The past year has been really difficult for the whole world. Getting a pay raise during a period when just keeping a job is a blessing? Not easy.

Well, how about getting a large pay raise? How about a series of large pay raises? For doing absolutely nothing at all?

That’s what being a dividend growth investor can do for you, as it’s done for me. I’ve been investing in high-quality dividend growth stocks for more than a decade. It’s radically changed my life. Using the dividend growth investing strategy allowed me to retire in my early 30s. And I did that after growing up on welfare, going without a college degree, and never having a high-paying job.

Dividends now cover my bills. Better yet, these dividends are growing year in and year out, all by themselves. That’s because the companies I’m invested in are regularly increasing their dividend payments to their shareholders.

I don’t need to ask for a pay raise. In fact, I don’t have to do anything at all. I just wake up and get more money.

Being a dividend growth investor is the easiest “job” I’ve ever had. It’s also the most rewarding, as I’m about to show you.

Here are three recent dividend raises you need to know about.

The first dividend increase I want to tell you about came from Coca-Cola Co. (KO).

Coca-Cola just increased their dividend by 2.4%.

Sure, that’s not lighting the world on fire. But let’s get something straight here. It’s more money.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never turned down more money. Especially when I didn’t have to do anything for it.

Back when I still had a job, getting a 2.4% pay raise was a noteworthy event. But getting this pay raise from an investment that required me to do nothing other than hold the stock is a lot easier than showing up to work for 50 hours per week.

This is the 59th consecutive year in which Coca-Cola has increased its dividend.

Try getting 59 pay raises in a row from a day job. This is a dividend all-star. While the stock doesn’t look cheap right now, which is why I’ve not yet highlighted it on the channel, it’s a good business to hold on to if you got in years ago.

The second dividend increase you should know about came from Essex Property Trust Inc. (ESS).

Essex just gave their shareholders a 0.6% pay raise via their recent dividend increase.

We actually highlighted Essex in a video back in October, when the stock was around $200.

The stock is now almost $270.

It’s not as attractively valued as it was when I first brought it to your attention, but this is a phenomenal business.  Essex has now increased their dividend for 27 consecutive years. That’s very impressive.

There aren’t many REITs out there that have a longer track record than this for dividend growth.

While the dividend increase was small, it’s coming during a very difficult period for society in general and the business specifically.

I’m cutting them some slack here. Unlike a lot of other REITs, they didn’t cut the dividend during the crisis. That speaks volumes. This is the kind of stock you buy, then hold for decades.

The third dividend increase I want to go over came from The Sherwin-Williams Company (SHW).

Check this out. Sherwin-Williams just raised their dividend by a jaw-dropping 23.1%.

That marks 43 consecutive years of dividend raises for the company. And what did shareholders have to do to collect this amazing pay raise? Nothing. Just hold the stock.

Sherwin-Williams stock price is up almost 750% over the last 10 years – before reinvested dividends. That’s up there with some of the high-flying tech names.

The growth profile of the underlying business is propelling much of the stock’s move. For example, Sherwin-Williams has increased its EPS by more than fivefold over the last decade.

Simply put, it’s a truly wonderful business.

This stock might not look all that cheap at first glance, but a lot of basic valuation metrics aren’t far off from their respective recent historical averages.

If you haven’t taken a look at Sherwin-Williams before, now might be a good time to do so. This is a top-shelf dividend growth stock that will only better your portfolio.

— Jason Fieber

P.S. If you’d like access to my entire six-figure dividend growth stock portfolio, as well as stock trades I make with my own money, I’ve made all of that available exclusively through Patreon.