About Me

    Hello there! This is my blog capturing my experience, thoughts and results since the start of my journey into dividend investing and portfolio building. I also have a Twitter account which I am active on.  I graduated university in 2013 with a BBA and found work as a coffee-slinger at Starbuck's and was living at home in Toronto, Canada. I busied myself with paying off the little debt I was lucky to have and saving money, often hitting almost 50% of income saved! My current goal for 2015 is to hit savings rates of 40%.

    Currently while working, I have been very busy looking for positions within the financial sector, trying to get a foot in at one of the major Canadian banks. My goal is to eventually work as a Financial Planner, and get the Certified Financial Planner designation (CFP). Last year I passed the Canadian Securities Course (CSC), which is a first step in getting the CFP.

    So in the meantime, besides just sharing my personal financial journey here, I also want to build on my passion for learning and sharing what I learn with others here with informative posts like: Brokerage reviews, the TFSA, Using Excel and When Talking to an Adviser. By no means am I a professional though, so when it comes to stocks and advice based on how I see things, remember to also do research for yourself and utilize your wealth management professionals who should know your entire situation and plans.

    My inspiration for starting this blog is from another blogger, Dividend Mantra, as well as other bloggers and sites which I list on my Blogroll. From first reading and following his progress month by month since around 2012, I decided to start my own blog! And I hope we all get to learn a few beneficial pieces of advice and ideas along the way together!

    My general habits and inclinations going through life definitely align to a certain degree towards being quite frugal and goal orientated in certain respects. I have never bought anything which I did not have the money to pay for. I prefer to get only what I really need and not go over the top, for example my phone, and phone plan cost me less than $30 since I didn't go for new generation smart phone with data. Why spend all that when there is WiFi at home and at work for free? Since starting my investment journey, I have found that I get a lot of satisfaction whenever I add to my portfolio, and seeing how one little purchase will earn me the equivalent of a few hours of working a minimum wage job every year. While it may not be a lot, even just $20 or $30 more a year in dividend income, that becomes money that I do not have to work for to earn. Better yet, I look for companies who's dividend will increase year over year above inflation, slowly earning me more for not working, just sitting around holding the shares!

    Since starting this blog my portfolio has grown from its very starting point of $1,500 to at the time of writing $28,684! With a 2014 monthly top dividend payment of $64, to this years highest of $208! It has been a very exciting adventure for me thus far and I intend on staying on this path with the end goal of eventually being able to have the ability to live comfortably off of my portfolio, and the freedom to have a choice on what I want to do with my time.

    And lastly, you may be asking what exactly is a 'Wisp'? Well, being a younger, or a 'millennial' I have played quite a few video games when I was younger, my favourite game being Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne, a strategy and reaction based game requiring you to build up an economy and defeat your human opponents.

    One of the basic worker units in the game which gathered resources (like dividends are resources) is called a Wisp. Well that little worker, if defended and left alone would endlessly work hard for you harvesting lumber for your economy, and this particular worker did so without damaging or depleting the tree which it worked on. In a way, I enjoy thinking of my portfolio as that little Wisp, working away at the companies that I am 'defending' with my shares in them while steadily collecting the dividends that those companies through off every month or quarter.

12 comments:

  1. Patrick,

    So great to see you starting off your journey! And I'm glad I could serve as some inspiration for that and this blog.

    I do hope your portfolio grows from a wisp into a giant eagle one day! :)

    Keep up the great work. That high savings rate will serve you well over the long haul.

    Best regards!

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  2. I love reading people's background/stories. Looks like you are well on your way to achieve financial independence...esp with that 30-55% savings rate. If you can keep that without letting lifestyle inflation get out of hand, you will be well set for the future.

    I will be sure to follow along your journey. Best wishes.
    R2R

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  3. Hi Patrick, thanks for sharing you endeavours. Like you wachtlist for February 2015. I too have the Canadian Banks in sight (BNS, TD).
    Good luck!
    Michael

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  4. Hi there Dividend Wisp. Thank you for sharing your story. Good luck to you and I enjoy visiting your site. Please continue to provide us with new posts and keep us updated. Take care and wish you the best. Tyler.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for reading! I will certainly continue to post as much as I can. And if you have any posts/topics you'd like to read about please feel free to leave a comment. I sometimes have trouble thinking of good article ideas that might be useful for others.

      Thanks again

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  5. Wisp, I found your blog from a Twitter recommendation. Very nice to get a Canuck's perspective. I have been seriously considering adding a Canadian bank to my wife and my portfolio. Any insights you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, KeithX

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    Replies
    1. Happy you found me! I know there are quite a few US and Euro based blogs and sites out there, but also a fair few Canadian ones as well! I'v a few on my blogroll that I find useful. And Twitter I am discovering more and more is a great place for finding more bloggers, as well as being able to follow financial professionals.

      As for the banks, I personally generally lean towards RY, TD and BNS. I find all three are quite competent. RY and TD also have a strong US presence, and BNS is more globally diverse. BNS has had some recent trouble in its global operations, and has recent announced cutting some of its workforce to help control costs. Definitely take a look at them, compare their info with even just Google Finance, read their prospectus and pick one :)

      Thanks again for stopping by and commenting, all the best!

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  6. Warcraft 3 days were the best and great analogy! I'm glad to see a fellow lover of Canadian banks. Their dividend history is amazing. I hope you do achieve your dream of working at one. Good luck!

    JT

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    1. Yeah, I miss wc3 for sure. Heard they have wc4 in the works now though, at least on the backburners. Heres hoping! Yeah, the Canadian banks are pretty great, and your post reminded me I need to update this again since starting my new job at one of them! Yay. Thanks for posting and stopping by!

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  7. Love the site! How about we exchange links! We run http://shebudgets.com

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  8. Hi,

    Henry from Finimize here - we are interested in partnering with you. My colleague Nik recommended your blog earlier today, and after having a closer look I believe your work very much aligns with what we do. I also loved the Warcraft backstory on the name of your blog.

    Finimize specialises in bitesize financial education for young professionals with savings (helping them to get invested). We have more than 400k global users with a strong interest in finance, economics, and investing.

    I believe your readers would benefit highly from our daily markets newsletter (2 major financial stories of the day, 3min read, no jargon) and vice versa. In this context I'd be keen to explore affiliate opportunities - we pay $1 for a sign-up to our free newsletter or we could introduce Dividend Wisp to our audience.

    Let me know if you are interested - happy to jump on a quick call / discuss via email.

    Best wishes,
    Henry

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    ReplyDelete