MAY STARTS WITH A RUSH OF DIVIDENDS

The month of May started off with a bang with 3 dividend payments on May 1 st.  However, according to my dividend calender, the rest of the month is going to be slow, with only 3 more dividends coming in.  Even so, when comparing May as the second month of the second quarter to February, the second month of the first quarter, I should still see dividend income double over last quarter.  So while 6 dividends for the month doesn't seem like much, it's leaps and bounds ahead of where I started from.

Next month promises to be a big improvement over March.  March was the last month of the first quarter and I collected a total of 4 dividend payments for the month.  For the month of June, the last month of the second quarter, I'll collect a total of 11 dividend payments!  So I'll be looking at another great increase in dividend income over the first quarter of the year.  Can hardly wait to see what the total percentage increase in income is from the first quarter to the second!

As I've said before, I don't expect to keep up this pace for the rest of 2013, but it's nice to see my plan is working out so well.  I do expect to see an increase in dividend income with compounding of re-invested dividends.  That's the phase 2 of my investment plan, building monthly income through compounding of dividends and reducing costs, since re-invested dividends are commission free.

Phase 3 of my plan involves finishing up my portfolio by adding adding positions in a few select blue chip stocks from the dividend aristocrats.  These are stocks with long histories of increasing dividends every year.  I'm looking to add stability and protection against market downturns by adding these stocks.  

Phase 4 of my plan involves monitoring investments and making changes as needed, while building monthly cash flow through increases in my current holdings.  A simple plan, but one that's moving along just as I'd expected, so I'm quite happy with it so far.