October 2017 dividend update

September, one of the big four months for ETF and mutual fund investors, was a big success for me on the dividend side with a 35% and a total above $1700 for the month.

Now, it’s time for the October review, a month which has historically been lower as I don’t have a ton of individual securities that pay outside the big four month timeline I’ve laid out in past posts.

The thing that’s different about this October is that I’ve been adding more money into my bond funds and those pay out monthly. That asset class has lagged my asset allocation target as stocks have continued their bull run so I expect these smaller monthly updates to keep increasing. On top of that I also recently bought a small cap stock, George Risk which pays out an annual dividend which just so happens to fall in October. I did a quick analysis of that stock here and was glad to see that they bumped up their dividend again this year which was nice to see.

Last year’s October income came in at an anemic $50.70 and this was actually the lowest month for the year in 2016 for dividends as my bond fund was the only holding that paid out that month.

Let’s take a look at this month’s dividend income.

October’s dividend income comes in at $142.81!

That’s not a huge month in comparison to September but it’s good to see continued growth each month. The easy starting comparable of last year’s results means the improvement here is an impressive 181.7%.

The primary driver of that growth is the aforementioned George Risk dividend which I’m receiving for the first time but my tax-advantaged account payouts which hold my bond funds also grew nearly 37% which is due to the continued recent contributions towards bonds.

It’s also nice to see that I’m above $100 for the third month in a row and it’s quite possible that streak continues until January.

The best thing about dividends even with smaller months such as these is that they get reinvested right back into my portfolio and help me get even more dividends in the future. This months proceeds will generate about $3.28 in forward annual income for me or about $.27 per month.

That means my dividend employee Steve’s wages keep going up year after year. Last month’s hourly wage was over $10 and that didn’t last as his hourly wage drops down to $0.86 per hour.

October’s total brings the YTD number to $5263.55 and means I’m still in good shape for my $8000 bronze goal for the year. I recently reviewed my goals and with December being my highest month by far, I’m in good shape for that target and maybe even more as I keep pumping more money into my accounts.

Steve’s hourly wage varies month to month due to the seasonality of his paychecks but the overall trend is up which is the point of this whole endeavor! After this update, Steve’s hourly wage YTD is $3.16/hr but that’s sure to rise about $4 once the year is finished. That’s not a bad number and certainly a good starting point for future growth especially since all that money is being reinvested.

That’s it for this month and I’m glad to see the huge growth this month. I’m certain I’ll need to keep buying more bonds in the near term if the stock market keeps rising as it has and I’m excited to see what that’ll mean for the next few months as well as the year ahead of us.

Thanks for reading and please let me know how your investments did in October!

October Total : $142.81
2017 Total : $5263.55
Portfolio monthly hourly wage : $0.86/hr
Portfolio annual hourly wage : $3.16/hr