THIS WEEK'S DIVIDENDS

The first full week of April proved to be good for dividend payments.  Between my IRA and my taxable account I collected dividends from Westar Energy (WR), Universal Insurance (UVE), Reynolds American (RAI) and Telstra (TLSYY).  I received 5 payments from the 4 stocks since I hold shares of UVE in both accounts.

The money from dividends will help pay for this months stock purchases.  For my taxable account I'll be purchasing a stake in Aberdeen Chile Fund (CH) with a dividend yield of 10.37%.  I also plan to purchase shares in Ship Finance International (SFL) with a current yield of 8.12%.  April's purchases for my IRA account will include AllianceBernstein Global High Income bond fund (AWF) yielding 8.05% and Enerplus Corp (ERF) with a current dividend yield of 10.47%.  The goal of this month's purchases is to raise total average yield on investments in both accounts and to increase total number of dividend payments by 32 payments per year.  Two of this month's purchases pay monthly dividends while the other 2 pay quarterly.  This serves a two fold purpose, increasing monthly cash flows and giving me a jump start on reaching my goal of 365 dividend payments per year.

This will bring my total number of payments per year to 168.  Only 197 dividends to go!