I know there are lots of threads on calculating savings rate, but I've been unable to find a consensus on how people handle dividends. It would seem if you are a dividend income investor, you would logically include this in the calculation (I'm an indexer, so dividends not my primary strategy). I think I've landed on including dividend income from my regular brokerage account, but exclude dividend income from tax sheltered accounts, but I confess this logic may be faulty. I also exclude any capital gains regardless of account type.
So for income, I include:
Salary (after taxes, but including 401k contributions)
Bonuses (credit card cash back, signup bonuses, etc)
Dividends (brokerage)
Consulting (side hustle)
Cash gifts received
Interest (checking & online savings)
Rent (property)
Tax refunds
Curious, are there any impassioned responses for excluding some of this income from a proper savings rate calc? I want to make sure I'm grading myself accordingly and have a realistic timeline for FI