Dividend Update - May 2018

It's the end of one month and the beginning of another so it's time for my favorite update: my dividend update. These dividend updates reflect all dividends that I receive through my investing pursuits. I hope they can help inspire you to take control of your own finances and invest to build a passive income stream. What you use that stream for is up to you, whether it's to fund

, just provide some FI/FU money, or even to provide for an annual vacation; the key is that it can provide options and open up all sorts of possibilities. You can check my

or

pages to see what dedication to an investment plan can give you.





It's hard to believe that May is already in the books and the first half of 2018 will soon be over. Time moving forward, whether you want it to or not, is one of the few constants in life. May turned out to be a solid month of dividends, but nothing to get overly excited about.

My FI Portfolio produced $288.32 in dividends during the month. My Folio First account chipped in another $4.03. My Roth IRA was absent as per usual for the middle month of each quarter. Combined the 3 portfolios produced $292.35 during May.





FI Portfolio





As I mentioned above my FI Portfolio produced $288.32 in dividends last month. The quarter over quarter comparison showed a nice 2.5% increase compared to February of this year. What's really exciting about that though is that that 2.5% bump came entirely from dividend increases and a few dividend re-investments.





The year over year comparison gives a better look at growth since most companies maintain the same payout month from year to year. Compared to May 2017 last months dividends showed an underwhelming 3.6% increase year over year. However, on a closer examination that's because YUM Brands (YUM) paid a dividend in May 2017, but has since swapped their payout months and therefore didn't make a payment in May 2018. Adjusting the May 2017 dividends received to reflect that makes the year over year increase climb up to a solid 8.5%.





Roth IRA Portfolio





My Roth IRA provided no dividends during May which is the norm as the companies I own all pay in the first or last month of each quarter.





Dividend Raises During the Month





The pay raises just keep on coming. May was the slowest month thus far in 2018 for dividend increase announcements with just 3 companies giving me raises.

You mean a company I own a piece of, albeit tiny, wants to pay out more of their profits to me just because I own part of the company? Sign me up!





While it was the lowest number of increases I've received for a month that's still 3 different pay raises in May alone compared to a big, fat zero from my day job. Combined those 3 companies increased my forward 12-month dividends by $25.37.





Through the first 5 months of 2018 there's been 27 announced raises from 26 of the companies that I own combining to increase my forward 12-month dividends by $240.05.





Looking Forward





My forward 12-month dividends for my FI Portfolio ended March at $6,221.79 while my FolioFirst forward dividends are at $81.97. That brings the total taxable account forward 12-month dividends to $6,303.76 My Roth IRA's forward-12 month dividends remain at at $338.52. Across all 3 accounts, assuming no dividend cuts or position size changes, I can expect to receive at least $6,642.28 in dividends over the next year.





Monthly Average





Below is the chart showing the monthly dividend totals for each year that I've been investing as well as the monthly average. It's not always an increase as some companies have weird payout schedules, as we saw above, and eventually some positions will get dropped, but the long-term trend is what matters.





The rolling 12-month monthly average for my FI Portfolio is at $484.94 per month which is a solid $11 above 2017's monthly average of $473.37. This should continue to increase throughout the year assuming no dividends cuts.

Monthly Comparison of Dividends Received From FI Portfolio

Dividends Received Breakdown

Dividends Received Breakdown May 2018

I've updated my

page to reflect May's changes.





How are you doing on your dividend goals through the first 5 months of 2018?





Let me know in the comments below!