Dividends | February 2018

Dividends never cease to amaze me. In all the years I have been investing, for the first time ever I have received a dividend payment in cold, dark February. In total there were 3 payments, 2 in my TFSA and 1 in my RRSP. My TFSA total is $16.15, $13 coming from Emera, $3.15 from Laurentian Bank and the RRSP payment of $2.68 from Plaza Retail REIT.

I'm going to take a minute to appreciate and relish this moment. A total of $18.83 and my first February dividend ever. My February has gotten a little warmer and a little brighter. This my not seem like much to other investors, but the region of Québec in which I live is fairly poor and an extra $18 dollars can go a long way. The dividends are much more immediate than any government stimulus plan.

2018 TFSA Dividend Total : $21.17
2018 RRSP Dividend Total : $2.68

I'm off to plan next month's purchases.

Comments

Curious Experiment | Heather's Dividends

In the beginning of 2009, I was twenty-two years old, just out of University and the American sub-prime mortgage kerfuffle was well underway. I had a little money to spare, but back in 2009 in order to set up a self-directed discount brokerage account one needed a large deposit. Something I did not have. Except at Canadian Shareowners a co-operative investing service. I bought two companies, Royal Bank of Canada and Berkshire Hathaway Class B. Royal Bank (at the advice of my dad) was chosen since I did not have any banking stocks. Berkshire was my choice. I did not choose it for dividends since there are none, but because I wanted to be a part of the "club." Being a part of the "club" meant I would receive the annual shareholder's package and an invitation to the annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska (I was hopeful that one day I would go before Charlie Munger and Warren Buffet die, but alas, it has yet to happen). At the time I purchased them, Royal ...

Cominar | Dividend Cut

I logged into Twitter on Saturday to see what was going on in the world and I noticed a lot of tweets about the REIT Cominar. It ends up management has decided to decrease the stock's dividend to $0.06 cents per unit. The few dividend investors that I follow online (and who probably own more stocks than I do) were visibly upset about the dividend cut and threatened to sell their shares the following Monday when the stock market opens again. Although I don't currently own any shares in Cominar, I started looking into what their management was trying to achieve with these dividend cuts. For one, they need to get their debt ratio below 50%. As of December 31st, 2017 it was at 57.4%, up from 52.4%. But I get it. They need to stop the financial bleeding. Too much is going out in dividends compared to what they actually earn. My husband and I had the same problem while we were paying for our son's ABA therapy. We were hemorrhaging money it was so expensive. Think $6k per month ...

Marginal Tax Rate & Low Income Families | What I'm Reading

Worth the read! http://business.financialpost.com/personal-finance/taxes/its-time-to-pay-more-attention-to-marginal-effective-tax-rates This is a great explanation on why I'm a stay-at-home mom. Yes, I love my kids but I would love to work too. Except the cost of working is prohibitive and way more expensive than staying home with my kids. This article is also a great explanation why I could care less about RRSPs and am focusing on my TFSA. There is almost virtually no benefit to my husband or I contributing to an RRSP. The income I would earn in my TFSA has a greater positive impact on my family's wellbeing. Take a look, and share your thoughts. Heather

Heather's Dividends

Search This Blog