August 2023 Dividend Income Update

calendar Sep 2, 2023 · 3 min read · Dividend Income Update
Photo by Micheile Henderson on Unsplash

I can’t believe summer is almost over. It felt like only yesterday that the weather was getting warm. I didn’t get as much done this summer as I had hoped. The weather had been unpredictable, sometimes too hot and sometimes too rainy. During these past few months, I have not invested new money into the market. The recent increases in interest rates made high-interest savings account (HISA) rates competitive. I’m getting close to 6% in interest on HISA accounts and GICs. The stock market has been on a tear, up double-digits year-to-date. But how much of that is attributable to a few large tech stocks?

The big 6 Canadian banks reported earnings recently and it has been a mixed bag. The demand for loans is high even with high interest rates. But at the same time, that leads to higher provisions for credit losses (PCLs). Only time will tell whether those PCLs will be returned to the balance sheets. In the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), real estate transactions have been all over the place, year-over-year increasing in some months and declining in some months. But so far it seems like the number of transactions year-to-date has declined since last year. There was a corner lot house on my street that sold for under asking and less than I thought it would go for. So maybe that’s a signal that the housing market is starting to cool off.

In August, I received a total of $2,634 in dividends and interest. I earned a cumulative passive income of $27,081 this year. For comparison, I earned a cumulative passive income of $18,354 this time last year. At the end of 2022, I earned $31,566 in passive income. Of the dividends received this month, $2,201 was earned in my taxable account.

As a reminder, I convert any USD amount to CAD using the month-end exchange rate published by the Bank of Canada. For August 2023, I used an exchange rate of 1.3531.

Account Income
Cash $960
Margin $1,241
Retirement $433
Total $2,634


I received dividends from the following stocks and ETFs in August:

  • AbbVie Inc (ABBV)
  • Apple Inc (AAPL)
  • CT Real Estate Investment Trust (CRT.UN.TO)
  • Emera Inc (EMA.TO)
  • Global X High Interest Savings ETF (CASH.TO)
  • Granite Real Estate Investment Trust (GRT.UN.TO)
  • Mastercard Inc (MA)
  • National Bank of Canada (NA.TO)
  • Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO)
  • Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index ETF (BSV)
  • WisdomTree Floating Rate Treasury Fund (USFR)

I purchased shares of the following stocks and ETFs in August:

  • Discover Financial Services (DFS)

I purchased shares of Discover Financial Services (DFS) due to an exercised put option. I’m underwater on it and am actively working to make a profit. In the meantime, I am collecting dividends.

How did your month go? Did you buy or sell any stocks or ETFs?

Dividend Income