This is what dividend investing is all about! Investing in dividend stocks allows YOU to earn dividend income, the best passive income stream! Bias, you better believe it.
Time to dive into Lanny’s May 2025 dividend income results! Were records set? Almost to financial freedom? One day and one month at a time!
Dividend Income
Dividend Income is the fruit from the labor of investing your money in the stock market. Further, Dividend Income is my primary vehicle on the road to Financial Freedom.
How do I research & screen for dividend stocks prior to making a purchase? I use our Dividend Diplomat Stock Screener and trade on SoFi’s investment platform.
Related: Sign up For SoFi – Receive FREE Stock!
Related: See our Dividend Portfolios!
I also automatically invest and max out, pre-tax, my 401k through work and my Health Savings Account. This allows me to save a TON of money on taxes (aka thousands), which allows me to invest even more. In addition, all dividends I receive are automatically being reinvested back into the company that paid the dividend, aka Dividend Reinvestment Plan or DRIP for short. This takes the emotion out of timing the market and BUILDS onto my passive income stream!
Related: Tax Strategy – Part 3 to Reduce Taxes & Increase Investment.
Related: The Power of Dividend Reinvesting
Related: Why I Don’t Time or Predict The Market
Growing your dividend income takes time and consistency. Investing as often, and early, as you can allows compound interest (aka dividends) to work it’s magic. I have gone from making $2.70 in a single month in dividend income to well over … $10,000+ in a single month. My dividend income record was set in December of 2021. Was it broken this month?! The power of compounding and dividend reinvestment is a wonderful component to the portfolio. Each and every month, whether big or small, I continue to report the passive income that dividend investing provides me. Why?
*Not pictured is my wife’s dividend income above*
I want to show YOU that dividend investing makes it possible to achieve financial freedom and/or financial independence. We all start somewhere, but consistently investing, compounding (reinvesting) dividends and keeping it simple, allows you to be in a significantly better position than most. Further, if I can grow this portfolio and income stream, YOU can too.
dividend income – May 2025
Now, on to the numbers… In May, we (my wife and I) received a dividend income total of $1,500.56. Happy to cross $1,500, always.
The amount and number of stocks listed below show you what it means to buy and hold for the long term. Most of the positions I have owned for YEARS, letting dividend growth and reinvestment do it’s thing. This is what dividend investing for financial freedom is all about. The passive income stream is growing at a RAPID pace.
2023 was up 24%. Guess what? 2024 was up 23%! 2 years of back to back 20% returns. However… 2025 appears to be different. Rates are still high, the tariff talk has cooled down but the war with Iran and Israel is getting out of control. The S&P 500, however, is up almost 4% again this year at the time of this writing, WOW.
Here is the breakdown of dividend income for the month, between taxable and retirement (far right column, under “Retirement”) accounts. In addition, “W” means my wife’s account:
Always a funny month when AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) pay you! Almost $200, right to the reinvestment, let’s go!
This will be the last time you see dividends from the likes of Hormel (HRL) and Gap (GAP), as I sold out of the two stocks recently. The two stocks just didn’t fit the strategy for the dividend investing portfolio any longer.
My wife loves Starbucks (SBUX), hence why you see dividends in the taxable account AND retirement account.
I also split out my retirement accounts in the far right column and the taxable account dividends are in the left two columns. The retirement accounts are composed of H.S.A. investments, ROTH and Traditional IRAs, as well as our work 401(k) accounts. In total, the retirement accounts brought in a total dividend income amount of $414.91 or 27.65% of the dividend income total. Therefore, the majority of the dividend income came from my taxable account. LET’S GO!!
Related: Maximizing your Roth for 10 Years… Then Set It & Forget It!
Dividend Income Year over Year Comparison
2024:
Our dividend income…. decreased, AGH!! But Why!
It’s really allllll about timing here.
First, United Parcel Services (UPS) paid in June vs. May, that is over $165, AKA the difference already.
Second, WestRock (WRK) was acquired by SmurfIt and I sold out of the position. Therefore, that was another $46.00 not there this go around.
Therefore, hopefully, now that the stocks are gone, that we have a new baseline.
The push for growth continues, 2026 will be better for May, NO DOUBT about it.
Dividend Increases
We had a BOOMING 8 dividend increases this month!!! The true beauty of dividend investing.
What was the best? Another easy one. The CLEAR winner was Oracle (ORCL), they are firing on ALL cylinders. The funny part is The Gap (GAP) – they are sold but wanted to show it here.
TJ Maxx (TJX) still surprises and amazes me, with yet another hug dividend increase.
I was also genuinely impressed with the consistency of Coca-Cola (5.15%) and General Dynamics (5.63%). Steady!
Related: The Impact of The Dividend Growth Rate!
In total, dividend increases created $75.07 in additional passive dividend income. I would need to invest $2,145 at a 3.50% dividend yield in order to add that income. Thank you for the increases, as I didn’t have to come up with the capital to create that form of income!
Dividend Income Conclusion & Summary
The name of the game is to apply what you learn through financial education. The next steps are to maximize every dollar for investment opportunities and live life on your own terms. Therefore, my plan is to demonstrate that dividend income can be a revenue engine. A revenue engine that allows you to take back control of your life. A revenue engine to help you reach financial freedom. Dividend investing, once you learn the right way, becomes easier and starts to immensely make sense!
Excited for the future, no doubt. Furthermore, all of the investing from last year and moves this year, shows that my aim to save 60% of my income, and making every dollar count, has provided the dividend growth.
If you are just starting out on your investment journey and you aren’t sure to start – please see the articles mentioned throughout this post. We are trying to bring you financial education and help you reach your financial goals.
Further, if you are interested in our dividend stocks to buy, dividend news, stock purchases, etc., please see our YouTube video (below), subscribe to our channel and check us out! Accordingly, we’ll help break down further investing topics not only on this blog, but by showing you through video!
As always, thank you for stopping by, leave your comments and questions below. Good luck and happy investing everyone!
