May 2020 Dividend Income: My IRA is Maximum

You can ride to 'em, bounce to 'em, and freak to 'em.  That's right, it's time for the dividends.  Let's get it on.

AT&T (T): $1.64   Up $0.55 from last quarter due to DRIP  and a purchase. YoY is up $0.60

AGNC: $0.13  Down $0.04 from last quarter and $0.05 from last year due to a dividend cut.  With the pandemic, these are becoming far too common.  Thankfully, this is a small position, so the damage isn't too great.

Sprague Resources (SRLP): $8.51  Up $0.46 from last quarter due to DRIP and up $4.93 from last year.  I am legitimately shocked that this dividend has held up the way that it has. Fingers crossed, it can keep things copasetic.

Hormel (HRL): $0.71  Same as last quarter and up $0.29 from last year due to DRIP and a purchase

Kinder Morgan (KMI): $1.09  Up $0.07 from last quater due to DRIP and a dividend increase.

Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI): $2.23  Up $0.04 from last quarter due to DRIP and $0.18 from last year

Realty Income (O): $0.97  Same as last month and up $0.24 from last quarter due to a purchase. YoY is up $0.28

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers (SKT): $1.53  Up $0.05 from last quarter due to DRIP and a dividend increase.

Diversified Healthcare Trust (DHC): $0.01  Ow.  That's down $0.15 from last quarter.  Another tiny position, but percentage wise, that one was still pretty brutal.

Paychex (PAYX): $1.30  Up a penny from last quarter and up $0.04 from last year.

Westrock (WRK): $0.82  Down $0.62 from last quarter due to a dividend cut.  This one surprised me, to be honest.  A lot of the stuff that gets shipped to our store comes in Westrock boxes, so I figured that they were chugging along fine, even amid all the COVID chaos.  Maybe it's a precautionary measure for possible rocky times ahead?  I don't know.

Publix threw in a whopping $9.18 outside the 401K.  That's a huge spike due to an employee perk and a dividend increase.

That brings the non 401K dividend total to $28.12, up $5.53 from last quarter.

Speaking of the 401K, Publix threw in another $2.19 in there as well, up $0.72 from last quarter.  Another fund threw in $0.82, giving us a total of $3.01 for the retirement account.

The grand total comes to $31.13, new record and a milestone.  Noice.

Interest clocked in at $3.26  Up $0.09 from last month.


I did make some small additions to the portfolio.  I added another share of Tanger (SKT) the day before they announced that they were suspending their dividend.  It's not surprising considering that everything is closed, but it's still vexing.  I suppose I put too much stock (heh) in their status as an aristocrat.  Then again, as we saw, they did increase their dividend this year. If they reinstate it before year's end does the streak keep going or does the suspension break it either way?  I have no clue.

The second purchase was a share of Proctor and Gamble (PG).  The portfolio has been updated accordingly.

The real move this month was maxing out my IRA contribution....for 2019.  Harder than it sounds, and both the employment impact payment and the extended tax deadline proved incredibly useful, but I got it done.  I haven't even started on 2020 yet.  I like the idea of going into 2021 without having to make catch up contributions, but I don't know how realistic a goal that is.   We'll see how things play out, though.

All in all, this was a solid month.  The forward income did take some whacks, and there will be more to come, I'm sure, but things are chugging along quite nicely so far.  Whether the second half of 2020 starts to simmer down or whether the madness continues remains to be seen.  It should be interesting, though, to say the least.

                           "stock dividend" by CreditDebitPro is licensed under CC BY 2.0 














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'15 Minutes With Juice' - Take 1

'Let's Get It Right' - Remake

In which Juice adds some new flavors.

Dungeons and Dragons Essentials Dungeon Master's Kit

You can read my review here.



                                   

Pros

- Comes with gear that can be used even if you prefer to run a different system.  

- Comes with an adventure to allow for "pick up and play" gaming and give new DMs an easy way to get acclimated

- The DM screen itself is impressive, featuring great artwork and a handy set of tables and charts for quick reference.

Cons

- The DM guide itself spends a lot of time covering rules that were explained elsewhere

- No dice

- Evidently, the price has gone up significantly.  Ideally, you'll find a copy in a much more affordable range, because that price tag negates the value considerably.

Overall

I maintain that I'd be a better player than DM, but I have to admit that they do get cool stuff beyond just books.  This kit gives you a good way to get started. Even if you're a more experienced DM and not a fan of fourth edition, the supplemental stuff still makes this worthwhile.  From what I gather, DM's can never have too many maps, the tokens are useful, and even if you don't run the adventure as it is, you could cherry pick aspects like characters, settings, or encounters to help get the creative juices for your own campaign going.

'Let's Get It Right' Double Feature - NFC West and AFC Previews

Due to being super busy, I wasn't able to put up a prior episode.  So, in order to get caught up, here's a two-fer.

'Let's Get It Right' - Football is Back

The Chargers left San Diego? Huh, you learn something new every day.



Make up Call

April 2020 Dividend Income: Down With the Sickness

So, the bad news is that COVID-19 still hasn't been sent back to hell.  The good news is that, while the market was volatile, the dividends came in steady.  Without further ado, let's get to it.

Pepsi (PEP): $0.97  Up a penny from last quarter due to DRIP
Iron Mountain (IRM): $1.97  Up $0.04 QoQ from DRIP.  Up $1.36 from last year
AGNC: $0.18    Up a penny from last quarter

Best Buy (BBY): $3.85   Best Buy coming in with a dividend increase.  This marks the first reinvested dividend from this company.  A part of me wonders where the position would be if I had set the dividends to reinvest all those years ago, but at the same time, being able to see it now does seem like the more favorable set up.

Franklin Resources (BEN): $1.93    Up $0.02 QoQ and up $1.41 YoY
Bed, Bath, and Beyond (BBBY): $0.70  Up a penny due to DRIP

Realty Income (O): $0.97  Up $0.24 from last month due to a purchase and a dividend increase.  Up $0.26 QoQ with DRIP also contributing.  YoY growth is $0.28 cents

Armanino Foods (AMNF): $0.30  Up $0.02 due to a dividend increase

That brings the total to $10.87.  Breaking the double digit threshold in a non mid-quarter month is pretty nice (why is the quarter ender my weakest month?)  With the Best Buy dividend stabilized, it should ensure that the bar remains set.

The 401K added another $0.76 to the table, bringing the grand total to $11.63.  That's up $4.52 from last quarter and up $9.53 from last year.

Interest payments clocked in at  $3.17. This is up from last quarter, but down from last month.

It was a decent month on the buying front.  I added another share of Westrock (WRK) to the portfolio.  I also brought two new positions to the table with single share purchases of Leggett and Platt (LEG) and Walgreen's Boots Alliance (WBA). Both are aristocrats, with the pharmacy drug store chain only a stone's throw away from kinghood.  I think if I can keep making small purchases like this on a regular basis, it'll go a long way.  With the market doing what it's doing, it seems like a good chance to diversify, but I'm also making a point to build the already existing positions to get the snowball moving a bit faster.  It's kind of annoying to see a whole list of just one share stocks, so hopefully, I'll be able to spice it up with larger positions later on down the road.  The portfolio hasn't been updated just yet, but I'll be getting around to it in the near future.

That about wraps things up.  All in all, I was pleased with how the numbers turned out.  It wasn't an all-time record, but I think this is a peak for the quarter opener months, which is something.  Next quarter, though, is the big cahuna of the quarterly payouts.  It'll be a doozy, that's for sure.

                             "stock dividend" by CreditDebitPro is licensed under CC BY 2.0 














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