August 2026 Summary

Summer has come and gone, and we’re already getting close to the end of September.

The weather in Lithuania wasn’t exactly the best this summer, but we still managed to make the most of it. Somehow, the whole summer flew by. I already want to have some slower days, so maybe that’s a good thing.

So, let’s see what August brought us in terms of passive income.

Dividend Income

During August, 4 companies paid dividends into my account:

Nothing dramatic this month – each of the four dividends was less than $10. But that’s the thing about passive income – every little bit counts, and those little bits keep adding up over time.

As always, I like to put these dividends into perspective by comparing them with actual household expenses. It gives me a better idea of how much of our lifestyle the portfolio could already support:

• $6.43 – Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY): Covers 1.6% of our Health expenses over the past 2 months.
• €1.6 – ASML (AMS: ASML): Covers 0.3% of our Other expenses category over the last quarter.
• $9.26 – Procter & Gamble (PG): Covers 11.7% of our Cosmetics & Hygiene expenses over the last 3 months.
• $5.27 – Starbucks (SBUX): Covers 0.4% of our Eating Out expenses over the last 3 months.

We’re still not covering a huge chunk of our expenses with dividends, but that’s not really the point at this stage of life.

I’m building this one dividend at a time.

Dividend Year-on-Year Comparison

Now let’s compare the dividends received in August with August last year:

This is what I like to see – dividends almost doubled compared to last year.

The biggest reason for the increase was the addition of two new dividend-paying companies in the portfolio: Procter & Gamble and ASML.

The other two companies also paid more than they did last August, so the underlying trend is moving in the right direction as well.

Other Passive Income Sources

Dividends aren’t the only source of passive income in my portfolio. During August, my other investments generated:

• €6.74 – P2P lending
• €6.18 – Bond interest
• €6.79 – Money Market Funds
• €0.91 – Rental Income Crowdfunding

These amounts are relatively small individually, but I like having several different income streams rather than relying entirely on dividends.

Passive Income Summary

In total, the portfolio generated €40.36 of passive income in August:

Looking at the numbers, August was the second-smallest month of the year so far.

Apparently, the second month of each quarter isn’t particularly strong for my portfolio. That’s simply a result of how my companies distribute their dividends throughout the year.

But the monthly number isn’t the most important thing. I’m much more intereseted in the long-term trend.

Year-on-Year Comparison

At first glance, it doesn’t look great. My passive income was actually lower than in August last year.

However, there’s a bit of context behind that number.

Last August included a one-time income from selling a Pfizer option contract, which made last year’s result unusually high. It wasn’t recurring passive income that I could expect to receive again.

If we remove that one-off income, the picture looks much better — and the underlying passive income trajectory continues to move strongly upwards.

Portfolio Contributions and New Investments

After a relatively quiet July, I made up for it in August and managed to contribute €1,200 to my investment accounts.

The money was split between two investments:

• €100 went into a real estate crowdfunding project for 12 months at 6.5% interest, with expected income of approximately €6.48.
• €1,100 went into my brokerage account.

And that’s where I made my biggest investment of the month.

Buying Realty Income

I bought 20 shares of Realty Income (O) for a total of $1246, including commissions:

A REIT was the next addition I wanted to make to my portfolio, and I decided to go with Realty Income, also known as “The Monthly Dividend Company.”

I actually owned Realty Income in the past, and one of the things I liked about it was the relatively predictable and steadily growing dividend stream. So when I decided it was time to add a REIT back to the portfolio, Realty Income was a natural candidate.

In simple terms, Realty Income owns a large portfolio of commercial properties that are generally leased to tenants on long-term agreements. This creates a relatively predictable stream of rental income, which the company then uses to support its dividend.

Some ratios/facts about the company at my purchase price:

• Purchase price: $62.30
• Current annual dividend: $3.258
• Initial dividend yield: 5.23%
• 2026 AFFO guidance: $4.41-$4.44/share
• Forward Price/AFFO: ~14.1x
• AFFO Payout Ratio: 75.2%
• Recent Dividend growth: 2.9%
• Occupancy: 98.8%
• Net Debt/EBITDAre: 5.4x
• Average remaining lease term: 8.8 years
• Credit rating: A3/A-/A

I decided to go with Realty Income for a few simple reasons:

• High starting dividend yield
• Monthly dividend payments
• Large diversified property portfolio
• Long-term leases
• A long history of growing its dividend

At my purchase price, the investment adds approximately $55.38 to my forward annual dividend income.

Summary

August was an interesting month.

On the one hand, I experienced my first year-on-year decline in total passive income. On the other hand, I managed to invest €1,200, which was the biggest monthly contribution I’ve made so far this year.

So I’m not too worried about the year-on-year decline. One-off income from last year made the comparison look better than it really was, while my recurring income continues to grow.

My goal for 2026 is to generate €750 in passive income.

After the first 8 months of the year, I’ve generated €499, which means I’ve already achieved 66% of my annual target.

And interestingly, I’m almost exactly where I need to be at this point in the year.

There are still four months left, including some of the stronger dividend-paying months for my portfolio, so I’m feeling pretty good about reaching the €750 target.

Thanks for reading! 🙂