Author Topic: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?  (Read 7564 times)

FrugalSaver

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How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« on: December 27, 2017, 03:48:43 PM »
I made > $25,000. If I count rental income it gets closer to $50,000

Most of the $25k is in retirement accounts and I'm well below 59.5 still.

Hopefully this thread is taken in the right context as there's really no one else I could tell this to and am always trying to learn how to get better.
« Last Edit: December 27, 2017, 03:51:08 PM by FrugalSaver »

FrugalSaver

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #1 on: December 27, 2017, 07:16:18 PM »
Can I ask what divedend-bearing investments you have and how much capital invested to generate that amount?

I am still trying to decide whether it will be better for us to put a large portion of our stash into dividend-paying investments, or just focus on periodic harvesting of capital gains.   The whole ACA subsidy thing makes it so complicated.

Primarily VTSAX, VIIIX, this past year+ a little more short term corporate bonds yielding about 3.6% (11% of my portfolio), a little Dodge and Cox from 15 years ago, a little EuroPacific growth fund).

Some of these holdings are from long ago but New money generally goes into a 3 fund portfolio. Also some individual stocks in a taxable account.

retireatbirth

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #2 on: December 27, 2017, 07:50:14 PM »
My index investing yields about 2%, but dividends aren't a goal for me.

inline five

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #3 on: December 27, 2017, 08:41:28 PM »
I hate dividends! They are just forced sale of stock. At the end of the day you are at best cost neutral on dividend stock minus appreciation. Not many realize this.

They are a sign the company has no desire to grow revenue/profit and thinks the money is better utilized in investors hands. That's what we pay the C-suite team for, to invest and grow our money. WTF else would I own a company?

Rant over!

ahoy

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #4 on: December 27, 2017, 09:09:40 PM »
I love dividends!  This blog is more about capital gain than dividends however.  I often check other bloggers with regards to dividends.   We always get told to not buy a rental house for capital gain only and how it should pay you each month.  So, I'm in the camp of companies should pay me with dividends.   

There is more than one way to make a passive income. 

Congrats OP!  I envy you.

inline five

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #5 on: December 27, 2017, 10:06:48 PM »
I love dividends!  This blog is more about capital gain than dividends however.  I often check other bloggers with regards to dividends.   We always get told to not buy a rental house for capital gain only and how it should pay you each month.  So, I'm in the camp of companies should pay me with dividends.   

There is more than one way to make a passive income. 

Congrats OP!  I envy you.

The only thing that matters is total return.

The reason you don't buy a rental house for appreciation only is because it otherwise wouldn't make any money if that didn't happen.

Would you buy a business if it never made any money?!?

Imagine if your rental house paid you $1000/yr in profit. But every year it's value fell by $1000. That is essentially what a dividend paying stock does.

The only thing that keeps the stock value from going down is appreciation.
« Last Edit: December 27, 2017, 10:08:46 PM by inline five »

Rowing Investor

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #6 on: December 28, 2017, 01:29:38 AM »
I got about 9K in dividends this year. I do realise this is a "left pocket, right pocket" exercise (apart from tax!). Dividends are thus a major investment criteria for me.

RetirementInvestingToday

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #7 on: December 28, 2017, 02:51:57 AM »
Can I ask what divedend-bearing investments you have and how much capital invested to generate that amount?
...
Still waiting for some divi's to roll in for the year but looking like I'll hit £27,500 this year.  That's generated off £1.3M of capital invested although a reasonable portion of that is in low interest savings accounts ready for a FIRE relocation followed by home purchase.

marty998

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #8 on: December 28, 2017, 05:01:53 AM »
I love dividends!  This blog is more about capital gain than dividends however.  I often check other bloggers with regards to dividends.   We always get told to not buy a rental house for capital gain only and how it should pay you each month.  So, I'm in the camp of companies should pay me with dividends.   

There is more than one way to make a passive income. 

Congrats OP!  I envy you.

The only thing that matters is total return.

The reason you don't buy a rental house for appreciation only is because it otherwise wouldn't make any money if that didn't happen.

Would you buy a business if it never made any money?!?

Imagine if your rental house paid you $1000/yr in profit. But every year it's value fell by $1000. That is essentially what a dividend paying stock does.

The only thing that keeps the stock value from going down is appreciation.

You are kidding aren't you?

The reason why stocks go up in value is because the market valuation of its discounted future cash flows (i.e. dividends) goes up.

Obviously if dividends exceed earnings then you've got a problem, but if dividends are increasing and being paid from excess cash then that is ultimately a good thing.

I want companies to be capital efficient and return profits to me so I can be the one to reinvest if I choose. Do companies invest for growth? Some do, some don't. What tends to happen with cashed up companies is that Managers do utterly stupid things and overpay for mergers and acquisitions. Shareholder value destruction occurs when there is not enough "stress" and too lazy a balance sheet.

CEO's get paid what they do to make tough decisions. If there's too much capital available for pet projects, the bar gets lowered considerably, to the point where big fuckups occur.

Dances With Fire

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #9 on: December 28, 2017, 06:25:37 AM »
Please, oh please don't turn this thread into a Dividend vs. No dividend thread...This has been beaten to death here and on other investing forums. The OP asked how much did you make in dividends?

Many here who are Fire'd do a combination of all of the above, dividends, total return, rebalancing, and/or rental income for living expenses.

OP, >$30,000.

Bateaux

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #10 on: December 28, 2017, 07:24:00 AM »
I haven't got a freakin clue.  I'm at least 300k, shit maybe almost 400k richer than in 2016.  I don't spreadsheet.

Proud Foot

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #11 on: December 28, 2017, 08:58:19 AM »
Because of how my 401k is set up I do not actually get to see the dividends received from my investments so the only dividends I know of are what I have in my IRA. This year I received $665 in dividends.

Dances With Fire

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #12 on: December 28, 2017, 09:15:30 AM »
Because of how my 401k is set up I do not actually get to see the dividends received from my investments so the only dividends I know of are what I have in my IRA. This year I received $665 in dividends.

Proud Foot, can you look up your 401(k) funds on Morningstar? They show quarterly and year end distributions.

PhrugalPhan

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #13 on: December 28, 2017, 09:30:47 AM »
My brokerage and Roth IRA generated about $7,500 in dividends this year, which I think is great.  Now my 457 account ... I don't know what to think.  I went and checked the transaction history, and filtered just for dividends, and it said I got over $31,000.  Which is fabulous, but.... that gives a dividend rate of 5.5%.  That can't be right, can it?  Last year it showed dividends of maybe $19,000.  I'm thinking that amount must be referring to stock splits or spinoffs as dividends... I just don't know.  Even if I use only $20,000 for the 457 account, that still gives me dividends that cover ~75% of my yearly needs.

Proud Foot

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #14 on: December 28, 2017, 10:27:19 AM »
Because of how my 401k is set up I do not actually get to see the dividends received from my investments so the only dividends I know of are what I have in my IRA. This year I received $665 in dividends.

Proud Foot, can you look up your 401(k) funds on Morningstar? They show quarterly and year end distributions.

I could look it up but I have better things to do than figure out the conversion rate between the underlying funds and how the 401k holds them. For example one of my investments is the Vanguard Growth Index (VIGAX) the NAV of VIGAX at 12/27 was $72.63 while within my 401k it was $75.83. When they receive distributions from the underlying funds it just changes the NAV of the fund rather than showing up in my account as a distribution and reinvestment.

Dances With Fire

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #15 on: December 28, 2017, 10:54:26 AM »
Because of how my 401k is set up I do not actually get to see the dividends received from my investments so the only dividends I know of are what I have in my IRA. This year I received $665 in dividends.

Proud Foot, can you look up your 401(k) funds on Morningstar? They show quarterly and year end distributions.

I could look it up but I have better things to do than figure out the conversion rate between the underlying funds and how the 401k holds them. For example one of my investments is the Vanguard Growth Index (VIGAX) the NAV of VIGAX at 12/27 was $72.63 while within my 401k it was $75.83. When they receive distributions from the underlying funds it just changes the NAV of the fund rather than showing up in my account as a distribution and reinvestment.

Interesting...I wasn't sure if you had some non-traditional assets within your 401(K) plan or something else? (Private equity etc.)

SwordGuy

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #16 on: December 28, 2017, 03:00:24 PM »
This was a surprisingly difficult question to answer!

And the answer is, I really don't know.

I have a custodial IRA I inherited, my wife's 401k, Vanguard accounts, 2 Vanguard Roth accts, a Vanguard IRA, 3 different 401Ks at Fidelity, and two more 401Ks elsewhere.

A few give you an online year-to-date statement that clearly says the amount of dividends received.
A few let you see the dividend $ as they are paid but you have to add them all up yourself.
And a few never mention dividends at all.  They just show account balance.

I was able to identify $14,237 in dividends but the ratios of dividends to account balance are extremely divergent, so I suspect some dividends are just included in "market gains".   Example dividend percentages are 1.85%, 1,75%, 1.93%, 0.10%, 0.53%.   Simplifying this is one of my jobs next year after we fire.



Chavak

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #17 on: December 28, 2017, 03:59:21 PM »
In my taxable accounts $7096.  Didn't bother to check the IRAs, where most of my investments are.

biggrey

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #18 on: December 28, 2017, 04:38:55 PM »
Close to $200K for 2017.  Clearly, I love dividends.

Retire-Canada

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #19 on: December 28, 2017, 05:21:47 PM »
I haven't rec'd my Q4 dividends yet. They should post to my account in early Jan 2018. I don't have a total until then for 2017.

The dividends I got in Jan 2017 were for Q4 2016.

Ultimately I don't particularly care about dividends as long as my total return is solid.
« Last Edit: December 28, 2017, 05:24:22 PM by Retire-Canada »

SwordGuy

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #20 on: December 28, 2017, 05:40:14 PM »
Close to $200K for 2017.  Clearly, I love dividends.

In those quantities so would I! :)

boarder42

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #21 on: December 28, 2017, 05:49:33 PM »
Close to $200K for 2017.  Clearly, I love dividends.

In those quantities so would I! :)

If youre making 200k in dividends you either way over saved. Own privately held corps like an ESOP that pays out dividends to shareholders who are employees.  Or are in a fund that sells shares to create overly high dividends.

John Doe

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #22 on: December 28, 2017, 06:02:13 PM »
About $75k. My portfolio yields about 4.8% and all holdings are Canadian. Dividends will be one of our primary income streams when I fully RE in about a year (currently working PT)

Bateaux

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #23 on: December 28, 2017, 06:03:58 PM »
Close to $200K for 2017.  Clearly, I love dividends.

In those quantities so would I! :)

If youre making 200k in dividends you either way over saved. Own privately held corps like an ESOP that pays out dividends to shareholders who are employees.  Or are in a fund that sells shares to create overly high dividends.

Pretty sure that's a net worth increase and not just dividends.   However it's categorized, that's a sweet gain. 
I'm not putting the effort into compiling our dividends but I'd bet some people on this forum would yave no problem living on them without touching the principal.   All ours are reinvested, more shares in the portfolio.

biggrey

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #24 on: December 28, 2017, 06:08:57 PM »
Close to $200K for 2017.  Clearly, I love dividends.

In those quantities so would I! :)

If youre making 200k in dividends you either way over saved. Own privately held corps like an ESOP that pays out dividends to shareholders who are employees.  Or are in a fund that sells shares to create overly high dividends.

Pretty sure that's a net worth increase and not just dividends.   However it's categorized, that's a sweet gain. 
I'm not putting the effort into compiling our dividends but I'd bet some people on this forum would yave no problem living on them without touching the principal.   All ours are reinvested, more shares in the portfolio.

Nope, just plain old eligible (Canada) dividends with some international dividends and REIT disbursements thrown in.  I have a very large portfolio base.

Bateaux

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #25 on: December 28, 2017, 06:19:44 PM »
Close to $200K for 2017.  Clearly, I love dividends.

In those quantities so would I! :)

If youre making 200k in dividends you either way over saved. Own privately held corps like an ESOP that pays out dividends to shareholders who are employees.  Or are in a fund that sells shares to create overly high dividends.

Pretty sure that's a net worth increase and not just dividends.   However it's categorized, that's a sweet gain. 
I'm not putting the effort into compiling our dividends but I'd bet some people on this forum would yave no problem living on them without touching the principal.   All ours are reinvested, more shares in the portfolio.

Nope, just plain old eligible (Canada) dividends with some international dividends and REIT disbursements thrown in.  I have a very large portfolio base.

I stand corrected and bow to you.  Holy smoking getting some gains!

biggrey

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #26 on: December 28, 2017, 06:31:29 PM »
Close to $200K for 2017.  Clearly, I love dividends.

In those quantities so would I! :)

If youre making 200k in dividends you either way over saved. Own privately held corps like an ESOP that pays out dividends to shareholders who are employees.  Or are in a fund that sells shares to create overly high dividends.

Pretty sure that's a net worth increase and not just dividends.   However it's categorized, that's a sweet gain. 
I'm not putting the effort into compiling our dividends but I'd bet some people on this forum would yave no problem living on them without touching the principal.   All ours are reinvested, more shares in the portfolio.

Nope, just plain old eligible (Canada) dividends with some international dividends and REIT disbursements thrown in.  I have a very large portfolio base.

I stand corrected and bow to you.  Holy smoking getting some gains!

Thanks.  I've chosen a dividend-centric approach to create passive income production to fund our lifestyle entirely now, on a perpetual basis, endowment style. 

It is highly tax effective and I just need to manage risk and create appropriate diversity.

We have another $80K/year in non-correlated fixed income, for balance.


Retire-Canada

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #27 on: December 28, 2017, 06:33:10 PM »
Thanks.  I've chosen a dividend-centric approach to create passive income production to fund our lifestyle entirely now, on a perpetual basis, endowment style. 

It is highly tax effective and I just need to manage risk and create appropriate diversity.

We have another $80K/year in non-correlated fixed income, for balance.

Please tell me you are retired.

biggrey

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #28 on: December 28, 2017, 06:37:31 PM »
Thanks.  I've chosen a dividend-centric approach to create passive income production to fund our lifestyle entirely now, on a perpetual basis, endowment style. 

It is highly tax effective and I just need to manage risk and create appropriate diversity.

We have another $80K/year in non-correlated fixed income, for balance.

Please tell me you are retired.

Ha!  Well, I lose any argument with my spouse about "enough" that's for sure.  So call that FI, with RE in very active planning. 

boarder42

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #29 on: December 28, 2017, 06:48:12 PM »
Thanks.  I've chosen a dividend-centric approach to create passive income production to fund our lifestyle entirely now, on a perpetual basis, endowment style. 

It is highly tax effective and I just need to manage risk and create appropriate diversity.

We have another $80K/year in non-correlated fixed income, for balance.

Please tell me you are retired.

Ha!  Well, I lose any argument with my spouse about "enough" that's for sure.  So call that FI, with RE in very active planning.

I'd hope so with that level of income. 300k in passive income. I'd have to find places to gift that money. Fund lots of scholarships. Start a school for Americans who can't do finance good and want to learn to do other things good too

ysette9

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #30 on: December 28, 2017, 07:34:43 PM »
Good lord. And to think I was feeling rich when I logged into Vanguard yesterday and saw that YTD 2017 dividends in the taxable account were $16k.

biggrey

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #31 on: December 28, 2017, 08:02:17 PM »
Good lord. And to think I was feeling rich when I logged into Vanguard yesterday and saw that YTD 2017 dividends in the taxable account were $16k.

As far as I'm concerned, congratulations on having any level of passive income, it is very powerful.  I appreciate it every day.   

I don't really debate "total returns" vs "dividends" anymore.  It is fun to watch the BHs go at it, however!   Both styles can work well if you are consistent and manage your risk. 

The dividend approach I've taken requires more capital, no question about it.  I accumulated the capital over time through business earnings and I'm now using this dividend-centric management style to convert it to income that is sufficient for our needs (hopefully more than sufficient) and creates the legacy/gift approach we want down the line. 

This dividend style suits us, but it certainly isn't the only way to go.


ysette9

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #32 on: December 28, 2017, 08:10:22 PM »
Thank you!

I’m certainly not chasing dividends or anything. It is just a feature of putting a bunch of money into VTSAX/VTIAX. :)

inline five

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Re: How much did you make in dividends in 2017?
« Reply #33 on: December 28, 2017, 09:51:16 PM »
I love dividends!  This blog is more about capital gain than dividends however.  I often check other bloggers with regards to dividends.   We always get told to not buy a rental house for capital gain only and how it should pay you each month.  So, I'm in the camp of companies should pay me with dividends.   

There is more than one way to make a passive income. 

Congrats OP!  I envy you.

The only thing that matters is total return.

The reason you don't buy a rental house for appreciation only is because it otherwise wouldn't make any money if that didn't happen.

Would you buy a business if it never made any money?!?

Imagine if your rental house paid you $1000/yr in profit. But every year it's value fell by $1000. That is essentially what a dividend paying stock does.

The only thing that keeps the stock value from going down is appreciation.

You are kidding aren't you?

The reason why stocks go up in value is because the market valuation of its discounted future cash flows (i.e. dividends) goes up.

Obviously if dividends exceed earnings then you've got a problem, but if dividends are increasing and being paid from excess cash then that is ultimately a good thing.

I want companies to be capital efficient and return profits to me so I can be the one to reinvest if I choose. Do companies invest for growth? Some do, some don't. What tends to happen with cashed up companies is that Managers do utterly stupid things and overpay for mergers and acquisitions. Shareholder value destruction occurs when there is not enough "stress" and too lazy a balance sheet.

CEO's get paid what they do to make tough decisions. If there's too much capital available for pet projects, the bar gets lowered considerably, to the point where big fuckups occur.
Nope!

Stocks go up because someone is willing to pay more for it than the previous guy. No matter how good the company is, Mr Market is fickle and sets prices on emotion.

In the US, when a dividend is paid the stock price is reset (lowered) by that amount. It's a cost neutral transaction and actually can cost you money because you now owe tax on that dividend.

Growth is the #1 driver in stock price no matter how horrible their numbers are (TSLA, AMZN).

If you can invest the dividend and get a better ROI why do you even own the company paying the dividend? Might as well take that money and invest elsewhere to begin with, do you follow?