Articles to read - 1

Here are some articles I have read recently that were quite interesting:

• In 8 years DGI was able to go from $0 to $15,000 in annual dividend income by saving more than 50% of his income and investing it.


• Here I talked about how Albertans can receive up to $49,283 in dividend income without paying any income tax. This couple has an annual income of $215,000 and also doesn't have to pay income tax (yet).


• Thankfully I had no debt while going through school because a new study finds new grads might not retire until 75. 

What are dividends and why do I invest in companies that pay them?

Companies can do several things with their profits, they can fuel further growth by reinvesting in the business or they can give money back to the shareholders through stock buyback programs or dividend payments. Frequency of the dividend payments depends on the company, could be annually, semi-annually, quarterly, or monthly. If a company wants to be able to continually provide dividends to its shareholders year after year, it needs to earn more than it pays out. This brings us to a metric called the Payout Ratio which is simply the Dividends per Share (DPS) divided by the Earnings per Share (EPS). With a good history and a low payout ratio, you can be fairly confident that the company will be able to provide a constant, or even growing, stream of dividends for years to come.

Dividend Income - September 2015

This month was an all time record high with $370.44 in dividends, a 121% increase over September 2014's $167.39.

The 6-month trend-line is definitely heading higher and just passed an average of $300/month.

Dividends in USD are converted to CAD using the monthly average exchange rates from the Bank of Canada.

Recent Transactions - September 2015

With the stock market volatility and the cash I have been saving up these past few months, I was able to put quite a bit more money to work this month than usual.

Adding to my existing positions, I was able to get 23 shares of National Bank (NA) for $1000, 73 shares of CAE (CAE) for $1000, and 35 shares of Canadian National Railway (CNR) for $2547. I also started a new position in another real estate investment trust, Canadian Apartment Properties (CAR.UN), with 63 shares for $1796.

These stocks, respectively, provide me with an additional $48.61, $21.93, $43.75, and $76.89 annually based on their most recent dividends. This brings my total dividend income up to $4288.70/year.