Mini Dividend Investing Project for 2020

I finally got around to doing my dividend spreadsheet, and this is what it looks like for your information.

PROJECTED TOTAL DIVIDEND INCOME = $10,254.53 for 2020

My goal for 2020 was $12,000 a year in income. I only need $2000 more to meet this goal, and then I might increase it to $15,000 a year to push myself.

Company	Number of Shares	Div/Share	Annual Dividend
BMO	100	$4.24	$424.00
BNS	360	$3.60	$1,296.00
CSH.UN	1820	$1.91	$3,472.56
POW	227	$1.62	$367.74
RY	181	$4.20	$760.20
TD	70	$2.96	$207.20
HOT.UN	777	$0.85	$660.45
ATD.B	240	$0.50	$120.00
GMP	1754	$0.10	$175.40
MRT.UN	419	$0.60	$251.40
POW	759	$1.62	$1,229.58
QSR	53	$2.00	$106.00
AQN	817	$0.56	$457.52
STLC	542	$0.40	$216.80
FTS	87	$1.91	$166.17
EMA	146	$2.35	$343.10
CAE	1	$0.11	$0.11

I always put them all on a DRIP (Dividend Reinvestment Plan) to buy more and more stock with the payouts I get, but I do track dividend payouts as income for the year, as it is money given/generated from my investments, even if I don’t take it as an income.

TAKE THIS ALL WITH A GRAIN OF SALT

I am by no means recommending you embark on dividend investing as a strategy.

Plenty of common sense out there tells you to just stick to boring, unsexy mutual funds like index funds, and they do have a lot of truth in the matter.

I am doing this a a MINI dividend project because the other half of my wealth is in exactly that – mutual funds, which also pay out dividends (about 1%) a year.

I invest IN the stock market as a whole, and through companies in the stock market.

You don’t have to do this.

Even if you invest in mutual funds, you will definitely have dividend-paying companies in their portfolio makeup and you aren’t losing out AT ALL if you just stick to that.

I just happen to also want to accelerate my portfolio with “extra” money on the side to create a stream of income, kind of playing the best of both worlds, you know?

A mutual fund is SAFER, and will provide diversity because if you put a bit of money into 50 stocks in a mutual fund versus the same amount of money into ONE stock, if that one stock tanks, you’re hooped.

Read:

• What is Dividend Investing
• What is a mutual fund
• Mutual Fund vs Exchange-Traded Funds

How can I find stocks that pay dividends?

Read:

• My dividend buying short list

You can also look at mutual fund fact sheets and their top 10 holdings for instance, but again, take that with a grain of salt. Just because it is in a mutual fund, doesn’t mean it is amazing.

Just because I have it in my chart above, or in my list, doesn’t mean it is amazing. It can be a disaster with a 50% DECREASE in capital meaning you put in $1000 and it may pay out a dividend but it is worth only $500! WHAT A WASTE!

DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH.

I have picked clunkers before, but if you truly want my advice on a beginner dividend stock?

Pick a bank. They’re pretty solid in Canada for the most part and unlikely to really go bankrupt unlike other companies.

Other suggestions?

Pick big companies that are well-established (a lot on my list, like Fortis, Emera, Canadian Utilities, etc).

DIVIDEND RESOURCES

These books are U.S. focused, but are applicable to Canada as well.

The Single Best Investment

The Strategic Dividend Investor

Enjoy!