Now that 2015 is over and done, I can report on my “Matching Program” that I started in 2014. Throughout 2015 I aimed to match every dollar of a previous month’s dividend payout with a dollar of cash for buying additional stocks. That was the goal, but as you can see in the table below, the goal of matching dollar-for-dollar fell a bit short for three months of the year.
| Month | Dividend | Match |
| January | $617.79 | $470.00 |
| February | $502.08 | $500.00 |
| March | $595.01 | $600.00 |
| April | $566.08 | $570.00 |
| May | $668.58 | $340.00 |
| June | $592.76 | $300.00 |
| July | $600.67 | $600.00 |
| August | $648.67 | $650.00 |
| September | $620.22 | $620.00 |
| October | $627.53 | $630.00 |
| November | $574.03 | $600.00 |
| December | $747.83 | $750.00 |
| TOTALS | $7361.25 | $6630.00 |
In January, May, and June matching money had to be trimmed back due to expenses during those months, so the matching program wasn’t 100% dollar-for-dollar, but it was 90% (in comparison, 2014 was 96%). Not bad, and overall I think 2015’s matching program worked out well.
As good as the matching program has been, it hasn’t been without its downside. Cash that would have been put into savings went to the dividend portfolio instead. As a result, my savings account barely grew in 2015. If I want to build savings AND maintain the current 1:1 matching program then I will need to reduce expenses or create additional income.
If you’re a dividend investor and your cash transfers to your account are sporadic and inconsistent, then I recommend trying a matching program. It will give your transfers a needed regularity and consistency that will greatly benefit your dividend investing quest.
