Ding ding ding! It’s that time of the month again! Please come and join me in the happy dance and let’s move our hands in the air like we don’t care. Yup, it’s time to post an article on our dividend income for the month of September 2015. We love dividend income because the money keeps rolling in regardless how the market is doing. As long as the companies continue paying dividends, we’re golden. Although we went on a 2 week Japan vacation and didn’t pay attention to how the stock market did at all, we still got paid. How awesome is that? Our goal is to have dividend income covering the majority or all of our expenses one day. When that happens, we are financial independent and can live off our dividends. Some of you have been asking what our magic dividend number is to cover our expenses. To be conservative, $3,500 per month should be sufficient, less if we include other sources of passive income. This number does include putting money aside for investments and other savings like education for Baby T. Of course, since nothing is written in stone, this magic number can change. If you want to read more about how we plan to live off our dividends and some of the assumptions that we are making, check out this great interview I did with My Own Advisor.
Dividends Received
For some reason, September is typically the quieter month for us but I was pleasantly surprised to see how many companies paid us dividend in September 2015. Here’s a list of stocks that we received dividends in September 2015:
Pure Industrial REIT (AAR.UN)
BP plc (BP)
Care Capital Properties (CCP)
Chorus Aviation Inc (CHR.B)
Corus Entertainment (CJR.B)
Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO)
ConocoPhillips (Cop)
Chevron (CVX)
Dream Office REIT (D.UN)
Dream Global REIT (DRG.UN)
Enbridge (ENB.TO)
Energyplus Corp (ERF.TO)
Evertz Technologies (ET.TO)
Fortis (FTS.TO)
H&R REIT (HR.UN)
Intact Financial (IFC.TO)
Intel (INTC)
Inter Pipeline (IPL.TO)
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
KEG Income Trust (KEG.UN)
Liquor Store (LIQ.TO)
McDonald’s (MCD)
Manulife (MFC.TO)
MCAN Mortgage Corporation (MKP.TO)
Qualcomm (QCOM)
RioCan REIT (REI.UN)
Royal Dutch Shield plc (RDS.B)
Saputo (SAP.TO)
Unilever plc (UL)
Waste Management (WM)
Westjet (WJA.TO)
Ventas (VTR)
Phew what a list! In September we received a total of $824.69 in dividends from 32 companies with $275.17 in US currency and $549.52 in Canadian currency. Please note, we use a 1 to 1 currency rate approach, so we do not convert the dividends received in US currency into Canadian currency. We’re doing this to keep the math simple and avoid fluctuations in dividend income over time due to changes in the currency rate.
Looks like I was completely wrong when saying that September is a slow month! Sure we couldn’t keep the over $900 dividend income streak going, but what’s not to love about getting close to $850 in dividend income for doing absolutely nothing at all? Although our portfolio value has decreased due to the current market environment, we are still getting solid dividend income. This is why I love dividend growth investing so much. I get to see solid result each month. It’s that simple.
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It’s really neat to see that we received dividends from a record 32 different companies. We are certainly generating dividend income from multiple sources. It’s also interesting to note that we received a lot of dividends from energy companies. We are well exposed to the energy & gas sector but have been adding new capital to take advantage of this discounted sector. Where do I think about this sector? We all know that the energy & gas sector has taken a beating so far this year but it appears that there have been some recoveries recently. The demands for oil appear to be slowly growing worldwide. According to oil demand statistics collected by the Joint Organization Data Imitative (JODI), oil demand rose 3.3% in the first half of 2015, compared to the same period in 2014. This data comes from 59 countries which accounts for about 80% of the world’s oil consumption. Having said that, we need to see what happens in China since China is a big player when it comes to oil consumption.
Dividend Growth
Compared to dividend income from September 2014, we saw a 29.2% YOY growth. I’m actually quite surprised by this number to be perfectly honest. Thanks to our purchase of 16 shares of Ventas back in August and the spin off of Care Capital Properties, we received additional $13.96 US in dividend income this past month. It’s a small amount but considering the two companies are planning to growth dividend payout at +10%, we will see this income grow over time.
While majority of the dividend growth is a result of adding more capital into our dividend portfolio, the growth also comes from companies increasing their dividend payout. Companies like Suncor, Saputo, and ConocoPhillips have increased their payout compared to a quarter ago. We are also improving our dividend growth rate by enrolling in synthetic DRIP and buying additional shares automatically with dividends received. For example, we’re buying 1 share of H&R REIT (HR.UN) each month from dividend received. In 10 months we have already increased dividend received from HR.UN by 2.5% compare to beginning of the year. Although a small number, everything does add up in the long run.
Moving Forward
So far this year we’ve received a total of $7,474.53 in dividend income. If we put that into perspective, at $20/hour, that means we’ve saved the need of working actively for 374 hours, or 15.5 days! That’s 15 days that we can use to enjoy life, like going for a vacation in Japan.
The big question now is are we going to be able to receive over $10,000 in dividend this year. Looking at our past month dividend incomes in 2015, I think we should be able to. At $7,474.53, that’s only 25.25% to go. Hitting this 5 digit milestone will certainly be a huge accomplishment for us.
Thank you for reading and for your continued support. How was your September dividend income?
how do you get monthly dividends? Is it so with each company you have invested. Because in India we get dividends only in march and that too only 10% of listed companies pay dividends.
Hi Swapnil,
Some of the dividend stocks that we own are REITs which pay out monthly dividends. Most of the stocks that we own pay out dividends every quarter. Sounds like it’s quite different in India.
Tawcan, Great job, on growing dividend income! You are on way to achieving magical $10K, that you don’t need to work and they keep coming. Keep racing towards FI!
Thanks Race2Retirement.
Congrats of the steadily increasing stream of dividend income, its nice to see someone sticking to their plan and achieving their goals.
Good job on reaching so much in dividends already this year. The goal you have seems attainable, I wonder how much of new capital did you invest this year to help you achieve such big growth in yoy numbers? My September was good as well, but nothing beats December in my situation, it pays out the most out of all months.
Tawcan,
The lower market prices of late are actually going to help you quite a bit in achieving that $10k milestone. You’re going to get invested at good prices for better yields!
Keep up the hard work.
Take care,
– Ryan from GRB
Awesome numbers for a slow month 🙂 Nice to see quite a few names in common for our September results as well. Always nice to be in good company. Keep the dividend flow going. $10K annual is within reach.
Tawcan,
Nice month, and up a decent % too! 32 companies is pretty sweet, especially since you own that – you don’t work for that. Also a note at the end, you state the $7474 = 15.5 days @ $20. Actually it gives you almost 47 days (374 / 8). That is 47 days you don’t have to work, not counting weekends. Thus if you work 261 days per year (accounting for weekends), you now only have to work 214. Already crushing what most people can afford to do!
– Gremlin
Ahh, never mind – I thought you meant working days, I see you used whole days. My fault, I need to go to the Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Want to Read Good…
Lol Gremlin. Maybe I should calculate with work day instead of whole days. 🙂
Hi Tawcan,
Great job! Dividends from 32 companies in September is impressive. I received my very first dividend from Enbridge in September. I look forward to seeing how October shapes up for you.
Cheers,
Dividendniche
Hi Dividendniche,
Congrats on receiving your first dividend from Enbridge. Isn’t that a great feeling receiving money for doing nothing?
that is an impressive list of companies that pay you a dividend and the outlook to make 10K on dividends this year is just awesome!
Thanks Ambertreeleaves.
Nicely done, Tawcan. 🙂 How many stocks do you have overall roughly? I have around 50, but you’re probably holding more since you receive dividends from so many companies in just one month. 😀
We own 58 companies right now. You can always check out our dividend portfolio. 🙂
Tawcan,
WHOA! $825 with 29% growth – NOT TOO SHABBY!! Incredible and over 30 companies paying you… amazing. All of the hard work is paying off and I bet you are smiling over there. December should be another home run for you no doubt!
-Lanny
Hi Lanny,
Very happy with our Sept dividend income for sure. The next quarter will be an interesting one for us.
You are definitely well on your way to the $3500/mo mark. Good luck hitting that 10k mark, with roughly 1 quarter to go you should hit that mark easily after your recent purchases and any dividend growth kicks in. Best of luck.
Hi Captain Dividend,
Definitely counting on a really big quarter this quarter. 🙂
Very very cool, hope you guys will actually break the 10K barrier by the end of the year.
Hi Team CF,
Thanks, I hope so too. 🙂
Tawcan,
That $10k mark will be magical indeed. There seem to be several bloggers rapidly approaching it, you and I included.
Looking forward to your next update and hope you can continue the strong investing.
Dan
Hi Dan,
That’s awesome that you guys are approaching the magical $10k mark too.
By the beard of Zeus! 10k in the year will be awesome and is clearly a substantial amount 🙂
Keep it up
MrZ
Hi Mr. Z,
$10k a year will be pretty awesome indeed. Have to come back and see if we can make this major milestone.
Tawcan
Great Dividend income, soon you will hit the 4 digit per month dividend income milestone.
Keep the snowball rolling.
Divorcedff – Sharon
Hi Sharon,
Thanks, working hard to hit the magical 4 digit per month dividend income milestone.
Congrats on another successful month with dividend payments. Every month/year your div’s and interest will rise with continued DRIPs and further capital investing. My total monthly divs and interest equaled $4100. That is two RRSP’s , TFSA , and investing account. That total will go up as I cashed in a savings account, moved some other money around and invested another 35K. In the past I would have panicked and sold on this recent downturn in the markets. Reading Tawcan and Div Mantra keeps me focused on the real reason for dividend investing. Freedom 60 is 7 months away.
Hi NRG,
Wow $4100 per month? That’s awesome! You’re definitely on pace to retire at 60. Glad to see someone deploying the dividend investing strategy that will be retiring soon. Just to show that dividend investing is a great income source for retirement.
That’s awesome Tawcan. Keep up the great work. You’re well on your way to crush your goals and then some. Happy for the Tawcan family. Guys enjoy the journey and can’t wait for all of us DG Investors to reach new heights. Cheers buddy.
Thanks Dividend Hustler. Keep hustling!
Wow that is some serious dividend income from a ton of different companies! I have my eye on pretty much all of those companies and will buy in the future. Do you keep USD on hand in your account to buy US stocks? The only thing holding me back right now from buying more of the US market is our low dollar
Hi Dan,
Most of the USD on hand are from dividend received. It’s tough converting money to US dollar right now due to the low Canadian dollar.
Hello Tawcan,
Impressive dividend growth – keep up the good work! Not to be a wet noodle or anything but technically, the most recent Husky dividend was only paid on October 1 (assuming you have the common shares).
Cheers,
MG
Hi MG,
Good eyes, simple accounting mistake, I entered Husky dividend in September instead of October. Oops. I have corrected the amount. 🙂
Wow, great work. Thanks for the link to the interview, happy to have you on the site.
All the best and enjoy your long weekend!
Mark
Hi Mark,
No problem, awesome interview. Have a great weekend too.
Nice going Tawcan. Congrats on the dividend income!
R2R
Thanks R2R, you’re having great progress on passive income too.
Tawcan,
Awesome result there. And on pace for $10,000 this year? That’s just fantastic.
Great list of companies. I’m a fellow shareholder in quite a few. Love having these world-class businesses working on our behalf. Much better than me working on my own behalf. 🙂
Keep it up. You’ve been really active over the last few months, which means Q4 should be really strong. Excited to see how it pans out for you. You guys should be able to cruise past $10,000, which is an awesome milestone.
Best regards!
Hi Jason,
I think we’re on pace for $10,000 this year. We’ll see if we can hit that number by end of the year. With all the purchases I think we can.