I plan on recording my monthly dividend payments on this blog for you all to see. I earned £9.88 in the whole of 2013, £590.33 in 2014, and I have a goal to earn £2,000 in Dividends for 2015. This post will collate all of the dividends I've received this month and how I'm tracking against my Dividend Goals. I will reveal which companies have paid, and how much they've contributed.
I have three accounts where I'm currently earning Dividends from - I have an ISA account with H&L and iWeb, and a taxable share account with iWeb. I didn't receive any payments in my new ISA this month, but here are the numbers for my two other accounts.
| July Dividend Payments: | |
| |
| H&L ISA | |
| GlaxoSmithKline | £15.20 |
| HSBC | £4.84 |
| XL Group | £0.40 |
| Loyalty Bonus | £0.12 |
| Total | £20.56 |
| |
| iWeb ISA | |
| Direct Line | £108.35 |
| Total | £108.35 |
| |
| |
| Combined Total | £128.91 |
July's Dividends turned out quite well in the end. Another month where the total was over £100. My monthly average has reduced slightly from last month, but they're still in the area of what I need to hit my 2015 Goal of £2,000.
At the end of June my average was £163.11 for 2015. This month, the average has gone down to £158.23. To be on track with my 2015 Dividend Income Goal (£2,000) I need to bring in £167 per month. My dividend income is very sporadic so I'm not expecting to hit that amount every month, but I'm pleased to see my monthly average is now well within reach.
Over the course of 2014, my dividends averaged £49.19 per month. I received a Dividend payment in every month last year, so I can now make a Year-on-Year comparison for every month. In July last year I received £56.62 in Dividends. This represents a 128% increase Year on Year. Here's a breakdown of the year so far:
| Dividends - 2015 |
| January | £83.47 |
| February | £56.22 |
| March | £172.36 |
| April | £101.80 |
| May | £339.89 |
| June | £224.94 |
| July | £128.91 |
| August | - |
| September | - |
| October | - |
| November | - |
| December | - |
| 2015 Total | £1,107.59 |
| 2015 Average | £158.23 |
I'm roughly where I need to be to hit the 2015 Dividend Goal of £2,000. My forward dividends don't reach that amount currently. I'm also allocating any surplus capital into my Kindle Publishing business at the moment until I can raise that income to a level that matches my current salary.
I have my biggest ever wage coming through for August, and a big wage in September (although I'll be on part time hours), so I'm going to spend some time calculating if I can afford to purchase some shares. Before I buy any shares I'll need to make sure I can cover the following:
- My predicted monthly expenses
- Kindle Publishing Investments (writing, graphic design, promotion costs)
- A surplus of cash after making an investment, and covering all of the above, to take into future months as a back up. If this amount is zero, I won't make an investment.
There's a chance that I won't hit my goal due to this, but I'm looking at the bigger picture. I intend on taking my investing to a NEW level next year when I'm earning more money working for myself. For July, my early calculations suggest I've earned over £1,000 from Kindle, which I'll get paid at the end of September. I can finally cover my expenses with Kindle income alone. My next step is to take that income to the same level as my current wage at work. At this stage I can return to investing in Dividend stocks as per normal. I'm hoping that my Kindle income will continue to rise and allow me to invest with more capital than I've been able to previously or if I had just kept working full time.
The frustrating thing is that I'm probably 2-3 investments away from hitting the goal (so close!). I'm confident that I could make 1 investment this year and possibly 2 by the end of the year, but I might run out of time to receive the Dividends in time. My H&L ISA cash is stacking up from the Dividends themselves, so I'll probably make an investment in October with that investment money, which will help me.
Can I invest in a good value, reliable company that will pay a dividend by December 2015? I don't know! I won't force the issue and I won't be disappointed if I don't hit it as I'm looking at a much higher income overall for 2016.
How was July for you? Are you still on track for your 2015 Goals? Or is it looking a little close for comfort like me?
Labels: Dividend Growth Investing, Dividend Income, Early Retirement, Extra Income, Passive Income
