Manulife Dividend Increase!

    Manulife Financial $MFC just completed reporting its earnings; reporting an increase in net earnings of 16.7% for the year! With that, they announced a great dividend increase of 12%, going from 25cents a quarter to 28cents per quarter.

    I currently hold 304 shares of Manulife, and at the current share price at the time of writing of $26.62 and the new dividend of 28cents I will be able to DRIP 3 shares a quarter instead of 2 a quarter. My annual dividend income from Manulife based on the 3cent raise means another $9.12/quarter and $36.48 a year, not including newly DRIP'd shares!

Dividend Update: January 2018 and 2019 Comparison!

       A super quick update from a post that has been sitting in draft for, well..... probably sometime in 2018. With a comparison to January 2019. One full year later.

January 2018

Company	Ticker (TSX)	$(Cdn)	Notes
Canadian Apartment REIT	CAR.UN	11.73
Enbridge Income Fund	ENF	11.12
Pizza Pizza	PZA	18.40	258 Shares
Pembina Pipeline Corp.	PPL	21.60
RioCan REIT	REI.UN	9.40
Algonquin Power & Utility	AQN	75.62	525 Shares
Bank of Nova Scotia	BNS	45.82
BCE Inc.	BCE	43.05
Total Dividends		236.74

January 2019, lets see what a whole year has done!

Company	Ticker (TSX)	$(Cdn)	Notes
Canadian Apartment REIT	CAR.UN	14.41	Dividend raise!
TD Bank	TD	30.15	New.
Pizza Pizza	PZA	26.81 (376 Sh	DRIP'd up!
Pembina Pipeline Corp.	PPL	26.22	Dividend Raise!
RioCan REIT	REI.UN	14.40	Dividend raise! Bought more.
Algonquin Power & Utility	AQN	92.22 (549 Shares)	Dividend Raises, US/CAD FX and DRIP's
Bank of Nova Scotia	BNS	49.30	Dividend Raise!
Ishare S&P/TSX	XEI	5.52 (62 Shares)	New
Plaza Retail REIT	PLZ.UN	4.83(207 shares)	New.
Cineplex Inc	CGX	15.66	New.
Total Dividends		279.52	+42.78

    Now for a full year, I have mixed feelings how it went investing wise. In a whole year I would hope to have raised my monthly income comparing the same month a year later by more than $42.78. Part of the lower than liked increase is due to some higher expenses going on in my life, but also from the shifting around of the portfolio in general. The sell of Bell (BCE) which paid into that quarter, Enbridge income fund(ENF) being absorbed by parent company Enbridge (ENB), now paying out in a different Quarter rather than monthly.

   The uptick is from the addition of monthly payers Cineplex (CGX), Plaza Reit (PLZ.UN) and the dividend ETF of XEI. As well as a good amount of DRIP's from Pizza Pizza and Algonquin. PLZ is now also DRIP'ing a share a month.

Dividend Update: 2017 Dividend Total!

    Making a very belated update of my dividend income from 2017. I have some mixed feelings for my year of investing and building up my portfolio's passive income. While I am pleased with receiving $1,881.49 in dividends, which as I usually like to qualify against pretending my portfolio is working a minimum wage job. My little money making Wisp worked about 134 hours at $14/hr in 2017.

Recent Buy: Canadian Apartment REIT

 

 
    Beginning of November, 2017 I bought an additional 72 shares of CAP REIT at $34.6.
With its monthly distribution of $0.10667 per share, I will receive $7.68 more per month, $92.16 per year. With my prior shares my total position in CAP REIT is now 110 shares, with a monthly distribution of $11.7 and $140.80 annually.

    My rationale for the purchase is that while CAP REIT has a lower than average dividend yield for a REIT at around 4% at the time of purchase, they have proven to have a good track record for increase it as they increase their rental property rates. The REIT is also consistently working on bringing additional apartment and townhouse complexes online, as well as expanding into the Netherlands.

    I like to think of them as my pseudo, slowly growing 'rental property'.  :)

Description of Canadian Apartment REIT

"Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAPREIT) is a Canada-based open-ended real estate investment trust. CAPREIT's investment objectives are to provide unitholders with long-term, monthly cash distributions; grow normalized funds from operations (NFFO), distributions and Unit value through the management of its properties, acquisitions and financial management, and reinvest capital within the property portfolio. CAPREIT owns and operates a portfolio of multi-unit residential rental properties, including apartments, townhomes and manufactured home communities (MHC) located in and near urban centers in Canada. CAPREIT owns interests in approximately 46,790 residential units, consisting of over 40,501 residential suites and approximately 30 MHC's, consisting of approximately 6,290 land lease sites. CAPREIT owns leasehold interests in approximately 15 properties located in the Greater Toronto Area. The leases mature between 2033 and 2037."

May 2017: Dividend Income!

    Another update on the lovely dividends that I have received so far this year. May is one of my slower months, with mostly just the monthly dividend payers. I am quite happy with the income base that those companies provide, and just knowing that every month I will get and be able to reasonably rely on $60+ per month if needed.

April 2017: Dividend Update

    April is one of my big dividend months, with the majority of my quarterly dividend stocks paying out. Which means I get to see some big, juicy dividends hitting my Questrade Brokerage Account.

Recent Buy! Pizza Pizza

    A recent stock purchase of mine, I added to my previous 140 shares of Pizza Pizza Royalty Corp with an additional 115 shares. At the time of purchase the shares were trading at $15.82, and as of writing on August 28th, 2017 at $16.36. (yay) The stock pays a consistently growing monthly dividend of $0.0713, which was a dividend yield of about 5.4% at the time of purchase. And adds $8.2 monthly and $98.4 annually. I am definitely happy to be getting a slice of that pizza pie!

March 2017: Dividend Update

    Just a quick post to show my dividends for the month of March. I am happy to report that this March showed a healthy increase in my passive income. With dividend raises from Suncor and Manulife Financial. As well as a new contributor in Canadian Apartment REIT, with its monthly distribution.

Company	Ticker	$(Cdn)	Notes
Dream Office REIT	D.UN	20.50
Veresen	VSN	8.33
Pizza Pizza	PZA	9.98
Pembina Pipeline Corp.	PPL	15.2
RioCan REIT	REI.UN	9.4
CDN Apartment REIT	CAR.UN	3.96	+$3.96
Manulife	MFC	39.95	+$4.80
Suncor	SU	6.4	+$0.60
Total Dividends		113.72	+$9.36

    In total, I received $113.72 in dividends, with an increase over the previous comparable month by $9.36. It feels pretty good to have hit the $100 mark and now starting to move ahead of it!

Portfolio Update: May 1st, 2017

    It has been far too long since I have provided an update on my Tax Free Savings Account portfolio! In fact almost a full year since that last update on May 29th, 2016.

    So I am very happy to be able to present my current holdings and to take a look at how my stocks have done since my last update 11 months ago! Since that time I have made a few buys and sells within the portfolio.

February 2017: Dividend Update!

    Just a quick update on my February dividends. And while my postings on such things may not be too regular or consistent these dividends sure are!

Recent Buy: Canadian Apartment REIT

  
    A recent purchase of mine this year, and a new position added to my portfolio is Canadian Apartment (CAP) REIT, which goes by the Toronto Stock Exchange ticker CAR.UN. This is now my third REIT position that I hold and rounds out that trio nicely. My other two REIT's are Dream Office REIT, which focuses on large office buildings and commercial spaces, RIOCAN REIT which operates retail spaces, plazas and malls and now CAP REIT which covers residential properties, apartment buildings and manufactured home communities.

January 2017: Dividend Update!

    The first month of the year started off strong once again. Setting a great pace for the rest of 2017. My larger quarterly dividend paying positions came through very nicely! With three of them paying out over $40! And higher than January 2016 due to numerous dividend increases :)

December 2016: Dividend Update!

    The final dividend update for 2016! Another quiet month of stable dividend income, coming out the same as the previous comparable month. With the help of my slightly larger Manulife position, the total dividends hit $104.36, nicely over the $100 mark!

November 2016: Dividend Update!

    Another quick update on a fairly calm and steady month of dividend income. Novembers only increase in dividend income was from a payout increase from the Royal Bank of Canada. And I am happy to accept another 80cents a quarter with no additional work on my part.

October 2016: Dividend Update!

    Just getting in a quick dividend update from October 2016. The first of a quarter is always makes for a good month of dividend income for me, with this months being no different. Had a slight increase from the previously comparable month due to a small fluctuation in the foreign exchange rate between Algonquin's USD dividend and Canadian funds which my portfolio trades in.

Recent(ish) Buy: Algonquin Power & Utilities

    In November I  made a small stock purchase, adding to an existing position in my portfolio. Using a market limit order, I bought 56 shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) at the price of $10.94 per share. I continue to hold, buy and build up my position in this company as it has proven to continue to grow its operations, revenue and dividend over the past few years.

September 2016: Dividend Update

    My favourite update to post about, my dividend income! Not only is it among the easiest money to earn, but also the most fun to write about. And September made it even better with a new high water mark for its comparable month of dividends, with over $100 in passive income! With the additional shares of Manulife Financial helping to push it over the $100 mark.

August 2016: Dividend Update!

    August continued the steady stream of dividend income for me. This month it edged up a bit higher than the previously comparable month by $0.28. The increase in income is from both Pizza Pizza Royalty fund and the National Bank of Canada paying out higher.

   In just a little bit more time, I am hoping to have another dividend raise, or perhaps a new purchase to bump the second month of every quarter's dividend income to over $100.

July 2016: Income & Expenses

    Well, July is certainly long gone at this point since I am writing this post in October! Been rather busy the last few months and to be honest I have not been overly motivated or inspired to write. I have kept up with tracking my monthly income, expenses and dividends though. And I do intend to get back into the swing of things on my blog here, and on Twitter as well.

June 2016: Income & Expenses

   June is quite a ways behind us now, with summer in full swing now that August has begun! Either way, here is my income and expenses update for the month of June. Which all things considering went quite well for me. Now that I have been in my new job and position for a few months now, it is getting a lot easier and I am better able to help the customers who come to me. The only 'downside' is that at the end of June, and throughout a good portion of July I had not been getting as many hours as I would have liked, so my income from working is lower than usual, especially considering it was a triple pay month.