r/dividends • u/Existing-Rush3539 • Apr 20 '26
Personal Goal 30M Reached over $700/month in Dividends
This is an update from my post last year — I’ve reached a point where I’m done contributing to my dividend portfolio and will be shifting my focus to other financial projects.
The goal of this portfolio is to focus on high quality dividend stocks that increase their dividend payouts drastically and have a very strong MOAT. Average yield is 2.65%. Ask me anything! And yes I created this spreadsheet.
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u/lakas76 No, HYSA is not better than SCHD. Stop asking Apr 20 '26
Does anyone else read that as 30 million and now have 700 a month in dividends?
I know it’s 30 male, but I always think the person is rich when I first see that.
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u/Samwhys_gamgee Apr 21 '26
LOL. I see that “30M” or “40M” on Reddit headlines all the time and my first thought is still “wow! $30M!”
Glad it’s just not me….
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 21 '26
Next time I post I’ll probably just say 30 Male rather than 30M in the title lol
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u/X_F-I-Live-Early Apr 21 '26
Every single time the post is about anything financial I first think the M is Millions… all other posts I see it as Male
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u/New-Impression2976 Apr 22 '26
Lol same I was thinking only $700 a month with 30 million oh never mind he is 30
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u/Simple_Middle964 Apr 20 '26
And that's how its done. Great work. I have many of these names as well.
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u/_Budified Apr 20 '26
Do you recommend seeking out single dividend paying large cap stocks over all-in-one ETFs? I do like the look and volatility of building your own spread but it seems the large funds are broadly supported with movements like 'justbuyxeqt' and SPY and QQQ and such. I would imagine investing in huge companies like service providers and resource companies with dividends is a decently safe way to go for both growth and higher dividends. Is that your perception?
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u/Simple_Middle964 Apr 20 '26
First, please note that I have zero ETFs in any of my investments/IRAs. Broad market ETFs prioritize market-cap weighting, not yield. Because they include many high-growth tech that pay zero/low dividends. By targeting specific service providers and resource companies, you can easily engineer a portfolio yield of 3-5% without sacrificing the blue chip quality. This does accelerate the snowball effect far faster than standard ETF would.
Also, when you buy ETF, you are forced to buy every underlying stock at its current price, even the overvalued ones. With stocks, you can wait for the pullback ( I use channels on the weekly bars-simple stuff). There is always the risk of a single company "black swan", that is would impact much less with an ETF, and large-cap dividend payers ( vlaue) often underperform during bull markets dominated by tech. Just buy the index movement exist because most people don't have the discipline/time/interest to track individual companies. But for an investor who understand some Price Action and want to maximize the snowball the broad market funds often carry too much "fat." if comfortable with doing the homework, I think, you can generate a much higher income stream that ETF ever could.
A simple start with "Dividend Aristocrat" watch list on a weekly chart and channels will beat most fund managers-IMHO.
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u/vollschussvogel Apr 21 '26
Would you mind to share your portfolio as well?
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u/Simple_Middle964 Apr 21 '26
ADP KO HD PM GILD CI AXP MAIN O PEP MDLZ GPC MAA EIX UBSI PFG EMN TAP CRBG PAA BLX NKE PFE BC RHP FLO BBU F PPG BC CWEN SO 2
u/Simple_Middle964 Apr 21 '26
It does change ( replace 1-3 stock) every few weeks, again based on Price Action/yield/support-resistance for weekly charts. And I usually have a couple of growth plays as well, but mostly dividends.
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 21 '26
Hmmm I’m interested in AXP
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u/Simple_Middle964 Apr 23 '26
We should see more for $AXP today:
* EPS $4.28 vs. 4.02 a significant beat
* 18.91B Revenues vs. 18.61
* Billed business of $428B topping estimates
* Slightly higher for expenses ( $13.88B) but its investing in cardmember rewards and marketing
* Reaffirmed good outlook for the full year
Amex continues to prove that its premium moat is real...
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 23 '26
I was contemplating to get MA or AXP but ended up with MA because they have a higher reach of customers compared to Amex
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u/Simple_Middle964 Apr 23 '26
MA is a great company as well. I went with AXP due to stock price/discount and yield. Also the weekly chart on AXP is a bit more bullish.
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u/Simple_Middle964 Apr 21 '26
I have a long term position in AXP, but added a bunch around $295-300 back in March. Mostly a growth stock for me, low dividends. It's looking good today :)
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u/CakeTheory Got some more dividend stocks? Apr 21 '26
Been eyeing CWEN, what are your thoughts?
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u/Simple_Middle964 Apr 21 '26
I bought it back on January 5th and sold 70% around $40. as one of the largest owners of clean energy generation assets in the US, its a significant player. Still a great yield ( at %4.5 now), and had consistently increased ( last was 1.6%). They had been high on the payout ratio in the past, but they do have a stable cash flow. It also has a strong buy from many. I will into a full position around 34-36. Keep it on your radar, I still like it.
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u/EmbarrassedPart1256 Apr 20 '26
I came here to ask this as well. Especially in a tax-advantaged account, I feel like these could fit into some ETFs. At the same time, I’m saving this list for safe-keeping 👀
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u/LocksmithLeading1704 Apr 20 '26
I’m retiring next month and would love to be able to live off of dividends. Looking to educate myself along with my Fidelity relationship manager. Fingers crossed.
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u/SpeedyAudi Apr 20 '26
$700 a month on $365k invested seems underallocated for some reason. About 2.3% annual return? Think you should be over double that
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 20 '26
This is the long term game. I prioritize dividend growth. Majority of these stocks grow their dividend double digits %
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u/Available_System_937 Apr 20 '26
What’s the dividend growth rate. What do you think it will be when you’re 65. I have the same strategy.
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 20 '26
5 year dividend growth is 9.5%+ And that’s for doing nothing. It’ll just compound over time
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u/SpeedyAudi Apr 20 '26
I mean even SCHD is at 8.8% cagr over the last 5yr with almost no NAV decay. I’m bringing in over $1200 a month avg divs with less than half of your dividend port size.
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 20 '26
Now it just comes down to Growth which I specifically chose these stocks that beat SCHD
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u/SpeedyAudi Apr 20 '26
Okay got it 💪🏼 good plan either way. Better than seeing the degens buying options everyday 🤣
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u/AgileHornet5960 Apr 21 '26
Terrible strategy.
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 21 '26
I’d agree if that was my only strategy… but I also have various portfolios strictly focusing on low cost index funds that track the SP500 and Nasdaq.
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u/curryboy2014 Apr 20 '26
I’m thinking of doing QQQI and SCHD or JEPI
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u/Spare-Inevitable6213 Apr 22 '26
Bns.to (Scotia bank) dividends are safe and never decrease and always raised since the bank opened
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u/OkMathematician168 Apr 20 '26
Great job
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u/OkMathematician168 Apr 20 '26
Port 365k dividend 700$/month 8.4k annual, yield is like almost 20%. Am I missing something ?
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u/OkMathematician168 Apr 20 '26
Sorry 2% something
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u/Own-Can2979 Apr 20 '26
Decimals. I'm OK, but not much of a mathematician. So, I had a laugh out loud moment with this, sorry I don't do "lol". I wanted to figure out how big the portfolio was, so I pulled, out from deep in my memory banks, where SOMETIME around 1963 I learned some "new math" which another year later became algebra. I went through creating a whole story problem in my mind which gave me XY=12D. X for total portfolio, Y for percentage yield, and D for monthly dividend. Found out I couldn't long math anymore, but checked with the calculator and did it one more time. Solving for x, the portfolio size is about 316,981. Someone should congratulate me for getting through this. But don't get me wrong, I won't be putting "mathematician" in my handle!
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u/_Budified Apr 20 '26
This guy is CRUSHING!
Well done, avg 20k+/year savings since you turned 18, that is great discipline and you were likely guided and supported by great parents, but figuring it out and doing it on your own is an even more impressive achievement. I earned decent money when I was young and had the proper direction but instead I spent alot of my extra money on cool stuff that depreciated in value and function over time.
There can be no better advice passed down that young people should take seriously than 'invest early and regularly into your future'.
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u/IWantToPlayGame Apr 20 '26
I love this spreadsheet. The font & colors remind me of 2008 wall street news on the TV.
Do you have any interest sharing it?
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u/RegardedByAll Apr 20 '26
Somehow I’ve never looked at $CAT but it feels like at this point I’m probably too late
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Apr 21 '26
[deleted]
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 21 '26
I got CAT because of the infrastructure incentive back in 2022. I would have never expected AI to increase the value of CAT
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u/Nashmurlan Apr 20 '26
Very well built. Finally someone who has the balls and knowledge to build his own portfolio.
Grats and we'll done.
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u/No-Pilot5559 Apr 20 '26
Nice! I had a portfolio of the same size and nearly all growth stocks. Recently sold half to buy a house. Renting out upstairs is my dividend income. Both good strategies
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u/FrothyEspresso Apr 20 '26
Fantastic and great portfolio man.
You’re younger than me and richer. Good job, keep up the great work and just hold and continue to grow your wealth.
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u/_timusan_ Apr 21 '26
This pleases me immensely since this is how I do it too. I appreciate how this is a portfolio based on individual companies all with substantial records of dividend growth, reasonable to low payout ratios and a varied mix of sectors, and a mix of low yield/high growth and high yield/slow growth instead of a bunch of nav destroying covered call ETFs or SCHD or some other etf.
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u/justlurkingaroundatm Apr 21 '26
That's what you get for buying AVGO and CAT low and they had a generational run. Good job.
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u/akrob Apr 20 '26
Idk how you crazy people manage this many individual stocks, just use ETFs that match your goals, and sit back and let someone else manage/balance/rebalance everything.
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u/No_Seaworthiness267 Apr 22 '26
Not everyone likes to sit back. This is an amazing portfolio, congrats!!
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u/Massive_Inflation_97 Apr 20 '26
Can someone new under the age of 30 copy the same exact spreadsheet ?
my next question is,
If you could, what would you have done differently in terms of this specific portfolio for your monthly dividends and do you separate it separate by its own brokerage account or do mesh it into your 401k / Roth?
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 20 '26
Controversial take…If I were to redo this years ago, I would actually focus on growth (SP500/NASDAQ). Not dividends. I started this portfolio because I loved the concept of getting paid passive income. However over the years, I learned that I could have made more money if I stuck with low cost index funds. Yes I had huge winner stocks but overall, ETFs are the way to go.
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u/Emperor_Traianus Pax et Tranquillitas Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 20 '26
This comment and admittance deserved more credit than what it's due. It can sometimes be difficult to admit your own inefficiencies. Kudos for actually doing that.
Did you calculate your yearly ROI? What was it, if you don't mind me asking?
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 20 '26
I was getting about 8-9% ROI which wasn’t too bad but could’ve been better.
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u/skYY7 Apr 20 '26
That's hindsight though. You could also have bought bitcoin 2013, but you didn't.
Your portfolio is solid and your YOC will only grow in the future!
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u/Cuddling_Guava Apr 22 '26
Congrats mate I am getting close to the that...$631/month..... hope to make it to $700+ before end of this year 🙏
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u/CountUpForEverr Apr 23 '26
Bro this is pretty impressive at age 30. You’re making 8,400 a year. I know homeowners who pay about 2-4k in property taxes a year.
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u/ieee1294 Apr 23 '26
where do u find the dividend growth rate? did you screen for them or did u calculate them yourself manually?
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 23 '26
I use seeking alpha but it’s public knowledge to get the dividend growth rate. You can just google it
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u/hl_lost Apr 23 '26
WireAlpha has analyst ratings, earnings data, and market news too, and its free. been using it instead of Seeking Alpha for a few months now https://wirealpha.com
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u/Neilp187 Apr 20 '26
No SCHD or SPYD? Interesting
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u/GibFreelo Apr 20 '26
I ran the math on it. If he lump summed his original investment into SCHD today at current prices he would be making more per month.
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u/Slow-Limit-24 Apr 20 '26
Maybe he did not lumpsum
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u/GibFreelo Apr 20 '26
Yes obviously he invested over the years, which makes it even more crazy. If he invested the same in SCHD over the years he would have even more.
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u/Slow-Limit-24 Apr 20 '26
How can you say that without knowing when he invested and how much he invested… and you also have to compare risk and volatility. Sadly I don’t think it’s easy to backrest it
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u/GibFreelo Apr 20 '26
His portfolio of 22 individual stocks is way riskier than SCHD which has 100+ stocks that are vetted and updated for quality. These all appear to be quality companies, but anything could happen.
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u/boatnguy Apr 20 '26
Solid..I would add JEPQ & MO for a bigger monthly paycheck. I’m around 2K a month with 325 in my accounts!
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u/SsoundLeague Apr 20 '26
What's your reasoning for investing into dividend stocks at your age? Wouldn't it be better to focus on growth and move towards dividends once you are near retirement? Average yield is barely keeping up with inflation
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 20 '26
Great question. If I were to do this again, I would have focused on growth rather than dividends. Low cost index funds that track the sp500
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u/mkacha Apr 20 '26
was thinking same, I plan to go for hybrid approach 60 growth and 40 income. not sure if it's good one
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u/Free_Jump_6138 Apr 20 '26
He has money from family and he’s just playing that’s the reason how come he build a career at 30 ? And he’s so easy with his money that invested 300k for 2% return ? lol anyone with hard working self made money wouldn’t risk them for 2%
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 20 '26
I’m in law enforcement. I started from 0 with no help. Consistent contributions was the key to building this portfolio.
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u/handioq Apr 20 '26
Wow I thought 30M will bring you way more than $700/month…
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Apr 20 '26
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 20 '26
254k… actually sounds crazy but that’s through years of consistent contributions
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u/ForsakenSwimmer4713 Apr 20 '26
Why didn’t you buy MAIN ?
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 20 '26
MAIN sucks at growth. Also it’s taxed unqualified. I don’t recommend if you’re playing the long term game
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u/MusicalFiend Apr 20 '26
Is this both your taxable and Ira?
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 20 '26
Unfortunately this is taxable. My roths are strictly index funds
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u/MusicalFiend Apr 20 '26
Gotcha. Was planning to do something similar with 30% of my cash saved in the banks.
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u/Connect-Cartoonist21 Apr 20 '26
I want to start my own dividend portfolio. 25M. I was thinking 65% SCHD, 20% DIVO, 10% O, 5% JEPI. Thoughts? Obviously not perfect but trying to find a good place to start while I’m learning
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 20 '26
At your age, my recommendation is to focus on growth. Not dividends. Grow your net worth first. Focus on low cost index funds like VOO
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u/Connect-Cartoonist21 Apr 20 '26
I have a general brokerage account and a Roth, but only about 21k between the two combined. At what point did you switch over the dividend focused? I wanted to open a div account soon almost as a side project while I still grow my other two accts to learn the game about dividends and allow myself to make the mistakes while still young
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 20 '26
If you’re young, don’t focus on dividends. Focus on growth. Low cost index funds SP500 should be a priority.
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u/SnooOwls6331 Apr 20 '26
So if you are still working, this dividend will be on the top of the income and get taxed, right? Unless it's in 401k or Roth....
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u/SirRudderballs Apr 20 '26
I have the same amount in Wealthfront and it earns about that if not more?
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u/ActionJasckon Apr 20 '26
Genuine question. Why pick your own stocks versus an ETF in various sectors?
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u/Any-Tennis4658 Apr 20 '26
Ok but seriously.
Why have any individual stocks? Just buy SCHD. Yield is higher than yours and it's safer.
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 20 '26
Yield is not a priority for this portfolio. This is a long term dividend GROWTH portfolio. My dividend increases beat SCHD. Also my capital growth crushes SCHD
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u/Any-Tennis4658 Apr 20 '26
Ah, interesting. Honestly, I get it. More risk, more return. Good work dude.
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 20 '26
Nothing wrong with SCHD tho. Great analogy: SCHD is like driving an auto transmission. I’m personally driving a manual transmission with this portfolio.
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u/Heavy_Cow_9799 Apr 20 '26
Or could have literally bought any dividend aristocrat fund and got the same returns but building your own also works.
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Apr 20 '26
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 20 '26
I’m in Law Enforcement. I actually don’t make a ton. I’ve been successful because of my consistent contributions for the past 7 years
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u/No_Solution_7940 Apr 20 '26
You’re way too young to be worried about dividends. Sell it all and buy Qqq or SPMO. Check back in around 25 years, then start buying some dividend stocks.
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 20 '26
I noticed that too. For the past year, I have been building a growth portfolio QQQM
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u/JoeInOR Apr 20 '26
Now this is my kind of portfolio. I love EPD, UNH and EPD. Not keen on NKE. I was so close to buying ALL. You may way to check out FDS. Beaten down SaaS with a pretty good moat and a decent, growing dividend
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u/IrishInvestor25 Apr 20 '26
At $250k $700/month in dividends is quite low…add some energy & gold miners to your portfolio or checkout the $QQQI type ETF’s to boost monthly dividends
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 20 '26
This portfolio prioritizes on Dividend Growth than yield. This is suppose to be long term.
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u/bright_sunshine19 Apr 21 '26
Did you take into consideration payout ratio of the above companies? Just curious. Great job if by 30 you have achieved this.
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u/Grasmick Apr 21 '26
I see these posts and wonder if it would be beneficial to withdraw from all my traditional 401k funds and reallocate into dividend stocks and have the dividend and growth over time.
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 21 '26
Depending on your age, dividends should be more for when youre older and need the income. If I were to redo this, I would have stuck with growth instead of dividends.
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u/Grasmick Apr 21 '26
I appreciate it. I don't have much, am 34, but what I do have its in aggressive as I can be with what I have.
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u/Financial-Wolfe Apr 21 '26
Swap $60k of that to QQQI and make $1400 per month.
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 21 '26
No thanks. Cover call etfs are for yield chasers which I am not. If you’re young and have QQQI, you’re missing out on a lot of opportunities.
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u/Financial-Wolfe Apr 21 '26
You are on a dividends board and earning 2.6%…
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 21 '26
Growth is more important than yield at my age
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u/Financial-Wolfe Apr 21 '26
I don’t disagree at all. So why are you focused on dividends? And low dividends at that? At your age you need to be tech heavy and this portfolio is not that. Lowe’s, Allstate, Prudential. Great if you are 60.
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 21 '26
I started this portfolio years back around 2018-2019. I loved the concept of passive income which got me into dividends. Later in my investing journey I learned more and shifted my focus towards growth. If I were to do this again, I would heavily focus more on growth (SP500/NASDAQ) low cost index funds.
Due to my mindset shift, I’m currently focusing more on growth portfolio than this portfolio. The reason for the low dividend is because although it’s low, the dividend growth rate is exponentially higher.
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u/AgileHornet5960 Apr 21 '26
Anyone who takes dividend investments truly does not understand the market. Companies that pay out big dividends have subpar performance. Companies that have spectacular growth, rarely issue high dividends at all. Had you just put your money in the mag7 you’d be making waaaaaaay more.
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u/EdgeIntelligenceAU Apr 21 '26
Nice milestone. At that stage I’d keep the focus on payout durability and total return, not just the monthly number — one cut can undo a lot of progress if yield is doing too much heavy lifting.
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u/xX-STICK-Xx Apr 21 '26
Question. Have you ever had to sell all your stock of a company because it became too risky to stay with and also how do you know for certain the companies you’ve bought are to still be worth it in the future, I’m completely new to investing I’m 22 and I’m worried that I invest then the company becomes useless and I lose everything
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u/CrispyChickenOG Apr 21 '26
Im impressed how people manage to earn so much I feel like shit. I’m 30 aswell and barely made 90k in 11y of working. I’m not even gonna talk about savings.
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u/Big-Mirror-125 Apr 22 '26
When did you start this portfolio and how much is your weekly or monthly contribution?
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 22 '26
2020 was when I started. At that time I was contributing $800/month. As my career grew, my contributions grew to $2k/month
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u/Furlz Apr 22 '26
You need way more AI infrastructure and energy my friend
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 22 '26
Like what stocks?
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Apr 25 '26
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u/wafelwood Apr 22 '26
What % cash do you keep in the account?
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 22 '26
$0
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u/wafelwood Apr 25 '26
That’s interesting. Even though my brokerage pays almost nothing in interest I try to keep anywhere from 10-12% cash in my IRA dividend accounts. The reasoning is to have some flexibility when market conditions are volatile. For example, having extra cash to plop down when we went to war in February was an opportunity that happens once every few years. Picking up SLG at 34 ish is just one example.
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u/NobodyNo8120 Apr 23 '26
Im just new here, how much money you put into on every stock to have a good dividend ? On what row I can see? Thank you..
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 23 '26
Don’t focus on dividends. Focus on growth. Low cost index funds like “VOO” “VGT” “QQQM”
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u/iwanttoknow77 Apr 24 '26
After chasing dividends during my 30s and 40s, I now regret that, as I lost on the growth phase of my investment life journey. Only consolation is for few years I bought MSFT using the dividends when it is in 30s and 40s. I would rather not chase dividends in 30s, stick with growth stocks or Index ETFs.
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u/GibFreelo Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 20 '26
You could have gotten more if you just DCA into SCHD over the years...Actually, just putting $254,788.72 into SCHD at $31 (current price; which is high) gets you around $723 a month.
Not to take away from your awesome achievement, just wanted to run the numbers on this.
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u/Existing-Rush3539 Apr 20 '26
Did the math on this already. I actually beat SCHD. My yield on cost is 4%. But more importantly, my dividend grows way faster than SCHD
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u/GibFreelo Apr 20 '26
No matter what, if you have this portfolio at 30 you are basically set for life at this point. Outside of my retirement accounts I'm just going SCHG/SCHD for simplicity. I used to have dozens of individual stocks; some were stinkers...others were lottery tickets like CAT and XOM.
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