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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 Bank was trading at around $26 CAD, and I was able to purchase just over three shares (a total of $86.99 CAD). Berkshire was trading at roughly $2384 USD and I was able to purchase a fraction of a share, or 0.027 to be exact ($64 USD). All the dividends from Royal Bank were reinvested, while Berkshire had no reinvestment or dividends.

After 8 years, this is what has happened. And please ignore the Bank of Nova Scotia! 😐


My $173 CAD turned into $873 CAD. And this is with all the wonky ups and downs the TSX is having at the moment and of course inflation. Not too shabby, ...for me not doing anything. 😏

Below is a snapshot of the growth of these two purchases from February 2009 to December 2017.



The moral of the story is... I should become a Fund Manager 😜 and market my Royal Bank and Berkshire Class B Fund and claim phenomenal annual returns!

Nah...

However, no matter how little I invest it is better than nothing even over the medium term (8 years). I am only 32, so imagine what can happen over the next 8 years. Or, if there is another market correction and I purchase more shares at a discounted price?

Wonderful, isn't it!

Happy investing,
Heather
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Location: Sainte-Clotilde-de-Châteauguay, QC J0L 1W0, Canada

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