2018 has started out with a bang for equity investors (more on that to come). The following is my dividend history for my portfolio going back to January of 2008. I promise to eventually go back further.

January of 2018 saw my dividend income top out at $2751.26, my second best single month ever. The bad news, however, is this is my second best month which trails behind January of 2017’s $2902.17, which means for January of 2018, I actually had a YOY drop in dividend income of -5.20%. This is my first monthly decline in dividend income since December of 2011.

Despite the drop in dividend income for January, there is actually partially good reason behind the decrease. The bad news, first, is from GE slashing their dividend 50%, which contributed to about $124 of the drop. The other reason comes from M&A activity. Last year, one of my favorite holdings, RAI, was as expected acquired by BTI. BTI has essentially shifted about $112 of dividend income into the months of Feb, May, July, and November with their dividend policy. I am actually fine with this, since it smooths out my dividend income a little, since those mentioned months are my lower dividend income months.

After January, things will be back to normal and I am still on pace for a 10% YOY increase in dividend income annually. Dividends are a beautiful thing. I compare dividend stocks to being a landlord. Every month, I collect dividends (rent) and over time I am seeing the value of the stocks (think the property) rise. The beautiful thing of dividends, I don’t worry if the tenant will pay, or destroy the property. If I want to sell the property (stock), it just cost a few bucks and can be executed in seconds to raise capital.

So without further adieu, my portfolios dividend history dating back to January of 2008. Please notice the tabs at the bottom of the excel spreadsheet.

And for now for some charts.

Monthly:

Quarterly:

Annually:

So, why do I even bother sharing this information every month. I want readers to notice a couple things and encourage anyone who is in the earlier stages of building up there financial assets. When you’re starting out it may feel like you aren’t making any progress towards your goals. You may only have a couple bucks in dividends for the month. Don’t give up and keep at it. In January of 2008, I had $0.00 in dividend income. Fast forward a decade later and I am getting passive dividend income off my portfolio of $2751.26. That wasn’t much time that passed to build up to this point.

The other thing I want you to notice. Look closely at those figures and charts. You see how it is continually growing over time. My lifetime dividend income starting in 2008 is only $77,835.00. But look again at those charts. In 2016 and 2017 I received $14,067.03 and $22,660.34. Those 2 years alone total $36,727.37. Those 2 years alone account for 47% of my dividend income. This wasn’t a fluke or luck, it was planned and can be replicated by you. January 2018 dividends alone are more than I received in all of 2008. So while you may feel like you’re not seeing rapid growth of you passive income, give it time…

It’s like the snowball effect.

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