Here is my October 2014 dividend income report. It has been the best month so far this year and we are well on our way toward meeting our annual goals of increasing our net worth to $700,000, being mortgage-free in early 2015, and hitting the $4,000 in dividends mark.
I managed to earn additional income this month by working a few extra overtime shifts. We continued to tackle our mortgage, making a lump sum payment in the amount of $750. These payments, in addition to our regular, weekly-accelerated, mortgage payments knocked the principal down by almost $3,300. At this rate, being mortgage-free in 2015 should be no problem.
After a super strong performance in 2014, the stock markets were in full correction mode with fear of a global slowdown driving down global markets. It has been a roller coaster ride for sure and while the TSX is still about 1000 points away from its all time high, my investment portfolios have made up for their less than stellar September performance and then some!
For me, this was the buying opportunity that I’ve been waiting for as I had a lot of cash that was building in my investment accounts. I wasn’t about to deploy it all at once while the markets are at all-time highs. Yes I forfeited some compound growth, but I continue to hold my conviction that the price you pay for an asset should be reasonable!
I continued with my plan to make regular monthly and quarterly share purchases in my dividend reinvestment accounts (DRIPs). I bought more shares in TransCanada, Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of Montreal. In these accounts there is no point in trying to time the market – I contribute small amounts on a regular basis, regardless of what is happening in the market and I let compounding and dollar-cost averaging do their work.
After declining 20% from its June high and sporting a 3% yield, Suncor Energy (SU) was on my radar this month and I purchased an additional 247 shares in this blue chip energy company. Besides a strong balance sheet and very long reserve life, Suncor has done a lot of shareholder friendly things like share buybacks and dividend increases so I think this will be a long term holding in my portfolio. I also scooped up some shares in Canadian National Railway (CNR), the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), Toronto Dominion Bank (TD) and Procter & Gamble (PG). Yes I’ve been busy buying this month! Beyond these, I did not initiate any new positions – I just made the same, regular investments into the same collection of stocks, ETFs and index funds.
October has been a decent month with regard to dividend income. Here are the numbers:
Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) – $19.42
KP Tissue Inc. (KPT) – $90.90
RioCan REIT (REI) – $3.87
TransCanada Corporation (TRP) – $7.39
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) – $55.55
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM) – $20.36
Toronto Dominion Bank (TD) – $2.82
TransAlta (TA) – $2.93
iShares S&P/TSX Canadian Preferred Share Index ETF (CPD) – $44.56
iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index ETF (XRE) – $30.45
Vanguard Canadian Short-Term Corporate Bond Index ETF (VSC) – $15.05
Vanguard Canadian Short-Term Bond Index ETF (VSB) – $11.44
TOTAL = $304.74
Photo Credit: Photo by digitalart/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
DivHut
Wednesday 5th of November 2014
Thanks for sharing your recent dividend and net worth update with us. I'm sure it will be cause for a big celebration once you officially finish with your mortgage. Having never had one, from what I have been reading it seems like a huge burden gets lifted. Also, happy to see similar names in your dividend income as mine. I received my first BNS dividend in October as it was a new position for me. Looking forward to my TD and RY dividends as well. Look forward to your next update.