April: Saying Goodbye, Dividends, Birthdays & A Podcast

Dividend Income & Portfolio News

Personal Highlights – April 2020

• Let’s get the bad news out of the way first.  We had to say goodbye to our sweet dog Penny this month.  She was a beautiful girl, with a gentle soul.  She lived a long, happy life and graced us with so many memories.  I even proposed to my wife with the dog (as a surprise) almost 12 years ago.  Here are a few of my favourite pics of Penny:
  
  

  

  

  

  

• Losing a pet is never easy – it’s even worse when you are in the middle of a global pandemic with two toddlers at home.  The kids have handled it pretty well so far.  Every now and then they(we) have a cry and remember the good times with Penny.
• Onto some less depressing news.  The weather has finally started warming up, so we have been able to get out into the back yard and stretch our legs a bit more.  Isaac just had his 3rd birthday, and got a lot of outdoor/yard toys.  I expect the next few days will be spent almost entirely in the backyard playing with new toys, kicking a ball around and of course drinking some cold beers.
• I was a guest on a podcast for the first time ever. I had a great time, and although it’s clear it was my first time..i’d definitely do it again. It was the FI_Garage podcast.  The guys sit around, drink beer and talk about investing.  What’s not to love.  You can check it out HERE
• I started re-watching Parks & Recreation with the wife since she has never seen it. If you haven’t ever seen it – do yourself a favour and check it out. It streams on Amazon prime.
• I posted some hopefully possible positives that could come from the Covid 19 pandemic.  You can read that post HERE
• My little man turned 3 on April 28.  Although we couldn’t get the family and friends together for a big party, we had some people drop by with presents, and still spoiled him with pizza and ice cream cake.  Here’s a few of our favourite photos of our little baby boy…I cannot believe he is 3 already!

• Financial Highlights for April:

• Continued bi weekly contributions into TFSA, Wife’s TFSA & Spousal RRSP
• Took a temporary pay cut at work due to Covid.  It’s hard to complain when so many people have lost their jobs. We are lucky in the sense we can both work from home, and are at least saving some costs on daycare for the time being.  That said, we miss our daycare family so much and cannot wait until the kids can go back.
• Our variable mortgage rate dropped, which ends up saving us about $200 per month.
• Since the Covid pandemic, I have received dividend suspensions from CAE and Chorus Aviation. I ‘ve also received  dividend cuts from: Diversified Royalty & New Flyer Group.  I expect my distributions from XAW & RBC Canadian Equity Income fund to be lower than expected as well.
• I was paid dividends from 9 companies, and 1 funds this month.  I dripped a total of 86 new shares/units.  These reduced prices have caused a huge spike in dripped shares per month. SIX double digit drips this month!
• Portfolio increased over $42,000 month over month, and is now back to the same level it was at in August. I don’t understand this market. I feel like we are in for another big drop…but I also thought it would have happened already, so who knows.

Passive Income Update For April 2020.

TFSA’S:

Diversified Royalty: $26.00(dripped 18 shares)

Artis Reit: $28.08 (dripped 3 shares)

Algonquin Power: $185.31 (dripped 10 shares)

Interrent Reit: $4.29

Plaza Reit: $29.44 (dripped 10 shares)

Chorus Aviation: $36.76(dripped 12 shares)

TFSA’s Total: $309.88

RRSP:

Canadian Equity Income Distribution: $351(dripped 13 shares)

Transcontinental: $192.83 (dripped 16 shares)

New Flyer: $57.16(dripped 4 shares)

Go Easy: $123.75

Total Passive Income April 2020:  $1034.62

Portfolio Update:

My portfolio jumped back up to: $329,207.77.  This represents a increase of 14.78% from last month. This market is crazy.  Over the last 3 months, my portfolio has gone:
– 5.41%, -19.73%, +14.78%

My long term plan hasn’t changed. I haven’t sold a single stock, and I continue to look for good deals.  I’ve updated my watchlist, I am currently keeping an eye on: Manulife, First National Bank, Alimentation Couche Tard, Metro and Canadian Western Bank (among a few others).

Passive income in April was $1034.62.  This was the second time in the first 4 months of 2020 my income was over a thousand!  I only achieved $1000+ twice in all of 2019!

Stay safe!

Cheers.

 

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