The start of every month is exciting for all dividend income investors as we look back at the previous month and see how much passive dividend income our portfolios generated. March was exciting as ever as my year over year numbers continue to highlight the trifecta magic of dividend investing which includes, adding fresh capital, dividend raises and basic compounding via reinvestment to create an ever increasing passive income stream. Even if I stopped adding fresh capital today and every dividend stock I owned kept all distributions flat, without a single raise, my passive income stream will continue to grow. Of course, my plan is to never stop adding cash to my accounts even during times like these when the market, and many individual stocks, are trading at expensive valuations and less than robust dividend yields. All you can really do in the meantime is try and pinpoint the best ‘relative’ values and yields while continually deploying fresh capital.

March was a busy month for me with a record total for dividend income as well as the addition of two new names to my portfolio with Hormel Foods Corporation (HRL) and LTC Properties, Inc. (LTC) making the cut. The latter, LTC, a monthly dividend payer should provide a nice boost to my passive income stream as I slowly build out that position. For now, it remains a token holding. Also, last month brought news of two spin offs in my portfolio announcing dividend initiations. I look forward to seeing Adient plc (ADNT) and Versum Materials, Inc. (VSM) both contributing to my future passive income streams.

With that being said, let’s take a look back at my March 2017 dividend income.

Dividend income from my taxable account totaled $568.21 up from $444.07 an increase of 28.0% from March of last year.

Dividend income from my ROTH account totaled $140.58 up from $77.88 an increase of 80.5% from this time last year.

Dividend income from my IRA account totaled $98.46 up from $43.75 a year over year increase of 125.1%.

Grand total for the month of March: $807.25 an increase of 42.7% from March 2016.

You know the saying, “Holy cow!!!” Now that’s an exciting month of dividend income. No wonder dividend growth investors love these end of quarter months. This was a lot more exciting than my 8.7% year over year increase I had in February. Not that I’m complaining… an increase is an increase no matter the size.

Brokerage Account

ROTH Account

IRA Account

The proof of our dividend investing strategy rests in these real results. After all, dividends don’t lie. It’s real cash being returned to investors. With patience and consistency these results and better can be achieved.