Bert’s April 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.

The  primary savings account I use is SoFi – 3.8% APY on all savings accounts (lower for your checking account). 

READ: How To Maximize Your Cash – 4 Simple Methods! 

Read: Interest Rates on High Yield Savings Accounts Are SOARING!

Bert’s APril Dividend Income Summary

In April, we earned $968.18 in dividend income.  That was a 1.15% increase compared to last year.

The following table breaks down the individual dividends we received during the month. The table consists of 32 individual dividend payments, but not 32 different holdings.  My wife and I receive dividends from the same holdings in both of our accounts.

Each month, I share some observations about our dividend income for the month.  Here are some of our observations:

Observation #1: Closing in on $100 from Canadian Imperial

It has been a long, long times since I have added to our Canadian Imperial. This dividend has been in true “set it and forget it” mode.  Through dividend reinvestment and dividend increases, our quarterly dividend income from CM is on the verge of crossing $100.  CM is by far our largest dividend payer for the month and it wasn’t even close. That is why it is so much fun…and cool…to see our dividend income grow for this holding.

Observation #2: Industry Concentration

Our dividend income was concentration within two specific industries this month, banking and REITs.

We received dividend income rom the following banks in April: Canadian Imperial, Huntington Bank, Fulton Bank, Wesbanco, Dime Bank. The banks accounting or $216.

We received dividend income from the following REITs in April: Realty Income, Iron Mountain, American Tower, and  Healthpeak Properties.  The REITs accounted for $186 of dividend income.

The sectors typically pay a higher dividend yield and the banking sector is one of my favorite sectors to follow; however, we do run the risk of our dividend income dropping, or stalling, if there is a macro event that causes issues for one of the sectors. For example, what if there is a recession that impacts a banks ability to pay or grow its dividend?  What if rates continue to rise and REITs have to slash its dividend to maintain interest payments?  Sure, these are extreme examples. Unfortunately, I have left myself exposed to them occurring.

Observation #3: I Still Have Too Many Small Dollar Dividend Paying Stocks

This has been a pain point over the last year. I have been looking to clean up my portfolio and reduce the number of holdings.  The low hanging fruit is selling “half baked” positions.  This includes positions that are small ($1,000 or less), pay small dividends, or stocks that I’m not interest in building further.  There were several positions this month that paid us less than $10 in dividend income: Paramount, Occidental Petroleum, Salesforce, Healthpeak Properties).  From this list, Salesforce is the only stock I am looking to build.

Now, I have to figure out what to do with the rest.  I’m trying to write covered calls on Paramount while the stock figures out its merger. That will at least allow me to earn income on this position that is a major loss.  We will discuss on our YouTube Channel my Occidental Petroleum position this week.  Now, the last decision point is Healthpeak properties and figuring out what to do with this position. My goal in June is to define an exit plan…and possibly execute on it.

Summary

I’m excited that I earned $968 in April; however, transparently, I’m frustrated our dividend growth stalled over the year and we were still under $1,000.  I’m going to use this year to keep evaluating and shuffling our dividend stock portfolio to better position it for total return and dividend growth.

How much dividend income did you earn in April?  What was your top paying dividend stock?

Bert

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