Watchlist Dividend Increase

After reporting higher profits and revenues this last quarter, Metro increased its dividend from $0.77 cents per share, to $0.86 cents. That's a whopping 12% increase that will definitely help with the ever increasing food prices.

 Consumer staples is an excellent sector to be invested in because no matter what state the economy is in, everyone has to eat! The TSX has a very limited selection in consumer staples so a lot of Canadian investors turn to the U.S for a more diverse selection.


I do not own shares in Metro because of the low dividend yield but I would like to include it in my portfolio once it's completed and that's why it's on my watch list. Even though Metro has an incredible dividend growth record, I personally consider it more of a growth stock. Today it closed at its 52 week high of $54.74 and even with its new dividend, it only yields 1.5%. Even if I bought in today, and the dividend increased 10% each year, after 15 years my yield would only be 5.6%. Like I said, once my portfolio is close to being complete, I will add MRU for some solid stock growth and minimal dividend payments.

Sunday Reading And Yakezie Carnival

I have decided that Sunday would be an excellent day for a weekend reading post. Most people can sit down and relax for a while before their hectic week starts all over again so I thought it would be a perfect time to share some interesting reading material from my fellow bloggers.

I've been included in my first ever Yakezie Carnival and it feels great. There are lots of interesting posts from many bloggers in the Yakezie network. I would really like to thank The Amateur Financier for hosting the carnival this week and to my fellow Yakezie bloggers:

http://www.theamateurfinancier.com/blog/yakezie-carnival-winter-wonderings/


Part of the Yakezie Challenge is to selflessly promote others so I'd like to share some postings from some of my fellow challengers:

After College Money shares how he paid off $15,000 of student loans in one year. Great job, Eric!

American Debt Project tells about their 2012 savings goals.

Personal Finance Whiz asks how much he should have saved for retirement by the time he is 30. I wish I could write a post like that :(

Kamara over at The Modern Financial tells us to stop waiting for the new year to make RRSP contributions.


The Dividend Ninja asks us why we should invest in bonds. I'm not a huge fan of buying someone's debt, but having diversity in one's portfolio is always a good thing.



I'd also like to share with you some posts from my own, personal blog roll:


The Passive Income Earner lets you assess if the Smith Manoeuvre is right for you. I personally think it could be to risky, especially with a monster mortgage.

Susan Brunner gives us her take on Just Energy. I don't agree with their business model either.

The Dividend Guy compares the top 4 Canadian REITS.

Brad at Triage Investing Blog talks about the best time to make extra mortgage payments. I'm a firm believer in lump sum payments.

Dividend Monk shows us 6 solid dividend payers from the states. I'm pretty sure everyone knows these brands and I'm looking into GE myself.

Dividend Watchdog wrote about the latest dividend increase from CN.

My Own Advisor wrote about how credit cards can be better than cash. I think credit cards are great tools, but are dangerous in the hands of fools.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, folks!

2012 Watchlist

Well without further ado, here's is the watch list for Friday, January 26 2012:

Like always, the markets were all over the place this week. It seems if anyone gasps in Europe, the markets in North America are punished. The Loonie did hit parity with the U.S dollar this week which was a surprise to most people.

The hardest part of dividend investing is choosing the right time to buy into the right company. I'm not a financial adviser, but I can share with you what I look for in a company when I'm ready to hit the buy button. I've never been able to time the market very well, but I find looking at the basic information is the first step to making an educated decision. Buying when a stock is at its highest in a year might not be the best strategy to use. I like buying into solid companies after the markets dip just like they did last August and September thanks to investor speculation.

It will be interesting to see how this watch list will change over the next year. My wife loves shopping at RW&Co. which is a banner name under Reitmans so I will be watching RET.A closely. Have a great weekend everyone!


What do you think of my watch list?

2012 Dividend Watch List

When it comes to the stock market, having a crystal ball to see future prices would sure make investing easy but luckily there is a more tangible method. Having a watch list lets you keep an eye on hopeful stocks to add to your portfolio or lower your average entry point if it's a stock you already own. Over the long term, it can also allow you to see how world events and speculation can often affect stock market prices.

I'd like to share with you my own, personal watch list for 2012 :

Every weekend I will be updating my watch list with the current data from Friday's stock market closing. I will be updating the current price, the 52 week lows and highs, the dividend and the yield. Companies that have increased their dividend since January 2011 are highlighted in blue. When the stock price is within 5% of its 52 week low, it will be highlighted with yellow. When the stock price is within 5% of its 52 week high, it will be highlighted in red. When the yield is 4% or larger, it will be highlighted in green.

Word of Warning 

This list is by no means advice on which stocks to buy and I cannot be held accountable if you decide to buy any of the stocks from my list. This is merely a fun way to show you how to keep a watch list for yourself.

So now there is one more reason to look forward to the weekend! There was a lot of positive feedback from my dividend list in the past and I hope that there will be more in the future. 

Do you have a watch list of your own?

Yakezie Challenge

 I'm very excited to announce that I just joined the Yakezie Challenge! For those of you that don't know about it, it's a challenge to improve your blog using the Alexa ranking system tool bar. Right now my rank is 5,031,011 which is rather on the hi side, but I'm determined to get a better ranking within six months.

A lot of my fellow bloggers have become members and they say it's a great way to build a stronger blogging network and allows others to see your blog that might not have had the opportunity before. I'm hoping to learn from these fellow members so that I can improve my blogging skills and the overall content on The Loonie Bin.

That being said, I've decided to start a weekly list of other blogs with like minded content on personal finance and early financial freedom. Look for the list later this week as I just got home and wanted to check in.

2012 Financial Goals

Having goals is an important part of life. I believe having financial goals is often over looked thanks to low mortgage and interest rates. It seems that people would rather get what they want now, and waste extra money on interest over the span it would normally take to save up for the desired item or service.

I personally DESPISE interest with all my being. Actually, the one thing I despise more than interest is paying interest on interest. The last time I had to repay my line of credit, I would always pay the interest back the same day it appeared in my account so that I would at least limit the amount of extra interest that accrued. My hatred for interest is what drives my financial goals and sets me apart from my fellow bloggers.

My financial goals for 2012 are geared towards eliminating debt rather than increasing my financial investments. Here they are in no particular order:

Pay an extra $1,000 a month on my mortgage.

When I make lump sum payments on my mortgage it goes directly to the principle. Since I've started mid 2011, I've lowered my daily interest by $1.00 a day by making $1000 contributions every month. With my remaining 4 years on my mortgage term, that's $1460 that the bank doesn't get. If I can keep it up they will receive even less of my hard earned money. Wish me luck!

Contribute $5000 to my TFSA

I think TFSA's are a great investment vehicle. If I can save $416.66 a month I will be able to maximize my TFSA to its full potential and help build my tax-free dividend machine. This year in my TFSA account I stand to make $877 in dividend income, completely tax-free. If the stocks I own increase their dividend, then the amount I make will be even more.

Pay off my wife's student loan

For over the last three and a half years, we have been able to destroy my wife's $40,000 student loan with only $10,000 left to go. It will be a great feeling to eliminate this helpful yet annoying debt from our backs and there will be much celebrating to do once we make the last payment. One could only imagine the amount of interest we would have had to pay if we only made the minimum payments.

Sock away $50 a month into slush funds

 

I kept $10,000 in an emergency fund in case life happened; then I got married and it ALL went away. Then I managed to save up another $10,000 from working lots of overtime and it made me a whopping $100 in interest a year. Then I decided to put that money in my TFSA and invest it in blue chip stocks. Now that same $10,000 makes me $452 a year and is now worth $15,632.

 

I don't like large amounts of money sitting in an account waiting for an emergency to happen and get paid a dime while the bank makes a dollar on MY money. I'd rather use our line of credit if we need emergency money and pay it off as quickly as possible. Instead, this year I plan to create three slush funds instead of an emergency fund. One slush fund is for our vehicle maintenance, one is for house maintenance and one is for household purchases. I will keep adding money to each fund until it reaches a certain amount then re-direct the amount of money into each fund as it's used. Since it's only a total of $150, hopefully it will not be missed each month and will be allowed to grow fairly moderately.

My financial goals are not very exciting and may seem very boring but the last I checked, anything to do with finances was never very popular. My goals are set and in my mind can be easily accomplished with a little bit of willpower and drive. Even if I can't make all of them, at least my attempt will lead me in the right direction.

What are your 2012 financial goals? Leave a comment and tell me what you think of mine.

Keeping Track Part 2

In an earlier post I showed my simple excel spreadsheet to keep track of my dividend investments. Now I will show you how I keep track of my dividend income every month.

With this layout I can see my total monthly dividend income at a glance. As more shares are purchased, I can easily add the amount paid by each share to the corresponding company. Dividend increases can also be added with ease and my totals will update accordingly. Not only does this layout allow me to anticipate how much my monthly income will be, it also allows me to document my dividend income for the year and can be used to check against any errors that may happen.

Having my dividend income calculated every month allows me in the future to plan my spending. Some months will have more income which may be needed to be saved for months with lower dividend income. Hopefully my dividend growth exceeds inflation and I'll be able to afford a $100 jar of jam to go with my $100 loaf of bread...yikes!

Each month I log onto my trading account and record my monthly transactions which helps me avoid any clerical errors. By updating my spreadsheets every month it helps spread the upkeep of organizing my financial records and avoids the guess work which comes from year end or God forbid, years of financial clutter.

To me personally, it's a rewarding experience to see an updated spreadsheet with all my passive dividend income recorded on it. As each year passes, you can look back and see how your dividends have grown and the visual representation can show you which stocks haven't lived up to your dividend growth expectations. By investing in stocks that increase their dividends, the power of compounding will let you retire sooner than you ever thought possible.

How do you keep track of your dividend income?

Shaw Increases Dividend

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Jan. 12, 2012) - Shaw Communications Inc. ("Shaw") (TSX:SJR.B) (NYSE:SJR) announced today that its Board of Directors has increased the equivalent annual dividend rate to $0.97 on its Class B Non-Voting Participating Shares and $0.9675 on its Class A Participating Shares. This represents an increase of 5% or $0.05 per share. Shaw's dividends are declared and paid on a monthly basis and this increase will commence March 29, 2012. Based on the January 11, 2012 closing stock price, the new dividend rate represents a yield of 4.7%.

 I just found out that Shaw increased their dividend today by 5%. My philosophy when investing is to invest in what you know. My telephone, T.V and Internet all come from Shaw so naturally I own shares.

My initial investment in Shaw was yielding 4.39% but after a few dividend increases it's yielding 4.84%. Normally my yield after a few dividend increases would be a lot higher, but for some reason Shaw's stock price is hovering around my entry price and hasn't gone up over the past few years. I read recently that the number of subscribers is dwindling and that Jim Shaw's retirement package is draining the company's profits so investors are spooked.

When there is no stock growth, it's hard to justify increasing the dividend. Hopefully Shaw can get their act in gear and start making a recovery. I will keep a small stake in Shaw until they are unable to maintain the dividend or they lower their standard in quality and service.

Do you own shares in SJR.B?

Buying To Impress

A coworker of mine was excited to tell me that he bought a brand new truck the other day. After congratulating him I asked him how much he paid. I almost choked on my water when he told me "Only $62,000". I asked him why he paid so much for something that's only going to depreciate and rust? He replied, "Because I'm young and it's a super sexy truck and besides, the sticker price was $75,000 so I got a great deal". Why is it that a person would rather spend $62,000 on a vehicle instead of , I don't know, putting a down payment on a house!?

It seems that most people let their spending define who they are. What's worse is that they are willing to go into debt to maintain the illusion. Wearing $350 jeans and $300 sunglasses have a magical way of transporting a person from their dull, mundane life into the rich and fabulous lifestyle they have always dreamed of. That is until the credit card bill arrives and reality rears its ugly head.

I remember one time I was working in a parking garage installing a new fire alarm system when a fancy green Jaguar pulled into a stall nearby. I couldn't help but laugh when the door opened and out popped a tall, lanky man in a suit that was 3 sizes to small and had a pattern like my grandmother's old couch. I assumed in order to pay for the sports car this man had to cut corners in his clothing budget and most likely other sources. I guess wearing flood pants was worth driving such a nice car.

Delusional thinking will have us believe that the more items we have, the happier we will be. When the thrill of the buy is gone, and the buyer's remorse sets in, that's when the problems start. Depression is becoming more and more common place each year. As blood pressure rises from stress, the body becomes more worn out and lowers life expectancy. All of a sudden that frivolous spending doesn't seem as exciting as it once did.

So what can one do to battle this urge to spend ridiculous amounts of money to make us feel important? Quitting cold turkey would kill most thrill spenders, so I suggest a slow and steady approach. Instead of spending $350 on a pair of jeans, spend $350 on four pairs of jeans for the entire year. Even better spend $90 on jeans, then take your grandparents out for lunch and ask them about the tough economic times when they were younger. I guarantee you will learn to be more thrifty with your money.

I don't plan to impress people with fancy clothing, a giant house or an expensive sports car. My plan is to impress people with how early I can afford to retire. Now that's something worth giving up designer labels for if you ask me!

Keeping Track of Dividends

I was recently asked in an email from Art if I could share the layout of my spreadsheet that I use to keep track of my dividend investments. Well Art, I'd be more than happy to share this with my readers because without you all, there would be no Loonie Bin.

By keeping track of my investments with a spreadsheet, I save a lot of time by using formulas to calculate averages and yields that would otherwise take forever. It may take a while to setup the layout and formulas in the beginning, but once it's complete you'll have fully functional way of keeping track of your dividends which can be updated with ease. Below is an example of my personal spreadsheet layout:

Under the first column I keep track of the stock ticker symbol. Once you have been trading for a while and reading up on each company, the stock symbols become second nature and are easy to recognize.


Next there's the initial purchase price. I keep it simple by only using the amount the stock purchase cost me. Some people like to include the trading commission for how much the entire transaction cost them but I personally feel that trading fees are just another cost in life; much like ticket fees to performances or gratuities in restaurants.

In the next column I keep track of the number of shares I currently own of each stock. I personally like to buy in lots of 100 to make it easier to keep track of everything. Also if you buy 50 shares here and 20 shares there, you spend a lot of extra money on commissions each time you hit the buy or sell button.

Next I keep track of the current dividend that each stock pays per year. The data under this column can be changed at any time without effecting the formulas of other columns. This allows me to increase, or God forbid, decrease any dividend amount at any given time.

The yield column uses a formula of dividend/share price. By using the formula, the yield will be updated automatically if either the purchase price or the dividend changes. Beneath the column I use a formula to calculate what my average yield is on my dividend investments.

My favourite column is the expected yearly dividend. I choose to colour it green because it's the expected money that gets paid to me each and every year and is the tangible profit from dividend investing. I use a simple formula of multiplying the number of shares by the dividend to calculate my expected yearly dividend payout. Beneath the column I keep a sum of all my dividends to easily calculate my entire yearly expected dividend income.

Last but not least, there is the total price of the initial investment. It is easily calculated by multiplying the share purchase price by the number of shares. I keep it near the end so that I can visually see the difference between what my investment pays me and what it ended up costing me initially. Then beneath the column I add up the total amount my dividend investments cost.

So there you have it; simple yet very effective. Life is complicated enough, so why make something as simple as dividend investing more complicated than it has to be? Stay tuned as I will be introducing a simple spreadsheet next week that helps me calculate my monthly dividend income for easy reference. If you need help with setting up formulas, please don't hesitate to shoot me an email and I will try to help you the best I can. I look forward to your comments and critiques.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, folks!

Health and Wealth: Spinach

Since being healthy is key to enjoying your wealth later on down the road, I will be focusing some posts towards living a healthy lifestyle as promised. After doing some research on certain types of vegetables, I'd like to share some interesting facts on the super food known as spinach.

Growing up I was told that Spinach was a very good source of iron, and that's what made Popeye super strong so I never objected to eating it. It wasn't until I was older that I found out how amazingly good it is for you. Not only is it a good source of iron, but it's also an excellent source of:

Vitamin A
Vitamin C
Vitamin B2
Vitamin B6
Vitamin E
Vitamin K
Magnesium
Manganese
Folate
Betaine
Calcium
Potassium
Folic Acid
Copper
Protein
Phosphorus
Niacin
Selenium
Omega 3 fatty acids
Zinc

That's a pretty impressive list for such a little leaf. The antioxidants found in spinach are very important for cell development and general health as they stop chain reactions that can damage or cause cells to die.

Not only is spinach extremely good for you, it's extremely cheap as well. Around here it sells for roughly $1.50 a bunch and it will keep for a week or two when put in the fridge crisper. I recommend eating it raw or lightly steamed. Never boil spinach as it loses its nutritional value rather quickly.

My wife and I like to put spinach in lasagna, on pizza, in pasta sauce and even IN the pasta we make. We make spinach salad with a strawberry vinaigrette or mandarin orange dressing. We've even started to make smoothies with spinach being the base and adding fruit and other greens to it, thanks to my sister in-law's influence over the Christmas holiday. You can even start out small by simply changing out the lettuce on your sandwich with a few leaves of spinach.

There are countless ways to include spinach in your daily diet. With a quick search of the web you can find some interesting and delicious recipes to help maintain a healthy lifestyle while you wait for the dividends to roll in.

How do you eat your spinach?

Dividend Income For December

With December in the rear view mirror, it looks like it's time for another dividend income update. According to my accounts, my dividend income for December 2010 was $297. This year my dividend income for the month of December was $369. Thanks to re-invested dividends and my employer contributions, I was able to purchase additional shares to add to my portfolio along with the dividend increases along the way. If only that $369 was $3690, then I could just rollover and go back to sleep instead of dreading my morning commute. It seems like it's so far away, but by maintaining my investment strategy it's something I can easily attain.

Now that the year is over, I always spend some time going over my various spreadsheets and make changes and updates. All my dividend increases are added, and any new shares are added accordingly. I recommend using a spreadsheet program to keep track of your investments. Not only does it make it easier, it's very rewarding to see your past dividend payments and compare them to even larger payments of the present.

How do you keep track of your investments?

New Year, More Dividends

Happy New Year, everyone! I can't believe 2011 is over already. It seems like yesterday that we moved into our new house and had to carry two mortgages! I hope 2012 will be a year full of joy and happiness for each and everyone. As an investor, a new year means new opportunities and perhaps more dividend increases to look forward to.

When I first started out a few years ago, I didn't know very much about investing at all. After reading about investing as much as I could, I'm very happy to have found an investment strategy that works for me and doesn't require very much time at all. I've learned many things from my mentor Think Dividends and from following Tom Connolly and his report to give me confidence in my investment decisions. Each dividend increase I receive only reinforces the fact that investing in dividend stocks is a winning strategy.

After looking back through some of my spreadsheets, I see that my initial dividend income for 2010 was $2696. By the end of the year, it had already grown to $2758 from dividend increases alone. After re-investing those dividends and regular matched contributions from my employer, and maxing out my TFSA, the dividend income I expect to earn heading into 2012 is $4149. Just think about my co-workers who haven't signed up for the contribution matching after working there for over 5 years; I'm pretty sure they would be kicking themselves if they took the time to figure it out.

Here's to a great new year and to new opportunities!