Oh May, what a month! We saw a decent decline in the stock market pinned to the back of additional China penalty tariffs. However, for the dividend growth investor, we don’t see or focus on market value decline – we see opportunities. We also see our dividends stay consistent and come in just as planned, even while the market is dropping. May’s dividend income returned back to the typical monthly increase. And yeah, net worth cratered.
May Dividend Income
After April’s dividend income decline, I’m happy to report a reversion to the mean in my YOY dividend income increases.
This month I received $1,379.88 in dividend income! On average, I was paid $36.31 from 38 different companies!! This month’s dividend income is a respectable 44.16% increase over May 2108.
To put things in dollar figures, that’s$422.72 more dividend income than last May!
Dividend Income - May 2019
Here is a chart of my passive dividend income progress over the last 4 years.
Here are the dividend stock purchases I’ve made between May 2018 and 2019 to fuel that dividend income growth.
The dividend portfolio has been updated.
May’s dividend income covers groceries, cell phone, utilities and insurance for the month.
May Dividend Growth (Dividend Increases)
These are the realized dividend increases I received this month.
This month I received 7 increases. 4 of the dividend increases were greater than 10%. $COST had the largest impact on the portfolio with their 14% dividend increase!
Dividend Increases - May 2019
March’s dividend increase adds$35.60 in annual dividend income. This dividend growth seems to be roughly the average since I began tracking this 10 months ago. May’s dividend increase are the equivalent of investing $1,017.14 of new money at 3.5%. That’s some serious free money!
Net Worth
It’s real life and not everything goes up every month. This month net worth got hammered.
Cash
Even though I knew it was coming, this cash decline of almost 6% still hurts! We are in the process of selling our home and wanted to make our house as compelling as possible. What turned into almost 13k was invested into painting the inside of our home and fixing up blemishes. We lived in this house for almost 10 years with a paint color that was just terrible and we didn’t want to leave it for the next owners of this house. Hopefully that helps!
We had some additional home expenses, but everything else has been relatively minor.
Collections
This won’t be a section again after this month, but the 16% decline warrants an explanation. I had a collection of older weapons that have now been sold. I estimated they were worth roughly 2k but ended up selling them for nearly $1,500.
Estimating the value of stuff isn’t necessarily as easy as determining what something should be worth. True value really is what someone is willing pay you for your stuff at that moment. I probably could have sold the firearms one by one for top dollar but I choose to go with a dealer who bought them all at one time and in one quick transaction.
Real Estate
Finally some real progress – our home is now officially for sale!
It’s been a heck of a process de-cluttering and pairing down all furniture, clothes, collections, toys and decorations. But, we have finally done it and have our home on the market.
We are pricing our home a bit over what other homes have sold for in our area. We are doing this for two reasons:
- Our house is bigger and has more features than many of the other homes in the area
- We still have 3 months before our new home will be built and have time to try and get top dollar
While we hope for a quick sale, we’d prefer to only move once if possible. So a slightly slower sale is okay too.
Also, you may have noticed that rental property value spiked this month. Since I have a monthly record of all this stuff now, I can tell you this isn’t uncommon. While Zillow typically estimates the value raises 2 – 3% in May (they have done that for the last 4 years) – this year they think the May rise should be 17%! Sweet! This Zestimate is more inline with what I believe is the true value of the rental property.
Also, our tenant has paid their rent on time again this month and we had no problems… all is well!
Wrap-up
Dividend income is back to growing again and I’m very pleased. The dividend investing strategy is continuing to prove itself. The combination of organic dividend growth combined with new cash (2 -4k a month) in the best dividend values I can find is clearly paying off.
I hope a deal can be struck with China (and now Mexico). If we see 25% penalty tariffs go into effect on list 4 goods, I suspect we’ll be in for some extremely rocky conditions.
While I’ve put as much money I could to work in my May purchases I’m now going to temper my buying (but I will pickup extreme values as they arise) until we get some solid good news on trade deals. I didn’t think tariffs would go this far! So the following week is the new (extended) red line date with China. But, just to be clear, a lot of this volatility will reverse really quickly if/when a tariff deal is struck. Here we go!
FAQs
This effectively means the top 1% are those with more than $10 million (~25m) and the top 0.1% are those with roughly $1 billion. There are estimated to be a little over 8 million households in the US with a net worth of $3 million or more. I very much doubt that any of them have that amount in savings.
What percentage of retirees have $3 million dollars? ›
According to EBRI estimates based on the latest Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, 3.2% of retirees have over $1 million in their retirement accounts, while just 0.1% have $5 million or more.
What net worth is considered rich in America? ›
In the United States, the concept of being rich is often a subject of discussion, curiosity and, sometimes, aspiration. Charles Schwab's 2023 Modern Wealth Survey provides insights into this topic, revealing that the average American equates being wealthy with a net worth of approximately $2.2 million.
Is $2 million a lot of money? ›
Additionally, statistics show that the top 2% of the United States population has a net worth of about $2.4 million. On the other hand, the top 5% wealthiest Americans have a net worth of just over $1 million. Therefore, about 2% of the population possesses enough wealth to meet the current definition of being rich.
How many Americans have $1,000,000 in retirement savings? ›
However, not a huge percentage of retirees end up having that much money. In fact, statistically, around 10% of retirees have $1 million or more in savings.
How much does the average 70 year old have in savings? ›
The Federal Reserve also measures median and mean (average) savings across other types of financial assets. According to the data, the average 70-year-old has approximately: $60,000 in transaction accounts (including checking and savings) $127,000 in certificate of deposit (CD) accounts.
Is a net worth of 3 million considered wealthy? ›
To feel wealthy, Americans say you need a net worth of at least $2.2 million on average, according to financial services company Charles Schwab's annual Modern Wealth Survey.
Can I live off interest on 3 million dollars? ›
Living off the interest of $3 million is possible when you diversify your portfolio and pick the right investments. Here are six common investments and expected income for each year: Savings and money market accounts. Savings accounts are one of the most liquid places to hold your money besides a checking account.
How many US households have net worth over $3 million? ›
According to the MacroMonitor, by 2022-23, the number of U.S. households with $3 million or more in financial assets represents 3.2% of all households, totaling 4.6 million.
Does net worth include home? ›
Household wealth or net worth is the value of assets owned by every member of the household minus their debt. The terms are used interchangeably in this report. Assets include owned homes, vehicles, financial accounts, retirement accounts, stocks, bonds and mutual funds, and more.
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- People with the top 1% of net worth in the U.S. in 2022 had $10,815,000 in net worth.
- The top 2% had a net worth of $2,472,000.
- The top 5% had $1,030,000.
- The top 10% had $854,900.
- The top 50% had $522,210.
Based on that figure, an annual income of $500,000 or more would make you rich. The Economic Policy Institute uses a different baseline to determine who constitutes the top 1% and the top 5%. For 2021, you're in the top 1% if you earn $819,324 or more each year. The top 5% of income earners make $335,891 per year.
Can I live off interest on a million dollars? ›
Once you have $1 million in assets, you can look seriously at living entirely off the returns of a portfolio. After all, the S&P 500 alone averages 10% returns per year. Setting aside taxes and down-year investment portfolio management, a $1 million index fund could provide $100,000 annually.
How much money is considered broke? ›
At what point are you considered broke? Broke is an adjective meaning someone has completely run out of money. In personal finance it means going to a zero balance in your account. Most the time when someone is broke they have no money left and also have debt.
What is considered upper class? ›
Middle class: Those in the 40th to 60th percentile of household income, ranging from $55,001 to $89,744. Upper middle class: Households in the 60th to 80th percentile, with incomes between $89,745 and $149,131. Upper class: The top 20% of earners, with household incomes of $149,132 or more.
How many Americans have $300,000 in savings? ›
– Nearly 13 percent said they have $50,000 to $99,999. – More than 12 percent said they have $100,000 to $199,999. – Nearly 10 percent have $200,000 to $299,999. – About 16 percent have $300,000 or more in retirement savings.
How many people have a net worth of $3000000? ›
1,821,745 Households in the United States Have Investment Portfolios Worth $3,000,000 or More.
Is net worth of $3 million considered rich? ›
The 95th percentile, with a net worth of $3.2 million, is considered wealthy, facilitating estate planning and possibly owning multiple homes. The top 1%, or the 99th percentile, has a net worth of $16.7 million and represents the very wealthy, who enjoy considerable financial freedom and luxury.
How many Americans have over $500,000 in savings? ›
Twenty-six percent had saved more than $100,000, and 9% had more than $500,000.
