2021 Review: Dividend and Goal Results

Time to review my 2021 dividend and goal results for the previous year. It is always exciting to see year over year progress. Indeed, the year 2021 was a great year for milestones. On my goals page, I have a list of six major financial milestones I achieve this past year. That was more then any other year thus far. In addition, I did an entire year of posting my monthly expenses and comparing those expenses to my monthly and annual dividend income. In closing the final quarter of the year, I am covering over 70% of my monthly expenses with my dividend income.

Financial independence is getting within reach. I remember 2021 as being a year of higher expenses. Mainly because the board the runs my apartment building raised the rent by 10% then added a 6-month fee on top of that. That fee is gone now, however, the rent increase is permanent. Shortly after the rent was increased the main water line my neighbor’s bathroom broke and caused my ceiling to collapse due to water leakage. Luckily, the building covered the expenses.

The rest of the year was simply racking up milestones and collecting passive income.

Firstly, there was dividend income! I received a record $11,539.00 in dividend income for the year 2021. Thus, the most ever! That is an 11.7% year over year increase from 2020’s total dividends.

Next, the value of my portfolio has increased quite a bit since the start of the year. At the start of 2021, my portfolio was valued at $232,106. However, by the end of 2021, my portfolio value ended the year at $295,739. Year over year, this shows a 27.4% increased in value.

Finally, lets look at dividend increases for the year! Dividend increases for 2021 alone totaled $479.89! That is a 97.5% increase from last years total dividend increases which totaled only $242.99 (granted it was 2020 and many companies froze or cut their dividend). I am very happy with dividend increases this past year.

Now for my 2021 goal results!  I set goals using a system with multiple tiers with the highest bar being the top prize. For dividend income I used bronze, silver, and gold trophies to represent different tiers. My 2020 dividend goals for forward income were: Bronze Cup – $11,500, Silver Cup – $11,750, and Gold Cup – $12,000. The results:

Gold Cup! I started the year with my portfolio set to generate $10,864 in yearly dividend income. At the end of the year, my portfolio closed at generating $12,126 in forward dividend income. That is a $1,262 increase in dividend income over the past year!

For new stock purchases, I used bronze, silver, and gold medals to represent different tiers. My 2020 goals for new stock buys were: Bronze Medal – add 4 new stocks, Silver Medal – add 6 new stocks, and Gold Medal – add 8 new stocks. The results:

Silver Medal! I added 7 new stocks to my portfolio this year via purchases. I started the year with 42 stocks in my portfolio and now I have 49 stocks.

Thus concludes my 2021 Review: dividends and goal results. Overall, it was a very good year all around in the financial realm for me. To add the final cherry on top, this was the year I also crossed the $400K mark in net worth. I’m hoping for an even better 2022! I will continue to build my dividend dynasty!

How did you do the past year? Did you achieve your goals? Also, how were your dividend increases versus your cuts? Let me know in the comments below!