Comments

1. Sean says

   October 3, 2018 at 5:45 pm

   Great site! Other than using low interest credit cards, do you know any other ways to borrow to invest at low interest rates? I plan to borrow-to-invest if we get a significant drop in share prices.

   -Using a line-of-credit or borrowing-on-margin, it seems interest rates aren’t that low.
   -Using low interest credit cards, the interest rate is low, but you can only borrow so much.

   Any idea on how to borrow a significant amount at “lower” interest rates?

   Reply

   • Finance Jouneny says

     October 3, 2018 at 8:45 pm

     Hello Sean,

     First, you must understand that borrow-to-invest comes with above average risk. You may end up losing more money than you had if you make any mistakes.

     My primary lenders are my credit cards. I still have over $50 000 available credit in my credit cards, but I am not willing to take more risks on me. Other I options I use are margin loans and sometimes I use HELOC.

     You need to have a good credit score to qualify for lower interest rates from your lenders.

     In this rising interest rate environment, it is not a good idea to leverage because of the high debt service charges.

     Please do your own research or discuss with a qualified financial advisor before making any financial decisions.

     Best Regards,

     Reply

2. StevenDow says

   December 25, 2017 at 10:06 pm

   Thank you for sharing, I always discover interesting things from your posts.

   Reply

   • Finance Jouneny says

     January 4, 2018 at 9:48 pm

     Thank you StevenDow !

     Reply

3. SteveBuics says

   September 17, 2017 at 10:23 pm

   Find out what you need to improve in yourself to become more effective!

   Reply

4. Max says

   July 15, 2017 at 1:00 am

   Hi, I have some money to invest but have no idea where to start. I am a newbie, I want to start investing in dividend stocks, but where do you buy them, how do you get the dividends, how do you manage all of your stock? I have many questions and need guidance to start up. Do I buy the stocks directly from my bank or use brokers? It would be nice if I can invest min $10-$15 daily in to stocks. What to you recommend? Thank you.

   Reply

   • Finance Jouneny says

     July 17, 2017 at 2:06 pm

     Hello Max,

     First step is learn as much as you can about stocks by reading good investment relate books an understand the risks and rewards involved in investing. Or discuss with a qualified financial advisors. Please note there are so many great advisors available, but very few are interested in make them money than you. Thus, you should have some basics knowledge before discuss with a advisor. If their interest is not align with your interest, then do not hesitate to fire them.

     Second step is to find a good online brokerage that suitable for your needs. There are so many stock brokerage available. All of them good in some ways. Personal I use TD direct investing and Questrade online brokerage. It doesn’t mean other brokerages are bad. I found these can meet my needs.

     After you setup your online brokerages, y0ou may transfer money and start buying stocks based on your research or based on your advisor recommendation.

     This is just an overview, please feel free to leave comments if you need more details or full explanation.

     Best Regards,

     Reply

   • Richard says

     August 8, 2017 at 9:32 am

     Open up a self directed account at any bank. Commission is low & they won’t push you to buy & sell.
     You can buy blue chip companies the same as any of the Mutual Fund managers are buying with a lot less commission. You will find that the big dividend earning Mutual Funds are buying exactly the same companies and you can leave out the companies that you feel look like crap. Some Mutual Funds just use the money they have buying diversity since they have excess to use up.

     Reply

     • Finance Jouneny says

       August 17, 2017 at 2:02 pm

       Hello Richard,

       Thank you for the suggestions 🙂

       Cheers,

       Reply

5. JP says

   December 21, 2016 at 6:36 am

   Very informative blog!! Apologies if this question has been answered previously but can you suggest a good book for new investors? Im pretty conversative and am interested in starting to invest in blue chip stocks and low risk stocks and would like to learn more about dividends and ETFs.

   Reply

   • Finance Jouneny says

     December 22, 2016 at 7:33 pm

     Hello JP,

     Thank you for stopping by,

     I recently read a book called The Single Best Investment: Creating Wealth with Dividend Growth by Lowell Miller. It is worth to read if you are planning to learn about dividend growth stocks. Similar strategy I follow for my investment.

     There are few good books available. If you like to learn about value investing, I would recommend you to read The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham.

     Learn as much as you can about investing before start investing with your hard earn money.

     Best Regards

     Reply

6. Vince says

   November 30, 2016 at 11:05 pm

   Hi Finance Journey,

   I like TD and Canadian National Railway stocks. However as seen from what you wrote their return is somewhere around 10 to 18% per 5 years. If you want to make it to the millions figure, do you put all your eggs in 1 basket and not diversify because you would invest more money in one and grow it much faster to the million figure then compare to many. What are you thoughts on that process

   Vince

   Reply

   • Finance Jouneny says

     December 8, 2016 at 10:14 pm

     Hello Vince,

     Thank you for stopping by,

     Actually, both TD and CNR almost doubled in the last 5 years. I don’t want to put all my money into 1 basket. I think it is very risky. We may loose all if pick a bad egg 🙂 .

     First I like to protect my capital before consider about growth.

     Best Regards,

     Reply

   • SV says

     October 31, 2017 at 11:42 am

     There are much better bank stocks than TD. TD invests lot of money managing branches and infrastructure. Other banks like RBD, Scotia might give you better returns. TD stock price risen by 323% since 2000 where as RBC stock price risen by 406% and yields better dividend than TD even National Bank and Scotia beat TD.

     Reply

     • Finance Jouneny says

       November 7, 2017 at 1:56 pm

       Hello SV,

       Thank you for stopping by,

       So far TD performs better than other banks in portfolio (after I purchased them), it doesn’t mean other banks are bad. The actual reason, I didn’t have a chance to buy other banks at low (either didn’t have enough money at the time, etc).

       For me, I like all 5 big Canadian banks.

       Best Regards,

       Reply

7. SJ says

   October 27, 2016 at 3:24 pm

   Hi,
   Great blog! And I do visit it regularly. My question is do you ever take your profits instead of just getting the dividends. Some of my holdings have reached their target price and I am tempted to take my profits but at the same time I keep hanging on for their dividends. Such a tough call. Would be interesting to see what you think.
   Thanks,

   Reply

   • Finance Jouneny says

     October 27, 2016 at 8:26 pm

     Hello SJ,

     Thank you for stopping by,

     It is tough decision because I am in the same situation as you. Most of my holding are trading at record high price. I rarely sell my dividend stocks because I may not get them back for lower price again.

     For example, I was about to sell portion of BIP.UN when it was trading at $33.50 (split-adjusted) in order to take some profits, luckily I decided to keep it for few years because of its juicy dividends. Now it is trading around $46. I would have paid high price to get back if I had sold it. Another example, I sold 25 shares of ENB for $55 to take some profits off the table, it is now trading around $59.

     But, sometimes it will be a good idea to take some profits. For instance, I purchased CVE for around $28.50 few years ago, and it went over $34 after few months. I should have taken some profits, but I didn’t. I thought it will go even high, but it went all the way down to less than $20.

     It is extremely hard to make correct call in stock markets, so I decided to stick with long-term approach and collect growing dividends while waiting. If I need some cash or if I think fundamental changes of a company is not suitable for my investment approach or find an another good opportunity, then I will sell.

     Please discuss with a qualified financial advisor before make any investment decision.

     Best Regards,

     Reply

     • SJ says

       November 1, 2016 at 4:45 pm

       Hello again!

       Although I had been toying with the idea of taking some profits, I did also take your advice into consideration and divested my BAC shares today. And since we are sharing on your blog, quite pleased that I had a 26.88% gain on these. I held on to these for a little over 2 years.
       Most of my RRSP holdings are with a long term objective in mind. I just need to divest some DGC shares that I own too. But though my gains currently stand at 98%, I think these have a little more upside to them and I plan to get rid of these as soon as they reach the target price in my mind.
       Just thought I would share.
       Cheers!

       Reply

       • Finance Jouneny says

         November 1, 2016 at 8:52 pm

         Hello SJ,

         Thank you for sharing your ideas here. BAC seems interesting as it started to increase its dividend after a long-time. Unfortunately, I couldn’t move some cash to USD because the unfavorable exchange rate for Canadian dollar.

         DGS is not in my watch-list. Actually this is my first-time I heard about DGS. Its yield is really high.

         By the way, I sold MTY shares on Oct 31, 2016 and took profit of over $1000 (in just 9 months). I will buy again if price go down.

         Best Regards,

         Reply

8. Finance Solver says

   October 24, 2016 at 9:54 pm

   Great list. I especially like Scotiabank (for some odd reason, they had some investment bankers come up to give a presentation of the company at my school and I liked their name the most).

   Blue chip stocks are great to invest in!

   Reply

   • Finance Jouneny says

     October 25, 2016 at 6:28 pm

     Hello FS,

     Thank you for stopping by,

     I love Scotiabank too, in fact, I created my first bank account in Scotiabank a couple of years ago. It didn’t perform well for last few years, but it started to move upward in the last couple of months.

     Cheers,

     Reply

9. Jessica says

   October 22, 2016 at 3:08 pm

   Hello

   I’m wondering what brokerage are you using, is it Questrade?
   Also what US bank account you use to buy the US stocks?

   So far I have invested in Canadian stocks but I realised Canada’s market is only a tiny small portion and that’s why I am interested in investing in US market in the next couple of months.

   Thank you

   Reply

   • Finance Jouneny says

     October 25, 2016 at 6:25 pm

     Hello Jessica,

     I use Questrade and TD direct investing for my investment purpose. I don’t have any US bank account. You create a U.S dollar account in any Canadian brokerage and buy US stocks.

     I am also interested in investing in US market, but worrying about unfavorable currency exchange rate 🙁 .

     Best Regards,

     Reply

10. EJ MacIntosh says

    October 19, 2016 at 2:24 pm

    Hi again FinanceJourney. I’ve sorted my list of stock picks based on the criteria below and was sort of surprised at how well Metro did (MRU.TO). What are your thoughts on this stock as a value play (albeit with a low dividend yield of 1.35%. This yield is comparable to Saputo and yet better on P/E.
    Sorting criteria was: 1. dividend payout, 2. trailing and forward yield, 3. increasing yield, 4. beta, 5. return on equity and assets and 6. trailing P/E

    As for advice for new investors, I recommend using Tangerine mutual funds because the management fee is low and they have a solid track record, in my opinion.

    EJ-Mac.

    Reply

    • Finance Jouneny says

      October 19, 2016 at 8:03 pm

      Hello EJ,

      I like Metro (TSE: MRU.UN). I’ve been watching this stock for more 4 years. I usually buy stocks when others get fear and sell at ultra low. A few years ago, it was trading at around $19 (split-adjusted), and I set my target at $17.50 to buy and was waiting for the opportunity. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen 🙁 . The stock went all the way up & up.., so I gave up.

      MRU is one of the few stocks I missed and didn’t get opportunity to add it into my portfolio.

      Best Regards,

      Reply

11. Dejaj says

    October 19, 2016 at 11:07 am

    Rock solid collections of Canadian stocks. Interesting site with lots of good information. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

    • Finance Jouneny says

      October 19, 2016 at 7:53 pm

      Hello Dejai,

      Thank you for your comments, I personally own most the stocks mentioned in this post and they are doing really well for me…

      Cheers,

      Reply

12. Lydia says

    October 18, 2016 at 10:09 am

    I am pretty sure CNR has a higher book value than $18.99. If that were the case I would have maxed my accounts buying at that rate. I love your website and started dividend investing watching and learning from your site. Cheers

    Reply

    • Finance Jouneny says

      October 18, 2016 at 6:34 pm

      Hello Lydia,

      Thank you for your feedback.

      I just got the book value from CNR annual report (2015). Now it is slightly higher ($19.16 as of October 18, 2016). Again, as I mentioned in the post “the information is believed to be accurate and reliable when posted on this site, but we (website owner) cannot guarantee it is accurate or complete or current at all times.“.

      Best Regards,

      Reply

13. Justin says

    October 17, 2016 at 9:09 pm

    I own shares in around half of these companies, And I wouldn’t mind buying into some of the other half as well. Especially Fortis, if the price didn’t go up so high recently. And I’m also looking at Enbridge right now, as I already own their income fund.

    A good pointer in whether a Canadian dividend stock is good or not, is to also check out the stocks that be found in the RBC Canadian Dividend mutual fund. This is a fund that I’ve relied on for years before ditching the management fee, and stepping into the stock market.

    http://quote.morningstar.ca/quicktakes/fund/f_ca.aspx?t=F0CAN05O7X&region=CAN&culture=en-CA

    Good quality stocks can be found in there, much like your suggestions.

    Reply

    • Finance Jouneny says

      October 18, 2016 at 6:39 pm

      Hello Justin,

      Thank you for stopping by,

      I love Fortis and Enbridge stocks. I recently added small position in Fortis, and I will discuss about in my next portfolio update. And, I think I have enough ENB stocks (250 shares), and it is one of the biggest holding in my Canadian portfolio as of Today (Oct 18, 2016). So, I may not add new shares for now.

      Thank you for sharing RBC fund information. I am so glad that I have all those top 10 stocks in the list.

      Best Regards,

      Reply

14. Eric Lam says

    October 3, 2016 at 3:34 pm

    I am currently a young investor who recently bought $2600 worth of shares in 5 sectors. Enbridge, Manulife, Saputo, Magna international, and RioCan. I was looking to expand my portfolio by roughly $500 per month in order to be disciplined and of course do so if my budget allows it. I have been closely monitoring ETFs. Any suggestions for sectors I may have overlooked or missed? I would love to diversify my portfolio a little more in order to minimize losses and perhaps achieve larger gains. I am also aware that you don’t give out financial advice….but at the end of the day, it’s simply advice people. Take it or leave it as you will, be smart. I’m welcome to suggestions from anyone on here. Thank You 🙂

    Reply

    • Eric Lam says

      October 3, 2016 at 3:37 pm

      I also forgot to mention. I plan to invest long term.

      Reply

      • Remi says

        January 25, 2017 at 9:24 pm

        Eric, I suggest you look at EQB. equitable bank is a very nice company. I have 100k in it and the sister company hcg. Home capital. Obviously, I think they are good at these level 60-70 for equitable and under 40 for home capital.

        Reply

    • Finance Jouneny says

      October 3, 2016 at 9:41 pm

      Hello Eric,

      Thank you for stopping by,

      As you know, it is little hard to diversity your investments in Canada alone. You may consider looking some high quality stocks in U.S and international as well.

      For my portfolio, I’ve divided my holdings into 15 different categories (checkout one of the posts here: https://www.financejourney.com/category/portfolio-updates/) and set target assets allocations for each category. You may take this as a jumping point to do for further research.

      As I always say – educate yourself, do further research OR get professional helps before make any investment decisions.

      I hope this helps,

      Best Regards,

      Reply

15. Will says

    September 24, 2016 at 8:01 am

    Hi.

    I noticed banks have gone up huge since the start of the year but the financial/insurance companies such as POW, PWF , and GWO are on the lower end of the 52 week. This might be a good opportunity for higher future with attractive dividend yields.

    A few stocks that i own and have made me a little bit of money on are

    Chartwell retirement residences REIT
    Riocan REIT
    Genworth
    Northland Power.
    CN Rail

    What are your thoughts on these stocks?

    Also a website you might like

    http://www.longrundata.com

    Reply

    • Finance Jouneny says

      September 24, 2016 at 11:59 pm

      Hello Will,

      Thank you for stopping by,

      I recently purchased PWF in $30 range, we will see how they perform. We have some similar stock selection in our portfolio. I missed Chartwell when it was trading at $12 few months ago and I sold NPI too early as I have enough utilities stocks. Both Chartwell and Northland Power share prices went all the way up afterwards.

      Thank you for sharing the site, it is very interesting site.

      Best Regards,

      Reply

16. Norman L. Ocampo says

    September 14, 2016 at 3:39 am

    i am a Filipino emigrating to Canada this coming year, i have already some stock investment in the Philippines, i would like to invest in the stock market in TMX can you give me some advice on the Canadian blue chips company?

    Reply

    • Finance Jouneny says

      September 15, 2016 at 4:54 pm

      Hello Norman,

      Welcome to Canada!

      Actually I don’t give any stock advise. I’m not a licensed financial advisor, and I am just a anonymous blogger sharing about my own finance journey. Please use this list of Canadian blue-chip stocks as a starting point and do further research before make any investment decision.

      Best of luck!

      Reply

17. BRUCE FORBES says

    August 26, 2016 at 9:46 am

    I’VE JUST SOLD MY HOUSE IN THE VANCOUVER AREA AND HAVE DOWN SIZED. I’M NOW SEMI RETIRED AND WOULD LIKE TO INVEST IN BLUE CHIP STOCKS WITH FUNDS FROM THE PROCEEDS LEFT OVER. MY FINANCIAL PLANNER WANTS TO INVEST IN MUTUAL FUNDS WITH VERY LOW RETURNS. I BELIEVE I SHOULD BE ABLE TO RECEIVE HIGHER RETURNS THRU OTHER INVESTMENTS. ANY SUGGESTIONS?

    Reply

    • Finance Jouneny says

      August 29, 2016 at 9:37 pm

      Hello Bruce,

      Thank you for stopping by,

      To be honest, I am not a financial expert. I just share my journey here so readers can learn something from my mistakes and success. I would suggest you NOT to get a financial advise from anonymous bloggers like me.

      I would say do more research, discuss with qualified financial people or friends before make any investment decision.

      Best Regards,

      Reply

    • Erin says

      September 9, 2016 at 5:43 pm

      I also suggest not getting a financial advisor. In regards to what to do, it depends on how much risk you want to assume. For older or retired investors, people generally recommend less risk. Warren Buffett says you should invest in an ETF (exchange traded fund) rather than going with a mutual fund because they perform much better overall and there are no fees. If you are willing to take on more risk, you may want to look at the emerging marijuana sector. A lot of people seem to think it is a good buying opportunity right now. My partner and I have made a lot of money on these stocks over the last 6 months, but, it all depends on getting in at the right time — which is hard to predict. These stocks fluctuate quite a bit, so, not for the faint of heart. But you could always invest a bit in more aggressive-type stocks and put the bulk in something with a lower risk profile. Good luck!

      Source ~ individual investor / personal opinion

      Reply

      • Erin says

        September 9, 2016 at 5:47 pm

        Oops, read the above (blogger’s) response wrong. Anyway, those are my thoughts 🙂 . Interesting blog!

        Reply

18. Joash says

    June 28, 2016 at 12:02 pm

    Hello,

    What is your take on Manulife Financial (TSE: MFC) after the Brexit vote. Should I pour more money into this company? I already have around 35 shares.

    Thanks,
    Joash

    Reply

    • Finance Jouneny says

      July 4, 2016 at 9:52 am

      Hello Joash,

      I have 100 shares of MFC, I am not going to make any changes in my portfolio because of Brexit. In my view, it is another short term issue. It doesn’t make any sense for long-term investors.

      Best Regards,

      Reply

    • JZ says

      October 15, 2016 at 2:10 pm

      Hi Joash,

      MFC seems like a good dividend yielder if you purchased at some low price. However, its price has been struggling since the financial crisis in 08. I think a couple of reasons:
      1. The North American insurance market is sort of saturated, it’s hard to increase sales.
      2. Low interest rate is the enemy of insurance company. As long as interest rate remains low, it will be hard for MFC to go back to its pre-08 level.

      You will probably benefit from MFC if you hold for long term (10yr+), and events like Brexit is probably a good entry point.

      JZ

      Reply

      • Finance Jouneny says

        October 17, 2016 at 6:53 pm

        Hello JZ,

        Thank you for the great advise. I love to hear some feedback from readers like you.

        I have couple of interest rate sensitive stocks in my portfolio, so I added some insurance stocks to protect my portfolio from rate hike. My main purpose is collecting dividends.

        Best Regards,

        Reply

        • JZ says

          October 18, 2016 at 10:13 pm

          Hi FJ,

          Nice move! Interest rate won’t stay low all the time, it has to go up, only question is when. Considering it’s been low for the past couple of years, it’s probably a good idea to load up now, especially if your goal is to collect premiums.

          Too bad that there are few insurance companies in Canada to choose from, I’m also waiting patiently to buy some insurance stocks at acceptable prices.

          Good luck!
          JZ

          Reply

          • Finance Jouneny says

            October 19, 2016 at 7:49 pm

            Hello JZ,

            I like Sunlife, but it looks pretty high now. So, I am looking south of border to buy some quality one.

            Best Regards,

19. Pat says

    March 22, 2016 at 4:12 pm

    Greetings Finance Journal,

    Im a young guy and am beginning to try my luck at investing in stocks to grow long term wealth through dividends. I’m starting out by budgeting myself with $5000 to play around with and to get my feet wet then gradually add to my portfolio as I become more comfortable.
    My startegy is to pick up blue-chip stocks, diversify my portfolio, and hang on for the long term. Of my total $5000 dollars, what do you think is a good ratio to maintain in terms of how much percentage of my capital is invested in each sector?

    Thanks!

    Reply

    • Finance Jouneny says

      April 2, 2016 at 11:29 am

      Hello Pat,

      I am so glad that you decided to invest in young age. In your age, many people take high risk by trading penny stocks and investing high flying stocks and loose their capital, but you are making right decision in investing in blue-chip stocks dividend paying for long term.

      Diversification is the key to minimize risk and maximize the return. Also, you should consider commission fees when you buy many different stocks. You may consider few options:

      1. Invest your money into one or two diversified ETFs which hold high quality dividend stocks. You could buy ETFs without paying commission in some online brokerages.
      2. Begin to buy one stock in each sector (may be invest $1000 or $500 for each stocks) and continue diversify your portfolio using putting new capital and dividend income.

      As I always say, please discuss with your financial advisor before invest your hard earn money. Also, educate yourself by reading good books and other financial blogs. One of the best ways to learn is follow a very successful investor like Warren Buffett.

      Best Regards,

      Reply

      • Pat says

        April 12, 2016 at 11:49 am

        Thats exactly what I’ve done! Appreciate the reply and thanks for sharing your jorney with the public. I’ll be following and rooting for ya!

        Reply

        • Finance Jouneny says

          April 13, 2016 at 8:49 pm

          You’re welcome Pat, best of luck for your success.

          Cheers,

          Reply

20. Laura says

    January 17, 2016 at 9:49 am

    I am a single mom in my 40s.
    I have small amount I want to save for retirement with no debt were is vest place to invest with minim am risk

    Reply

    • Finance Jouneny says

      January 23, 2016 at 11:09 pm

      Hello Laura,

      Thank you for stopping by,

      Every investment comes with some sort of risks. For my knowledge, there are no risk free investment. I would suggest you to discuss with a quality financial adviser, rather getting advise by some anonymous online person like me.

      Also, you should educate yourself by reading some good books about money management and investment. They are really worth for the time.

      Best regards,

      Reply

21. Chris says

    May 14, 2014 at 1:26 pm

    PJC.A is a great health care stock, no debt with lots of cash, you may add it this list.

    Reply

    • S Arun says

      May 14, 2014 at 9:29 pm

      Thank you Chris for sharing the idea,

      PJC.A looks interesting. I will certainly include this stock in the update .

      Cheers,

      Reply