August 2017 Summary

I’m sharing my passive income monthly summary for the first time. I think it’s going to be my favorite monthly post to write. Who doesn’t like getting cash for doing nothing? 3 companies paid me this month for simply having them in my portfolio. This is what I received in the month of August (the amount is after taxes of 30%):

The second month of the quarter is the best month for me in dividend income – 3 of 4 companies in my portfolio pay dividends during this month (February, May, August and November). It’s not a big amount but I am still happy to receive it for doing nothing. It would cover my Internet bill already.

Let’s compare it with the previous year:

The difference is only 3% because I didn’t add any companies to my portfolio during the last year, unfortunately. Still, it shows the power of dividend increases. Even though no companies were added, the sum increased by 3% which is only slightly less than current annual inflation in Lithuania (multi-year high) so I will take that.

Other passive income

I also received 2,27 EUR in interest from P2P lending this month. Current sum of all active loans is 310 EUR at the moment. I am planning to just re-invest returned loans and not add any additional capital to this platform for now as I am planning to keep it up to 10% of my investments.

Conclusion

My current passive income for this year (converted to EUR) stands at 58,77 EUR. Most probably I will not be able to reach the goal of 100 EUR in total at the end of the year. However, I will do my best to come as close to it as possible.

What companies was the biggest payer during August for you? Did you reach any milestones? Do you have any of the above mentioned companies in your portfolio? Please let me know on comments below!

 

18 thoughts on “August 2017 Summary

  1. Nice month. Not a whole lot, but it’s a start! And it really feels good to get paid for doing nothing, right? 🙂 Just wonderring, what does the tax system in Lithuania look like? 30% is a pretty steep tax rate. Is there also something like capital gains taxes?

    1. Hi SD,
      Thanks for stopping by!
      It’s a strange situation with taxes… Since I am investing through a commercial bank, it automatically pays 30% tax in the U.S. We should only pay 15% (that’s the tax for dividends in Lithuania; U.S. and Lithuania have the double tax treaty) but it’s too expensive for my bank to communicate with IRS (U.S. tax collection agency) as I was advised. One of the banks gives this service but it costs 100USD/year additionally if you receive dividends from U.S. Since my dividend amount is still small, it it not worth it yet. But I will definitely need to change something in the future (maybe use some online broker or really investigate if there is anything that can be done to reduce the tax).
      What kind of platform are you using in Netherlands and what is the tax for dividends from U.S. companies?

      1. Hi BI, thanks for the explanation. That $100 USD/year kind of sucks, but doing some quick math tells me that paying the fee would be profitable when you get $667 or more in annual dividend from the US. Definetely a good idea to look into alternatives when your portfolio grows bigger.

        The Netherlands has a pretty straightforward capital tax system (although they made it a little more complex recently). Your capital (assuming you have no debt) gets taxed at a flat rate of 1.2% per year (the first €25k and your house doesn’t get taxed). Doesn’t matter if it’s stocks, bonds, cash. It just gets taxed at a flat rate of 1.2%. All dividends are initially taxed at 15%, but they can be reclaimed through the dutch equivalent of the IRS.

        We also have a tax treaty with the USA to avoid double taxation. My broker (BinckBank) handles all of this for me, so I only pay 15% dividend tax on US dividends.

        Hopefully I didn’t simplify it too much ;).

        1. Thanks for the explanation! It’s nice that you have everything set up and only need to pay 15% on US dividends.
          I will definitely need to do something to optimize the taxes in the future. Hopefully I will find some alternative where I will not even need to pay the $100 USD/year for handling the taxes with US.

  2. You are also of to a great start. Just keep making qualioty buys and you will see it grow month over month and YoY.

    My results are very similar to yours, I wil be posting them in a few days.

  3. BI, looking forward to following your journey. A 3% year-to-year growth is still positive territory, so good report.

    **I’m so glad I read your post. I was wondering how come you got dividends from T when I didn’t and I’m invested in the same company. So, when I logged into my brokerage account, I realized that there was a page 2 that I didn’t look at, and I also received $7.96 in dividends from T. So, now I’m going to update my report accordingly.

    Thanks!!!

    1. DP,
      Got to feel good that your dividend income does not fit to a single page already!
      Congrats on a nice month and thanks for stopping by!

  4. Hi BI,
    Visiting for the first time. Glad to see you have started the dividend investing journey, and I’ll be keeping an eye on your progress. You may only have 4 companies in your portfolio, but we share 3 of them (PG, O, XOM). Keep those monthly income updates coming!

    1. Thanks a lot for visiting! I wish I started it as you did, after graduating from university. However, I guess it’s better later than never.
      Looking forward to following your journey as well!
      -BI

    1. Passive Income Dude,
      Thanks for stopping by. It’s always interesting to follow journeys of fellow FI hunters 🙂
      I can see that you are crushing it already, keep it up!
      -BI

  5. Love it. I always admire “new” portfolios. Keep buying when you can, reinvest to help your dividends compound and long term you will do just fine. A 3% increase for really doing nothing. You have to love that. No new investment, no work, just a little more into your pocket. Keep it up!

    1. Hi DivHut,
      Thanks for stopping by and for your kind words! I think the same way – even though it’s only 3%, it’s an increase and I didn’t have to do anything to achieve that 🙂

  6. Congrats on your first dividend income post! I think those are a fan favorite to write for everyone in the community. It is especially exciting for newer portfolios. I share 3 of those companies as well. Keep up the great work. Looking forward to following your progress.

    1. Thanks for nice words DD! Indeed tracking incoming dividends is an enjoyable thing to do!
      Thanks for stopping by and let’s keep in touch!

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