We are rounding out 2024 in style! I cannot believe this year is almost over. In this article, we review Bert’s December Dividend Income Summary!
Why I Invest in Dividend Stocks
I invest in dividend stocks to grow a my passive income with dividend income. One day, my dividend income will be large enough to cover my monthly expenses and allow us to retire early. That is why we are always relentlessly searching for undervalued dividend stocks to buy. To put our hard earned cash to work.
We save a high percentage of our income each month, to help fuel our dividend stock portfolio. Having a high savings rate is a key pillar of our strategy and helps fuel the fire and push the snowball further down hill. While we are waiting to invest our money in the market, it is earning a high interest rate in accounts. There is NOTHING more critical than maximizing EVERY DOLLAR in your savings account.
READ: How To Maximize Your Cash – 4 Simple Methods!
The 3 primary savings accounts I use are:
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- SoFi – 4.3% APY on all savings accounts (lower for your checking account). The race for deposits is INTENSE! Banks and credit unions are offering great savings rates.
- Capital One 360 Savings – 4.00% APY – We use Capital One for our checking and savings account.
- Wealthfront – 4.0% without promotion. 5.0% with an extra .5% by signing up using my referral link (Click Here).
Read: Interest Rates on High Yield Savings Accounts Are SOARING!
Bert’s nOVEMBER Dividend Income Summary
In November 2024, we received $1,062.47 in dividend income! This was a 2.63% increase compared to last year.
The dividend growth has stalled this month, only increasing 2.63% compared to last year. Now, lets see the individual stocks that paid us a dividend during the month:
As always, we share a few observations with our dividend income summary.
Observation #1: Realty Income & Starbucks Are Growing!
We focused on building two positions over the last year: Realty Income and Starbucks. I’m excited that I was able to build Realty Income to over $60 of dividend income every single month. Why? This allows me to DRIP over 1 share per month. Despite the fact the stock price has retreated over the last few months due to the prospect of higher interest rates, the monthly dividend paying REIT continues to be one of my favorite dividend paying stocks.
Starbucks has rebounded well, ever since it dropped in the $70s late in 2023 and early 2024. I used this opportunity to load up in my wife’s portfolio and mine. Now, she receives over $60 per quarter from Starbucks and I receive over $30. Yes, that is over $100 combined!
Observation #2: AT&T’s Dividend Cut Continues to Remain Painful
AT&T slashed its dividend several years ago in an effort to shore up its balance sheet. Long term, it was a great move for the company to improve the balance sheet, pay down debt, and focus on growing. Selfishly though, the dividend cut was extremely painful. We were receiving well over $100 each from AT&T each quarter. Now, we are in the $60s and $70s The dent this has created has been extremely difficult to overcome and is a major reason why we are seeing a slowdown in dividend growth during this month. Replacing that much dividend income takes a lot of time to replace.
Observation #3: Some More Portfolio Cleanup to Come?
2024 has been the year of cleaning up our portfolios. Recently, we talked on our YouTube Channel about how I sold 3 stocks and purchased shares of Google with the proceeds. It feels great cleaning out positions you no longer want and putting the capital where you want it instead.
There are several stocks I wouldn’t mind selling in the chart above. Healthpeak Properties & CVS are two potential companies that I would like to exit in favor of new opportunities. The dividends are strong, but not the largest contributors during this month. Taking a step back with the income may be the best way for us to take a step forward with rebalancing our dividend stock portfolios.
Summary
This was a strong month of November Dividend Income. We have now crossed $1,000 for consecutive years. That is particularly impressive given the AT&T dividend cut that caused dividend growth to stall. In the chart below, you can see that we have grown our dividend income from $600 five years ago to now over $1,000. That’s what it is all about.
Progress and results like these are huge motivators for us to keep pushing ourselves towards financial freedom. Next year, I want to reverse the trend of the red line and see our dividend growth return to double digits. Now, lets keep pushing. Keep saving.
How much dividend income did you receive in November? What was your November Dividend Income total?
Bert
