| Dividend Update - March 2018 |
The 3rd month of each quarter is always my biggest month for dividends and March didn't disappoint. My FI Portfolio produced $921.17 in dividends during the month, which was a personal best, while my Folio First portfolio chipped in another $8.30. My Roth IRA added another $45.02 during the month. The 3 portfolios combined to generate $974.49 of dividends.
FI Portfolio
As I mentioned above my FI Portfolio produced $921.17 in dividends last month which was a personal best for any month. It's pretty exciting to see that number keep climbing month after month and quarter after quarter. Even better is that later this year we should finally get back to a regular monthly investment schedule which will push the dividends even higher.
Compared to December 2017 that's a solid 1.5% increase whereas the year over year comparison came in very strong at 10.7%.
Roth IRA Portfolio
After February's no show for my Roth IRA it started contributing once again in March. In March my Roth IRA generated $45.02 in dividends. Compared to December 2017 that's a hefty 8.2% increase thanks primarily to Norfolk Southern's monster dividend increase announced in January. The year over year comparison is even juicier at 24.9%.
Dividend Raises During the Month
The pay raises just keep on coming. March saw a slow down from February in the number of dividend increases; however, I won't complain about "only" 4 raises being announced. You mean a company I own a piece of, albeit tiny, wants to pay out more of their profits to me just because I own part of the company? Sign me up!
That's 4 different pay raises in just one month compared to a big, fat zero from my day job. Combined those 4 companies increased my forward 12-month dividends by $23.06. Even better is that the raises came from wide variety of industries: tobacco, banking, retail and real estate.
Through the first quarter of 2018 there's been 19 announced raises from 18 of the companies that I own combining to increase my forward 12-month dividends by $161.69.
Looking Forward
My forward 12-month dividends for my FI Portfolio ended March at $6,108.81 while my FolioFirst forward dividends are at $78.50. That brings the total taxable account forward 12-month dividends to $6,187.31 My Roth IRA's forward-12 month dividends ended the month at $337.40. Across all 3 accounts, assuming no dividend cuts or position size changes, I can expect to receive at least $6,524.71 in dividends over the next year.
Monthly Average
Below is the chart showing the monthly dividend totals for each year that I've been investing as well as the monthly average. It's not always an increase as some companies have weird payout schedules, as we saw above, and eventually some positions will get dropped, but the long-term trend is what matters.
The rolling 12-month monthly average for my FI Portfolio is at $482.09 per month which is just slightly above 2017's monthly average of $473.37. This should continue to increase throughout the year assuming no dividends cuts.
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| Monthly Comparison of Dividends Received From FI Portfolio |
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| Dividends Received Breakdown March 2018 |
I've updated my Dividend Income page to reflect March's changes.
With the first quarter in the books how are you doing on your goals for the year?
Let me know in the comments below!
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