Category: Uncategorized

  • Dividend Income – Jan-Aug 2020 ~ And life update :)

    Dividend Income – Jan-Aug 2020 ~ And life update 🙂

    Hello old friends (and new?). What a wild year so far.

    So, I had a bit of time on this long weekend and was cleaning up my site and thought to myself, why not a brief update?

    I’m still kicking it old-school but time is so precious that I have been way more busy doing than talking about my doings.

    It’s Happening

    Real Estate and other adventures

    I’ve been working hard on this area of my business for about 2 years now and have made several strides in that time. I am learning and making a little bit of money through the process. I’ve just enrolled in the London School of Economics Real Estate and Economics Certificate program so let’s see how that goes.

    I’ll give a good update on this front when I get into the mood.

    I’ve accumulated a handful of rentals but I plan on expansion soon

    P2P lending going fine but rather boring. I’ve averaged 12.6% per year since 2017 so I guess that’s ok. It’s miles behind my stocks where I’ve doubled my value in under 5 years. My tfsa is over triple the value of the TSX since 2016

    Also, on this chart you can see my RRSP started 10% below the index in 2016 so that 80% gain is not accurate. Plus this doesn’t factor in dividends, just saying 🙂

    Stocks

    I sold all my stocks on Jan 31, 2020

    I’ve been rebuying since the end of March when the US fed decided to use a bazooka and shoot trillions into the economy.

    This year, my goal was to pass $20,000 in total dividends received but that changed since I didn’t collect much from dividends at the beginning of the year.

    2020 Dividend Income So Far

    My total haul this year is only breaking $9,000 so far but I expect it to dramatically increase as I have re-entered the market with only about 20% in cash holdings left.

    Because I got lucky and sold at the height and bought back in at an average 37% discount, I should be looking at a very nice year next year (if the market doesn’t explode again!)

    Having not really looked to close into it, I would guess I should get an average of about $2,000 a month in my tax-free accounts in the form of dividends. I’m not really counting on every company I own keeping the dividends so we shall see.

    I’m also holding much of my portfolio in low or non-dividend paying stocks because I keep these in my taxable account until I have more room in my tax-free accounts.

    In fact, my largest holding now is BRK-B which doesn’t pay a divi.

    Stuff

    Month201820192020
    January$1,104.37$1,626.86$1,595.72
    February$913.47$957.73$943.22
    March$1,475.55$1,501.45$40.08
    April$1,356.51$1,599.25$479.33
    May$934.30$972.76$277.97
    June$1,530.00$1,674.88$2,821.26
    July$1,542.41$1,668.51$1,718.55
    August$984.73$891.40$1,082.96
    September$1,549.84$1,897.46
    October$1,611.55$1,677.00
    November$1,230.16$1,110.34
    December$1,990.18$2,226.97
    YTD Total$16,223.07$17,804.61$8,959.

    My total dividend haul this year is like 9g

    How Much Free Money?

    YearTotal Dividends Received
    2014$2,421.00
    2015$4,169.00
    2016$6,192.86
    2017$10,760.51
    2018$16,223.07
    2019$17,804.61
    2020$8,959.09
    Total Divs$66,530.14

    Since 2014 I have received $66,530 worth of dividends. This does not include any capital appreciation.

    Every month I like to see what my dividend income can purchase if I chose to spend it on frivolous stuff.

    If I saved all my dividends so far I could buy myself a…

    Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport – $65,495

    Zoom

    and I’d still have a grand left over!

    Stay classy Fire bros

  • April 2020 Update

    April 2020 Update

    Well hello there.

    What a wild start to the year.

    So the Coronavirus happened!

    I was fortunate enough to have a brother living in Shenzhen China at the start of the year. Around mid-January, he fled China into Russia and explained to me over Wechat how bad it was where he lived.

    He was telling me that people were dropping dead in the streets and the Chinese government was not even tallying the numbers of the dead people outside of Wuhan.

    I sold my entire portfolio on Jan 31.

    I felt stupid after I pulled the trigger because the market continued to rally to record highs. I drew on my 2008 experience and knew the large disconnect between reality and talking heads on CNBC saying it’s just a bump in the road. I knew If I stayed the course I could preserve capital and buy quality on the way down.

    So that’s what I’ve been up to on lockdown. I am about 80% reinvested at the moment. I rebought most of my old portfolio but many names at under 1/2 price from when I sold them 2 months ago! I don’t think Coronavirus will hurt my Utilities over the long term hahaha, what a dumb market! I’ll keep picking up HUGELY discounted stocks that have cash. 

    This really reminds me of 2008 and shows me how mentally unfit most of the world is at even holding on to amazing companies when a bit of tough times show up. Oh well. I will try and pick smart and profit off fear.

     I’m hoping to buy more on leverage at the 21,000 mark on the DJIA. Time will tell.

    I’ve been picking up the names with strong balance sheets and low payout ratios and following Ben Graham’s value picks, ones that can weather a drawn-out storm.

    Some of the names I’ve picked up are Brookfield, CU, CIBC, BNS, CWB, BRK, AXP, MFC, ATD, ACO.X, CNR, SU, ABBV, QSR to name a few.

    I’ve also added a few that are a bit more sketchy but are too cheap to pass on. I bought a truck load of BPY:UN at about $10 per share. I’m confident their parent will keep them in good shape. I also added MX.T at $15 because my valuation chart showed me a $45 price even now. 

    I don’t think the pain is over based on the unemployment but it is terribly hard to understand the market dynamics with the Feds meddling. I know the governments of the world won’t let the wealthy lose money so the market should recover this year.

    I’m going to be buying a bunch more BRK and it will probably be my largest holding until earning are back to normal. I trust Buffett and Munger will be better equipped to navigate these waters for the next year or so.

    I honestly think BRK is built for exactly these types of moments and will deploy some of that $120,000,000,000 cash pile they are sitting on to get some steals.

    Just for my dividend updates, I had relatively few for Feb and March, just some stragglers of positions that were too small to liquidate.

    Okay, Stay safe out there and things will get better.

  • 2019 End of year update

    2019 has come and gone. It was a tough year, to be honest. I couldn’t save nearly the amount I was hoping to but there’s always 2020.

    I did end up buying more BRK.B on the cheap so that’s a win.

    Month2019
    January$1,626.86
    February$957.73
    March$1,501.45
    April$1,599.25
    May$972.76
    June$1,674.88
    July$1,668.51
    August$891.40
    September$1,897.46
    October$1,677.00
    November$1,110.34
    December$2,226.97
    YTD Total$17,804.61
    YearTotal Dividends ReceivedTotal Yearly Div Increase
    2014$2,421.00$2,421.00
    2015$4,169.00$1,748.00
    2016$6,192.86$2,023.86
    2017$10,760.51$4,567.65
    2018$16,223.07$5,462.56
    2019$17,804.61$1,581
    Not a big yearly increase but I’m happy with the new editions

    Stay strong