Dividend Income Portfolio Update

This week’s blog post points out my latest information Youtube Videos Where I shared the latest news on my two taxable dividend income portfolios.

Pay me a combination of combinations $13,633 per year In dividend income or approximately $1,136 per month.

This video shows my fidelity and M1 financial combination and a combination Future dividend income View Use stock – Portfolio tracking and research platform.

I share that when our monthly expenses exceed our income, we use this portfolio to achieve living expenses, which is a change for me to self-employed people.

Having such an income combination is one of the reasons why I am confident enough to leave my full-time job.

This portfolio is a valuable asset and I am pleased with all the expense sacrifices I made to build it.

But if I start from scratch, I’d do something different. Much of my content today reflects the preferred and less time-consuming approach to using index funds and ETFs instead of individual stocks to build retirement security.

However, I still own many personal stocks and simplified my portfolio after retirement.

If you want to view the portfolio, here is the video. After the video, read more about this product portfolio.

How it started

Long-term RBD readers (some go back to 2013!) may remember the regular updates of the dividend stock portfolio I was building for passive income.

Readers still ask me thisalthough many people may have disappeared since I stopped sharing this information around 2016.

I started investing in dividend stocks since 1995. At that time, the Dividend Reinvestment Program (DRIPS) was the only way to invest in small amounts of funds (as low as $25) without being fined from excessive trade commissions.

My uncle is a stock transfer agent for Chevron and he sets up me with a drip account.

I invested in the first few years by mailing checks.

By 2013, I had invested a good investment. As revenue grew, this blog prompted me to accelerate portfolio additions over the next decade.

I first prioritize retirement contributions, including employer-sponsored programs, IRAs and Roth IRAS.

My savings rate is high enough to maximize my retirement accounts and make substantial investments in taxable accounts that are not retired ($1,000 to $5,000 per month).

I made good money but kept the fees low, especially on housing and cars.

Several other bloggers have provided similar updates and we all cheer for each other’s progress. Some bloggers still do this.

Ultimately, the explosive availability of low-cost, low-minimum mutual funds and ETFs has inspired the firefighting campaign, and many DIY investors have turned to more passive index fund investment strategies.

Income-focused portfolio builders now use low-cost dividend ETFs such as SCHD and VYM to build diversified passive income without the burden of stock research. Videos on these ETFs are all over YouTube.

My initial early retirement plan (retired at 55) requires a substantial investment in income-generating assets to provide support income between 55 and 59 1/2 years old.

Now, I plan to continue working at age 55 and passive income is no longer worrying during this period.

But I also think a passive income portfolio is a valuable long-term retirement asset that needs to be withdrawn from my traditional and Ross retirement accounts so that they can grow with dividends, or lower the taxable combination.

The value and flexibility of the portfolio assets begin to work nearly three decades later.

How is progressing

All years of all maximizing retirement accounts are paid off. My retirement account is significantly more than the value of my taxable account. I can use these accounts in ten years.

Taxable accounts for Fidelity and M1 finance have become less exciting.

In the smaller portfolio of M1 financing, I reinvest my dividends into the ETF.

Loyal dividends are another story because I didn’t reinvest the dividend back to the portfolio.

When needed, I withdraw my dividends to cover living expenses.

However, I transferred the remaining dividend from the wealthy tax broker to my faithful Roth IRA.

This operation may become the subject of future blog posts and videos.

Since I spent most of my business income, I didn’t have much savings to contribute directly to our Roth IRA.

However, as long as I have transferable cash, the surplus dividend is an ideal source. Stock transfer is not allowed.

Another limitation is the standard Roth contribution limit (like me in 2025 for over $50) and eligibility, which keeps increasing.

The upper limit for income eligibility is the revised adjusted total income of $246,000 for married applications. I’m not too worried about reaching this threshold when pursuing a self-employed career. If I do this, I can always remove unqualified donations before tax time.

So I use the dollar cost average per month instead of a one-time payment (to maintain some flexibility and wait for the dividend to fill my account).

I have set it up on the autopilot, automatically transfer donations and invest in growth ETFs.

View the video.

Craig Stephens

Craig is a former IT professional who left his 19-year career to become a full-time financial writer. He has been a DIY investor since 1995, and he began retirement in 2013 as a creative outlet for sharing his portfolio. Craig studied finance at Michigan State University and lived in Northern Virginia with his wife and three children. Read more.