ($0.50 taxable/$2.99 IRA)

HP (HPQ): $0.29

iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF (DGRO): $5.07 ($0.41 taxable/$4.66 IRA)

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Fund (VIG): $0.78

Kimberly Clark (KMB): $6.01   ($1.29 taxable/$4.72 IRA)

Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF (VOOG): $0.10

Iron Mountain (IRM): $4.16

Vanguard Utilities ETF (VPU): $0.63

AGNC: $1.48

Vanguard US REIT Fund (VNQ): $0.79

Franklin Resources (BEN): $3.46

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.24

Leggett & Platt (LEG): $2.47

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.26

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

WisdomTree (DON): $0.03

Invesco High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $0.19

McCormick (MKC): $0.05

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.13

Realty Income (O): $9.08 ($6.78 taxable/$2.30 IRA)

Best Buy (BBY): $11.77

Baird Aggregate Bond Fund: $4.61 (401K)

The taxable sub-total comes to $38.37, which isn't too bad all things considered.  The retirement accounts brought in $26.66.  All in all, the dividend total for the month comes to $65.03.  Still have a way to go before this breaks the triple digit mark, but it's not a bad number in its own right.

Interest clocked in at $4.50.

No real moves in the market this month, aside from the recurring buys.  I did shuffle some things around in the liquid capital front.  Sadly, the attempt to transfer my E-trade assets to Robinhood didn't go through.  I think it was Armanino that stopped it, but I can't be sure.  They do offer to do partial transfers, but I decided against it.  I'd still have two accounts to run and there's a transfer fee that would've rendered it more trouble than it was worth.

To even things out a bit, I did buy into Fundrise's IPO.  I was reluctant, as the minimum buy-in was a bit high and I didn't want to pull even more from my reserves, but it was only open for a narrow window of time.  I didn't want to wait another year and I figured this would be a good way to help lay the groundwork and gain some momentum for 2024.  It's not an income generator, but the price has trended upward, so here's hoping that works out.

Two months left in the year.  It's still a pretty sizable window of time to make progress, but it is moving into "crunch time" territory.  As the expression says, let's freaking go.

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Recurring Buys

 

As more of my investments are of the automated and recurring variety as of late, I thought it would be a good idea to compile them in one place.  This will give people a quick rundown of the money moves that are made "behind the scenes".  I think this will work a lot better than rattling them all off in the monthly dividend posts.  Like the portfolio post, this will be updated when needed so that you know what positions are being built over the course of any given month.  I don't see the list getting quite that long, but who knows?  

Best Buy (BBY): $50/month

Colgate (CL): $1/day (Roth)      (paused)

General Mills (GIS): $1/day (Roth)      (paused)

Kellanova (K): $1/day (Roth)     (paused)

iShares Gold Trust (IAU): $1/day   (paused)

iShares Silver Trust (SLV): $1/day   (paused)

Bitcoin (BTC): $1/day  (paused)

Ethereum (ETH): $1/day  (paused)

Vanguard Total Market Fund (VTI): $7/day    (paused)

WK Kellogg Co. (KLG): $1/day (Roth)      (paused)

Stag Industrial (STAG): $1/week (every Monday)  (paused)

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $1/week (every Tuesday)    (paused)

Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $1/week (every Wednesday)    (paused)

Invesco High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $1/week (every Thursday)   (paused)

GlobalXSuperdividend ETF (SDIV): $1/week (every Friday)   (paused)

Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD): $1/day  (Roth)   (paused)

Clorox (CLX): $1/day (Roth)   (paused)

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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April 2023 Dividend Income

 

The first trimester of 2023 is complete.  As we roll into May, let's take a look back at what dividends came in over the course of Apri.  Quarter openers are interesting for me.  They're the weakest month out of the trio, but it also has some of the bigger payers.  It's not bogged down by pocket change payments like the other two.  Not gonna lie, it's not too shabby.  Anyway, let's dive right in.

You can check out last quarter's numbers here and last year's numbers here for comparison.

Kraft-Heinz (KHC): $1.87

PepsiCo (PEP): $5.30 ($1.85 taxable/$3.45 IRA)

SpartanNash (SPTN): $1.11

Paramount Global (PARA): $2.49

Coca Cola (KO): $5.24 ($1.56 taxable/$3.68 IRA)

Kimberly Clark (KMB): $5.98 ($1.26 taxable/$4.72 IRA)

HP (HPQ): $0.28

Iron Mountain (IRM): $3.87

J.P. Morgan Exchange Traded Fund (JEPI): $3.56 (IRA)

AGNC: $1.37

Franklin Resources (BEN): $3.09 

Leggett & Platt (LEG): $1.86

Realty Income (O): $7.11 ($4.81 taxable/$2.30 IRA)

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.24

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.25

Best Buy (BBY): $8.12

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.13

McCormick (MKC): $0.05

WisdomTree Midcap ETF (DON): $0.03

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

Baird Aggregate Bond Fund (401K): $3.52

That brings the taxable sub-total to $34.39

Retirement sub-total is $21.23

That brings us to 55.62.  Not bad, not bad at all.  For the weakest month, I'm quite happy with that.  It broke the $50 threshold and there was solid growth.  

Interest clocked in at $3.37

Realty Income and Best Buy are doing especially well now that I'm pumping money into those on a pretty regular basis.  Speaking of....

In addition to the recurring buys, I also made some buy batches on Robinhood.  You can read about them here, here, here, and here.  That was about it.  Nothing too outlandish, just kept chugging along.  Up next is the mid-quarter month and those are always fun.   

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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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January 2023 Dividend Income

 

Hard as it may be to believe, we are already 1/12 of the way through the year.  January has come and gone, and as such, we take a moment to look back at the dividends that came in.  This won't total won't come anywhere close to last month's humdinger, but we'll see how things went regardless.

Paramount Global (PARA): $2.45 (+$0.74 QoQ, +$1.72 YoY)

HP (HPQ): $0.19 (+$0.08 QoQ)

Kimberly Clark: $5.87 ($1.23/$4.64 IRA)  (+$4.65 QoQ, +$4.70 YoY)

Iron Mountain (IRM): $3.82 (+$0.04 QoQ, +$0.18 YoY)

JP Morgan Exchange Traded Fund (JEPI): $4.58 (+$0.73 QoQ)  (IRA) 

Best Buy (BBY): $6.71 (+$0.09 QoQ, +$1.59 YoY)

PepsiCo (PEP): $5.27 ($1.82/$3.45 IRA) (+$0.04 QoQ, +$3.84 YoY)

McCormick (MKC): $0.05 

Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.19 (+$0.07 YoY)

GlobalXSuperDividend (SDIV): $0.13 (+$0.01 QoQ and YoY)

AGNC: $1.34 (+$0.06 QoQ, +$0.84 YoY)

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.19 (+$0.05 QoQ, +$0.16 YoY)

Realty Income (O): $3.74 ($1.50/$2.24 IRA) (+$0.14 QoQ, +$2.52 YoY)

Franklin Resources (BEN): $3.06 (+$0.14 QoQ, +$0.51 YoY)

Leggett & Platt (LEG): $1.84 (+$0.46 QoQ, +$1.40 YoY)

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.13 (+$0.09 YoY)

Armanino Foods of Distinction (AMNF): $0.60 (+$0.30 YoY)

Invesco High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $0.15 (+$0.03 QoQ)

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

Baird Aggregate Bond Fund: $2.21 (401K)

That brings the taxable sub-total to $26.25.  That's up $8.80 from last year.  It is down a bit from last quarter, but it's only a few cents and that's because a couple of stocks and ETF's paid last month instead.  I'm good with it.

Retirement accounts brought in $20.82.  Almost an even split.

Grand total comes to $47.07.  Still short of that $50, but it'll get there.

Interest clocked in at $2.36.

In addition to the Robinhood buys (which you can read about here, here, here, and here) I also began my plan to buy 1 share of Realty Income every week. I nabbed 5 shares this month, so that's off to a good start.  My daily VTI/Crypto/gold and silver buys are also chugging along pretty nicely.  Best Buy debited my account for its monthly transaction, but the purchase hasn't gone through quite yet.  I'm guessing that'll constitute a February buy.  I kind of figured that was going to happen, but I'm still hyped to see it start growing.

Still need to update the portfolio.  I'll get around to it at some point this month.

Don't want to jinx it, but so far 2023 seems to be off to a decent start.  There's still a lot of year left, though, so we'll see how things play out going forward.  

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October 2022 Dividend Income: Haymaker

 

The stock market can be a spooooky place.  This is especially true in volatile times such as the ones in which we find ourselves.  One tool that, if used properly, can help you navigate the dark and foggy terrain is dividends.  That little qualifier is an important one, but that is why I, as well as several other dividend bloggers track their progress.  I mean, it's fun too, but ideally it will help educate and inspire others to take their first steps in the path to financial freedom.  I've been at this for a couple of years now and while the numbers did start out comically small (they usually do) if you stick to it, you will see progress and growing momentum.  Will this month prove the point or will a jump scare knock me down a peg or two?   Let's find out, shall we?

PepsiCo (PEP): $5.23 ($1.78 taxable/$3.45 IRA)

SpartanNash (SPTN): $1.07

Domino's (DPZ): $0.09

iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF (DGRO): $4.45 ($0.34 taxable/$4.11 IRA)

Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF (VOOG): $0.07

Coca Cola (KO): $4.98 ($1.46 taxable/$3.52 IRA)

Paramount Global (PARA): $1.71

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): $3.36 ($0.40/$2.94 IRA)

Vanguard Utilities ETF (VPU): $0.63

Iron Mountain (IRM): $3.78

Kimberly Clark (KMB): $1.22

HP (HPQ): $0.11

AGNC: $1.28

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.12

Franklin Resources (BEN): $2.92

Leggett & Platt (LEG): $1.38

Realty Income (O): $3.57 ($1.34 taxable/$2.23 IRA)

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.14

JP Morgan Exchange Traded Fund (JEPI): $3.85 (IRA)

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.13

Best Buy (BBY): $6.62

McCormick (MKC): $0.05

Wisdom Tree (DON): $0.03

Invesco High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $0.12

That brings the taxable sub-total to $26.78, barely up from last quarter. 

Over in the 401K, the Baird Aggregate Bond fund threw in $2.35.  If we add that to the IRA dividends, it comes to $22.45. Thus, the grand total comes out to $49.23.  That is a lot better.  Obviously, those IRA buys made the month.  Be that as it may, coming close to breaking the $50 threshold in the weakest quarter month is pretty nice.

Interest clocked in at $1.45.

In addition to the buys on Robinhood (which you can read about here, here, here, and here) I also made single share buys of Westrock (WRK), VF Corp (VFC), Paramount Global (PARA), and Leggett & Platt (LEG).  Nothing too crazy, but a steady and consistent round of buys for the month.

On other fronts, as expected, the balance sheet took an Ivan Drago right cross to the face, as I had to make a car purchase.  The lease was up on my Civic and while Honda did extend it for another six months, I did need to finally wrap it up and I chose to purchase it.  Of course, I needed a loan, which was a hassle, but there are actually quite a few upsides to this.

For one, there's an endgame.  The lease cycle goes on and on. At least now, I'll hit a point where the loan is paid off and I'll be able to eliminate that expense from the budget.  Not going to lie, I'm looking forward to it.  More money to invest or enjoy, not to mention the fact that it's going to result in a lot less off-season hunkering. 

Better yet, the monthly payment on the loan is less than what I was paying on the lease.  So, if I keep paying what I've been paying, I'll still have it paid off early.  This is the plan, though I'm going on top of even that by throwing another 10 bucks at it every week just for a little extra.  As much as I love the idea of having it paid off in 2023, I'm not sure how realistic a goal that is.  2024 on the other hand, that seems much more doable.  We'll see how things play out, though.

In the meantime, we still have a little under two months left to make moves and set the stage for 2023... or at least prepare for whatever random curve balls the year decides to throw at us.  Hold on to your butts...I guess.

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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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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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January 2022 Dividend Income: CON-SOL-I-DATE! CON-SOL-I-DAAAAAATE!!!!

 

That was a Dalek reference I was going for there.  In any event, the first month of the new year is done and it was a big'un.  Maybe not in the dividends, that's to be expected, though.  Spoilers, it didn't come anywhere close to last month's mind boggling limit break.  Speaking of, we should get to that, shouldn't we?

ViacomCBS (VIAC): $0.73

Kimberly-Clark (KMB): $1.17

Hewlett Packard (HPQ): $0.08

Iron Mountain (IRM): $3.64

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.08

Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.12

Pepsi (PEP): $1.43

AGNC: $0.50

Franklin Resources (BEN): $2.55

Leggett &Platt (LEG): $0.44

Realty Income (O): $1.22

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.03

Best Buy (BBY): $5.12

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.04

Armanino Foods (AMNF): $0.30

That brings the taxable sub-total to $17.45, which is up $4.46 from last year.

The 401K threw in $0.85, up from last year, but again, nowhere close to what it threw out last month. That brings the grand total to $18.30.  

Interest clocked in at $3.92

Nothing mind blowing, but the numbers were decent.  

In addition to the Robinhood buys (which you can read about here, here, here, and here), I also made single share buys of Exxon Mobil (XOM), Leggett & Platt (LEG), and ViacomCBS (VIAC).  I also added nine shares of Armanino Foods (AMNF).  That position has no DRIP option, so it was nice to add to it. I did consider making that a weekly buy (mirroring a strategy that both Dividend Diplomats have been using) but the trade commission would be too much of a burden.  I'm considering implementing that strategy later on down the line, though I'm not sure what position to hit.  That's something to think about, though.

The portfolio still needs to be updated.  

As noted above, 2022 is off to a rousing start.  The credit limit on my card went up.  Admittedly, I pay in full every month, so it's unlikely I'll ever use it, but it is nice to have the breathing room.  I also dropped one of my two jobs.  Yes, the pizza making has reached its end.  Short term, it might lead to some pace slowing as far as money moves go, but long term, this is definitely the right move.  I'll be pumping more into the 401K and getting more Publix stock.  Beyond that, I've actually got time and energy now to do things.  The work/life balance has improved drastically.  By the by, the 5 day 40 hour work week is a cake walk.  I really don't know what people are complaining about.  Freaking bush league.

The balance sheet continues to strengthen, which is impressive given what the market has been doing.  2022 is going to be a powerhouse year.  I'm definitely looking forward to it.

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July 2021 Dividend Income: Curve Ball

 2021 continues to fly by, as we're already into August.  This, of course, means that Christmas is just around the corner.  In the meantime, though, we have dividends to log.  Let's get right to it.

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

PepsiCo (PEP): $1.34 (+$0.14 QoQ, +$0.30 YoY)

Domino's (DPZ): $0.02

Coca Cola (KO): $0.85 (+$-0.01 QoQ)

ViacomCBS (VIAC): $0.48 (+$0.24 QoQ)

Kimberly Clark (KMB): $1.15 (+$0.01 QoQ)

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): $0.17 (+$0.03 QoQ)

Iron Mountain (IRM): $3.54 (+$0.06 QoQ, +$0.29 YoY)

AGNC: $0.33 ( +$0.02 QoQ, +$0.19 YoY)

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.04 (+$0.01 QoQ)

Franklin Resources (BEN): $2.42 (+$0.03 QoQ, +$0.46 YoY)

Leggett & Platt (LEG): $0.44 (+$0.03 QoQ)

Realty Income (O): $1.09 (+$0.04 QoQ, +$0.11 YoY, +$0.01 from last month)

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.02 (+$0.01 QoQ)

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.02 (+$0.01 QoQ)

Best Buy (BBY): $5.05 (+$0.03 QoQ, +$1.17 YoY)

Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.03 (+$0.02 QoQ)

Armanino Foods of Distinction (AMNF) $0.30 (+$0.04 QoQ, +$0.11 YoY)

Wisdom Tree (DON): $0.01

Publix : $16.74

That brings the sub-total to $34.09.  Yeah, Publix paid its dividend a bit early.  The difference was only a couple of days, but it still throws things off quite a bit.  In the grand scheme it doesn't matter, but the quarterly and annual numbers are going to be a bit wonky going forward.  There is one other side effect that you'll notice later that just adds to the weirdness.  This also means that the next mid-quarter post is going to be a bit lackluster. There's no chance of crossing the $50 threshold, though it does give me a bit more time to boost up positions to ensure that I do it on the next go around.

Armanino also threw in another dividend increase, which is always nice to see  

Over in the 401K, the Baird Aggregate Bond fund threw in $0.94.

All in all, the grand dividend total comes to $35.03.  Sure, it's kind of a fluke, but for now, it's a good number.

Interest threw in $2.39

July was an interesting month as far as purchases go.  There weren't any for the first two weeks, then I came back in force.  You can read about the Robinhood buys here, here, here, and here.  Over on E-Trade, I made single share buys of AT&T (T), SpartanNash (SPTN), Kinder Morgan (KMI), AGNC, and Lumen Technologies (LUMN).  Have to average down where you can.

In other fiscal news, the ATM machine at my bank ate my card.  So, while I waited for the replacement, I switched the recurring bills that were set to automatically charge my account through said card to my credit card, which gives me money back.  That bill is going to be a lot bigger, and I'll have to be mindful of the available credit at points, but I am looking forward to hitting that $25 threshold more frequently than I have been.  Really, though, the monthly expenses remain the same, I'm just lumping a bunch of them together and getting money back.  I was annoyed when it first happened, but in the long run, it works out in my favor.

July was a pretty strong month overall.  It is kind of a shame to have the wind cut from next month's posts's sails, but it is what it is.  I'll just have to use the added window of time to make sure that November's numbers are just that much more impressive. Onward and upward, as they say.

 

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January 2021 Dividend Income: Senzu Bean

 

Just like that, the first month of the new year is done.  It hasn't been too shabby, in all honesty.  It's been busy, but I can't complain.  I've been tuning out the news and pulling away from social media (you'd be surprised what a positive effect that has.)  I upped both my 401K and United Way contributions.  I've also been more fiscally aggressive. This was helped, in part, by the $600 economic impact payments that went out earlier in the month.   

As we do, it's time to log the dividends. January is in a tough spot.  We're coming off two strong months, with November's record breaking mid-quarter and December's big 401K payout.  So, right there, this is when some of the air gets let out of the balloon and the numbers start to come back down to Earth. It's made worse by the fact that it's followed by another mid-quarter month.  As far as positions on the dividend calendar go, it's really the worst spot to be in.  Nevertheless, it persists, so with that in mind, let's get to it.

Armanino Foods (AMNF): $0.19  Same as last quarter

Invesco Powershares High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $0.01

ViacomCBS (VIAC): $0.24

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.02

AGNC: $0.28  (+ $0.14 QoQ due to DRIP and a share buy; +$ 0.11 YoY) 

Franklin Resources (BEN): $2.37 (+ $0.11 QoQ; + $0.46 YoY)

Leggett & Platt (LEG): $0.41 Up a penny from last quarter

Pepsi (PEP): $1.13 (+ $0.05 QoQ; + $0.17 YoY)

Best Buy (BBY): $3.92  Up a penny from last quarter

Realty Income (O): $1.02  Up 2 cents from last month due to DRIP and a partial share buy

Iron Mountain (IRM): $3.41 (+ $0.08 QoQ; + $1.48 YoY)

This brings the sub-total to $12.99, which is $0.54 higher than last quarter and up $6.34 from last year.

Over in the 401K, the Baird Aggregate Bond fund thew in $0.63.  It's a down a couple of cents from last quarter, but higher than last year.  

All in all, the portfolio pulled in $13.62, not too much growth QoQ, but the YoY spread is much better.  

Interest clocked in at $2.57. How banks can boast about high yield savings accounts at this point is beyond me.

 

In addition to the Robinhood buys (which you can read about here and here) I also made some moves over in my primary brokerage account.  I made single share buys of Kimberly Clark (KMB), People's United (PBCT), Lumen (LUMN),  and Wendy's (WEN).  A share of Tanger (SKT) was added as well, seeing as they announced that they were bringing their dividend back, albeit at a lower amount than it was pre-suspension.  Still, it's better than nothing.

I also sold my last remaining share of Bed, Bath, and Beyond (BBBY).  I wasn't really sweating the 'wallstreetbets" stuff.  I only had one share with a buy point of $8.  There really wasn't too much that could happen there that would affect me drastically.  Still, I had family members texting me telling me to sell, so I caved and sold it at $45.  It wasn't paying a dividend anyway, so I can't really say that cashing out was a bad move.  I took that money and used it for coke...a share of Coca-Cola (KO) to be more specific.  Yes, I know the "C" should have been capitalized, but keeping it lower cased makes the joke work, so just roll with it.  This did eliminate two one share positions in one fol swoop.  I'm hoping to phase those out in the months ahead.

The portfolio has been updated accordingly.  

All in all, January was OK.  Bad spot aside, the numbers were solid, sans the interest which needs to stop going down.  Hopefully, this'll break the $20 barrier this year; we'll see.  Next month's post should definitely be fun, though.

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