June 2017 Investment Income $1070

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Welcome to my June 2017 investment income report.  This report helps me track all of my investment income from dividend stocks, index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

I was pleased to see that our net worth continued to rise in June, going to within a hair of the coveted $1 million mark!  The increase in net worth was much less than I expected and had to do with the weak performance of global stock markets.  This brought the value of our financial assets down from an all time high of 540k to just below 530k!  These market fluctuations can work for me or against me.  In June, they worked against me but I’m staying invested for the long term.

Net Worth vs Investment Income

Well now that we’re well beyond the 990k mark in net worth I can see us hitting that coveted $1 million mark real soon, if all goes well.  Hitting the million dollar mark is an important milestone on the road to financial freedom.  But like I said before, net worth is great and all, but unless it’s backed up with some serious cash flow, it doesn’t really mean all that much.  After all, my net worth rises and falls primarily due to fluctuations in the stock and real estate markets.

Streams of Passive Income are Key to Financial Independence

But the one major thing I learned during the last recession was that, while my net worth may fall, the bulk of my dividend income remains the same.  That’s why I think building streams of alternative forms of income, whether it’s from a rental property, dividend stocks or even an online source like starting a blog, is key to achieving financial freedom.  Once you start hitting $1k/month, you basically have about half of your monthly expenses paid for by passive investment income.  What’s even better is that I’ve found that after a few years, the income really starts to take off.

Benefits of Passive Income

I once read somewhere that millionaires have about 7 different sources of income, which is a big reason why they’re rich.  If they lose 1 source it’s not the end of the world for them because the other 6 still provide financial security.  On the other hand, the rest of us are almost completely dependent on 1 source: our Jobs!

This is something that I’m working hard to change for my family and is why I invest as much as I can.  In these income reports  I try to be as transparent as possible to show you where my investment income comes from.  These reports simply show my investing approach and what has worked (and sometimes not worked) for me.  I’m by no means a financial expert but I am very pleased with my results to date.  I hope these reports inspire all of you to start saving and investing your money for a healthier financial future.  Now you may think that you need a lot of money to start investing, but the reality is that you can get started with as little as $25 a month!  So what are you waiting for?

How You Can Build Other Sources of Income

Some of you may be wondering how YOU can start investing and building up streams of passive income.  First, just let me say that investing is NOT rocket science, but I DO recommend reading as much as you possibly can.  Check out my MUST READ page for some useful articles.  You can also see my Top 10 Favorite Personal Finance Books List.

If you’re hell bent and determined to start investing your money right now, check out my step by step guide on How to Open a Questrade Account.  If you’re a bit hesitant to start buying stocks or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) through an online discount broker like Questrade, then you may want to try an online bank like Tangerine.  They offer a range of accounts (RRSP, TFSA) and a whole menu of Tangerine Investment Funds at reasonable prices.

Now on to my monthly investing activity.

Monthly Investing Activity

In June, I made 2 big stock buys that I talked about HERE.  Besides that, I’m sticking to the same old boring investment plan.  I continue to buy up blue-chip Canadian dividend stocks and keep making extra cash purchases in my DRiP account to buy more shares of great dividend-paying companies.  I like to save and invest automatically because it’s a proven strategy for building long term wealth.  In addition to the stock purchases, I’m also investing in low-cost index funds in our retirement accounts.

One of the great things about being a dividend investor is that all of my dividend income is automatically re-invested.  Every month this income buys more shares in my favourite companies that will, in turn, produce even more monthly income for me.  This is how compounding works and is why it’s such a powerful force…what Einstein called the “Eighth Wonder of the World”!

This month, reinvested dividend income bought more shares in Fortis (FTS), Canadian Utilities (CU), RioCan (REI), Enbridge (ENB), Manulife (MFC), Suncor (SU), and SunLife Financial (SLF).

I’ve also sent a lot more money to my DRIP accounts to buy more shares in Enbridge (ENB), Fortis (FTS), Telus (T), Sun Life Financial (SLF) and Bell Canada (BCE).

Dividend Raises

Finally the US Banks can start raising their dividends!  Citigroup (C) doubled its quarterly dividend to 32 cents.  Bank of America (BAC) also raised its quarterly payout by 60% from 0.075 cents to 0.12 cents.  It’s nice to finally see these banking giants re-emerge from the dark cloud of the Global Financial Crisis of 2009.  I only wish I would of bought some warrants for BAC back in 2011!

June 2017 Investment Income Report

Monthly Passive Dividend Income

June was a pretty strong month for dividend income coming in at a solid $1,070!    This month’s dividend income has grown by 51% from that of June 2016 ($705.97).

Here is the breakdown of the numbers for my June 2017 Investment Income:

Dividend Stocks

Bank of America (BAC) – $2.47

Canadian National Railway (CNR) – $41.25

Canadian Utilities (CU) – $71.86

Enbridge (ENB) – $9.12

Fortis (FTS) – $96.60

Manulife Financial (MFC) – $36.82

RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (REI) – $4.47

Suncor Energy (SU) – $19.05

Sun Life Financial (SLF) – $21.52

Mutual Funds and ETFs:

iShares S&P/TSX Canadian Preferred Share Index ETF (CPD) – $55.50

iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index ETF (XRE) – $41.01

Canadian Short-Term Corporate Bond Index ETF (VSC) – $13.70

Canadian Short-Term Bond Index ETF (VSB) – $11.01

TD International Index Fund – e (TDB911) – $646.36

Total Investment Income = $1,070.74

It’s great to see that we made over one thousand dollars this month from our investments!  After years of saving and investing, I’m slowly starting to see the fruits of my effort and I’m happy to finally have my money working for me.

My family’s new annual passive income goal is $13,000 and we have so far received $5,303.  So we are  41% of the way there.

Thanks for reading my June 2017 Investment Income Report!