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The hardest part about building wealth — or really, achieving any goal that you set for yourself — is having the patience to see it through. As human beings living in a world where instant gratification is the norm, we want what we want, and we want it now.
Understandably, I think this lack of patience is at least part of what has so many investors foregoing the dividend investing approach I've been practicing for the last six years, and even has some turning their noses up at the strategy altogether.
"It's too slow," they say. "Dividends don't matter," they snarl with fists clenched.
Perhaps dividends don't matter to some investors. But to this one, I can't get enough of them.
Dividend investing has been nothing but good to me. And the longer I do it, the better it gets. That's why I often refer to it as "the gift that keeps on giving."
To the credit of those discouraged by dividends, though, there's no denying that dividend investing probably isn't the best approach if you want your portfolio to explode (in either sense of the word) sooner rather than later. There are other strategies for that.
The fact of the matter, though, is that nothing worth having comes easy. And it certainly doesn't come quickly. You have to consistently work toward any meaningful goal you set out to achieve, even when the progress feels ridiculously slow.
In other words, there are no shortcuts to building wealth, and this is especially true when it comes to dividend investing.
Maybe that's why I like it, though. It's honest. You can't fake dividends. Or as Geraldine Weiss (AKA the "Grand Dame of Dividends") once wrote, "Dividends don't lie."
Fortunately, even though it takes a long time to build up a substantial stream of passive dividend income, the gifts that keep giving tend to come on a regular basis. It’s difficult not to receive dividends every single month even if your portfolio is just slightly diversified.
So long as you continue to contribute to your portfolio and reinvest your dividends, every so often, you'll also reach certain benchmarks in your dividend investing journey: your first $100 month, $1,200 per year ($100/month), $2,400 per year ($200/month), and so on. I like to call these "small victories," because to me, that's exactly what they are.
When it seemingly takes forever to get to where you're trying to go — like riding a donkey cross-country — you have to celebrate these small victories along the way. Not only do they serve as evidence that you're making progress toward your goals, but hopefully, they can also stoke your fire in the pursuit of F.I.R.E.
Personally speaking, I just celebrated one of these small victories in my own portfolio. It's a milestone I've been working toward for a long time, and coming into 2026, it was one of the biggest goals I had set for myself.
That's right, my portfolio is now projected to generate over $4,800 in annual dividend income, which works out to more than $400 per month on average.
And while that $400 obviously isn't enough to make me financially free, it's certainly not nothing. In fact, it's enough to cover quite a few real-life expenses.
In my case, that's our car insurance and electricity bill. That's almost all of our groceries every month. Or, most importantly, that's date night at Juan's Flamin' Fajitas every single week for the rest of time.
Someday, I'll actually use this income to pay for those things. For now, though, every penny gets reinvested back into the portfolio so that it can continue compounding.
More than anything, this particular small victory is just another reminder that I'm making progress toward my ultimate goal of financial freedom. And when I look back at where I started, that progress is impossible not to acknowledge.
Here's how my average monthly dividend income has broken down for each year I've been investing:
2020: $9.02 per month
2021: $76.91 per month
2022: $149.19 per month
2023: $186.26 per month
2024: $235.01 per month
2025: $290.90 per month
And now, here we are at the tail end of 2026, having officially crossed the $400 mark. Clearly, we're making progress. And at the end of the day, that's what it’s all about.
With that said, I'd love to hear from you: What small victories are you currently working toward in your portfolio? Write to me here and let me know.
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IN MY PORTFOLIO 📈
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ICYMI 🎥
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SINCE YOU ASKED 💬
"Are there any new stocks you're looking to add to your portfolio right now, or are you happy sticking with the 20+ stocks you already own? If you're considering adding anything new, I'd love to hear what's on your radar."
- Alfonso | YouTube
This is a really great question! And it's tough, because I feel like there are a lot of great buying opportunities out there right now, both inside and outside of my portfolio.
At this point, though, I'm pretty focused on building out the positions I already own, especially after adding Rollins (ROL) to my portfolio a few months ago. Between that and a couple of my other positions, like Zoetis (ZTS) and Lowe's (LOW), I've got plenty of places to put my money right now.
With that said, there are still quite a few stocks on my watchlist that I'm excited about, which makes it very tempting to add something new.
One of those stocks is Verisk (VRSK), which is a company I've had my eye on for a while now. I actually just talked about it in a recent YouTube video, which you can watch here.
I've also been spending a lot of time with Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) lately, which I wrote about in last week's newsletter (you can read that here). The more I learn about this company, the more I like it. It's quickly moving toward the top of my watchlist.
And then there's Constellation Brands (STZ), which I wrote about recently too (you can read that here). It's historically been a great business, but the industry it operates in has really fallen out of favor with both investors and consumers. I think that makes it an interesting contrarian opportunity, especially since the company is still putting up solid numbers and has been a great dividend payer.
All in all, if I were to add any new positions to my portfolio right now, those are probably the three stocks I'd consider.
Like I said, though, I'm not seriously thinking about pulling the trigger on any of them right now. There are just too many good buying opportunities within my portfolio, and for now, I'd rather focus on those before adding anything new.
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LAST WORD 👋
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