Financial Freedom: Dividends

Showing posts with label Dividends. Show all posts

June 2023 Passive Income

Wanted to compile passive income for the quarter but realised it might be difficult so doing for June 2023 instead.

1. $163

2. $5

3. $37

4. $51

5. $2970

6. $19 (DBS multiplier)

Total = $3245

Rough estimate only as I am rounding and might have missed some other items.

I was surprised at DBS Multiplier Account since I set it up a few years back and haven't really been paying attention to it. I am also not making any effort to keep track of the categories that I need to fulfill in order to get the highest interest rates. Besides, the amount I have within is not significant.

The reason I am recording this down is because I realised that I have gotten a little haphazard in my finances and goals with little record-keeping and not even being certain whether I will be meeting my retirement goals. Time to record it more diligently so that I have a good record of my passive income and when I might possibly retire. :)

To obtain a $100 monthly passive income, I probably need $24,000 invested in an instrument that gives 5% yield. That means that $240,000 will yield $1000 per month and $2.4million (!!!) will yield a healthy $10,000 per month.

Looking back at my old goals, I was probably too naive that my expenses will remain the same. The family has grown and the cost of living has also gone up significantly. So whatever passive income goals that I have set now appears to have shifted even further away. But I was inspired afterbreading ASSI blog recently and realised that he is still blogging and has retired. Considering that we started blogging around the same time, it means he has stuck to his plans while I have failed in mine.

Rental Income or Dividend Income

Which is better? Rental income or dividend income?

Having both rental income and dividend income, I can say that I actually prefer to collect dividend income.

In Singapore, I don't have to pay taxes on dividends. But I have to pay taxes on my rental income.

Also, rental income is taxed at one's income bracket and that results in a lower yield from whatever rent I collect.

If using a housing/ real estate agent, one also has to pay the agent commission ranging from 1 to 1.5 months rental. This alone can be quite significant.

In terms of passiveness, there is work involved too in terms of finding tenants paperwork, etc.

On the other hand, dividend income is fairly straightforward. No taxes, no hefty commissions to be paid, and relative ease in terms of monitoring (assuming one is buying a good quality income).

This is not investment advice. Purely stating my preference as a very lazy investor.

Dividends and Interest Income for May 2016

This is just a rough estimate of dividends and interest credited to my bank account for this month:

Dividends = $1252
Interest = $197

Total = $1449

Dividends and Interest Income for April 2016

Received a grand total of estimated $158 for dividends and $151 in interest income for April 2016.

Dividends came from one of my REIT holdings and the interest income came largely from my bank accounts which is yielding an okay interest rate. At the moment, I am largely relying on the OCBC 360 account (roughly 2.2% for first 60,000 and 1% for incremental increase) and their Bonus Savings account (0.8%). I also have the UOB account but have found it difficult to the credit card minimum spend requirement on that account.

Dividends for October 2014

Another month has passed. Dividends collected for October 2014 was $513.

Main contributors were:
(i) distributions from bond fund
(ii) distribution from ETFs
(iii) OCBC 360 Account (which offers a neat 3%).

Besides that it was the usual from other monthly dividend paying stocks that I hold in my portfolio.

Dividends for July 2014

Have been a little busy to update. Finally found some time to sit down and compile the dividends collected for the month of July 2014. Well, better late than never =)

Dividends collected was $331. Pretty normal.

I have been just too busy to find the time to sit down and write over the past few months. Hopefully, I will get more time soon.

Where I am sitting at right now, the skies are blue and a warm breeze is blowing by. There are so many dreams that remain there for the grabs. At the same time, there is a sense of contentment that I have. Not that I have accomplished much. But perhaps another door is opening and my focus on life has changed.

Please see dividends for other months compiled below:

Dividends for June 2014

It is the end of the June school holidays in Singapore and July is almost upon us. Have compiled my dividends for this month. As most readers do know, I receive cash in my mailbox every month.

Almost $100+ in distributions from unit trusts, $100+ in dividends from stocks and $60+ from various deposit accounts [Check out on the details for the various bank deposit accounts I am using right now in the postings found here and here].

The total amount collected for June 2014 is $282.

Not enough to do anything with it really. Will just have to reinvest into other instruments to keep the monthly income flowing in.

I am quite pleased that I actually had the discipline to compile my monthly dividends for the past few months. It has at least made me more aware of where my dividends have been coming from and how much I have been getting. It sure beats having just a blurry guess-estimate of how much I have been getting. It also serves as a good check on whether I am hitting the goals that I have set for myself.

Please see dividends for other months compiled below:

For those who are interested, do check out the following links:

Articles on retirement, savings, financial planning and investing:

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

Commodities/Gold/Silver

Insurance

Popular Reads

Dividends for May 2014

End of May 2014. Once again, I have taken some time to compute all the dividends received over the past one month including all the cheques that I have been receiving in my mailbox. This month's collection was much better than previous months because many of the shares I have gave out dividends.

Collected a total of $842.82 in dividends for May 2014. Majority of the dividends came from holdings in Singapore stocks.

Quite glad that I have been receiving a regular stream of dividends each month. It also helps that I have been compiling my monthly dividends so that I at least know how much I have received each month. I am also glad that I now collect dividends every month instead of quarterly.

Recieving Cash in mailbox Every Month

Most people probably dread opening up their mailbox because they know that only bills await them. However, I am probably one of a few people who actually enjoys opening my mailbox to check for mail. The reason? I receive monthly cheques in my mail so I am always excited to open them up and add it together with other dividends that might have been directly credited into my bank account.

Those of you who have been following my blog over the years probably know that I am a dividends kind of investor. My timing into stocks are quite bad. But dividends have always been my kind of thing. I like the certainty of investing into businesses that provide shareholders with cash in their pockets. Over the years, I have lost count of the dividends I have received.

My favourite kind of dividends are those that are paid regularly. Some of my holdings even pay monthly dividends. That is amazing from my point of view. In short, I have been able to supplement my very average salary with passive income without actually moonlighting.

Foreign holdings in U.S. Etfs and monthly dividend stocks are those cheques which end up in my mailbox. And it is always nice to reach home at the end of a long hard day at work to find a cheque or sometimes piles of cheques in my mailbox. Trust me, the feeling is quite surreal when you get the first cheque but after sometime, it still feels awesome!

Just this month alone, I have received 3 cheques. And the month isn't over yet :)

Dividends for April 2014

Finally took time to compile the cheques that have been coming in through my mailbox and calculated the dividends received for the month of April 2014.

Received a total of S$237.

This comprises dividends from Armour Residential REIT, Gamco Global Gold, Linn Energy and a host of other unit trusts like FAHY, Schroder, John Hancock.

The interests from my bank account (DBS multiplier) also contributed quite a fair bit and I have set up the OCBC 360 account for a similar purpose since it offers higher interest rates compared to a normal savings account.

Dividends for March 2014

Haven't had much time to blog lately. Have been busy with work. Everything has been same old same old. Nothing much has changed and I have been feeling pretty contented lately with everything that I have been blessed immensely with. Good job, health, family, etc, etc.

Anyway, I just managed to consolidate the dividends/interests/etc received for March 2014.

The total amount is around $360. Not too bad but I guess it can always be higher if I had been a little more disciplined with my savings and investing.

Perhaps it is time to take a fundamental re-look at all my expenditure and savings and to see if I am channelling my savings in the best manner into my various investments.

Dividends for February 2014

Finally got down to compiling my dividends received for the month of February 2014.

Total dividends received was $255.75.

The dividends came from a total of 8 different "sources". This includes stocks, unit trusts as well as the DBS multiplier account that I had signed up for.

I am glad that I have managed to diversify my sources of dividends. However, the amount is still quite low as compared to my targets. It looks like I have to start saving a lot more.

More Money, Less Stress

Lately, I have taken a more laid back approach to my investing. I have been focused on funds/ETFs that give dividends and have taken the approach of just buying regular amounts each month. There is less impetus to check the stock market, so very much less stress involved. Some of these funds also give monthly dividends and thus, I get the benefit of having some passive income. In short, more money and less stress.

This is just a short post to let everyone know that I am fine. I hope to go back to regular posting soon. This blog is still marching its way slowly towards 600,000 pageviews without me doing anything.

Life is simple. I eat 3 meals a day. Enjoy my time at home. Been reading. Sleeping early and waking up early. I feel totally blessed. Savouring each moment of the day.

Two words in my mind: Blessed and Passion.

I feel so blessed to be where I am, living the life that I want to. All the comforts that I enjoy today were probably not around 100 years ago. In fact, these comforts are not available to many people in different parts of the world today. So I do feel supremely and amazingly blessed with everything that I have. A bed to sleep in, food to eat, water to drink and a beautiful/peaceful country to live in. Our generation in Singapore is perhaps so blessed that we forget to give thanks for it.

Passion. What is my passion? This is the thought that has been bugging me. Can I live off my passion?

Dividends for July 2013

Received 4 cheques in the mailbox for this month.

Cheque #1 = $13.03
Cheque #2 = $50.59
Cheque #3 = $87.54
Cheque #4 = $69.07

All the cheques were from U.S. stocks that I own. Have not been keeping a good record of all the dividends that I have been receiving each month so thought that I should just log this down before I forget.

Overall, my portfolio has changed quite a bit. Many of the higher yielding stocks that I bought have had bad news lately which has affected the value of my portfolio. At the same time, I am fortunate to have exited quite a fair bit of my stocks during their recent highs. So there is quite a bit of free cash left to invest.

Financially, I will like to think that I am progressing fine. There are surpluses each month to invest/save and that is sufficient. Have been spending more time reading, reflecting and living each day to the fullest. Life is too short to worry about tomorrows.

Hopefully all readers had a very good long weekend. It was a well deserved break for me too.

Dividends for May 2013

Phew! It has been some time since I last wrote. Was too busy and just could not find the time to sit down and pen anything.

Anyway, dividends received in the month of May 2013 wasn't too bad. This was helped by monthly dividend stocks in my holdings such as Armour Residential REIT (ARR) and GAMCO Global Gold and Natural Resources Trust (GGN). I also received payout from BDCL (a ETN that pays quarterly dividends). The amounts I received is probably close to $200. I am not keeping good records and I might have bank in some cheques that were actually sent to me much earlier in April.

From Singapore shares, I have also collected dividends to a neat tune of $500 exactly. Cool and not bad for a month.

I also bought into Fidelity Asian High Yield Fund through DBS. It is a unit trust that pays out monthly dividends and I can choose to receive the dividends or reinvest it. Received around $7 from this unit trust.

That's all for now.

And guess what? This blog has garnered more than half a million views. Cool eh?

Dividends and Passive Income for Jan and Feb 2013

I have been keeping a very bad record of my dividends/passive income. But here it is so that I do not forget:

Jan 2013: $111.80
Feb 2013: $287.46

Main contributors were from Armour Residential REIT (ARR), GAMCO Gold and Natural Resources Trust (GGN), and Starhill Global REIT.

I have also liquidated quite a few of my stocks. On the back of STI hitting its 5 year high, I have sold off all my holdings in Ascott REIT, Saizen REIT, LMIR, Thakral, Nam Cheong and Citigroup.

Portfolio Additions and Dividends Received

Wow! We are already half a month into the new year and I have yet to make any new year resolutions (not that they matter, I break most of my resolutions anyway). Have also been making some additions to my portfolio.

I bought more of The Coca Cola Company (NYSE: KO) and Cross Timbers Royalty Trust (NYSE: CRT). Warren Buffet owns shares in Coca Cola so I guess it is a pretty safe bet. After all, Coke is a product that is probably not going to disappear in the next few years. The business is stable and of course, Warren Buffet owns it. So have added a bit more of the stock into my portfolio.

Also added Cross Timbers Royalty Trust which pays a monthly dividend. This is a bit like tabasco to one's portfolio. Not for the faint hearted. But the price has gone up quite a fair bit since I bought it so I am happy with the results.

Dividends I have received this month and last month include:

$48.41 from Armour Residential REIT (another tabasco addition to my portfolio)
$45.74 from GAMCO Gold & Natural Resources
$4.36 from The Coca Cola Company.

Have also made some voluntary contributions into my spouse's CPF Special Account. The CPF-SA pays a 4% interest. The first $60,000 combined in the various CPF accounts also earns 1% additional interest. Much better than the interest rates one gets from the bank. Of course, you are not allowed to withdraw it like a bank account. But for the long term, it is good enough for me.

Investments and Dividends for November

Made quite a few investments this month. Bought into a few stocks/REITs:

50,000 shares of Thakral
10,000 shares of LMIR
20,000 shares of Saizen

Dividends/passive income for November was quite okay. Roughly $250. Most of it were contributed by Gamco Global Gold and Natural Trust (GGN) and Armour Residential REIT (ARR). ARR is a mortgage REIT. Both stock prices hve declined quite a fair bit but I will like to think that my strategy is one where I will diversify a bit into other stocks rather than focusing on just these two stocks.

I also bought some shares of the Coca Cola Company (KO).

August Dividends

Dividends collected for the month of August 2012 is $846.67. I was kind of disappointed as I thought or had the impression that I would be expecting more for this month. However, 800 bucks is still a decent sum. Most of this came from Ascott REIT.

I also sold off Fortune REIT and Cambridge REIT for a tidy profit.

Dividends and Passive Income for May 2012

The month of May 2012 was a bonus month for me as I received quite a bit of dividends/passive income. The main contributor came from some of my small cap stocks.

Total dividends/passive income for May 2012 is $1483.26

Probably one of the better months for me thus far.

Financial Freedom