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As a way of tracking my progress towards financial freedom I total up the dividends I received each month. The end goal is to have my dividends cover my expenses. This is a long term goal, so I have a lot of years to go, but I find it encouraging to see my dividend income steadily grow over time. This reminds me that I’m on the right track and to stick with it.
⭐ Find dividend growth stocks that have survived multiple recessions and increased dividends for 5, 10, 25+ years in a row.
My dividend income for December 2013:
Canadian Dividend Income
- Altagas – $33.41
- Enbridge – $32.55
- Fortis – $35.67
- Suncor Energy – $20.00
- Sunlife – $36.00
Total Canadian Dividend Income – $157.63
US Dividend Income
- Aflac – $37.00
- CH Robinson Worldwide – $17.85
- Johnson & Johnson – $35.27
- Intel – $38.25
Total US Dividend Income – $128.37
I started tracking my monthly dividend income at the beginning of the year, so with December it marks a full year. In 2013 I received a total of $2,344.17 in dividends from my main investments. I’m quite happy with this number. My forward looking dividend income is sitting at just under $3,000 for 2014. I plan on adding to my portfolio, so I expect that my dividend income for 2014 should be over $3,000.
I was expecting Pepsi’s dividend in December, but they paid it out at the beginning of January, so you’ll see that in next month’s update. I was happy to see that Aflac paid me more than last quarter. Aflac increased it’s quarterly dividend from $0.35 to $0.37 which is a 5.7% increase. Not the 8% or more I like to see, but still a decent increase. Overall I’m happy with Aflac, considering the other insurance company I own (Sunlife) hasn’t had a dividend increase for a number of years.
Normally CH Robinson Worldwide would increase its dividend in December, but it didn’t this year, which has me a little worried. For a number of years in a row now the dividend increase has always come in December. Hopefully the raise will come in the next quarter or two. If it doesn’t I’ll have to dig into this more. What attracted to me CH Robinson Worldwide was that it has a wide economic moat, a reasonably low payout ratio and a history of strong earnings growth. If you look at their goals, you’ll notice that they target an annual average 15% revenue growth rate for the long term. These are indicators of a good dividend growth stock, but the dividend hasn’t been raised yet, so I’m anxious. I’m hoping that with some patience the wait will pay off.
How did your investments do in 2013?
Photo credit: Historias Visuales / Money Photos / CC BY-NC-SA
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BIG FAN OF AFLAC! I bought it when it was severely undervalued in the low 30s
I’m a fan and bought in the 30’s too. What was your take on their most recent 5.7% dividend increase? I’m hoping that they can get back to the double digit growth like they had prior to the 2009 chaos.
I’ll be honest once purchased I don’t pay particular attention to an equity’s dividend increase as long as it stays on the dividend champion list.