Category: Dividend Year-End Roundup

Here is the dividend income report for December, 2023.

The monthly dividend income came out to $3,712.11. The yearly income total for 2023 through the end of the month was $13,488.72.

The income for December, 2022 was $3,145.22, and the yearly income for 2022 through the end of December was $12,185.76.

The twelve-month moving average broke $1,100 for the first time.

Beyond that, I do not have a whole lot to say for this month with regards to what I own. I will save commentary for the other months whose reports are also delayed.

Here is a table of the number of Dividend Champions, Contenders, Challengers, and a total of all three for the first week of each January from 2011 to 2024. The methodology changed from 2021 to 2022, but I think it is still a good comparison. The number of Champions has still not cracked 140. As with all decreases, the casualties were in the Challengers category.

Year	Total	Champions	Contenders	Challengers
2024	692	137	362	193
2023	723	130	348	245
2022	708	127	302	280
2021	729	139	308	282
2020	866	138	265	463
2019	864	131	205	528
2018	822	115	220	487
2017	768	108	227	433
2016	753	107	250	396
2015	611	106	246	259
2014	476	105	210	161
2013	458	105	183	170
2012	448	102	146	200
2011	447	99	141	207
2010		98	62	N/A
2009		125
2008		138

Here are the 2022 and 2023 amounts for the securities that I own, with the differences.

Security	2022 Income	2023 Income	YOY Change
BND	$1,907.55	$2,384.61	$477.06
BNDX	$163.47	$508.06	$344.59
LAND	$46.10	$0.00	-$46.10
RLI	$26.91	$0.00	-$26.91
RWR Reg	$504.12	$564.02	$59.90
RWR Roth	$853.13	$1,123.04	$269.91
SDY	$3,501.55	$3,711.57	$210.02
VPU	$1,053.15	$1,135.31	$82.16
WDIV	$3,508.98	$3,511.74	$2.76
XYLD	$620.80	$550.37	-$70.43
Totals	$12,185.76	$13,488.72	$1,302.96

Here is a table with the year-to-date amounts, the monthly amounts, and the three- and twelve-month moving averages for each December from the beginning of my records through 2023:

Month	YTD	Amount	3MMA	12MMA
2023-12	$13,488.72	$3,712.11	$1,515.38	$1,124.06
2022-12	$12,185.76	$3,145.22	$1,296.91	$1,015.48
2021-12	$10,951.48	$3,408.55	$1,346.62	$912.62
2020-12	$10,541.51	$3,490.60	$1,294.16	$878.46
2019-12	$10,515.13	$3,611.13	$1,343.15	$876.26
2018-12	$6,971.76	$2,313.99	$1,165.08	$580.98
2017-12	$7,536.98	$1,837.78	$913.40	$628.08
2016-12	$6,076.53	$1,027.76	$605.28	$506.38
2015-12	$5,472.07	$954.52	$575.86	$456.01
2014-12	$4,438.02	$909.86	$481.67	$369.80
2013-12	$3,406.20	$594.59	$344.05	$283.85
2012-12	$3,585.01	$686.10	$386.41	$298.75
2011-12	$3,091.99	$514.94	$323.40	$253.92

Here are the securities and the income amounts for December, 2023:

• Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF: $213.61
• Vanguard Total International Bond ETF: $20.36
• SPDR S&P Dividend ETF: $1,110.79
• SPDR Dow Jones REIT ETF Reg: $200.95
• SPDR Dow Jones REIT ETF Roth: $400.11
• SPDR S&P Global Dividend ETF: $909.71
• Vanguard Utilities ETF: $315.16
• Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF: $224.42
• Vanguard Total International Bond ETF: $317.00

 

The big stick doesn’t lie.

Painting of the Annunciation by Gerard de Lairesse (1641-1711); image from Wikimedia; image assumed to be under public domain.

The monthly dividend income came out to $3,145.22. The yearly income total for 2022 through the end of the month was $12,185.76.

The income for December, 2021 was $3,408.55, and the yearly income for 2021 through the end of December was $10,951.48.

This is the sixth month that my twelve-month moving average was above $1,000.

Honestly, I have been kind of tired over the past few weeks: job, economy, worrying about money, etc. I am tired of reading about bitcon and corrupt-o-currency, tired of thinking about them, tired of hearing about them. I wish it would all just go away. As Emily Gilmore would say, it all just nonsense. Anyone who is into it is either a scammer or stupid. It’s bad enough dealing with people who think capital gains is the answer, or tax cuts are the solution to all the world’s problems, and then turn around and tell you the world is complicated when tax cuts do not make anything better. The Big Lie. QAnon. Monotheism. People who haven’t realized the only intelligent amount of booze is none. Generally the same people who are too stupid or too much of a jerk to grasp the concept that universal statements are not invitations to come up with exceptions. I need a break from it all.

In the past year I got RWR in both IRA accounts. Right now they are both underwater. I know I said we should not rely on capital gains; that does not mean I want my stocks to go to zero. The goal is to live off the dividends and never touch principal. I think some sectors of real estate will have some issues. I also think rising interest rates will help here. The plan is to hold these for the rest of my life.

I am still concerned I might not make it with the funds I have. My 12-month moving average after estimated taxes (which is not part of this report) would not cover my rent today, let alone my rent in 20 years. Granted, if I had my 401(k) from work in dividend ETFs, I would have much higher income. I know I have been saying for a couple of years that the end may be soon. I am still in that in-between state.

Here is a table of the number of Dividend Champions, Contenders, Challengers, and a total of all three for the first week of each January from 2011 to 2023. The methodology changed from 2021 to 2022, but I think it is still a good comparison. I am starting to wonder if the number of Champions will ever crack 140.

Year	Total	Champions	Contenders	Challengers
2023	723	130	348	245
2022	708	127	302	280
2021	729	139	308	282
2020	866	138	265	463
2019	864	131	205	528
2018	822	115	220	487
2017	768	108	227	433
2016	753	107	250	396
2015	611	106	246	259
2014	476	105	210	161
2013	458	105	183	170
2012	448	102	146	200
2011	447	99	141	207
2010		98	62	N/A
2009		125
2008		138

I have been looking at some posts on the Dividends subreddit, and I am thinking about going back to individual stocks. It is more likely that my income would go up. I am not clear why a dividend growth ETF would have a variable payout from one quarter to another. Granted, there are always companies cutting dividends and others joining the club, but I still think the payouts should go down less often than they do. This phenomenon is not just in the DGI ETFs that I have been in from Vanguard and State Street, but Black Rock’s as well. Granted, stocks can cut or freeze their dividends, but with individual stocks there is more upward momentum. One reason I stopped with individual stocks is that it is a lot of work entering all that information. I have a customized spreadsheet that cannot be automated, and I think most banks and brokers do not know what GnuCash is. I think most of the gain I got from ETFs was in the international ETFs.

Here are the 2021 and 2022 amounts for the securities that I own, with the differences. Yes, I know this is off for 2022. I might have entered something wrong in one sheet in my spreadsheet; I am willing to live with it.

Security	2021 Income	2022 Income	YOY Change
BND	1796.89	1907.55	110.66
BNDX	453.20	163.47	-289.73
LAND	204.55	46.10	-158.45
RLI	315.22	0	-315.22
RWR Reg	0	504.12	504.12
RWR Roth	0	853.13	853.13
SDY	3616.80	3501.55	-115.25
VPU	943.49	1053.15	109.66
WDIV	3080.13	3508.98	428.85
XYLD	473.24	620.80	147.56
Sold	67.96	0	-67.96
Total	10951.48	12158.85	1207.37

I have noticed on the Dividends subreddit they love SCHD. I plan on looking at that fund, and at its underlying index. Some of them really love SCHD over there. It is almost like a religion with some of them: And the lord spoke “thou shalt only buy” and lo, the believers prospered. The sinners sold and their fields lay barren and bereft of hope. Still, buying DGI stocks or ETFs and never selling is an idea I can get behind.

Another goal for this year is to follow a few more of Ron DeLegge’s ideas: Make a written investment policy statement, and try to pick a commodities ETF.

Here is a table with the year-to-date amounts, the monthly amounts, and the three- and twelve-month moving averages for each December from 2011 through 2022:

Month	YTD	Amount	3MMA	12MMA
2022-12	$12185.76	$3145.22	$1296.91	$1015.48
2021-12	$10951.48	$3408.55	$1346.62	$912.62
2020-12	$10541.51	$3490.60	$1294.16	$878.46
2019-12	$10515.13	$3611.13	$1343.15	$876.26
2018-12	$6971.76	$2313.99	$1165.08	$580.98
2017-12	$7536.98	$1837.78	$913.40	$628.08
2016-12	$6076.53	$1027.76	$605.28	$506.38
2015-12	$5472.07	$954.52	$575.86	$456.01
2014-12	$4438.02	$909.86	$481.67	$369.80
2013-12	$3406.20	$594.59	$344.05	$283.85
2012-12	$3585.01	$686.10	$386.41	$298.75
2011-12	$3091.99	$514.94	$323.40	$253.92

Here are the securities and the income amounts for December, 2022:

• Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF: $169.72
• Vanguard Total International Bond ETF: $13.66
• Vanguard Utilities ETF VPU ETF: $278.12
• SPDR S&P Dividend ETF SDY ETF: $984.34
• SPDR Dow Jones REIT ETF RWR ETF: $164.89
• SPDR Dow Jones REIT ETF RWR ETF: $328.31
• SPDR S&P Global Dividend ETF: $978.89
• Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF: $178.06
• Vanguard Total International Bond ETF: $49.23

 

I have a principle of never touching the principal.

Painting of the Anunciation at the Church of San Salvadore by Titian (1488-1576); image from Wikimedia, also at his website; image assumed to be under public domain.

Here is the dividend income report for December, 2021.

The monthly dividend income came out to $3408.55. The yearly income total for 2021 through the end of the month was $10951.48.

The income for December 2020 was $3490.60, and the yearly income for 2020 through the end of December was $10541.51.

I had a big jump in my yearly income in 2019 over 2018 after I switched from individual stocks to ETFs. It was about 30%. I know that jumps that big will not happen too often, but since then it seems like my income is stagnant. Granted, a lot of companies were hit by COVID in 2020, but still it seems like things have stalled out. Perhaps as the world gets used to COVID the increases will continue. I hope there are some bigger increases soon. I only have about 10 years to set myself up for the next 10 years after that (or 20 or 30).

I am realizing you need a lot of assets to have a decent cash flow. I read a blog post using Warren Buffett’s stake in Coca-Cola to show how great DGI is. The kicker is that he has 400 million shares. I can’t afford 400 million shares of anything decent. Maybe I need to get an account on a DGI forum and connect with other people at my level. My 100 shares of RLI giving me $8/month will not keep my out of the poorhouse.

I am thinking of putting some more money into individual stocks again. I know I stopped because it was a lot of work keeping track of all of those stocks (I use both GnuCash and a spreadsheet to track all of this), but I really really really like some securities with income that only increases (barring dividend cuts). Again, maybe this is obvious to everyone like me, but I am not clear why some dividend ETFs do not have consistently rising income. I can see why for WDIV, since foreign companies do not pay consistent amounts from quarter to quarter. But since American companies do pay more consistent amounts, I do not understand why SDY is so variable. I get that some companies get dropped from the index, but I think that happens once a year. Perhaps it is because people can buy and sell ETFs anytime. But still, while individual stocks are more work, I would like a some more predictability in my income, especially since the point of all of this is to have income in the future when I am no longer working.

I would also like to buy some that pay in the “A” or “B” months, since the “C” month is already the biggest month. A lot of companies and just about all ETFs pay in “C” months. That being said, I have the fact that sometimes Vanguard ETFs miss the “C” month and pay in the next “A” month.

I am considering getting an account with Morningstar or Yahoo Finance to look at individual stocks. Or figure out how to calculate payout ratios myself. I know there are a lot of DGI bloggers who start paid newsletters analyzing stocks. I find that a depressing trend. Isn’t DGI enough? There are about 4700 stocks traded on the NYSE and the NASDAQ. There are about 700 in the Dividend Champions spreadsheet. You have already eliminated 85% of the stocks on the market with DGI. How many newsletters do you need to do DGI? How much guidance does a DGI investor need? Perhaps joining one of the free forums is all you need to do.

One thing I have wondered is if there is a term for companies that have increased their dividend for less than 5 years. If we are going to stick with words that start with “C”, perhaps “Dividend Children”. Granted, companies that have 50+ years are “Kings”, so perhaps “Trainees” is a good word. Or if we want to stick with the “K” sound, “Qualifiers”.

I plan on buying some shares in REITs that pay monthly: O, STAG, or both. Then I will look at other stocks.

Here is a table with the year-to-date amounts, the monthly amounts, and the three- and twelve-month moving averages for each December from 2011 through 2021:

Month	YTD	Amount	3MMA	12MMA
2021-12	$10951.48	$3408.55	$1346.62	$912.62
2020-12	$10541.51	$3490.60	$1294.16	$878.46
2019-12	$10515.13	$3611.13	$1343.15	$876.26
2018-12	$6971.76	$2313.99	$1165.08	$580.98
2017-12	$7536.98	$1837.78	$913.40	$628.08
2016-12	$6076.53	$1027.76	$605.28	$506.38
2015-12	$5472.07	$954.52	$575.86	$456.01
2014-12	$4438.02	$909.86	$481.67	$369.80
2013-12	$3406.20	$594.59	$344.05	$283.85
2012-12	$3585.01	$686.10	$386.41	$298.75
2011-12	$3091.99	$514.94	$323.40	$253.92

 

Here are the 2020 and 2021 amounts for the securities that I own, with the difference. There might be a couple of arithmetic errors, but I think it is pretty accurate. It shows that the big culprits for the lackluster growth are the bond funds and WDIV:

Security	2020 Income	2021 Income	YOY Change
BND	2049.06	1796.86	-252.20
BNDX	140.71	453.20	312.49
LAND	0	204.55	204.55
RLI	201.61	315.22	113.61
SDY	3125.98	3616.80	490.82
VPU	940.53	943.49	2.96
WDIV	3556.01	3080.13	-475.88
XYLD	0	473.24	473.24
Sold	527.61	67.99	-459.62
Total	10541.51	10951.48	409.97

 

Here is a table of the number of Dividend Champions, Contenders, Challengers, and a total of all three for each January from 2011 to 2022. I think there are a few errors in the 2022 table; I will contact the people who made it (they list DTE which cut its dividend, and removed ETN, which did not; the 2021-12 table was correct for those companies, and there might be a few other issues with their first 2022 table). This table is also on this site on the main dividends page.

Year	Total	Champions	Contenders	Challengers
2022	708	127	302	280
2021	729	139	308	282
2020	866	138	265	463
2019	864	131	205	528
2018	822	115	220	487
2017	768	108	227	433
2016	753	107	250	396
2015	611	106	246	259
2014	476	105	210	161
2013	458	105	183	170
2012	448	102	146	200
2011	447	99	141	207

 

Here are the securities and the income amounts for December, 2021 (in December, some securities have multiple payouts):

• Global X S&P 500 Covered Call ETF: $39.74
• Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF: $135.69
• Vanguard Total International Bond ETF: $7.45
• RLI Corp: $211.09
• RLI Corp: $26.39
• Vanguard Utilities ETF: $240.27
• SPDR S&P Dividend ETF: $1044.31
• SPDR S&P Global Dividend ETF: $1051.93
• Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF: $141.88
• Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF: $130.95
• Vanguard Total International Bond ETF: $275.29
• Vanguard Total International Bond ETF: $1.30
• Vanguard Total International Bond ETF: $79.31
• Gladstone Land: $22.95

 

The commandment that your second derivative must always go up will be the death of us all.

Painting by Alberto Sotio, 12th-century Italian painter; image from Wikimedia, assumed allowed under public domain.

Here is the dividend income report for December, 2020.

The monthly dividend income came out to $3490.60. The yearly income total for 2020 through the end of the month was $10541.51.

The income for December, 2019 was $3611.13, and the yearly income for 2019 through the end of December was $10515.13.

The total for 2020 was my highest ever. I still worry that my dividend ETFs will not cover my expenses in retirement. I have about a decade left in the workforce, possibly more.

I had RWR for most of 2019, and I sold all my shares in early 2020. I sold at a price higher than the low in 2020, but lower than the price now. I thought real estate would get hosed more than it has. Perhaps RWR has a lot of wholesale real estate and not much consumer and office space. I plan on going through the RWR annual report to see what is in it. I also plan on going over the conference calls for LAND. I should have some cash to install.

Anyway, I made $1982.49 from RWR in 2019, and 179.94 from RWR in 2020. So that means that I beat my 2019 total without the 1802.55 difference in RWR. I did buy some BND for my Roth IRA. I that seemed to help. I also got income every month in my Roth IRA.

I bought some shares of Global X S&P 500 Covered Call ETF (XYLD). This will give me monthly income. Perhaps I won’t need to get Ron DeLegge’s newsletter for the monthly ETF trade.

In addition to tracking my finances in GnuCash, I also have a spreadsheet for my stocks and ETFs. I have a sheet for the monthly totals for the accounts. I added a few columns with the 3- and 12-month moving averages for my taxable accounts which take out about 33% for taxes. I don’t know if my tax rate will be that high when I retire, but I think this will give me a better idea how well my investments would do if that is all I had to rely on. Right now, my 12-month moving average after removing assumed taxes from income from taxable accounts is $680. That is not enough to cover my rent. But a few years ago it was around $450, so I guess I am doing okay.

I have some money in another account that I will probably “put to work” (as they say in the industry). What I really need is to start making more money.

Here is a table with the year-to-date amounts, the monthly amounts, and the three- and twelve-month moving averages for each December from 2011 through 2020:

Month	YTD	Amount	3MMA	12MMA
2020-12	$10541.51	$3490.60	$1294.16	$878.46
2019-12	$10515.13	$3611.13	$1343.15	$876.26
2018-12	$6971.76	$2313.99	$1165.08	$580.98
2017-12	$7536.98	$1837.78	$913.40	$628.08
2016-12	$6076.53	$1027.76	$605.28	$506.38
2015-12	$5472.07	$954.52	$575.86	$456.01
2014-12	$4438.02	$909.86	$481.67	$369.80
2013-12	$3406.20	$594.59	$344.05	$283.85
2012-12	$3585.01	$686.10	$386.41	$298.75
2011-12	$3091.99	$514.94	$323.40	$253.92

 

Here are the securities and the income amounts for December, 2020:

• Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF: $141.02
• Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF: $36.12
• Vanguard Total International Bond ETF: $9.83
• RLI Corp: $103.60
• RLI Corp: $24.86
• Vanguard Utilities ETF: $290.74
• SPDR S&P Dividend ETF: $1031.43
• SPDR S&P Global Dividend ETF: $1463.25
• Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF: $286.78
• Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF: $73.46
• Vanguard Total International Bond ETF: $29.51

 

Note: Some securities have more than one payout in December. I have BND in two accounts. BND, BNDX and RLI have multiple payouts in December.

In spite of all that happened, I had an okay year. Hopefully 2021 will be better for us all.

Image from somewhere on the web, assumed allowed under Fair Use. Painting of angel by Guariento di Arpo (1310-1370).