Hello and welcome to my year in review post. In the post I will be recapping the year for each of my accounts. 2018 for me was a successful year, at the beginning of the year I set an ambitious goal and I might as well say I achieved it as I was only $5.43 short. In 2018 I invested a record amount of money close to $30K. Also during the year I added a third account under my control.
The first account that I will talk about is my Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA). In 2019 this is where I am going to be investing the majority of my money in an attempt to max out my contribution room from previous years.
TFSA
On December 31st the value of this account was $38,518.10 compared to December 31st, 2017 value of $25,989.00. This is a nice increase of $12,529.10, however since I invested just over $17k into the account the growth isn’t all that great. One thing that I am very happy about is the growth of dividends in my TFSA. I crossed the $2k mark in 2018.
Stock Purchases for TFSA
- Corus Entertainment 115 shares
- Inter Pipeline 100 shares
- Plaza REIT 502 shares
- Canadian Utilities 154 shares
- Laurentian Bank 94 shares
- ScotiaBank 27 shares
- The Keg Royalties Income Fund 131 shares
Looking at the stocks I bought I only regret one and that would be Corus Entertainment. I say that because shortly after I bought it the company cut its dividend quite drastically and the share price dropped at the moment I am down around 50% with the stock.
RRSP
On December 31st this account had a value of $92,681.83 compared to the same time last year in which the value was $84,694.00. Again it’s the same with my TFSA account I actually invested more than I gained. The October to December market swings had a impact on my portfolio.
On the positive side my dividends continue to grow at a healthy pace.
Stock Purchases
- Johnson & Johnson 16 shares
- Bank of America 72 shares
- Realty Income Corp 47 shares
- Microsoft 11 shares
- BCE 25 shares
- Fortis 39 shares
- Power Corp 119 shares
- BMO International Dividend ETF 247 shares
- TransCanada 41 shares
- Altria Group 61 shares
- AbbVie 38 shares
- Home Depot 12 shares
- Inter Pipeline 255 shares
Stocks I Sold
- Nutrien
- Westjet
- Exco Technologies
- Pizza Pizza Royalty Corp
- BMO US Dividend ETF
Locked In Retirement Account (New Account)
During 2018 I took over a third account in my portfolio the LIRA, before the bank had it and I was invested in mutual funds I decided I wanted to take over and invest in dividend stocks.
With this account I am unable to add money to it so I am limited in how much I can buy. I currently own two stocks in this account Enbridge and Diversified Royalty Corp. Enbridge was as a result of a merger between Enbridge Income Fund and the parent company Enbridge. My dividends from the year in this account stood at $310.28. The value of this account as of December 31st was $4,809.75.
Combined Dividends
Dividend Increases
I love being a dividend investor! Why do you ask? Well if you invest in company’s that continually raise their dividends that in turn raises your income and you didn’t even have to work for it. In 2018 I received 27 raises plus two special distributions these will boost my income by $383.59. In my opinion that is pretty good for not having to do anything.
2018 Goal Results
Become Debt Free – This was a fail I didn’t become debt free I currently owe $10,054 half on my car and half to my parents.
Have a 50% Savings Rate – I am marking this as a fail because I stopped tracking my expenses in September. I probably did have a 50% savings rate but I can’t give myself a pass for stopping in Sept.
Increase Net Worth By $50,000 – I started 2018 with a net worth of $126,641.77 and as of Jan 1st, 2019 this stands at $137,453.08. So I didn’t accomplish this goal. But it was still an increase.
Invest At Least $10,000 – This I passed by a wide margin I invested $29,882.07 for the year which really surprised me. I did borrow money throughout the year to invest so I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised.
Receive $6,000 In Dividends – I am going to mark this down as a pass my final number was $5,994.57 as you seen above my income had a big increase.
Well everyone that will do it for this post thank you for reading. How was your 2018?
Thanks again
Matthew
Nice steady dividend creep.
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Looks like you had a very successful 2018. Investing close to $30k in 2018 will do wonder for you in the long run. 🙂
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Thanks Bob! I was shocked at the total amount I invested I didn’t realize it was that high. It should definitely help me in the long run. Thanks for reading the post!
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Great work increasing your dividend income, Matthew! That’s definitely a pass for your goals for the year. Receiving $6,000 in dividends is amazing!
I noticed your RRSP balance is higher than TFSA. Do you max out to get tax returns in order to invest more? I am contributing a lower amount to my RRSP compared to TFSA. I also have 1 stock in non-reg. I mainly contribute just enough to the RRSP to not pay taxes. But I am wondering if I should start to make it a priority for tax returns. And I could focus on US dividend stocks in the RRSP to avoid withholding tax on the dividends. I guess it’s a math calculation I can work out depending on how much I can save.
Thanks for sharing! Awesome job in 2018.
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Hey Graham thanks for reading and commenting on the post. My RRSP is higher because I have been investing in that account longer. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to max out either account. Over the last couple of years I have been investing more in my TFSA account, I will be doing so again this year. I to put all of my US stocks in my RRSP for tax purposes.
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