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Wouldn’t it be nice to have an additional monthly income? An income without the need of daily work and without the fear of ever loosing it like you can loose a job? This can be done by investing in dividend stocks.
Many people around the world successfully follow this path, and some of them share their experience on the web, so anyone interested can follow their example. I call these bloggers Income Heroes. Each month I visit their websites and collect the data they publish, namely monthly dividend and option income including the market value of their portfolio if published. This data is analysed and presented to proof once again by “big numbers” that dividend income is a key to financial freedom. I also publish some rankings to motivate Income Heroes and interested readers alike to continue or start taking the road to financial freedom.
The monthly income history of each blogger is available in detail in an interactive table including an interactive chart. The table also contains links to each blogger’s website.
The monthly income history of each blogger including rankings to better evaluate the progress of each blogger
Participating Income Heroes
Currently nearly 40 bloggers coming from the US, Canada, Europe and Australia is traced. The majority is focused on dividend income, but about a fifth is also selling options.
This month the following bloggers joined Income Heroes:
Bergfahrten – Dividend climbing in Austria
Dividendi – Retire at age 50 in bella Italia
Finanzjongleur – Creating wealth in a different way
Highlight of the month:
Record dividend income for many bloggers
At least in the US and Canada, new record dividend income was recorded more than once. December is a typical dividend payment month for stocks in these countries which usually pay dividends four times a year.
Besides, new record dividend income is nothing unusual. After all, regular dividend increase is a key feature of good dividend stocks. If you continuously increase your investments through either savings plans or individual payments, a veritable avalanche of dividends will set in over the years. In other words, the next wave of record dividend income is expected in March.
Tough month for option sellers
Some financial bloggers try to boost their income by selling options. Yet, in December, stock prices plummeted. The corresponding headwind was felt by option sellers, whose basic strategy often consists of selling put options. If these go into the money, depending on the strategy, the options must be bought back at a higher price. In contrast to dividends, this can result in insubstantial losses. By the way: it is remarkable that according to this sample of the financial blogger scene, option selling seems to be more popular in Germany than in the US.
Top 3 financial bloggers by income
There are still people ignoring that dividend income can sum up to substantial amounts. The proof to the contrary can be found consulting the Top 3 financial bloggers with the highest income in December:
- Tako Escapes with 10.772 $ from dividends
- DivGro with 6.318 $ from dividends and option selling
- Dividend Driven with 2.734 $ from dividends
In the November issue of Income Heroes I wrote:
“It is difficult to make it into the top 3 as a pure dividend investor.”
Yet, the December was tough for option sellers and favored dividend investors. Apart from DivGro, Freaky Finance is the only other option seller in the Top 10 in 10th place.
Top 3 financial bloggers by realised income
The amount of income highly depends on the market value of your portfolio. The higher its market value, the easier it is to generate high income. However, comparing income to market value allows to calculate a yield which is independent of the porftolio size. Here the 3 financial bloggers with the highest yield in the last month:
- DivGro with 0,91% from dividends and option income
- Lanny from Dividend Diplomats with 0,74% from dividends
- Dividend Income Stocks with 0,69% from dividends
Especially when it comes to yields, option sellers are usually at the top of the list. This time “only” DivGro made it into the top 3 as an option seller. But at least on place 1 – congratulations! The financial chronicle of DivGro shows, that two months with losses in 2018 did not stop his very successful year.
Top 3 financial bloggers according to stable income growth
The yield of a single month is only a small part of the long road to financial freedom. Even more important is a stable increase in income over the months. For this reason, this analysis looks for the stability of income growth over the last 12 months. The size of the portfolio does not matter.
The stability of the income is expressed by a number from +1 to -1. If the income fluctuates strongly the metric’s value is close to zero. If the income fluctuates strongly or even declines, the stability is low. If the income increases – which should be anyone’s objective – the metric’s value approaches +1.
And here are the top 3 bloggers with the highest income stability:
- Osztalèk Csaszar with a stability of +0,87
- Tawcan with a stability of +0,81
- Dividend Income Stocks with a stability of +0,79
Compared with the previous month, the first two ranks remained unchanged. Dividend Income Stocks once again moved up to third place in this discipline, thus displacing Rente mit Dividende to fourth place, which continues to be excellent.
Since dividend income is easier to plan than option premium income, pure dividend investors have a clear advantage here. The best-placed blogger with option income is Mission-CashFlow.de in 10th place this month.
Top 3 financial bloggers in a 12-month comparison
In order to achieve financial freedom, income should not only grow steadily, but also as strongly as possible. Therefore, the income of the last 12 months is compared with the income of the previous 12-month period. This evaluation is, so to speak, the supreme discipline and can be found on many financial blogs.
And here are the financial blogs with the highest growth rates in a 12-month comparison:
- WachstumsWerte.Net with 197% increase
- Finanzen mit Plan with 173% increase
- Stockles with 133% increase
Compared to the previous month, places 1 and 3 remain unchanged. Finanzen mit Plan has switched ranks with The Dividend Pig who is now in 4th place.
Conclusion: All bloggers on the right track
If you take a closer look at the overall results, you will see that there is much to be found even beyond the top 3 positions. And finally, the placement is secondary. It is crucial that all participants take their financial future into their own hands and thus have the best prospects for a self-determined, financially secure future.
And if you’re already investing in solid dividend stocks, you may be interested in the a specialized screener for long-term investors detecting high-quality dividend stocks by focusing on sustainable profit-growth first and on dividend history and pay-out ratios second.
