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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June 2023 Dividend Income: Total Defense

 

Q3/H2 of 2023 is officially underway.  As is tradition, we kick off the new month by looking back at the one that came before.  More specifically, we see what dividends came in, both because it's fun and because it's a good way to stay motivated as you fight to achieve financial freedom or just raise your fiscal power level in general.  With this being a quarter ending month, it should be a banger, so let's dive in to see how things played out.

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.44

Kroger (KR): $1.81

SJW: $3.84 ($0.80 taxable/$3.04 IRA)

Intel (INTC): $0.14

J.M. Smucker (SJM): $0.21

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): $0.70

Sherwin Williams (SHW): $1.21 (IRA)

J.P. Morgan Exchange Traded Fund (JEPI): $2.92 (IRA)

AGNC: $1.41

Exxon Mobil (XOM): $8.55 ($2.92 taxable/$5.63 IRA)

Pfizer (PFE): $1.31

Microsoft (MSFT): $0.04

Emerson (EMR): $0.35

Yum: $0.19

Scott's Miracle Gro (SMG): $7.92 (IRA)

Target (TGT): $0.47

IBM: $0.18

3M (MMM): $0.49

Chevron (CVX): $0.49

iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF (DGRO): $3.40 ($0.28 taxable/$3.12 IRA)

Walgreen's Boots Alliance (WBA): $1.58

Northrop Grumman (NOC): $0.42 (IRA)

Realty Income (O): $8.94 ($6.64 taxable/$2.30 IRA)

Wendy's (WEN): $2.70

ConEd (ED): $0.84

Unilever (UL): $0.30

NextEra Energy (NEE): $2.99 ($0.18 taxable/$2.81 IRA)

Kellogg (K): $0.82 (IRA)

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.13

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.49

Hershey's (HSY): $2.07 (IRA)

Home Depot (HD): $4.18 (IRA)

VF Corp (VFC): $0.32

McDonald's (MCD): $0.46

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

Lockheed Martin (LMT): $0.48

Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM): $6.44 ($0.99 taxable/$5.45 IRA)

Stanley Black and Decker (SWK): $4.80 (IRA)

Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD): $5.69 ($0.70 taxable/$4.99 IRA)

Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.22

Vanguard Total Market ETF (VTI): $7.41  ($3.28 taxable/$4.13 IRA)

WisdomTree Midcap Dividend Fund (DON): $0.08

T. Rowe Price (TROW): $4.88 (IRA)

American Europacific Growth Fund: $2.82   (401K)

Baird Aggregate Bond Fund: $3.66    (401K)

DFA US Small Cap: $2.60     (401K)

Taxable sub-total comes out to $31.78.  Retirement comes to $69.77.  That brings the grand total to $101.55.   By the skin of my freaking teeth.  Still, crossing the threshold is crossing the threshold, no matter how narrow the margin is.  That's a win.  Now all that's left is to get the quarter opener to this level.

Oh, and interest clocked in at $3.79.

For frame of reference, check out last quarter's and last year's posts.

It was a pretty light month on the stock purchase front.  I made some paltry buys on Robinhood (which you can read about here and here.)   I also bought a share of Leggett & Platt (LEG) and $50 into Best Buy.  

The portfolio has been updated accordingly.

All in all, not a bad way to kick off the second half of the year.  Hopefully, there will be a re-establishment of momentum in the months to come, but we'll see how things go.

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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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March 2023 Dividend Income: Wolf Fang Fist!

 

The first quarter of the year is over and it was...bumpy.  The craziness just won't stop. I'm holding the line fairly well, all things considered.  I keep reading about how dire things are for a lot of other people and how they're draining savings and running up credit card debt.  Haven't had to resort to that, thankfully, but it's no cake walk.  In tumultuous times, you turn to your port in the storm; which, in this case, is dividends.  That's right, this is money companies pay you even if you don't work for them.  It's a pretty sweet arrangement.  I've been tracking them for some time now and it is, once again, time to log the numbers for the past month.  This being a quarter end, it's a highlight for most investors.  For a while, the mid-quarter was my shining month, but the tide has turned the past few quarters.  Will that trend continue? Let's find out and dive right in.

Kroger (KR): $1.79

SJW Group (SJW): $3.84  ($0.80 taxable/$3.04 IRA)

Intel (INTC): $0.41

J.M. Smucker (SJM): $0.20

Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.40

Pfizer (PFE): $1.30

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): $0.66

J.P. Morgan Exchange Traded Fund (JEPI): $3.29 (IRA)

Microsoft (MSFT): $0.04

AGNC: $1.36

Chevron (CVX): $0.47

IBM: $0.18

Emerson (EMR): $0.33

Exxon Mobil (XOM): $8.35 ($2.89 taxable/$5.46 IRA)

Target (TGT): $0.44

Yum: $0.19

Sherwin Williams (SHW): $1.21 (IRA)

Scott's Miracle Gro (SMG): $7.92 (IRA)

Walgreen's Boots Alliance (WBA): $1.55

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.25

3M (MMM): $0.49

Realty Income (O): $5.81 ($3.52 taxable/$2.29 IRA)

Wendy's (WEN): $2.67

Northrop Grumman (NOC): $0.13 (IRA)

Kellogg (K): $0.29 (IRA)

ConEd (ED): $0.83

McDonald's (MCD): $0.44

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.13

NextEra Energy (NEE): $2.95 ($0.14 taxable/$2.81 IRA)

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.43

Hershey's (HSY): $2.07 (IRA)

Flower's Foods (FLO): $1.49

VF Corp (VFC): $1.78

Unilever (UL): $0.26

Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM): $5.10 ($0.80/$4.30 IRA)

Stanley Black & Decker (SWK): $4.80 (IRA)

Home Depot (HD): $4.18 (IRA)

Lockheed Martin (LMT): $0.45

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

Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD): $4.80  ($0.62 taxable/$4.18 IRA)

Vanguard Total Market ETF (VTI): $5.99  ($2.06 taxable/$3.93 IRA)

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG): $0.73

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): $3.40  ($0.43 taxable/$2.97 IRA)

iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF (DGRO): $3.89   ($0.31 taxable/$3.58 IRA)

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

Vanguard Utilities ETF (VPU): $0.57

Vanguard US REIT Fund (VNQ): $0.82

Domino's (DPZ): $0.11

Wisdom Tree (DON): $0.11

T. Rowe Price (TROW): $4.88 (IRA)

Baird Aggregate Bond Fund: $3.43 (401K)

DFA US Small Cap: $2.12

Whew, that's a doozy.  Ok, so the sub-total for the taxable income that can be used today came out to $32.69.  Not too bad.  The retirement income came out to $66.87.  That brings the grand total to $99.56.  

Gah! So close! You're killin' me, Smalls, killin' me softly.  Actually, I'm happy with that number overall.  We're starting to see momentum building.  

Interest clocked in at $2.97, so the overall passive income total does cross the 3 digit threshold.  Next quarter end is a lock, though

You're can already see the effect the Realty Income and VTI buys, which is kind of neat.  

Speaking of buys, I maintained my plan and also made some buys on Robinhood (which you can read about here, here, and here.  I also threw in an impromptu buy for a share of Westrock (WRK).  Publix also kicked in with its PROFIT plan and 401k match.  I missed out on it last year, so it was nice to see it juice up the balance sheet again.  You can see the fairly recently updated portfolio post here.

While 2023 is living up to my prediction, the quarter end continues to shine.  It's good to see progress being made.  Just have to keep pressing onward.

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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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2023 Opening Salvo

 With the start of a new year, it's a fitting time to lay the groundwork for forward progress.  As such, let's dive in to see the moves I plan on making going forward.

15% to 401K

It wasn't that long ago that Publix capped an employee's 401K contribution to 10% of their income.  They upped the cap to 30%, but I've been doing 1% increases each year.  This time, I'm doubling that rate.  15% seems to be the magic number as far as building retirement savings goes and it also means that Baby Step 4 is done.  Sure, I'm using those as more of a loose guideline than a hard and fast rule (I'm what the fandom calls "ish"), but hey, a finished step is a finished step.  It should hopefully make an impact come next year's tax season and it'll boost the numbers in that account a bit faster.

$15 a week to Fundrise

A 50% increase, woo!  Yeah, OK, it's not a game changer, but at this rate, I will get to the "basic" account level this year.  That'll enable me to partake in the iPO as well as their innovation fund, so that's something to look forward to.

1 share of Realty Income weekly 

I've seen quite a few investors as of late adopt this strategy of picking a position and buying it every week, regardless of price.  It's dollar cost averaging and it seems to work pretty well.  Is my portfolio too small for this?  Maybe, I mean, there's still dividend reinvestment, Publix stock, and I'll only be doing this until I hit 100 shares.  After that, I'll shift the strategy to another position.  Thus, it'll even out eventually.  I should note that total refers only to E-trade.  Robinhood and IRA holdings aren't going to be counted as I view each branch of the overall portfolio as its own thing.  With monthly dividend reinvestment and quarterly increases (that will make bigger impacts the further along we go,) it should be a pretty smooth journey.  It'll still take a little under 2 years just going by basic math, but I think it's a good way to really get the ball rolling.

Sadly, E-Trade doesn't have an automatic recurring buy option, so I'm going to have to do this manually.  It's a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things, but having it happen on its own would have been nice.

$7/Day to VTI

With the market as volatile as it is, some are taking the dollar cost average strategy even further and making daily buys.  These lean towards ETF's, as opposed to single companies.  Again, seems to work pretty well, so why shouldn't I do it, right?  VTI's a solid one to use as a baseline.  It's not a huge move, but it should move the needle.

$1/Day to Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Dogecoin (DOGE)

And you thought the stock market was volatile.  Yes, crypto is on a downward slide, but that seems to be the nature of the beast.  It falls, then shoots back up dramatically.  This is dollar cost averaging in its most literal form.  The upcoming price drops won't devastate me, but I should still see some gains on the upswing.

$1/Day to iShares Gold Trust (IAU) and iShares Silver Trust (SLV)

Admittedly, this isn't an income generator, but it is a bit more asset diversification.  Both are pretty solid investments and act as fairly good hedges against inflation.  I think we can agree that some of that wouldn't hurt right now.  I like this as I can make the investment without opening up another account.  I have quite enough, thank you.

$50/Month to Best Buy

Best Buy is a unique position in my portfolio.  It isn't under the E-Trade or Robinhood umbrellas, instead standing on its own.  That's because that's my first stock holding.  Barnes and Noble may have gotten this investing odyssey started in earnest, but this is the real OG as far as my investments go.  Despite this, I haven't really done too much with it.  I only recently started reinvesting the dividends, but other than that, it's just been sitting there.  Well, no longer.  Now I'm going to start watering this plant.  Like Robinhood, I can do automatic recurring buys.  Monthly is their only option, though, so that's what I'm going with.  It's OK, it's still a step up from what I was doing before.  This will also help mitigate Realty Income becoming too heavy in my holdings in the short term.

So, there you have it.  It's quite possible that this is the extent of my market moves for the year.  With the big economic poop storm looming, I'm thinking I should shift my focus towards bolstering my defenses. Beefing up savings accounts and attacking liabilities will probably be the main focus.  We'll see how things play out though.  At least, this way, I can stay in the market without worrying too much.  No panic selling here.  

All indicators point to 2023 being a bumpy ride.  Hopefully, this makes things a bit smoother.

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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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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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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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February 2022 Dividend Income: One Paunch Man

 

Another month comes to a close.  As such, it is time to log the dividends that came in.  The mid-quarter list is a bit on the lengthy side, so I won't waste too much time and just get right to it.

AT&T (T): $5.30 (+2.38 YoY)

Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $0.07 (+$0.06 YoY)

Campbell's Soup (CPB): $0.24

Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.06

Verizon (VZ): $0.45

Publix: $16.74 (+$7.56 YoY)

General Dynamics (GD): $0.15

Sprague Resources (SRLP): $7.62 (-2.05 YoY)

AGNC: $0.55 (+$0.26 YoY)

Apple (AAPL): $0.01

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.07 (+$0.05 YoY)

Hormel (HRL): $1.17 (+$0.41 YoY)

Kinder Morgan (KMI): $2.26 (+$0.85 YoY)

People's United Bank (PBCT): $0.75 (+$0.39 YoY)

Omega HealthCare Investors (OHI): $3.98 (+$0.92 YoY)

Proctor & Gamble (PG): $1.17 (+$0.30 YoY)

Realty Income (O): $1.23 (+$0.21 YoY)

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers (SKT): $0.56 (+$0.20 YoY)

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.05

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.03

Papa Johns (PZZA): $0.09 

Westrock (WRK): $1.31 (+$0.47 YoY)

Paychex (PAYX): $1.54 (+$0.21 YoY)

Starbucks (SBUX): $0.15

That brings the taxable total to $45.53, up $13.39 from last year.  No quarterly numbers as I was between computers at the time.  Sprague cut their dividend which does suck.  It's still one of the heavy hitters for the month, but it is still vexing.

It's funny, before my old computer died out, I was mulling doing a blog post about the company.  Sure, it's not a "growth" stock in the traditional sense, but as you noticed over the past couple of years, the DRIP factor is insane.  While they had a high yield, they were able to sustain it through 2020, a year where aristocrats and kings were forced to slow their roll.  My logic then was that if they could make it through that, then the dividend must be pretty safe.  Apparently, that was incorrect.  

As of now, I'm holding.  As noted, it is still kind of a cornerstone.  The aforementioned DRIP will undo the damage over time, but barring the occasional micro-buy on Robinhood, I don't see me going to this one too much.  Of course, I wasn't really before, as I never felt the need to, so I guess nothing has really changed on that front.

On to the 401K numbers

Publix: $4.39

Baird Aggregate Bond Fund: $1.17

That brings the 401K total to $5.64

Grand total comes to...... $51.03.  Broke the $50 threshold, boom tough actin tinactin.  OK, granted, December beat it to the punch and cut the wind from its sails (kept it from being a record breaker too), but it still a nice milestone for the quarter month.  Honestly, with Sprague's cut, I was worried that I was going to come up short again, so I am quite happy with the result that I got.  Yes, AT&T's dividend cut still looms, but I'm not too worried about that. Luckily, I have a trump card that will more than negate it.

Interest clocked in at $4.94.  A lot of that is from the IRA's, but it's not a bad number, especially considering interest rates are garbage.  Remember when ING online accounts were paying 5% interest?  Man, those were the days.  They need to bring that back.

In addition to the Robinhood buys (which you can read about here, here, and here), I also made single share buys of People's United Bank (PBCT), Leggett & Platt (LEG), and Lumen (LUMN).  The Robinhood buys are smaller than usual, as I am adjusting to a new budget and cashflow.  Still, moves are moves.

I will miss the bi-weekly infusions of capital that came from the other job, but it turns out that I missed me more.  This new setup is working like gangbusters.  I'm exercising.  There were a few things that prompted this, but I do recall seeing a news story talking about how people who were home all day due to lockdowns were able to get into better shape because they had a ton of time to exercise.  Now that I actually have time, I am making it a priority. Calling what I do a workout would be a bit of a stretch (ba dum tish) but I'm building up.  I started with planks and pushups, then added a 3-4 mile walk mostly every day.    This is probably the cornerstone of the regiment, but as I use the charity miles app, it also helps advance things on much larger fronts.  I also threw in jump rope for good measure.   Actual lifting will come into the equation at some point, but this is working pretty well for now.

As is the case with the fiscal stuff, the physical is something of a long game.  I am looking forward to seeing what the gains look like come December.  

I'm also starting to go to church again, so yeah, this was totally the right move.  

What lies ahead for 2022? Who knows at this point?  All we can do is put our heads down and plow through as best we can, right? Right.  So, onward and upward.

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