
This is what dividend investing is all about! Investing in dividend stocks allows YOU to earn dividend income, the best passive income stream! Bias, you better believe it.
Time to dive into Lanny’s October 2025 dividend income results! Were records set? Almost to financial freedom? One day and one month at a time!
Dividend Income
Dividend Income is the fruit from the labor of investing your money in the stock market. Further, Dividend Income is my primary vehicle on the road to Financial Freedom.
How do I research & screen for dividend stocks prior to making a purchase? I use our Dividend Diplomat Stock Screener and trade on SoFi’s investment platform.
Related: Sign up For SoFi – Receive FREE Stock!
Related: See our Dividend Portfolios!
I also automatically invest and max out, pre-tax, my 401k through work and my Health Savings Account. This allows me to save a TON of money on taxes (aka thousands), which allows me to invest even more. In addition, all dividends I receive are automatically being reinvested back into the company that paid the dividend, aka Dividend Reinvestment Plan or DRIP for short. This takes the emotion out of timing the market and BUILDS onto my passive income stream!
Related: Tax Strategy – Part 3 to Reduce Taxes & Increase Investment.
Related: The Power of Dividend Reinvesting
Related: Why I Don’t Time or Predict The Market
Growing your dividend income takes time and consistency. Investing as often, and early, as you can allows compound interest (aka dividends) to work it’s magic. I have gone from making $2.70 in a single month in dividend income to well over… $10,000+ in a single month. My dividend income record was set in December of 2021. Was it broken this month?! The power of compounding and dividend reinvestment is a wonderful component to the portfolio. Each and every month, whether big or small, I continue to report the passive income that dividend investing provides me. Why?

*Not pictured is my wife’s dividend income above*
I want to show YOU that dividend investing makes it possible to achieve financial freedom and/or financial independence. We all start somewhere, but consistently investing, compounding (reinvesting) dividends and keeping it simple, allows you to be in a significantly better position than most. Further, if I can grow this portfolio and income stream, YOU can too.
dividend income – October 2025
Now, on to the numbers… In October, we (my wife and I) received a dividend income total of $3,948.78. BOOM! CRUSHING it for an off-month – thanks to Vanguard (VOO) and Fidelity (FXAIX) for paying in October!
The amount and number of stocks listed below show you what it means to buy and hold for the long term. Most of the positions I have owned for YEARS, letting dividend growth and reinvestment do it’s thing. This is what dividend investing for financial freedom is all about. The passive income stream is growing at a RAPID pace.
2023 was up 24%. Guess what? 2024 was up 23%! 2 years of back to back 20% returns. The S&P 500 is up almost 17% through mid-December, Bitcoin is hanging high around $90,000, the Fed just cut rates and appears a slight quantitative easing is occurring.
Here is the breakdown of dividend income for the month, between taxable and retirement (far right column, under “Retirement”) accounts. In addition, “W” means my wife’s account:

My positions are starting to become “Full” and I love it. The passive income is massive from the following stocks:
– Pepsi $PEP over $100
– Broadstone $BNL over $100
– Philip Morris $PM over $100
– Total Energies $TTE over $100
– Canadian Imperial $CM Over $100
Amazing, so many companies crushing it with 3 digits!
That’s not even to mention that Vanguard $VOO dividend coming in both the taxable and retirement accounts, boom!!!
I also split out my retirement accounts in the far right column and the taxable account dividends are in the left two columns. The retirement accounts are composed of H.S.A. investments, ROTH and Traditional IRAs, as well as our work 401(k) accounts. In total, the retirement accounts brought in a total dividend income amount of $2,263.79 or 57% of the dividend income total. Stacking income, no matter what. LET’S GO!!
Related: Maximizing your Roth for 10 Years… Then Set It & Forget It!
Dividend Income Year over Year Comparison
2024:
2025:
Our dividend income went up $1,621,71.
First, I have to admit. It appears that there was a mistake last year, as I had recorded $0 in VOO and VIG dividends in 2024’s October month. Therefore, this figure is skewed, for sure.
Second, we have a lot less positions. What do I mean? We sold out of the following: Gap Inc (GAP), NetApp (NTAP), Diageo (DEO), Spartan Nash (SPTN); just to name a few.
VOO and FXAIX are definitely taking the cake this time. The dividends are simply growing, from consistently investing, dividend increases and dividend reinvestment.
Very fortunate and hopefully I can eclipse $5,000 soon in an off month.
Did you set a record in dividend income?
Dividend Increases

We had quite a few dividend increases this month. So fortunate to be getting raises from companies and having the stocks of companies I own, do all of the work.
McDonald’s (MCD) gave us some anxiety, as they went off of their normal schedule of increasing their dividend. I’ll take the 5%.
Lockheed Martin (LMT) high dividend growth days appear to be behind them. A 4.55% is below their average, but that truly has been the theme this year from dividend growth stocks. So many have increased their dividend between 4% and 6%.
My favorite, of course, goes to Visa (V) at 13.56%. However, I foresee a slowdown to this dividend over the next few years.

Related: The Impact of The Dividend Growth Rate!
In total, dividend increases created $92.48 in additional passive dividend income. I would need to invest $2,642 at a 3.50% dividend yield in order to add that income. Thank you for the increases, as I didn’t have to come up with the capital to create that form of income!
Dividend Income Conclusion & Summary
The name of the game is to apply what you learn through financial education. The next steps are to maximize every dollar for investment opportunities and live life on your own terms. Therefore, my plan is to demonstrate that dividend income can be a revenue engine. A revenue engine that allows you to take back control of your life. A revenue engine to help you reach financial freedom. Dividend investing, once you learn the right way, becomes easier and starts to immensely make sense!
Excited for the future, no doubt. Furthermore, all of the investing from last year and moves this year, shows that my aim to save 60% of my income, and making every dollar count, has provided the dividend growth.
If you are just starting out on your investment journey and you aren’t sure to start – please see the articles mentioned throughout this post. We are trying to bring you financial education and help you reach your financial goals.
Further, if you are interested in our dividend stocks to buy, dividend news, stock purchases, etc., please see our YouTube video (below), subscribe to our channel and check us out! Accordingly, we’ll help break down further investing topics not only on this blog, but by showing you through video!
As always, thank you for stopping by, leave your comments and questions below. Good luck and happy investing everyone!
The post Dividend Income Summary: Lanny’s October 2025 Summary appeared first on Dividend Diplomats.

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