I’m closing in on $1,000 in dividends.
My first four figures in cash payments from corporate America became one of my most anticipated milestones since collecting my first dividend 20 months ago.
By the end of August, we should be there.
The spreadsheet I’ve used to account for each of my 120 dividend payments shows I’ve earned $987.19. I’m only $12.81 short. My next three dividends will push me beyond the $1,000 mark.
The next milestone: five figures.
This first milestone holds significance because it’s proof that this stock market stuff works. This checkpoint is evidence that I’m learning to play the game. That I’m trusting the time I’ve put into learning over the past 20 months, and that it quite literally is paying off.
I’ve created $1,000 — and counting — in passive income. It’s money I didn’t have to work for or commit to doing anything that I didn’t want to do.
My growing dividend tally, as much as anything else, has exposed me to new possibilities with money. It represents one of many ways we can make our money generate more money.
And I cashed in back in April.
I relinquished five dividend-paying stocks and sold half of my stake in another. My selloff generated $6,224.56.
It was my version of “everything must go.” I parted with minuscule stakes in Blackrock and Lockheed Martin, as well as a little less than 10 shares of Deluxe Corporation. On April 10, I let go of half of my 36.6 shares of Devon Energy. I sold my other half on April 26, the same day I unloaded 17 shares of Chesapeake Energy — a little more than half of my stake in that company.
Then on May 1, let go of my baby.
I sold all 47.3 of my shares of Altria Group, ticker symbol MO.
The heavyweight tobacco and cigarette producer was my best dividend performer. I collected $206.06 in dividends from the company since January 2023. But locally and nationally, there seems to be a war on the cigarette industry. That disturbs my comfort as an investor. It spooked me into selling.
Frankly, my selloff was overdue. It had long been a part of my plan to consolidate and trust a simple investing strategy via index funds.
I still have more trimming to do, but I’ve pared down my portfolio to 17 stocks in my taxable account, 10 of which are dividend-paying stocks.
I invested $2,264.55 back into various stocks such as Nike, Starbucks, Hershey, Teladoc and Tesla. I took advantage of Tesla’s recent dip and increased my small stake to $225 worth of its stock, or 1.3 shares. On July 8, I sold out of my Tesla position, collecting a $125 profit. I then folded the $350 into my Hershey position.
My plan with the remaining money, almost $4,000, was to dump it into my Roth IRA. It would have allowed me to get ahead on my 2024 contribution and not be tied to weekly deposits of $135.
But then life happened. My expenses spiked in April and May. The money helped me cover a $1,500 attorney bill in May and a near $1,500 car repair bill in June. I wasn’t forced to dip into savings or rely on revenue streams. It’s what financial security must feel like.
Participating in Google’s first dividend payout marked another notable milestone from the past quarter. I’ve owned four shares of Google since December 2022. With the company’s stock seeing a 60% increase over the past year, it made no sense for me to sell. On June 16, Google paid me an 80 cents dividend for my four shares. The money automatically reinvested.
My daughter Parker’s dividends are pouring in too.
Her custodial account is up to $538.05 in dividends. Her recently established Roth IRA also earned its first dividend, a $24.60 payout.
I transferred another $2,500 to Parker’s account this week as compensation for her role at Money Talks. She’ll soon invest it into her Roth. It will increase her equity and raise the amount of her next dividend.
My Roth IRA, meanwhile, has earned me $2,185.98 in dividends since I opened the account in December 2022.
In only 19 months, my unrealized gain in my Roth has surpassed $20,000.
Need more proof that the stock market really does work?
Darnell Mayberry is a sportswriter based in Chicago and is the author of “100 Things Thunder Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” He loves his daughter Parker, money and the Minnesota Vikings. You will find his column, Money Talks, each Saturday on cleveland.com and Sundays in The Plain Dealer.