Review of 2019 Goals

Now that I have provided my goals for 2020 and that the year is coming to a close in just a few days at the time of writing this post, I'll be examining the goals that I had for 2019 and whether I was able to accomplish each of them.

My financial goals for 2019 were as follows:

1. Collecting $550+ in dividends
2. Ending with $600+ in forward annual dividends
3. Amassing $15,000 in investments
4. Buying a used compact car in cash (i.e. Chevrolet Cruze)

Starting with the first goal of collecting $550+ in dividends for the year, I managed to collect $615.30 in dividends during 2019. This will be reflected on the dividend income page once I post my dividend income for December 2019 next week.

I was easily able to achieve this goal as a result of the $5,976.95 in capital invested in my taxable accounts and the $2,914.07 invested in my retirement account all the while paying tuition for the first 7 months of the year.

Although I invested like there was no tomorrow, this did come at the cost of one financial goal as we'll get into a bit later.

I am also poised to end 2019 with forward annual dividends of $873.51 as a result of the significant investments made in 2019 and the dividend increases announced during the year, which was something I couldn't imagine in even my wildest dreams.

On the investment goal front, I was able to amass $20,700 in investments as of December 30th. This represents a doubling of the $10,000 that I entered the year with, which is well beyond what I was expecting.

Unsurprisingly, it comes as a result of both a great year in the stock market and my capital deployment during the year.

Rounding out my financial goals for the year, I intended to purchase a used compact car to fix up in 2020.

While my father and I haven't been able to find a car for purchase yet, I am pleased to share that I have the capital necessary to make such a purchase.

This was the only financial goal that it could be argued I didn't technically achieve, but that could change at any point in the next few weeks now that I have the capital for us to start seriously browsing for cars.

Moving to my personal development goals for 2019, they were as follows:

1. Continue to publish at least one blog post each week
2. Publish at least 50 articles on Seeking Alpha
3. Secure an entry level accounting/finance position

Starting with the goal of publishing at least one blog post each week, I did the absolute minimum on this front to achieve the goal as this post is the 52nd of the year.

Overall, I feel that publishing once a week on my personal blog is adequate for me to document my journey to financial independence for myself and others. I could write more frequently, but I suspect that this would lead to burnout and cause me to despise the blog.

As far as writing for Seeking Alpha is concerned, I managed to publish 83 articles this year (possibly 84 or 85 if the ones that I am currently working on and will have finished by December 29th are published on New Years Eve).

Starting in May, I began to regularly write 2 articles each week, which really helped up the article count in a hurry.

I also believe that 2 articles a week on a fairly regular basis represents an optimal workload for me going forward. Any more than 2 a week would be too overwhelming given that I write for this blog, work 40+ hours a week at my day job/commute 2 hours a week, exercise regularly, and have a couple other side hustles going on.

Rounding out my personal development goals for the year was my goal to secure an entry level accounting and finance position.

Fortunately, I was able to do so and I have split my job responsibilities between accounting responsibilities and my responsibilities as a medical summarist at the Social Security Disability and Work Comp law firm that I work at.

Just as I had predicted, my day job pay increased significantly from around $28k annually with benefits included to $35k once I assumed my new responsibilities with the company this past June.

Given that I live in a relatively small and stagnant town in the Midwest, I believe this is a pretty decent starting wage for the first job relating to my major out of college. It was exactly what I expected and slightly below the $38k that I invested to receive my 4 year accounting degree.

Concluding Thoughts:

In retrospect, maybe I set a few of my goals too low given that I actually accomplished the majority of them several months ago. Going forward, I am going to set my goals much higher and account for the fact that I sometimes tend to be too conservative in setting goals. If I need to readjust the goals that I set for 2020 lower at some point during this year as they do seem a bit lofty, I will post an update with my updated goals.

Overall, 2019 was a year filled with accomplishments that I able to hang my hat on as I really begin to embark on my journey in life.

I'm especially looking forward to enjoying the grind of next year and trying to accomplish my lofty goals while I also look to maintain a healthy work life balance.

Discussion:

Although most of us still have a few more hours to go before the year is over in our respective time zones as this is published, how was your 2019? Were you able to accomplish all of your goals for the year?

Thanks for reading and I look forward to replying to any comments that you are welcome to leave in the comment section below. Let's all keep hustling and have a great 2020!

My Personal & Financial Goals for 2020

In a bit of a twist, I decided to switch it up and rather than first reviewing whether I was able to achieve my goals for 2019, which I outlined the first few weeks of 2019, I thought I would start with my goals for 2020 as we head into the New Year next week.

Overall, 2019 was my first full year of being a Seeking Alpha contributor and a blogger. It marked the second full year that I exercised on a regular basis. Perhaps most encouraging is that 2019 will be remembered as the year that I finished undergrad, which feels like a weight off my shoulders.



That's enough reminiscing for one post, so we'll delve right into what my specific goals are for 2020, starting with financial goals.

1. Collect $1,500+ in dividends for the year
2. End 2020 with $2,000+ in forward annual dividends
3. Amass $45,000+ in investments/end 2020 with a net worth of $60,000+

Starting with the first goal of collecting at least $1,500 in dividends in 2020, I believe this is a goal that isn't unrealistic to achieve. On the other hand, I believe the goal will push me to the limit and help me strive to reach my full financial potential in 2020, and position me very well in the years beyond.

I don't want to spoil next week's post where I discuss whether I achieved all of my goals for 2019 (spoiler alert: anyone could check my dividend income page if they'd like for a good idea on if I achieved my goal), including if I collected $550+ in dividends for the year. But for context and without giving it away, collecting $1,500 in dividends in 2020 would be well over double what I collected in 2019.

The second goal of reaching at least $2,000 in forward annual dividends by the end of 2020 is once again what I believe to be a lofty, but attainable goal.

Without blatantly giving away what I'm entering 2020 with in terms of forward annual dividends (another spoiler alert: my portfolio page would give this away), I will once again say that ending 2020 with more than $2,000 in forward annual dividends would represent more than a doubling over 2019.

My third and final major financial goal for 2020 is to amass at least $45,000 in investments at the end of 2020 and achieve a net worth of $60,000+.

Whether I achieve this goal will probably be indicative of my ability to achieve the other two goals. That's because in order for me to end 2020 with forward annual dividends of $2,000+, I realistically need to have over $45,000 in investments if I want to stick around the 4-4.5% average yield that I target for my investments.

Factoring out the unpredictable whims of Mr. Market, reaching $45,000 in investments would take close to $2,000/month in investments. While this is reasonably manageable given my income and expenses, it will be somewhat difficult given that I also have to save for a couple more months to purchase and help fix a 3-4 year old Chevrolet Cruze with my father, who has 35+ years of experience in the auto industry. The total cost of such an endeavor will probably end up around the $7,000-$8,000 mark depending upon how new of a car I end up buying and how many miles are on the car.

If I'm able to save up the funds by the end of February for the first car that I'd actually personally own, this would require $2,500/month in investing the rest of the year to achieve. That becomes a bit more difficult to swing with my income and expenses, although it still could prove to be manageable with an increase in my income through my day job or side hustles.

Reaching the $60,000 net worth also should be a manageable goal given that I'm already about a third of the way there and a low mileage car that's 3-4 years old brings me a bit past half way there. That means I have to invest about $2,500 a month to surpass $60,000 in net worth.

Fortunately, this isn't factoring in any appreciation that is likely to occur in the stock market over the next year, so capital appreciation could aid me with this goal. Of course, the markets could just as easily work against me if we enter a major correction near the end of the year as was the case in December 2018.

Now that I've discussed my key financial goals heading into 2020, I'll take a bit of time to focus on my personal goals for the year.

1. Continue to publish one personal blog post each week
2. Publish at least 100 articles on Seeking Alpha in 2020 and reach 6,000 followers
3. Write at least 26 blog posts on I Prefer Income in 2020

Starting with the personal blog, I'm pretty content with the frequency with which I post. It's for that very reason I intend to continue posting once each week. I feel it strikes a nice balance between documenting my journey for both myself and others, but it isn't too excessive to the point that I don't find enjoyment in it anymore. That's precisely because I'm able to write about what's important to me and what I find interesting. If I ramp up my publishing frequency, it could become much more difficult to maintain the enjoyment factor and it could start to feel like work, leading to burnout.

Next, I'd like to publish at least 100 articles on Seeking Alpha in 2020 and reach 6,000 followers. To date, I've published less than 100 articles and I recently managed to surpass 2,700 followers on SA.

Assuming my average of 33 followers per article continues through 2020 and I'm able to achieve my goal of at least 100 articles for the year, I should have no problem at least reaching 6,000 followers on SA.

As far as my goal of 100 articles for the year is concerned, I managed to come pretty close in 2019 and this was all the while having to focus on finishing up undergrad through the first 7+ months of the year. That leads me to believe that 100 shouldn't be extremely difficult to attain.

One thing that astute followers of the blog may have noticed is that on my blogroll page, I have included a link to the website I Prefer Income.

Last month, I entered into an agreement with founder of I Prefer Income, Rich Hill.

I Prefer Income is a website that offers database programs for preferred stocks, REITs, Dividend Diamonds 25+ (an alternative name for Dividend Champions/Aristocrats), MLPs/Midstream stocks, and eventually, high yield commercial REITs and BDCs. Until further notice, each program is currently free. Each program will thereafter be billed at $8/month.

Image Source: I Prefer Income

These programs are specifically designed to cater to the preferences of each individual investor using dividends, earnings, payout, debt, and other metrics.

Utilizing the metrics that are most important to them, users are able to use I Prefer Income's filter to narrow down the list of potential investments. This allows a user to hone in on the investments that are most attractive to them and that fit their investment preferences.

They can then conduct their own independent research to determine the stocks that best fit their investment needs, as well as checking out Seeking Alpha articles that are selected by I Prefer Income for specific stocks to get the thoughts of others on those stocks.

Users can also rank stocks by industries or sub-industries to see how they stack up against each other and aid in the decision making process.

Overall, I would recommend that investors who often find themselves spending excessive amounts of time trying to generate investment ideas for further research check out I Prefer Income. It helps me generate ideas for my articles on Seeking Alpha and personally. I've found the programs to be capable of meeting the needs of long-term income investors of all preferences, whether that is high yield or dividend growth investing.

As part of our agreement, I'll be providing feedback to Rich and his team of developers to improve the user friendliness and usefulness of the program. I'll also be posting under my own blog on the website with the Kody's Dividends name. These posts will provide my investment rationale to readers and I will also be examining stocks for investment that I was able to find using the I Prefer Income programs.

I feel as though posting every couple weeks and providing feedback on the programs will be a great way for me to help I Prefer Income deliver on its motto of Rely On Yourself Investing.

Through I Prefer Income's fantastic data driven programs, as well as my investing insights, I believe we will be able to help thousands of investors reach their financial goals through a deliberate and informed investing approach that works with their preferences.

Concluding Thoughts:

As great of a year that 2019 has been for myself, I believe that it will prove itself as a stepping stone to the many exciting things that I believe lie ahead in the future.

Although some of my goals for 2020 appear to be a bit daunting at first glance, the great thing about setting goals that are on the high end of attainable is that it challenges you to keep your focus on the task at hand, and to enjoy the journey.

I managed to accomplish quite a bit in 2019, but 2020 is sure to be even more promising. I really just want to thank everyone that has supported me over the past year and a half! Your readership and comments on this blog and on my Seeking Alpha articles are a large part of what drives me to become a better investor and a more well-rounded person overall.

Discussion:

What are your goals for 2020? Are there any goals that you believe will be more difficult than the others?

Thank you for reading and I look forward to any comments that you may leave in the comment section below.

Expected Dividend Increases for January 2020

As I write this post, the Milwaukee Bucks' streak of 18 straight wins was finally snapped by the Dallas Mavericks. It was interesting that the Mavs were able to grind out a win against the Bucks without their MVP candidate, Luka Doncic. The Mavs won despite Giannis Antetokounmpo's 48 points, but the Bucks were bound for a disappointing game at some point this season.

At the very least, it was encouraging to see the Bucks battle back from what was a 16 point deficit at one point to make the game a 120-116 loss. The last few minutes of the game were far more interesting than I thought they would be, and that's the true mark of a contending team.

Aside from all this basketball talk, another month will soon be coming to a close. With that in mind, it's time for us to examine the dividend increases that I received in December, and to preview the increases that I am expecting for the month of January.

Before we delve into December's dividend increases, I'd like to begin with a couple side notes. While WP Carey (WPC) hasn't yet announced an increase in its quarterly dividend at the time of writing, I still expect the company to increase its dividend 0.2% from $1.036/share to $1.038/share.

When this dividend increase does occur, it will boost my annual forward dividends by $0.024 across my 3 shares.

The other side note is that Ventas (VTR) opted not to increase its quarterly dividend this year, which was a cautious approach in light of the company's guidance for next year. Considering the yield of the stock, I can understand and I'm willing to be patient with it.



Dividend Increases for December:

Increase #1: Realty Income (O)

As the beautifully predictable company that O is, the company announced a 0.2% increase in its monthly dividend from $0.2270/share to $0.2275/share just as I predicted in my previous post of this series.

While this may appear to be a small raise, it's important for us to remember that O raises its dividend 3-4 times a year by around 0.2% and opts for a solid 2-3% increase in its monthly dividend each January.

Across my 4 shares of O, my annual forward dividends were boosted by $0.024 as a result of this announcement.

Increase #2: AT&T (T)

Similar to O, AT&T announced a dividend increase that was in line with what I outlined as my expectation in the previous post of this series. T announced a 2% increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.51/share to $0.52/share.

As T has done for quite a few years now, they opted to stick with the customary $0.01 quarterly dividend increase.

I'm entirely fine with that decision and I'll go on the record by saying that I expect one more year of the customary $0.01 quarterly dividend increases before we see an acceleration in that dividend growth for the first time in quite a few years.

T has been doing a great job of deleveraging after its acquisition of Time Warner last year, but that's no reason to stop deleveraging quite yet.

Across my 17 shares of T, this announcement increased my annual forward dividends by $0.68.

Increase #3: Pfizer (PFE)

Pfizer delivered a 5.6% increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.36/share to $0.38/share. This one came as a bit of a surprise and at the same time, it represented the status quo. The $0.02 increase in the quarterly dividend was the same as the increase last year in absolute terms, but I was expecting PFE to possible increase its dividend by only $0.01 because of its deal with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to combine consumer health businesses, and its deal to spin off its off-patent business to form Viatris with Mylan.

There's a lot going on at PFE, but it's great that management announced a very solid increase in spite of all of the activity.

Across my 8 shares of PFE, this resulted in an $0.64 increase to my annual forward dividends.

Increase #4: Amgen (AMGN)

Amgen continued to deliver very strong dividend growth, announcing a 10.3% increase in its quarterly dividend from $1.45/share to $1.60/share.

When we take into consider that Amgen's earnings payout ratio is still barely above 40% and that the company is projected to grow its earnings 7-8% annually over the next 5 years by Yahoo Finance, these types of increases appear to be likely to continue over the next few years.

This dividend increase boosted my annual forward dividends by $0.60 across my single share of AMGN.

Increase #5: Dominion Energy (D)

As I anticipated based upon Dominion's company guidance issued a few months back, D increased its quarterly dividend 2.5% from $0.9175/share to $0.94/share.

Although this is a departure from the high-single digit to low-double digit dividend increases of the past few years, it's great that D is committed to the sustainability of its dividend. Lowering its earnings payout ratio to the 70% range will enhance the safety of D's dividend over the long-term, and allow D to invest more in growth projects going forward.

Across my 4 shares of D, this increase added $0.36 to my annual forward dividends.

Bonus Increase: Eastman Chemical Company (EMN)

It's always great to have discovered you missed out on a dividend increase a few days after you published the latest post in your dividend increase series. I somehow managed to forget about the fact that EMN was due to announce a dividend increase in December.

Given that EMN announced a 6.5% increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.62/share to $0.66/share, they certainly didn't disappoint. A 6.5% increase on a stock that I was able to secure a 3.4% entry yield on is about what I like to see. This was my first of what I believe will be many nice increases from EMN!

Across my 3 shares of EMN, this resulted in a $0.48 boost in my annual forward dividends.

Expected Dividend Increases for January 2020

Expected Increase #1: Realty Income (O)

As I alluded to above, O is set to announce a 2-3% increase in its monthly dividend next month.

I'll split the difference and predict a 2.5% increase in O's monthly dividend from $0.2275/share to $0.2330.

Across my 4 shares of O, this would boost my annual forward dividends by $0.264.

Expected Increase #2: Enterprise Products Partners (EPD)

As one of many consistent companies in my stock portfolio, I fully expect EPD to continue its trend of announcing yet another 0.6% increase in its quarterly distribution from $0.4425/unit to $0.4450/unit.

Given that EPD has increased its distribution each and every quarter for the past 61 quarters, these types of steady but small increases have really worked wonders for long-term unitholders of the company.

Across my 27 units of EPD, this would boost my annual forward distributions by $0.27.

Expected Increase #3: Magellan Midstream Partners (MMP)

Rounding out the increases that I expect in January, I expect MMP to announce a 0.7% increase in its quarterly distribution once again, raising the distribution from $1.0200/unit to $1.0275/unit.

Across my 7 units MMP, this would result in a $0.21 increase to my annual forward distributions.

Concluding Thoughts:

Assuming WPC comes through as I believe it will with the 0.2% increase in its quarterly dividend, my annual forward dividends/distributions will have been boosted by $2.808 as a result of the increases in the month of December.

This is equivalent to investing $70.20 at a 4% yield, which is really starting to show the power of dividend increases in the scheme of the DGI journey to FI.

January will once again mark a slowdown in dividend increases compared to December, which isn't a surprise if last year is any indication.

Overall, I'm expecting increases in January to boost my annual forward dividends/distributions by $0.744, which would be equivalent to investing $18.60 at a 4% yield.

Discussion:

Was December a strong month for you as well in terms of dividend increases? Did you receive any increases from companies for the first time as I did with EMN?

As always, thanks for stopping by and following my progress for dividend increases during the month of December. I look forward to replying to any comments that you leave in the comment section below.

November 2019 Dividend Income

It's official! By the time this post is published, we will have entered the last month of 2019. It's time for each of us to start setting our goals for the next year. At the same time, we can't lose out on the month that we still have left in this year. We all need to stick to our game plans of deploying capital in wonderful companies at fair valuations and making every dollar count as the Dividend Diplomats put it.

Without further ado, I present my dividend income for the month of November 2019.

Analysis:

During the month of November, I collected $63.69 in total dividends. This equates to a 30.2% quarterly growth rate compared to the $48.93 in dividends that I collected in August 2019. Even more impressive is the fact that I was able to post a 53.8% YOY growth rate compared to the $41.42 of dividends that I collected in November 2018.

Breaking it down further, I collected $48.83 in dividends from my Robinhood account, $14.51 from my Webull account, and $0.35 from the 15 companies in my M1 Finance account that paid dividends during the month of November.

The $14.76 increase in dividend/distribution income from August to November 2019 was driven by activity such as dividend increases and dividend stock purchases, which are as follows:

The $0.61 in distributions received from 2 units of Energy Transfer (ET) in the Webull account are a new addition since August 2019's dividend income update. Moving to the Robinhood account, I was able to add 6 units of ET between the payment of the distribution in August and the ex-distribution date. This increased distribution income by $1.83 in my Robinhood account.

I also benefited from a $6.52 increase (net of the $0.005/share ADR fee) in my dividend income in the Webull account through the purchase of 10 shares of British American Tobacco (BTI) that I made in September.

In addition, I received a raise from Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) and benefited from the purchase of an additional unit of EPD within the Webull account since the payment of the last distribution. This accounted for a $0.46 increase in distributions. Focusing next on the Robinhood account, the distribution increase accounted for a $0.03 boost in my distribution income.

Building upon the theme of receiving dividends from new positions, I received my first dividend from The GEO Group (GEO) since I initiated my position in both my Webull and Robinhood accounts. This increased dividend income in my Webull and Robinhood accounts by $3.84 and $1.44, respectively.

I also received an additional $0.02 from Magellan Midstream Partners (MMP) as a result of its 70th consecutive increase to its quarterly distribution, which was announced in October.

I received an additional $0.01 from my M1 Finance account as well.

Concluding Thoughts:

November marked the second strongest month of the year to date in terms of dividend income (slightly trailing September 2019's $70.00 in dividend income), and it is sure to finish this year as my third strongest month of the year once December is in the books (I'm anticipating December will be around the $100 mark), which I couldn't be happier about!

As the next few months draw to a close, I have a feeling the annual dividend income will surpass the $1,000 mark. The most exciting part about that milestone isn't even the milestone itself, but the prospect of finally being able to let loose and hopefully deploy $2,000+/month in capital to purchase ownership in wonderful businesses! At that rate, it won't take long for the next $1,000 to accumulate!

Discussion:

Were you fortunate enough to receive dividends from any relatively new positions in your portfolio (as I was with GEO and BTI)? How did November stack up for you in terms of dividend income compared to previous months this year?

As always, thanks for stopping by and reading my progress. I look forward to any comments that you may leave in the comment section below cheering me on and/or discussing your progress in the exciting DGI journey that we're on!

November 2019 Dividend Stock Purchases

As I write this post, the last day of November is ticking away. The Packers suffered an expected, albeit disappointing pummeling at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers, which leads me to believe there is no chance they advance past the NFC Championship Game in a best case scenario.

Fortunately, the Bucks have won 14 of their last 15, and enter the last game of November in first place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 16-3. Giannis has started the season with a whopping 18 straight triple doubles, and there appears to be no end in sight to this marvelous feat!

However, most exciting is the fact that we get to discuss my dividend stock purchase activity for the month of November.

Find a cup of coffee, glass of water, or whatever beverage you're into and pull up a seat because this month was rather busy in terms of capital deployment (mostly in the last couple weeks as a spoiler alert)!

The first investment that I placed to start the month of November was Energy Transfer (ET). Throughout the month, I ended up purchasing 14 units across my Robinhood and Webull accounts at an average cost/unit of $11.94 or a total cost of $167.16, bringing the total number of units that I own to 43. These purchases boosted my annual forward distributions by $17.08.

This equates to a 10.22% entry yield on this block of units, which I believe provides a very attractive risk/reward ratio when we consider that ET's distribution is covered nearly 2 times over, ET's operating fundamentals continue to improve, and although its balance sheet isn't on the level of Enterprise Products Partners' (EPD) or Magellan Midstream Partners (MMP), the company still maintains an investment grade credit rating from the major credit rating agencies.

The next investment that I made during November was in EPD. I invested $211.30 in capital to purchase 8 units of EPD, which works out to a $26.41/unit average. That implies a 6.70% entry yield on the block of units purchased in November. The purchase increased my ownership in EPD to 27 units, and increased my annual forward distributions by $14.16.

Similar to ET, EPD's distribution coverage is nearing 2 while its DCF continues to grow, which implies a very safe distribution going forward. Adding to my rationale for investment in EPD is the fact that the company also maintains an investment grade credit rating from the major credit rating agencies.

The third company that I increased my position in during November was Altria Group (MO). This purchase was a small fraction of my overall purchasing activity for the month, but the 1 share of MO purchased at a cost of $49.25 helped maintain its status as the third largest holding in my portfolio in terms of dividend income, bringing my number of shares to 13. This means that the entry yield on the single share of MO that I purchased for the month is 6.82%, which added $3.36 in annual forward dividends.

While the company wrote down its investment in Juul Labs by $4.5 billion (what I personally believe is a strategic play for the company to eventually purchase the remainder of Juul Labs at a favorable valuation), it was business as usual at MO. The company reaffirmed its guidance of 5-7% growth in adjusted diluted EPS for the current fiscal year compared to last year's figure of $3.99/share, while also adjusting its expectations for future growth from 7-9% to 5-8% for 2020-2022.

It doesn't take much dividend growth for a near 7% yield to rapidly grow over time, and MO appears poised to at least deliver mid-single digit dividend growth over the next several years as it works toward deleveraging, which is why I'm comfortable holding this as the third largest position in my portfolio.

The fourth position of the month that I invested in is actually a new position for the portfolio, bringing the number of companies in my portfolio to 43 in whole shares (and there are 23 other non-overlapping names in my fractional share M1 Finance portfolio).

The position that I'm referring to is L3Harris Technologies (LHX). I initiated a 2 share starter position in LHX at a total cost of $402.40 or an average cost/share of $201.20, which is a 1.49% yield. The purchase increased my annual forward dividends by $6.00.

Without going too much into detail on my rationale for the investment in LHX (that will come some time in the next couple weeks on Seeking Alpha for those interested), what LHX lacks in yield, it makes up for in spades with its growth potential and overall quality.

With a payout ratio at about a third of its earnings and FCF, as well as the thesis that communication systems, electronic systems, and space and intelligence systems aren't going anywhere, LHX appears to have a long runway of high-single digit to low-double digit EPS growth in its future, not to mention at least as much dividend growth in its future.

The fifth and final company that I invested in during the month of November was MMP. I increased my position in MMP from 3 units to 7 units and to my 6th largest position in terms of distribution income, paying an average of $58.60/unit and a total cost of $234.40. This equates to a 6.96% yield on the units purchased in November. Across the 4 units added during the month, this boosted my annual forward distributions by $16.32.

While MMP possesses a coverage ratio of ~1.3 compared to the near 2 coverage ratios of ET and EPD, the company's balance sheet is stronger than ET's and about even with EPD's. Like both ET and EPD, MMP is also continuing to grow its DCF on a consistent basis, which reinforces the safety of its distribution.

Aside from my investments above in my taxable accounts, I also invested $366.00 into my CAIBX mutual fund holding within my employer sponsored retirement plan via both my contributions and my employer's 3% dollar for dollar match (you gotta love 3 paycheck months!).

Accounting for the sales charge, this allowed me to increase my position in CAIBX from 76.756 shares to 82.332 shares.

Assuming the same quarterly dividend of $0.50 and a $0.14 special dividend paid at the end of the year, these purchases increased my annual forward dividends by $11.93.

Summary:

In my taxable accounts, I deployed a respectable $1,064.51 in capital during the month of November, which added $56.92 in annual forward dividends/distributions, for an average yield of 5.35%. 

In my retirement account, I invested $366.00 in capital for the month of November, which boosted my annual forward dividends by $11.93. This equates to an average yield of 3.26%.

In total, I put $1,430.51 to work during the month of November, which increased my annual forward dividends/distributions by an astounding $68.85! This works out to a 4.81% yield, which offsets last month's average yield on invested capital of 2.72%. 

Over the past 2 months, I have been able to invest $2,930.22 in capital and add $109.61 in annual forward dividends/distributions from investments alone, which is right around that 4% yield that I would like to consistently average from quarter to quarter. 

Entering the month of November, my annual forward dividends were at $758.46 and will end November at $828.92.

This $70.46 increase in my annual forward dividends/distributions is accounted for through the $68.85 in annual forward dividends/distributions, the $2.20 increase in annual forward dividends as a result of AbbVie's (ABBV) raise during the month, and minor downward adjustments to ADR holdings such as British American Tobacco (BTI) and British Petroleum (BP) as I didn't accurately take into consideration the ADR fees that were deducted from the dividend income to arrive at net dividend income on those holdings.

If the past few months have taught me anything, it would be that no longer having to pay tuition or dedicate countless hours to my formal education is so damn great both financially and in terms of free time!

Discussion:

Were you able to deploy as much capital as you have been lately? Did you add any new names to your portfolio?

As always, I appreciate your readership! I'm looking forward to reading and replying to any comments you may have that provide insight into your DGI journey during the month of November.