Ahh, dividends.
Even just hearing that word conjures up all kinds of warm and fuzzy feelings for me.
I remember playing the board game Monopoly as a kid. My favorite Chance card was the one where Mr. Monopoly (or Rich Uncle Pennybags) collected his bank dividend of $50.
I thought that was so neat. Collecting money for nothing. Growing up as poor as I did, it seemed like a pipe dream as a child.
Well, it’s no pipe dream.
But it is a dream; it’s a dream of a lifestyle that almost anyone can live, as I’ve proven out over the years.
Mr. Monopoly sits on my shelf at home, reminding me every day of just how far I’ve come…
How far?
I went from below broke in early 2010 to financially independent in early 2016.
And I did so with no particular advantage(s) over anyone else. I grew up in a crack house in Detroit. My parents abandoned me. I have no college degree. I worked at a car dealership making ~$50,000 per year – until I didn’t.
Those six years of my life I set aside to aggressively save and intelligently invest my capital resulted in financial freedom at 33 years old – which is how I became Mr. Free At 33.
That financial freedom is underpinned by the five-figure and growing passive dividend income my FIRE Fund generates on my behalf.
I aptly named my portfolio the FIRE Fund because it allowed me to become financially independent and retire early (FIRE).
I built this portfolio on the tenets of dividend growth investing, whereby I allocate my capital almost exclusively toward high-quality stocks that have lengthy track records of paying rising dividends year after year.
These are world-class businesses. Because of that, they tend to rake in more profit year in and year out.
Well, shareholders are ultimately the collective owners of any publicly-traded company, and growing dividends are our rightful share of that growing profit.
The growing dividends that are sent my way by the businesses I own a slice of are enough to cover my essential expenses in life, meaning I don’t need to ever have a job again. Haven’t had one since turning 32 years old. And I have no plans to ever go back.
If you’re interested in using dividend growth investing to achieve FIRE for yourself, check out my two best-selling books on this: The Dividend Mantra Way and 5 Steps To Retire In 5 Years (also available in paperback).
What you’ll soon see is the tangible manifestation of all of these concepts I write about.
The table below lists every dividend I received (as well as each respective company that paid it) from the preceding month.
This is cash money, folks. Every time a dividend comes in, that’s real-life money I can use to do whatever I want with. Now we all know why Mr. Monopoly loved to kick back with a cigar, like a boss.
When you’re collecting a dividend a day, you are a boss!
Without further ado…
| Aflac Incorporated (AFL) | $46.80 |
| Enbridge Inc. (ENB) | $43.21 |
| JM Smucker Co. (SJM) | $12.75 |
| Pfizer Inc. (PFE) | $20.40 |
| Phillips 66 (PSX) | $21.60 |
| Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) | $38.70 |
| WEC Energy Group Inc. (WEC) | $13.81 |
| Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) | $9.75 |
| Visa Inc. (V) | $5.00 |
| Unilever PLC (ADR) (UL) | $44.87 |
| United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) | $22.75 |
| Discover Financial Services (DFS) | $6.00 |
| Southern Co. (SO) | $51.00 |
| Southside Bancshares, Inc. (SBSI) | $25.60 |
| TJX Companies Inc. (TJX) | $1.95 |
| Amgen, Inc. (AMGN) | $13.20 |
| Harris Corporation (HRS) | $27.40 |
| Chevron Corporation (CVX) | $22.40 |
| Emerson Electric Co. (EMR) | $41.65 |
| Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) | $16.40 |
| Int'l Business Machines Corp. (IBM) | $31.40 |
| Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) | $44.00 |
| United Technologies Corporation (UTX) | $29.41 |
| Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) | $90.00 |
| 3M Co. (MMM) | $13.60 |
| Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) | $11.50 |
| CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (CNP) | $24.98 |
| Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) | $15.08 |
| The Coca-Cola Co. (KO) | $54.60 |
| Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (CFR) | $13.40 |
| Flowers Foods, Inc. (FLO) | $48.60 |
| Hershey Co. (HSY) | $18.05 |
| The Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) | $6.25 |
| Main Street Capital Corporation (MAIN) | $56.40 |
| Realty Income Corp. (O) | $20.95 |
| Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) | $27.82 |
| EPR Properties (EPR) | $14.40 |
| McDonald's Corporation (MCD) | $63.80 |
| Polaris Industries Inc. (PII) | $12.00 |
| Stag Industrial Inc. (STAG) | $13.02 |
| Royal Dutch Shell PLC (ADR) (RDS.B) | $47.00 |
| Dominion Resources, Inc. (D) | $25.05 |
| Qualcomm, Inc. (QCOM) | $37.20 |
| VF Corp. (VFC) | $28.05 |
| BP PLC (ADR) (BP) | $67.65 |
| Brinker International, Inc. (EAT) | $28.50 |
| Linde PLC (LIN) | $8.25 |
| South Jersey Industries Inc. (SJI) | $14.38 |
| Public Storage (PSA) | $10.00 |
| Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) | $10.60 |
| Chatham Lodging Trust (CLDT) | $15.95 |
| Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD) | $11.40 |
| Union Pacific Corporation (UNP) | $48.00 |
| C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (CHRW) | $12.50 |
| Crown Castle International Corp. (CCI) | $16.88 |
| NorthWestern Corp. (NWE) | $13.75 |
| Service Corporation International (SCI) | $3.40 |
| Travelers Companies Inc. (TRV) | $7.70 |
| Total: | $1,500.76 |
Just for reference, a great resource for tracking your portfolio and everything related to it is Personal Capital.
A new milestone here.
One I’m particularly proud of.
This represents the first time ever in which my dividend income exceeded $1,500 in one month.
I almost can’t believe it. Even though I know this is inevitable, because a compounding dividend growth snowball makes it so, it’s still an incredible feeling when it actually materializes.
I still remember my first year of blogging. It was 2011. And I had a pretty aggressive dividend income goal for that year.
I wanted to collect $1,200 in dividend income for the entire year of 2011.
You know what?
I achieved that goal – just barely. I think I hit $1,202 in dividend income for that year.
Now I’m able to smash that number – in only one month. Wow. I’m incredibly fortunate.
I guess Mr. Monopoly had a big impact on me as a kid. Hell, I’m even bald like him!
The above collection of companies are a fine, fine group of businesses. These are among the world’s best enterprises.
The fact that they represent only a portion of my entire portfolio is pretty amazing. And I’m not even done painting my masterpiece.
I’ve slowed down a tad – on purpose – but I’m only 36 years old. It’s fun to think about what the Fund will eventually look like. There are still so many high-quality companies that I don’t yet own a slice of. And I’m excited about the idea of changing that, in time.
This month’s dividend income is 10.6% higher than the $1,357.48 I earned in December 2017. The total amount of dividend income I collected in 2018 is $12,788.52. I realized 13.0% YOY growth compared to the $11,316.00 in dividend income I earned in 2017.
Realizing 13% YOY growth in 2019 (and beyond) will be more difficult due to the larger numbers. But what I’ll lack in percentage gains, I should more than make up for in absolute dividend income growth. My dividend income increased by $1,472 in 2018. I’ll probably do even better in 2019.
I’m a college dropout who grew up on welfare in a crack house in Detroit. If I can do this, anyone can do this.
Yes. That includes you!
I can’t even tell you how grateful I feel. I’m floating on a cloud these days. I worked so hard, for so long, to achieve what I’ve achieved. Feels great to sit back and enjoy it.
I finished 2018 really strong with an awesome new milestone.
I’m excited to work hard throughout 2019, while also maintaining a healthy balance across all aspects of my life. I’ve truly never been happier. The fulfillment, passion, and purpose I feel in my life is at an all-time high.
I owe a lot of that to the dividend income. It underpins my entire life. It allows me the ability to freely live my life on my terms.
But I owe a lot of it to you readers as well for supporting me, following me, and sharing your journeys and progresses with me.
So let’s continue to forge ahead together!
Full disclosure: I’m long all aforementioned stocks.
How was your month? How much dividend income did you collect? Is your dividend income (and the growth of it) living up to expectations?
Thanks for reading.
Image courtesy of: imgflip and WarnerMedia.
P.S. If you’d also like to collect five-figure dividend income and reach FIRE, check out some phenomenal tools and services that personally helped me become financially independent in my early 30s!
13% increase year over year is nothing to sneeze at. You are absolutely killing it. Over $1500 a month is just amazing. It must feel great to have that security now that it is just increasing all the time. Well done mate, hard work pays off.
BHL,
Thanks for the support! 🙂
Hard work definitely pays off. Maybe not a lot of fun in the moment, but the long-term rewards are clearly worth it.
Hope you had a great December, too.
Best regards.
$1,500 in one month must feel amazing! December 2018 was the highest dividend income month for me too but nowhere near this amount. Still, I was so pleased and we all have to start somewhere 🙂
Nicola,
Dividend growth investing is one of those gifts that keeps on giving. And the gifts get bigger and better! 🙂
Glad to hear you had an awesome December, too. That’s great stuff. You’re absolutely right in that we all have to start somewhere. As I noted in the post, it wasn’t all that long ago that my annual goal was below this number. It happens fast.
Keep at it!
Best wishes.
Interesting life story – thanks for sharing. Congratulations on December’s dividend income!
DM,
Thanks a lot!
Hope you had a great December, too.
Cheers.
Hi Jason,
Congratulations, man! I remember back when you started at the Dividend Mantra days, your target for retirement was $1500 per month and now you’re there, bud! Granted December is a strong month and this isn’t the average for every month but there is no doubt that you are killing it!
December 2018 dividend income was also amazingly strong for us: $10,985, and total 2018 dividend income came in at $91.3, a 21.8% increase over 2017 (as that came in at $74.9K)!!! I’m really blown away at this growth rate even on a very high base but I was still pushing it pretty hard. Like you I expect the growth rate to slow down but the absolute numbers of year on year growth will still be strong.
Stay well out there and hope to catch up with you eventually sometime soon.
-Mike
Mike,
I remember those early days. Fondly in some ways. Not so fondly in other ways. 😂
Congrats on the huge 2018 over there. Those are some really big numbers that I won’t be approaching for many, many years. That’s especially the case since I kind of just moved away from money as a priority in my life a few years ago.
Thanks for dropping by!
Best regards.
$1,500 in 1 month is incredible! Congratulations on how far your portfolio has come, Jason. And 13% yoy growth is a rate that any large company or business would be proud of. As for my income, it is certainly coming along. I achieved 571% yoy growth but my numbers are a lot smaller at this point. I’m looking forward to your reports in 2019! 🙂
RTC,
Thanks, man. Appreciate that. I’m super proud, too. 🙂
The 13% YOY growth is pretty good for me. I don’t invest a lot anymore, so I’m very happy with that. It’ll be interesting to see where things go in 2019. I imagine I’ll start to taper new investments even more at some point in the near future.
Awesome stuff there with that huge growth rate. Even with a small base, that’s still monstrous. That snowball is off to a fast start!
Best wishes.
Congrats on your record income month! Your story is very inspiring! The cost of living in Thailand is less compared to US. Are you using your dividend income to live there or your reinvest your dividends? As usual, very nice post! Great read!
DIS,
Thanks a lot!
Yeah, my passive income of $1,400+ per month pays for my life over here, which actually includes a fairy luxurious lifestyle for two people. If you isolate just my personal essential expenses, they’re less than $1,000/month.
But I also make a rather significant amount of online income, too. And I can use that in a variety of ways, including to buy stock.
Cheers!
great year congrats
Anonymous,
Appreciate that. Hope you and yours also had a great year!
Cheers.
Jason,
That is a huge end to a huge year. 2019 here we come!
– Gremlin
DG,
Absolutely, man. Very excited for 2019!! 🙂
Best regards.
I think I already know the answer to this, but I just wondered if you ever considered (given thought or researched at least) taking small positions in something like CIM or GAIN?
Paul,
It’s my opinion that Main Street Capital is the best BDC out there, which is why my money is there.
Cheers.
Yes your 100% correct there, good find. Thanks. And I just missed that little price dip opportunity there by 2 weeks.
Congrats Jason, awesome number in dividends for Dec 2018. The snowball keeps rolling! Always checking your posts! excellent work. Keep it up. Your friend in West Palm, Omar
Omar,
Thanks, buddy!
Hope you had a great end to your 2018, too. I truly couldn’t be more excited about 2019 (and beyond). 🙂
Best regards.
love it Jason!
congrats man. nice growth and a new.record….
1500 cash is a nice chunk of change.
keep it up, living the dream
cheers
CPI,
It really is a dream. I have to pinch myself sometimes. I had a tough go of it for the first 30 or so years of my life. Feels almost unreal sometimes since my life is so different these days. I don’t think many people can appreciate it as much as I do. 🙂
Thanks for dropping by!
Best wishes.
That’s a huge list of companies paying you dividends each month. Congrats on the $1500 milestone.
Awesome YOY increase! Do you know how much of that is organic and how much is due to putting new capital to work? I took a year end snapshot of my portfolio this year just to see what the organic growth will be for 2019 on its own with no changes by the end of the year. Anyways, keep up the good work!
Brent,
Thanks a lot. Yeah, it’s a huge list. I’d feel great if this were the whole portfolio. But it’s only a portion. Pretty crazy stuff. I’m very fortunate. 🙂
The vast majority of the growth is organic. I don’t really invest that much capital any longer since FIRE is no longer a goal.
Cheers!
HI Jason
This month’s dividend income is 10.6% higher than you earned in December 2017. And 13.0% YOY growth compared to the dividend income you earned in 2017. Have to say that’s just awesome Jason. looks like the FIRE fund is doing what you dreamed of. I can’t wait for this years totals. Hope you have a very joyous and prosperous 2019.
Cheers
Michael,
Appreciate the support very much! 🙂
The Fund is a beautiful machine. I’m proud of what I’ve built. It allows me to live a life that is ripped right out of one of my dreams.
I’m looking forward to 2019 for all of us. I can only wish everyone else out there as much joy and passion as I have in my life!
Best regards.
Fantastic! Congrats on a new milestone! The snowball gets bigger and bigger! 🙂
MDD,
The snowball ran away from me some time ago. Feels good, because I was honestly a bit tired of pushing! 🙂
Hope you had a great December, too.
Best wishes!
Hey Jason,
I was looking at your dividend income, as I do monthly on these updates, for reference on what companies you invest in. I noticed a spike in your MAIN stock income. I tried to research it but couldn’t find anything on a dividend increase, special dividend, etc. Didn’t wanna burst your bubble on the $1500 milestone but I believe you had a typo.
Anyway, you had an excellent dividend income month to finish out the year strong. Happy investing!
Eperk31,
It’s no typo:
https://ir.mainstcapital.com/press-releases/detail/2500/main-street-announces-semi-annual-supplemental-cash
A company’s own IR site is always the best for this information.
Thanks for dropping by!
Cheers.
Thanks for the link. Don’t know how I missed that. Keep up the good work!
Jason,
Congrats on crossing the monthly dividend income mark of $1,500 in December. I love the stream of income funneling in from so many different companies. There is much to be excited about. Best of luck in 2019!
PIV
PIV,
Thanks a lot!
We’re on the same page. I sleep incredibly well at night knowing so many different companies are funneling that cash flow my way.
Wishing you much luck and success throughout 2019!
Best regards.
Congrats. Impressive growth YOY and you are not even going full steam like you did pre-FIRE.
IP,
It’s awesome to see the FIRE Fund take on its own life at this point. The last thing I wanted to do was to live a life where I was some slave to money. That would be the complete opposite of what FIRE should be about. Living a well-rounded life that includes investing as one enjoyable aspect is a dream come true for me. I love and enjoy investing, but I never wanted to be obsessed over it. Munger said it best a while ago when he noted that simply being shreweder than other people about buying pieces of paper is not an adequate life.
Best wishes!
The line about being a college dropout growing up on welfare in a crack house in Detroit never gets old to me. So inspiring! How imminently attainable FIRE is the developed world!
Josh,
Thanks so much. I do my best to inspire!
FIRE is there for just about anyone that wants it.
Of course, it’s not easy. It requires some old-fashioned hard work. But I think it’s worth the stretch, and then some. 🙂
Best regards!
Retiring on dividends is a journey and great work so far! I also have AT&T in my portfolio! I added it a few weeks ago when the yield was above 7.4%.
FF,
Glad to be a fellow shareholder!
Living off of dividends at a young age isn’t a bad lifestyle, that’s for sure. 🙂
Best regards.
Dear Jason,
many congrats to you achieving this goal! I have been already a reader of your old blog back in 2015 when I started investing within the DGI Strategy.
We share some parts in our life. Although i was not raised in a crackhouse and had good parents, I also went through my personal financial crisis, became totally broke at 27 and recovered in my mid 30’s. Financial education has never been part of my childhood and youth. I learned my lessons the hard way, guess like you and many other people.
I am 38 now, married with two children, and totally obsessed by becoming financially free at 55. At this age, i want to retire together with my wife and be free to go wherever i want and to do whatever i want. I work hard to achive this, living as frugal as possible, saving and investing every dollar i can afford.
At the moment, after 3,5 years of investing, i am fighting to bear down the magic 100k borderline, which turns out to be tougher that expected, especially within the current irritations on the stock market. But I heard many times, that the first 100k are the hardest to reach, so i keep up investing and trust in the compound interest.
At least my dividend income this year turned out to be fine, by receiving approx. 2600$ from my companies, which nevertheless complies 1,5 monthly net salaries for me. I see this as my personal bonus my employer would never pay me… ;). So everything is on track in this case.
I really want to thank you for the inspiration i received from your person, your way of investing and the story of your life. I still have my way left to go, but i am confident to achieve what i want.
Best regards from Germany, and once again my honest congrats to you for living the life you wanted.
What else could be more desirable in our existance on this planet then achiving real freedom and living the life we imagined?
Yours, Bastian
Bastian,
Wow. Thanks so much for the kind words. I really appreciate that level of support. Thank you! 🙂
Warms my heart that I’m able to inspire people out there to achieve their dreams. Money isn’t everything. That’s for sure. But we need to have that solid financial foundation in our lives, which gives us the ground we need to stand on and push forward. Glad to know you’re building yours over there.
Sounds like you’re well on your way. It’s just one day and one dollar stacked upon each other. Compounding makes it an inevitability.
I’m super fortunate that I’m in this position. I honestly feel like it’s a dream. It’s almost unbelievable. I’m confident you, too, will realize the life and lifestyle you always wanted.
Best wishes!
Great blogg! I really appreciate it! 🙂
I been thinking much about if a recession comes in 2019/2020 – how will you deal with watching your shareprices drop 30-40%? Have you considered having 40-50% of your portfolio in cash, which you can use when the market drops and buy back the dividend stocks for a cheaper price?
Thank you for sharing your views on this.
All the best
Niko
Niko,
I’m not concerned about that all. Make sure to read more content on the blog. 🙂
Cheers!