My goals were defined in this December 1, 2007 Investing Goals post and updated in my 2010 Investing Goals post. Below is an updated version of the table found in the original post.

The above information covers the current month and year-to-date through the current month.

Click here for a Detailed Historical Progress Table.

For the month, annualized dividend income increased $330, and Yield on Cost (YOC) decreased 0.01%. This month’s changes were a net of new purchases and dividend changes (no sales for the month). Let’s examine each of the these categories:

Purchases: The $399 increase in annual dividend income and 0.02% decrease in YOC related to the following purchases (yield at the time of purchase):

• $79 McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) 3.12%  [Analysis]
• $81 General Dynamics Corp. (GD) 2.64% [Analysis]
• $90 Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) 3.37% [Analysis]
• $149 iShares S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index (PFF) 5.67%

Only PFF increased my YOC, while three securities lowered it. As noted in earlier updates, I generally expect YOC to drop each month since most new investments will yield less than my current YOC, and dividend increases will not be sufficient to offset it.

Dividend Changes: The $4 decrease in annual dividend income and the 0.03% decrease in YOC related to the following dividend changes (a=dividend stated in annual terms, q=quarterly, m=monthly):

• ($4) Invest Grade Corp Bond (LQD) $5.53a>$5.48a
• $1 Long-Term Bond ETF (BLV) $3.94a>$3.95a
• ($2) Intermediate-Term Bond ETF (BIV) $3.41a>$3.39a
• ($3) Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt (PCY) $1.65a>$1.64a
• $4 Clorox Corporation (CLX) $0.50q>$0.55q

Sales: The $65 decrease in annual dividend income and the 0.04% increase in YOC related to the following sales:

• ($65) AFLAC Inc. (AFL)

This month I exceeded my 2010 goal of $9,500 in annualized dividend income. With four months to go, I am confident of achieving $10,000 in annualized dividend income by December 31, 2010, assuming minimal dividend cuts.

That’s it for this time. The next monthly progress update will be early October.

(Photo: sanja gjenero)