September 2012 Dividend Earnings Recap

September 2012 Dividend Earnings Recap

Goals for My Dividend Payment Portfolio:

Stock Performance:

In 2012, I completely revamped my stock investment strategy to focus on collecting high-quality dividend-paying stocks. As any dividend investor will tell you, the income from dividends is a fantastic source of truly passive income because it requires no effort on my part—just collecting payments each quarter.

I’m happy to share that this month I received the second installment of my quarterly dividend payments, totaling around $60. While $60 might not seem like much now, it has the potential to grow to $600 or even $6,000 over time. What excites me most about this strategy is the ability to generate passive income, lower my taxes, and provide an income bridge during early retirement to supplement my other nest egg accounts.

In the next three years, I hope to increase my dividend income to $100 per month ($1,200 per year). With a 4% dividend yield, I aim to build a $30,000 portfolio of dividend-paying stocks. Though this might sound like a lot, I’m confident I can achieve it.

Looking ahead, I plan to implement the Dogs of the Dow strategy for my next dividend stock purchase early next year when I receive my profit sharing check. Currently, the Dogs have a year-to-date (YTD) dividend yield between 3.6% and 3.7%, and the portfolio is up between 10.5% to 12.5%, depending on the strategy version. Considering this year’s challenges, that’s a pretty solid return!

For those concerned about the equity risk of owning dividend stocks, I’m also tracking stock price performance as part of this report. The second quarter was a bit volatile, but I’m pleased to see that overall, the portfolio has shown a slight positive change in value. Sometimes, not having a loss is itself a victory! The dividend payments have helped push the portfolio into positive territory.

Big Disclaimer – Don’t buy these stocks just because I did! Please do your own research or consult a professional before making any investment decisions.

If you’re interested in learning more about dividend-paying stocks, check out my other posts:
1) How to Read and Evaluate Basic Stock Metrics
2) Book Review: “The Little Book of Big Dividends” by Charles B. Carlson
3) Protecting Yourself with Dividend Stocks
4) Using the Dogs of the Dow to Buy the Best Dividend Paying Stocks

Image Credits: MMD