October 2020 Portfolio Update – Dividends Rebound

This was a busy period in the lead-up to the U.S. Presidential Elections. I made sure to catch plenty of the political coverage, including the debates and town hall events as it is important to understand the political climate when investing. However, while it is true that the POTUS has considerable power to influence the business world, I feel this oftentimes get blown out of proportion.

At the end of the day, high quality companies increase their market share, expand their business lines, and reward shareholders. Amid the chaos—there still isn’t a final tally at the time of writing on November 7—I always ensure I focus on my overarching strategy of being a net accumulator of assets.

In the end, what really matters is that I’ve prudently allocated capital. There will be plenty of Republicans and Democrats in the White House over the course of my life, and that shouldn’t change my planning.

In terms of dividend announcements themselves, there were a few positive developments which I’ll detail further below.

Dividend Summary

I earned income from twelve companies in October, all north of the border. Much of the income came from a few of the tried-and-true Canadian staples—banks and telecoms.

CAD Dividends

Company	CAD Payments ($)	Dividend Change (%)
Toronto Dominion Bank (TD)	158.00
RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (REI.UN)	31.32
The Coca-Cola Company (KO)	72.56
BCE Inc. (BCE)	183.15
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM)	17.52
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)	90.00
TELUS Corporation (T)	52.43
Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI.B)	27.50
Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP)	9.50	14.46
Chartwell Retirement Residence (CSH.UN)	5.10
A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund (AW.UN)	16.00
Saputo Inc. (SAP)	5.25

The final tally comes to C$668.33, all of which will be eventually reinvested back into the stock market when I find an opportunity I like.

In relation to my October 2019 dividend total of C$530.64, I have achieved a year-over-year growth rate of 25.95%. This exceptional increase in my income is the result, in large part, of my stock buying spree in March. Among other purchases, I added 120 shares of TD at that time.

Standouts

Yum China Holdings, Inc (YUMC) declared the resumption of dividend payments. The company had announced it was suspending the dividend for two quarters back on April 28, 2020. While that dividend payment only tallies up to a few dollars each quarter for my portfolio, the signal it sends of business continuity is meaningful.

I also received an additional payment of C$12.00 from AW.UN in the form of a Special Cash Distribution. They had suspended distributions earlier in the year and lowered them altogether upon resuming in July. This distribution will help make up for lost time and isn’t something I was necessarily counting on.

Taken together, these are welcome indications that the business community feels better about where things are at, even amid a Second Wave of the pandemic.

Here’s how the income stacks up visually:

I never get tired of seeing those graph lines get steeper.

Year To Date Progress

My ultimate financial goal is to achieve financial independence whereby all of my expenses would be covered by passive income.

That doesn’t mean I would want to stop working or completely withdraw from society, it just means I would have the security of knowing that no matter what happens, my lifestyle would be secure.

Here’s how my dividend income stacks up through the first ten months of the year:

Month	Dividends ($)
January	494.10
February	86.82
March	697.25
April	691.94
May	82.94
June	708.70
July	651.30
August	86.94
September	701.85
October	668.33
Total	4,870.17

This is $716.68 higher than what I had achieved last year at this time. Compounding works wonders.

Market Activity and Cash

As in September, I continued to build my cash position. My hope has been for political unrest to offer up some opportunities, but the market seems to march higher on any news.

Given that I’m earning 2% on idle cash at this time, I am fine to wait for some better pitches.

Still, it is highly likely that I’ll put another few thousand to work before the end of the year.

Personal Wellness

I finished reading Can’t Hurt Me. This is the personal memoir by David Goggins, former Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller. Additionally, he has set records in ultra-endurance events and a world record for pull-ups in a 24-hour period.

He outlines the personal struggles he endured and overcame over the course of his life, ultimately resulting in the man that he is today.

His mantra is ultimately that we are entirely accountable for the lives we choose to lead. He says that we need to accept all of the things that have happened to us over our lives—the good and the bad—and recognize that we needed each of the experiences in order to become who we are.

In many cases, I felt like I was reading something I had written myself, as I share those core beliefs.

Mental Toughness

Life will always present new challenges. No matter where we go, what we do, what our occupation or family situation is, there will always be another mountain to climb and another hurdle to get by.

I love the concept he promotes of callousing your mind through mental and physical conditioning so that when the tough times come, you’ll be ready to move through them. Most people gravitate toward soft lives—they want everything to be easy and for good things to happen.

That isn’t realistic. We need to accept the challenges life presents and smile as we work through them. What we become in the process is more important than any trophy or trinket we might hope to achieve.

Needless to say, this is a book I would strongly recommend to anyone who wants to make a change in their life—of any kind. Goggins is a man of action and achieving real results. There’s either the pain of working hard or the pain of falling behind in life. With every breath, we’re making the decision of how we’re going to proceed.

Conclusion

October turned out to be a great month for dividends—better than I was expecting when I first sat down to review my passive income.

I love being able to ignore the noise in the media and just sees the facts. Cold hard cash rolling into my portfolio without the need to lift a finger is irrefutable evidence that the dividend growth investing strategy works.

The media sells us the bleak story that society is crumbling amid political unrest and that the pandemic is causing unprecedented levels of stress. We each, though, get to decide how to respond to these circumstances. I prefer to keep my mind focused on what I can control. Most things in life are far outside the realm of our ability to influence them. Don’t waste energy there.

Keep your mind on what counts and what you want out of life. Work for that and life will have a way of rewarding you in kind.

Thanks for stopping by.

– Ryan

Full Disclosure: Long TD, REI-UN, KO, BCE, CM, BNS, T, RCI-B, CP, CSH-UN, AW-UN, SAP