Dividend Income Summary: Lanny’s July 2022 Summary

This is what dividend investing is all about. Investing in dividend stocks allows you to earn dividend income, the best passive income stream. Bias, you better believe it.

Time to dive into Lanny’s July 2022 dividend income results. Were records set? Almost to financial freedom? One day and one month at a time.

Dividend Income

Dividend Income is the fruit of the labor of investing your money in the stock market. Further, Dividend Income is my primary vehicle on the road to Financial Freedom, which you can see through my Dividend Portfolio.

How do I research & screen for dividend stocks prior to making a purchase? I use our Dividend Diplomat Stock Screener and trade on Ally’s investment platform (one of our Financial Freedom Products) – commission free.

I also automatically invest and max out, pre-tax, my 401(k) through work and my Health Savings Account. This allows me to save a ton of money on taxes (aka thousands), which allows me to invest even more. In addition, all dividends I receive are automatically being reinvested back into the company that paid the dividend, aka Dividend Reinvestment Plan or DRIP for short. This takes the emotion out of timing the market and builds onto my passive income stream.

Growing your dividend income takes time and consistency. Investing as often, and early, as you can allow compound interest (aka dividends) to work its magic. I have gone from making $2.70 in a single month in dividend income to well over $10,000+ in a single month. A new dividend income record was set in December of 2021. Was it broken this month? The power of compounding and dividend reinvestment is a wonderful component of the portfolio. Each and every month, whether big or small, I continue to report the passive income that dividend investing provides me. Why?

*Not pictured is my wife’s dividend income above*

I want to show you that dividend investing makes it possible to achieve financial freedom and/or financial independence. We all start somewhere, but consistently investing, compounding (reinvesting) dividends, and keeping it simple, allows you to be in a significantly better position than most. Further, if I can grow this portfolio and income stream, you can too.

Dividend income – July 2022

Now, on to the numbers… In July, we (my wife and I) received a dividend income total of $1,056.34. Another 4-digit banger. We are now consistently seeing over $1,000 in dividends, which is awesome. Thank goodness for dividend growth and dividend reinvestment, as that does most of the work.

The amount and number of stocks listed below show you what it means to buy and hold for the long term. Most of the positions I have owned for years, letting dividend growth and reinvestment do their thing. This is what dividend investing for financial freedom is all about. The passive income stream is growing at a rapid pace. I know Canadian Imperial (CM) may be one of my oldest stock positions.

2022 is off to a volatile start, the stock market has roared up and also roared down. However, the stock market is now coming back up. Interest rates are rising, the Fed is starting its quantitative tightening, and oil prices are slowly coming back down from near all-time highs. Inflation is eating away at the purchasing power of consumers and fears of a recession loom. In addition, the Fed has raised rates by 225 basis points and we are anticipating another 50 basis point increase in September. Time will tell. In addition, the crypto has finally bounced back over the last 30 days I’d say, with Bitcoin (BTC-USD) returning 14% and Ethereum (ETH-USD) over 40%.

Here is the breakdown of dividend income for the month of July, between taxable and retirement (far right column, under “Retirement”) accounts. In addition, “W” means my wife’s account:

So what happened in dividend income this month? Two huge dividends owned this list – Canadian Imperial (CM) (one of the big Banks up North) and Philip Morris (PM), a recession-proof stock. Combined, almost $325 from two companies, amazing. STORE Capital (STOR) was not too far behind, the DRIP on that dividend added almost 3 shares.

The Medical Properties (MPW) stock is about to deliver a lot more of a punch next dividend round, as I exited Healthpeak Properties (PEAK) and reinvested the capital into MPW, VOO, and VYM.

I also split out my retirement accounts in the far right column and the taxable account dividends are in the left two columns. The retirement accounts are composed of H.S.A. investments, ROTH and Traditional IRAs, as well as our work 401(k) accounts. In total, the retirement accounts brought in a total dividend income amount of $247.49 or 23% of the dividend income total. This still left over $800+ in the taxable account. C’mon dividends, keep rolling.

Dividend Income Year over Year Comparison

2021:

2022:

Our dividend income is actually down from last year. What gives? Well, I believe last year was T. Rowe’s (TROW) big special dividend, hence the $246.31 from last year. If you back that off, 2021 had an adjusted dividend income total of $901.48. Therefore, my adjusted dividend growth was $154.86 or 17%. Hey, if companies can have adjusted earnings, I can have an adjusted dividend income total.

The Canadian banks of Canadian Imperial and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) are really showing strong signs of growth from increases and reinvestment. STORE Capital also packs a punch for this month of dividends.

Overall, a solid dividend month. Would be wild to cross $1,000 this time next year. Keep on investing.

Dividend Increases

July was a quiet month, the first of its kind this year it feels like. Only one strong dividend increase this month, as August should have a better month. In fact, we showcase five expected dividend increases in August.

Therefore, Cummins (CMI) had a nice juicy dividend of 8.27%. Keeping par with inflation and this added a solid $16.55 to my forward dividend income total. Heck Yes.

In total, dividend increases created $16.55 in additional passive dividend income. I would need to invest $473 at a 3.50% dividend yield in order to add that income. Thank you for the increases, as I didn’t have to come up with the capital to create that form of income!

Dividend Income Conclusion & Summary

The name of the game is to apply what you learn through financial education. The next steps are to maximize every dollar for investment opportunities and live life on your own terms. My plan is to demonstrate that dividend income can be a revenue engine. A revenue engine that allows you to take back control of your life. A revenue engine to help you reach financial freedom. Dividend investing, once you learn the right way, becomes easier and starts to immensely make sense.

Excited for the future, no doubt. Further, all of the investing from last year and moves this year, show that my aim to save 60% of my income and make every dollar count, has provided the dividend growth.

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Editor’s Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.