March 2019 Dividends – $203.63
Total Dividends for the Year – $905.60
This month I received nine dividend payments from the following companies:
Date | Company | Ticker | Dividends |
3/5/2019 | Visa | V | $12.50 |
3/12/2019 | Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | $9.00 |
3/14/2019 | Microsoft Corporation | MSFT | $23.00 |
3/15/2019 | Mcdonald’s Corp | MCD | $34.80 |
3/15/2019 | Realty Income Corp. | O | $22.55 |
3/18/2019 | Duke Energy Corp | DUK | $46.38 |
3/19/2019 | UnitedHealth Group Inc. | UNH | $9.00 |
3/22/2019 | Kraft Heinz Co | KHC | $40.00 |
3/27/2019 | Southwest Airlines Co | LUV | $6.40 |
Total | $203.63 |
In total, I’ve received $905.60 so far, according to this schedule:
We’re about a quarter of the way through the year and I’m only about 20% towards my goal of earning $4,500 this year in dividend income. If things continue on this path, I will be around $900 short of my goal. My intention this year is to continue adding to my dividend portfolio and continue purchasing dividend stocks. These investments will gradually compound throughout the year, which makes the trajectory non-linear.
January gave me a huge jump start in the year because the core of my portfolio is retained in SPY. SPY paid out a huge dividend because I currently have 300 shares in them. As a result, I expect another lump payout in April this month as SPY went ex-dividend last month.
Conclusion
My overall portfolio is up 9% this year. I’m lagging behind the S&P 500 Index, which is currently up 11% for the year. However, when the market is down, I’m also down less than the S&P so at least I have that going for me.
Ideally, I’m investing long term such that one day my portfolio will be producing passive income to cover my necessary expenses. Which basically equates to financial freedom in today’s lingo.
If I can get $100 in passive income, then that accounts for my phone expenses. Which means if I lose my job, at least I’ll still be able to make phone calls.
JK, who still even makes phone calls? I’d probably be tweeting memes about my old job.
However, ultimately I do aim to be able to receive $2,000 income per month. This is enough to cover most of life’s expenses. And if I ever move to a cheaper cost of living area, I’ll be able to pay my mortgage with that income.
My eye has always been on stable dividend growth companies as I believe dividend growth investing is king. I also like defensive stocks and non-cyclical companies. They tend to have less volatility during market swings.
Currently I’ve been looking at adding positions into COST, NKE, SBUX, and MSFT for various reasons involving continuing stable growth. I think these are staple brands that won’t be going away in a recession.
I wish I had learned more about the stock market when I was younger and done more investing. Dividend stocks were something I had heard of but never really gave much thought to them. Interesting article.
Hopefully, the market will turn around again soon so you can achieve your goals. You’re not too far off.
I’ve been super interested recently in learning more about the stock market because I want to start investing.
Wish understanding stock markets was a part of learning when I was in school. I am so clueless about investing in stocks or should I say scared.
First time here FO but congrats on a solid month. Btw, 300 shares in SPY is awesome. I’m looking forward to following your progress and I hope you reach your 2019 goals.
Stocks are the best way of earning a recurring income for years together. I too keep earning through dividends & it gives great happiness when the money is visible in my account.
I spent a lot of energy to trade stocks but once I didn’t pay attention for a couple of weeks, my Stocks crashed. I really need to monitor on daily base.
I’m myself a Forex trader, didn’t start on Stock market yet, but I’m considering to learn some basics and develop a strategy or two to enter the market.
Interesting article and perspective on using dividends to finance your lifestyle. Sharing your personal accounts makes you more relatable and sets the example that the everyday personal could also make this happen.
I had no idea what dividends is. ? Thanks to you for updating my knowledge. Would like to know more. ?
As someone with an MBA and a portfolio manager for two decades this is an amazing site and amazing content. Well written and i am sure to follow it thanks for this.
Jerry Godinho
fourcolumnsofabalancedlife.com
New concept I’ve just learned, thanks for sharing! Very interesting, I´ll read more about it in your blog!
Very interesting post! I’ve never looked into this type of investment before but you’ve provided some great info.
So happy you are knowledgeable in this area and I wish I knew more. Happy Spring, Kippi
Great portfolio you have here. I like your mode of accountability too.
I have also been thinking about investing and getting into the stock market, but I rarely understand the stuff, so thank you for the blog!
This is great. super detailed. I dont know much about this but would love to know more.
I do not really know anything about stocks but I do hope you are able to reach your goal!
Nero, you broke this down in a very relatable way, and it helped me understand more about dividends and stocks. I clearly need to spend some more time on your site and learning about stocks and investing. It’s always been something I wanted to learn about, but it felt so confusing. Your site seems like it would clear that up. Very well written!
Clearly, I should take some time to focus on my financial goals, review my expanses, and work in a more strategic ways. I wish I’d learnt more about the financial stock market (hey, I studied economics!! ) but it’s always seemed way too complicated to me. I appreciate the way you simplify the analysis in a very pragmatic way, thank you! I learnt something today!
ok this is really cool and something I need to be better about understanding and doing. I am going to study this in more depth this weekend. I like how you’ve broken it down!