It’s time for our October 2023 dividend portfolio update and unfortunately there aren’t many positives to report. The markets continued to sell off for the third straight month and our dividend portfolio continued to take hits on all fronts. If there is a silver lining for investors it’s that there are buying opportunities everywhere as we have entered correction territory.
We arrived at our new location and started our winter work-camping gigs. This has made it hard to keep up with the markets and any news. Additionally, our investable income has really slowed which has limited our ability to add to positions. The timing couldn’t be worse in that respect because now is the time to take advantage of opportunities.
In light of this we have considered using some of the earnings from our work-camping gig to at least purchase a share of SCHD each pay period. It’s not much, but it would at least allow us to build a bigger position in a dividend machine over the next few months.
This would be a deviation from our intended purpose when we started our dividend portfolio. At that time we didn’t want to use any funds outside of other passive income streams, like this blog. This is because any money that we work for is a part of our budget. And those funds are used to help offset some of the expenses we incur while traveling.
The fact is, we like to stay at some nice places throughout the year. Earning a little money or saving on expenses, like site rental fees, through work-camping is how we balance out part of the cost of some of those nicer and more expensive resorts.
We also like to use money earned to help us cover large annual RV maintenance expenses. The annual maintenance on our RV can run up to $2k a year. We are also due for new tires before we drive again in the spring. This expense can run anywhere from $3k to $6k for our RV depending on the brand we go with.
It’s not that we don’t have the money for these expenses, we just prefer to earn a few bucks to pay for them so we can lower our withdrawal rate. Plus we are just sitting in one place for several months anyway. Might as well make a little cash while are waiting for spring to roll around.
We will see how it goes once we start receiving paychecks. Then we will be able to make a better assessment and hopefully add some shares. It would be nice to catch a few share at a discount before the rebound comes.
Our Dividend Portfolio Month Ending October 2023:
| Symbol | Qty | Change From Previous Month |
| ABBV | 14.13 | – |
| ABR | 32.212 | – |
| BKH | 4.237 | 1.000 |
| DOW | 10.022 | – |
| EPD | 5.208 | – |
| FRT | 6.45 | 0.078 |
| GIS | 5.324 | – |
| IBM | 3.349 | – |
| IRM | 13.427 | 0.150 |
| JEPI | 13.325 | 0.092 |
| JNJ | 6.368 | – |
| K | 2.165 | – |
| KHC | 5.477 | – |
| KMB | 2.166 | 0.021 |
| KO | 2.156 | 0.018 |
| MAIN | 12.008 | 0.070 |
| MMM | 9.723 | – |
| MO | 13.957 | 0.287 |
| MPW | 17.498 | 0.482 |
| O | 10.526 | 0.179 |
| QYLD | 34.231 | 0.342 |
| SCHD | 11.347 | 1.000 |
| SO | 2.196 | – |
| SPTN | 6.511 | – |
| T | 16.97 | – |
| VICI | 6.088 | 0.088 |
| VTRS | 19.74 | – |
| VZ | 3.039 | – |
| WBD | 3 | – |
| XOM | 5.39 | – |
In the month of October we received dividend payments from FRT, IRM, JEPI, KMB, KO, MAIN, MO, MPW, O, QYLD and our first payment from VICI. Our dividend payments for the month totaled $52.50. All proceeds were reinvested into the underlying positions. October is a REIT heavy dividend month and REIT stocks have taken a massive beating over the last few months. So the timing was pretty good for some reinvesting in that sector.
We were really short on investable cash for the month so we were limited on making any additions. As such, we only added to our positions in SCHD (1) and BKH (1). Our first priority was to grab a share of SCHD under $70 as that always seems to be a great purchase point. After we scrounged up a few extra dollars we had to make a decision. REIT’s and Utilities are two sectors that have been getting hammered and we like to invest in both. Since we have focused most of our purchases on REIT’s lately we decided to add another share to our BKH holding this month to get more utility coverage.
Year to date we have received dividend payments totaling $582.33. This is a 42% increase over the same 10 month period in 2022. On a year over year basis our dividend distributions grew 47.43% for the month of October. So while the month was terrible on a portfolio basis our dividend growth continues to excel.
| Stock | October 2022 | October 2023 | YOY Growth % |
| FRT | $5.52 | $6.95 | 25.91% |
| IRM | $7.83 | $8.63 | 10.22% |
| JEPI | $3.45 | $4.81 | 39.42% |
| KMB | $2.40 | $2.53 | 5.42% |
| KO | $0.91 | $0.98 | 7.69% |
| MAIN (m) | $1.37 | $2.81 | 105.11% |
| MO | $10.06 | $12.42 | 23.46% |
| MPW | $3.03 | $2.55 | -15.84% |
| O (m) | $1.04 | $2.68 | 157.69% |
| QYLD (m) | $0.00 | $5.65 | 565.00% |
| VICI | $0.00 | $2.49 | 249.00% |
| Total | $35.61 | $52.50 | 47.43% |
The only position to disappoint is MPW which reflected the impact of the dividend cut. Our positions in FRT, IRM, MAIN, MO and O continue to grow and thrive while KMB and KO are slow and steady. Thankfully, these positions more than made up for the reduction in MPW.
At the month end for October 2023 our dividend portfolio was valued at $13,186. This is a 2.71% decrease from September 2023. This is the third consecutive month that we have had a negative return, which has never happened before. It also comes right after we hit an all time high in July. As always, it helps to put this in a long term prospective. On a year over year basis our portfolio value has still increased by 11.28% from October 2022.
| Month | Portfolio Value | MOM % Change |
| September 2023 | $13,553.58 | -2.71% |
| October 2023 | $13,185.70 |
| Month | Portfolio Value | YOY % Change |
| October 2022 | $11,849.02 | 11.28% |
| October 2023 | $13,185.70 |
With the additional shares added to our positions and the reinvestment of all dividends received our portfolio will now provide projected annual dividend income (PADI) of $808. That’s about $67 per month on average. This is an increase of $14.00 per year or $1 per month from our September 2023 update. Additionally, the yield on cost (YOC) for our portfolio increased by 0.03% to 5.64%.
Sometimes the markets are horrible and it’s helpful to look at small milestones as a reminder that we are still heading in the right direction. For this month we are thrilled to have surpassed the $800 PADI mark. It’s another small milestone on our way to our larger goal of $1,000 by the end of 2024.
Thank you for taking time to read our dividend portfolio update and follow our blog. While it’s a great time to add to positions we hope the markets have a strong run into the end of the year. Our dividend portfolio is just a small portion of our investments and we prefer to have a strong overall portfolio at this stage of our lives.
Happy investing!!
Joe
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