After 35 years of clocking in and out of work and religiously saving at least 10% annually in my 401K every year, my countdown to financial independence is in sight. Each month is a step closer and let’s look at how this past month is getting me there.
For the month of August I made $2963.55; an increase of 12.19% versus this time last year. The gain is a bit illusionary as 2 normal July payouts slipped to August this year and without those the YoY difference is a gain of just 13 cents or essentially a 0% gain. The AT&T dividend cut was the reason for miniscule growth.
In August I received 1 dividend raises from FAF and 1 reinstated dividend for GM. Together this will add an additional $67.49 to my annual income going forward. Thankfully the dog days of a dividend raise summer are over and raises begin to pick up in September. Overall August was a weird month for the portfolio as I saw my portfolio rise to a YTD gain of 2.4% by mid August but by the end of August it came back down and is now at a YTD loss of 6.8%.
On the family front my father-in-law passed away after a 9 month battle in nursing homes. He was just a few weeks away from turning 90 so he led a long life. Even though we knew it was coming it was still emotional. I was absent from the blogging world for a few weeks because of this, some things are just more important.
Meanwhile my middle daughter (who just graduated college) decided to move out into her own apartment. I give me children the option to live at home for 3 years to build up savings but she wanted independence. She has always had an “act first – think later” attitude so I think this will be good for her as she learns more from experiences than advice. Thankfully her apartment was on a first floor so I didn’t have to heft any heavy furniture up flights of stairs.
Enough of me babbling, here are the charts:
| Date | Symbol | Company | Amount |
| 8/1/22 | T | AT&T INC | $333.02 |
| 8/1/22 | GIS | GENERAL MILLS INC | $101.94 |
| 8/1/22 | DIVO | AMPLIFY ETF TR CWP ENHANCED DIV | $106.30 |
| 8/1/22 | AMNF | ARMANINO FOODS DISTINCTION INC | $44.10 |
| 8/1/22 | BGS | B&G FOODS INC | $277.91 |
| 8/1/22 | VZ | VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC | $103.35 |
| 8/8/22 | APD | AIR PRODUCTS AND CHEMICALS INC | $72.80 |
| 8/15/22 | HAS | HASBRO INC | $58.34 |
| 8/15/22 | OHI | OMEGA HEALTHCARE INVESTORS INC | $722.72 |
| 8/15/22 | PG | PROCTER AND GAMBLE CO COM | $121.26 |
| 8/15/22 | ABBV | ABBVIE INC COM | $219.29 |
| 8/15/22 | EPR | EPR PROPERTIES | $85.49 |
| 8/15/22 | PG | PROCTER AND GAMBLE CO | $121.26 |
| 8/16/22 | IBCP | INDEPENDENT BK CORP MICH | $49.78 |
| 8/18/22 | PSEC | PROSPECT CAP CORP | $98.13 |
| 8/23/22 | ARTNA | ARTESIAN RES CORP | $208.81 |
| 8/24/22 | FAST | FASTENAL | $12.91 |
| 8/26/22 | WSM | WILLIAMS-SONOMA INC | $14.92 |
| 8/26/22 | ODC | OIL DRI CORP OF AMERICA | $35.90 |
| 8/29/22 | NUSI | ETF SER SOLUTIONS NATIONWIDE NASDQ | $16.63 |
| 8/30/22 | XYLD | GLOBAL X FDS S&P 500 COVERED | $74.15 |
| 8/30/22 | XRMI | GLOBAL X FDS S&P 500 RISK | $28.10 |
| 8/31/22 | SBRA | SABRA HEALTH CARE REIT INC | $87.55 |
| 8/31/22 | M1 Finance | M1 DIVIDEND GROWTH ACCOUNT | $90.15 |
Simple Dividend Growth 
Sorry about your father in law. Those payment changing stocks hurt one month but help others. Keep growing it
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Thank you D&H for the kind words. Most of my buys this year payout at the end of a quarter so Sept will be interesting 😉
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Sorry to hear about your FIL. Even when it’s known to be coming that doesn’t take the loss away. Also love the plan you have for your children that they can come back and live at home to get on better financial footing and it’s something we’ll likely do for our own when that time comes. Many short years from now. Still a very strong total for you SD on the dividend front.
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Thanks you JC, on the kid front we joke that we want them to have enough money so they don’t boomerang back as we have plans for their rooms.
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SDG, very sorry to hear about FIL. I can relate to how emotionally draining this can be when one has their loved ones under medical care. My prayers are with you and your family.
Re: your comment about giving your children 3 years time to build up savings, that is an interesting thought. My wife and I chat about doing something similar when we get to that stage. Somehow I have the feeling that kids will want their independence and do their own thing.
I am curious to know your thoughts regarding T, are you planning to sell or hold? It is a very small position in my portfolio (thankfully). I have absolutely no faith in the management.
GM restating their dividend was a bit of a surprise to me, especially given all the talk about recession. My initial impressions about the CEO are positive and I like her reasoning (wanting to accelerate EV plans).
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I’m still undecided about T, problem with T or VZ is they are in a mature market as everyone has a cellphone so incredibly slow growth or they steal customers from one another (ala T-Mobile) for growth. For now its a hold.
Mary Barra for GM has been kind of stuck lately, started off good by exiting losing markets and did a great job of hyping the EV roadmap. Now it is a wait and see if they can deliver. I sold most of my GM position back when it was trading in upper 40s and held on to a small chunk for their Cruise automated driving tech if it ever takes off.
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