Here is the dividend income report for December, 2014.
The monthly dividend income came out to $909.86. The yearly income total for 2014 through the end of the month was $4,438.02. As with every December, RLI paid both a regular dividend ($0.18/year this quarter) and a special dividend ($3.00/share this year). Even without the special dividend, the total for the month was $570.45, and the yearly total was $4,098.61. The special dividend came out to $339.41. The special dividend alone was more than the total for most months. Still, 2014 was a better year than 2013.
The income for December, 2013 was $594.59, and the yearly income total up through that month was $3,406.20.
The three-month moving average for December, 2014 was 481.67, and the twelve-month moving average was $369.80. For December, 2013 those numbers were $344.05 for the 3MMA, and $283.85 for the 12MMA. All these averages include the special annual dividends from RLI.
The year that I made the most dividend income was in 2007. I had my money in my 401(k) through my then-employer, and it was all in mutual funds. Most of them were index funds. I do not know if the international fund was an index fund. The total that year was $6,575.54. For 2008 the income was $5,420.86. I honestly sometimes wonder if this dividend strategy will work. Sometimes I think that the way to investing success is to have a plan and stick to it. But do I have a good plan? I am thinking about subscribing to The ETF Guide’s Profit Strategy Newsletter. The host of The Index Investing Show runs it and he talks about it a lot. He said they use some ETFs and covered calls to generate up from $500 to $2,000 a month on a portfolio of $100,000. It would be neat if that could fund my IRA.
In some ways 2013 and 2014 were mirror opposites in terms of the arrangement of stocks in my portfolio. In 2013, I did not buy any new stocks, I sold several (CAT, FDR, MO, PNR, as well as spin-offs) and I only increased my holdings in one stock to get it up to around 100 shares (COP). In 2014 I started a position in one (K), I only sold one stock (INTC, more if you include spin-offs), and I increased my holdings in several to get them to around 100 shares (AFL, BMS, CB, COP, T, XOM).
Sometimes I think that if I keep doing what I am doing things will work out alright.
Here are the stocks and the income amounts for December, 2014:
- AFLAC Inc: $40.68
- American States Water Co: $23.42
- Black Hills Corp: $13.69
- Bemis Co Inc: $27.28
- ConocoPhillips: $78.32
- Vectren Corp: $21.69
- Questar Corp: $10.46
- Johnson & Johnson: $23.94
- Chevron: $24.45
- Emerson Electric Co: $25.37
- Sonoco Products Co: $21.44
- Exxon Mobil Corp: $76.06
- Archer-Daniels-Midland Co: $15.49
- Walgreen Co: $19.23
- Dover Corp: $9.08
- Consolidated Edison Inc: $18.85
- Kellogg Company: $49.71
- Coca-Cola Co: $33.47
- Valspar Corp: $17.46
- RLI Corp: $20.36
- RLI Corp: $339.41
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