How Much Dividends I Received In September from My Dividend Growth Investing Portfolio

September means Fall, and so did the stock market. It has been a rough last few months for my portfolio. In the last month, I am down -5.78% and $-1.308.81. However, even though most of my stocks are in the red, that means things are cheaper to buy. Even better when your dividends are on a dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP). DRIP is a feature offered by most stock brokers allowing you to automatically reinvest the dividend back into the stock or exchange-traded fund (ETF). For example, SCHD paid me a handsome $35.65 based on 54.47 shares. The day I get this dividend, the DRIP platform will automatically be reinvested into SCHD to buy shares/slices of the stock. This plan helps compound your returns. Speaking of the dividend received by SCHD, when I started investing, I never dreamed of getting enough money from a dividend that could pay for my Wi-Fi bill. For me, that’s mad. SCHD has struggled a bit this year, likely due to its holdings and their performance, but has still increased its dividend YoY by 3.10%. We shall see what December brings for this ETF and its legendary dividend growth! 

Kroger (KR) is a popular grocery store and the owner of several well-known grocery store brands like Harris Teeter if you are from the South. Although their deal with Albertsons is in the air and could bite them back in the arse, inflation could be in their favor. KR has pricing power, people still gotta eat and get groceries. Plus, they have increased their dividend this year by 11.5%, and on top of that, they are at a discount. Winner winner, rotisserie chicken dinner. This month, they paid me $6.97 based on 24.02 shares. Union Pacific Corporation (UNP) paid me $6.90 based on 5.31 shares. They have had an up-and-down year, stock prices for must in a nutshell, but their dividend still remains safe with a hopeful increase next year. Regardless of the dividend, UNP is a powerhouse stock, with a monopoly on the railroads, and even owned by a popular financial YouTuber Joesph Carlson.

Johnson & Johnson has paid a dividend for the last six decades, but even better, has consistently increased its dividend for the last 60 years. Pricing power, diversified portfolio from consumer staples to healthcare products, a juggernaut of a stock. Interestingly this year, JNJ split off the consumer staple/health part of its portfolio to form a new company called Kenvue. I think this is great, healthcare grows faster compared to consumer staples, and growing in share price usually corresponds to consistent and sometimes larger dividend increases. This month, JNJ paid me $6.79 based on 5.66 shares. 

PepsiCo (PEP) is a popular but amazing company/stock. Like Coca-Cola (KO), they own many brand drinks. However, PEP owns more than just beverages, they own snacks. If you are like me and my future wife, we all like a good snack. Like KR, they have pricing power, and better yet, they are a dividend king (consistently paying and increasing their dividend for the last 50 years). PEP paid me $6.28 based on 4.96 shares. 

NextEra Energy (NEE) is one of my favorite utility companies not only because it has a crazy dividend growth rate, but also looks it provides alternative energy. For me, that matters, especially when we have climate change and global warming knocking at the door. However, NEE has had, like other utility companies, a very rough time this year.. but I think this is a good company and will bounce back. NEE paid me $5.49 based on 11.75 shares. 

Waste Management is one of my favorite individual stocks. Simply because they pick up everyone’s garbage. A simple and elegant task, but is demanded by millions. WM paid me $4.85 based on 6.92 shares. McDonald’s (MCD) is a well-known fast food restaurant that every kid wants on their long road trip. I mean, the fries alone are worth stopping. One thing that people miss when investing in MCD is that not only does sell food at cheap prices, but it also owns real estate. Also, they are a dividend king and they will be raising their dividend by 10% this year. McDonalds paid me $4.61 based on 3.03 shares. 

Microsoft (MSFT) and Costco (COST) are two of my favorite fast-growing companies that also deliver on increasing their dividend each year by double digits. This year they both increased it by 10%. That’s insane. That kind of increase is rarely given, seen, and had to your salary. However, when you invest, you are not working. The money you put in, MSFT and COST, are working for you, and that’s why I like dividend investing. MSFT paid me $2.58 based on 3.8 shares, and COST paid me $2.14 based on 2.1 shares. 

There is a new guy in the portfolio! The newest slice of the portfolio is the WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Fund ETF (DGRW). This is a monthly dividend ETF, but this fund is focused on future dividend growth. This was added as a satellite position to my portfolio at 10%, the core being SCHD (28%) and DGRO (28%). Investing into the stock market, you will change styles, methods, and of course allocation. I realized that I don’t have enough time to invest in individual stocks and allocate them at greater than 4%. I had 17 individual stocks, and even for that low amount, I didn’t have enough passion/energy to keep up with earnings and projected growth. So, what I did, is I took my favorites and allocated them at 3%, and the rest were allocated 2%. I reduce risk by lowering the allocation but still invest in companies that I believe will help me reach FIRE. Plus, if one of my companies completely falls off the face of the Earth, that’s only 2 or 3%, and I can live with that. DGRW paid me $0.06 based on 0.39 shares. 

Check out the charts below!

Financial Disclaimer: I am not a Certified Financial Advisor (CFA), I am a meteorologist. The blog posts about investing are my opinions and for your entertainment purposes. They should not be considered financial advice. Investing in the stock market is risky and you can lose money. If you want to invest in the stock market or have questions about how or where to invest, please seek a CFA.

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I use the stock trading platform called Public (this is an affiliated link where I get a small kickback if you sign up with my referral code/link!). Public charges no fees to invest, you can choose to have your dividends in a reinvestment plan (DRIP) (this is very important and will likely be explained in another blog), the platform is simple and user-friendly, and you can buy fractional shares. I have enjoyed Public’s forum during this past year and will continue to use it in the future. The link above is an affiliated link sign up today and get a free slice of a popular stock between $3-300! This is my compounding machine in which I hope to reach financial independence by using dividend growth stocks to supplement my income.

To act as a high-return savings account, I use an M1 finance account (Sign up today and get $10 for free!). I will use this fund to help pay a down payment on a car, house, and other future expenses. Instead of getting a 1-2% yield/return, I hope to get an 8-12% return.