Dividend Income Progress Update - March 2011

Once again it is time for a goals/progress update. I am pleased to report that annualized dividend income increased in March, extending the streak to 9 consecutive months of increases after June 2010's decline. Since I began publicly tracking annualized dividend income in November 2007, it has increased in 38 of the last 40 months.

My goals were defined in this December 1, 2007 Investing Goals post and updated in my 2011 Investing Goals post. Below is an updated version of the table found in the original post.

* 6 Dividend Stocks Building Shareholder Returns

Numerous research projects have shown, a conservative dividend growth based investment strategy has consistently outperformed the market over time. My goal as a dividend growth investor is to build a steadily increasing income and not necessarily to outperform the market via capital gains. But given the choice, I certainty don't mind having both.

* 10 Dividend Stocks With With A 10%+ Dividend Growth Rate

The difference between an income investor and a dividend growth investor is time and the understanding of how compound growth works. If you are 67 years old and need income today, you will likely select a different group of stocks than an enlightened 27 year old that doesn't necessarily need the income today. The 27 year old has the the luxury of time to grow a superior yield, while the 67 year old may be forced to assume additional risk to buy a higher current yield. Here are some of the reasons an investor might forgo current yield in hopes of future gain...

* Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Dividend Stock Analysis

This article originally appeared on The DIV-Net March 28, 2011.

Linked here is a detailed quantitative analysis of Microsoft Corporation (MSFT). Below are some highlights from the above linked analysis:

Company Description: Microsoft is the world's largest software company, develops PC software, including the Windows operating system and the Office application suite.

* Weekly Links: April 3, 2011

Each Sunday I highlight the Carnivals I participated in over the past week, along with any notable articles that I came across. For those readers not familiar with carnivals, it's where personal finance bloggers submit their best articles of the week with one blog serving as the host. The entries are separated into various categories such as Investing, Credit, Debt, Budgeting, Frugality, Wealth Building, Money Management, Financial Planning, Insurance, Taxes, The Economy, Real Estate, et. al. Below are the carnivals that I participated in this week, along with a link to my article:

* 1 Company Announced A Higher Dividend, 7 To Pay Higher Dividends in April

A stock with a high yield doesn’t mean much if the dividend is cut or eliminated, and the stock price declines significantly. Sometimes it is desirable to accept higher risk for a higher yield. Other times we may be accepting higher risk and are not being adequately compensated for the additional risk. One measure of dividend sustainability is the ability of management to consistently raise their dividends each year.