Dividend Income (Q1 2020)

Owning stocks from my Master Stock List, I’m generating passive dividend income from my Vanguard taxable account.

Each month, I contribute dollars to my Vanguard money market account and wait for it to build enough cash to purchase a dividend stock(s). Now that Vanguard has free stock trades, I’ll likely start building smaller positions in quality companies. In Q1 of each year, I also receive annual bonuses that will go to the purchase of dividend stocks too.

Goal

Generate over $15,000 in forward annual stock dividend income by 6/30/25.

Updated Income

When Q4 2019 ended, I was expecting $3,192 in forward annual dividend income for 2020. And even though Q1 was crazy for the markets, I was a buyer in January and March.

In January, I added to my Exxon and Royal Dutch Shell positions. This is when everything was “normal.” I’d love to have those purchases back now but they seemed liked good buys before the virus and oil price war. A double whammy for energy companies. I also added Franklin Resources to my portfolio. Again, this seemed like a good buy at the time.

I refuse to regret my January purchases. But I took a pause in February as we waited to see what was occurring with the market. Finally, in March I added new stocks Pfizer, Wells Fargo, Aflac, and Altria to my portfolio. Plus, I added to my Coca-Cola and Exxon positions too.

In total, I purchased about $48,000 in stocks and increased my dividend income by about $2,600. These totals brought my forward 12 month dividend income to $5,704. For the rest of the year, I’ll continue adding to my portfolio with each work paycheck. My focus will likely be consumer staples and healthcare stocks but I wouldn’t pass up other good opportunities.

Summary

I didn’t hit the perfect rock bottom prices on any purchase in Q1. Nobody likes to buy a stock and see it go down immediately but what can I do? Honestly, I’m not going to regret any purchase because they are all quality companies. I’ll hold these stocks for a long time and I’ll add to some of my positions in future years.

Looking 12 months out from today (April 2020 – March 2021), I’m expecting to receive $5,704 in forward dividend income. This is assuming I make no changes to my current stock portfolio. This leaves me $9,296 short of my $15,000 dividend income goal (by June 2025) but I’m happy with my progress and I’ve got to time to close the gap.

Thanks for reading!

Mr. TLR