I love dividends. In fact, I could not balance my books without them. Dividends keep my retirement world spinning comfortably. Today, I read a piece on the highest yielding stocks on the TSX. I was amazed at how many of these stocks many retired seniors have in their income portfolios. The following is a partial list:
- BCE Inc
- Telus Corp
- Enbridge Inc
- TC Energy Corp
- Bank of Nova Scotia
- Power Corp of Canada
- Cogeco Communications Inc
- Bank of Montreal
- Pembina Pipeline
- Brookfield Infrastructure PA
- Toronto Dominion Bank
- Algonquin Power & Utilities
- Nutrien
- Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
- Fortis Inc
- National Bank of Canada
- Altagas Ltd
- Royal Bank
- Brookfield Corp
I own, or have owned, almost all of the above at one time or another in my retirement portfolio. I lost a lot of my investment cash by owning any telecom, but especially BCE and Telus, but I have no doubt that the prices will recover. In the meantime, I will be collecting very nice dividends from each telecom in my portfolio.
Pipelines have been solid performers when it comes to dividends but they, like the telecoms, have gone through a very down period. Luckily, all my pipelines seem to be recovering nicely. If and when the pipelines retreat, I would buy if I did not have my investment goals already filled.
The Canadian banks have been long term favourites among retiree investors. Today the banks are on a roll. This means the yield is down today but if you bought low you are enjoying a good dividend plus a nice pop on your principal. For many of us, the banks have been a win-win proposition.
Utilities are another investment favoured by Canadian retirees. I got into both Fortis and Emera at the urging of a retired friend. Algonquin Power was my own decision. I blew it. I bought too early. Today, two dividend reductions later, Algonquin is looking like a buy and hold. Watch for a price lower than $7 and then check why it is down and if it not a serious issue, buy and hold. Algonquin holds promise when held into the long term.
The market is well off its lows today. In fact, it is hitting new highs. I refuse to advise timing the market but my gut tells me if there was ever a time to time the market that time is now. I confess, I am growing my cash holdings in anticipation of a correction. I also confess that I have been wrong before.