My Dividend Investing Journey

The ability to do what you want, when you want, with who you want, for as long as you want, is priceless. It is the highest dividend money pays.

– Morgan Housel in ‘The Psychology of Money’

No Money Lah Dividend Investing

What is Dividend Investing?

Dividend investing is an investment style where investors invest in assets that generate income (a.k.a. dividends) for them on a consistent basis.

Dividend is, in many ways, the closest thing to pure ‘passive’ income that we can pursue in our financial journey.

In this section, you’ll learn about my dividend investing journey, as well as resources to learn more about them!

Why Dividend Investing?

2019 was a year that I will not forget. Due to old age, my grandma had spine issue and was bedridden for months.

During those months, everyone in the family (especially my mom) had to take care of my grandma – from taking care of her meals and everyday clean-ups.

It was not an easy time for the family, but fortunately, grandma was able to stand up & walk again!

That was when I realized one thing: The older we get, the more commitments we are going to have.

From dealing with pesky matters like ceiling leaks, loans repayment, to increasing responsibility to our family (more so if you’re building your own!), two things matter most: Time & Money.

In other words, when the people that you care about need you the most, are you able to spend time with them, without having to worry about money?

Let’s say if your parents got sick, are you able to spend the next 3 months (or longer) taking care of them without having to worry about putting food on the table?

Ideally, we’d like to say yes, but I know many people simply cannot afford to do so.

This leads me to why I started dividend investing: To generate consistent cash flow passively (ie. Passive income).

Having consistent passive income is amazing:

  • I can focus on things that matter to me.
  • I have the ability to do what I want, whenever I want, with who I want, for as long as I want to do so.

My Goal

My long-term goal is to build a RM4000/m dividend income portfolio, with shorter term target of RM1000/month by 2028.

My Dividend Investing Style/Approach

My dividend investing approach is designed to be simple and sustainable despite my busy work routine:

  1. Low maintenance: Instead of actively picking individual stocks, I remove individual stock risk through investing in ETFs passively. Doing so helps me establish a more efficient investment routine.
  2. Sustainable (and decent) yield: Instead of going for the highest yield ETFs/stocks, I build my dividend portfolio around assets that have a track record of consistent and growing dividend payout.

Dividend Income

2023 Dividend Income:

  • Jan: RM68.53

2022 Dividend Income:

  • Dec: RM224.58
  • Nov: RM256.70
  • Oct: RM70.07
  • Sept: RM395.43
  • Aug: RM284.04
  • July: RM53.10
  • June: RM106.48
  • May: RM255.65
  • April: RM57.60
  • March: RM152.78
  • Feb: RM211.71
  • Jan: RM10.88

2021 Dividend Income:

  • Dec: RM39.92
  • Nov: RM15.09
  • Oct: RM343.37
  • Sept: NA
  • Aug: RM411.26
  • July: NA
  • June: NA
  • May: RM289.03
  • April: NA
  • March: RM62.94
  • Feb: RM231.04
  • Jan: RM5.22

2020 Dividend Income:

  • Dec: RM0.50
  • Nov: RM104.48
  • Oct: RM146.61
  • Sept: NA
  • Aug: RM48.60
  • July: NA
  • June: RM16.20
  • May: NA
  • April: NA
  • March: NA
  • Feb: NA
  • Jan: NA

Useful Resources on Dividend Investing

If you want to learn more about dividend investing, consider checking out some of the resources below!

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