* Progress Update - May 2009

Once again it is time for a goals/progress update. I am pleased to report that annualized dividend income rose in May, extending the streak to 3 months after February's decline. Since I began publicly tracking annualized dividend income in November 2007, it has increased in 17 of the last 18 months.


My goals were defined in this December 1, 2007 Investing Goals post and updated in my 2009 Investing Goals post. Below is an updated version of the table found in the original post.

Description	Dividend Income Annualized	Yield on Cost
2027 Goal	110,000	20.00%
2017 Goal	30,000	10.00%
2009 Goal	8,000	5.00%
December/2008	5,636	5.28%
Purchases YTD	1,728	-0.01%
Div. Changes YTD	(327)	-0.29%
Sales YTD	(1,217)	-0.11%
May/2009	5,820	4.87%
Purchases	633	0.10%
Div. Changes	5	0.00%
Sales	(478)	-0.03%
April/2008	5,660	4.83%

The above information covers the current month and year-to-date through the current month.

Click here for a Detailed Historical Progress Table.

For the month, annualized dividend income increased $160, and Yield on Cost (YOC) increased 0.07%. These changes were a net of new purchases, dividend changes and sales. Let's examine each of the these categories:

Purchases: The $633 increase in annual dividend income and 0.10% increase in YOC related to the following purchases (yield at the time of purchase):

• 229 CTL (9.90%)
• 64 PG (3.43%)
• 102 GPC (4.92%)
• 118 LLY (5.73%)
• 120 BLV (5.45%)

All the purchases, except PG, increased my YOC. As noted in earlier updates, I generally expect YOC to drop each month since most new investments will yield less than my current YOC, and dividend increases will not be sufficient to offset it.

Dividend Changes: The $5 increase in annual dividend income and 0.00% no change in YOC related to the following dividend changes (a=dividend stated in annual terms, q=quarterly, m=monthly):

• 12 PG $0.40q>$0.44q 0.01%
• 11 RY $0.40141q>$0.44365q 0.01%
• (18) ETO $1.90m>$1.84m -0.02%

The change in RY relates to currency conversion as a result of the U.S. dollar weakening against the Canadian dollar.

Sales: The ($478) decrease in annual dividend income and (0.03%) decrease in YOC related to the following sales:

• (228) NNN (0.07%)
• (180) BBT (0.02%)
• (70) PID 0.06%

During May, BBT cut its dividend and I immediately sold my entire position. Also in May, NNN froze its dividend. It was one of my larger holdings, so I reduced my position my 50% and will watch for additional signs of a dividend cut.

The ETFs/CEFs, volatility in their dividends does not align with my income portfolio's goal of consistently growing income. In May I started the process of trimming back my ETFs/CEFs income holdings with the sale of PID. I will continue to reduce my holdings in this area each month.

Based on year-to-date results, I believe my revised estimate of $6,300 of annualized dividend income on December 31, 2009 is still obtainable.

That's it for this time. The next monthly progress update will be on Saturday, July 11th.