personal finance

Almost 5 years pass since I begin to be involved in the Canadian stocks market (TSX). At first, I was investing in it indirectly through mutual funds. My first real investment was made in 2005 at Caisse populaire Desjardins, which is largest financial cooperative group in Canada. At the early beginning, I invested 1 000$ in Desjardins Fidelity True North Fund. It's all started when I first was looking for a solution for my RRSP. After some search, it's only at that time that I discover the existence of mutual funds, at the age 25. I made the discovery at a not too young age, but it was still at an early stage in my search for financial freedom. Even if I would have learned about mutual funds earlier in my life, I wouldn't have the opportunity to invest in those products anyway as one important thing was missing: money. From the age of 25 to 28, I mostly invested in mutual funds and GICs. Among my favorite mutual funds, we find, of course Desjardins Fidelity True North Fund, but also RBC Global Resources Fund, RBC O'Shaughnessy Canadian Equity Fund and, not the last, Creststreet Alternative Energy Fund.

The early years

The period of 2005-2008 had been a rough road for me, financially speaking. During those years, the Canadian stocks market had its ups and downs and its been terribly difficult for me to actually make money from my investment as the gains made never last for long. I wasn't able to make valuable money from my mutual funds or any of my investments during the 2005-2008 periods. And here, I am not even talking about 2009, which had been the worst year even. Let's say that since 2005, I had experiment the market volatility. And back in 2007, I started a blog title My first 50 000$. It gave me the opportunity to share my experience with investments.

Even in darkness, one exceptional mutual fund had made a difference in my portfolio. It's the Creststreet Alternative Energy Fund, manage by the investment management firm Creststreet, located in Toronto. I first invest 1 000$ in this magical fund on March 18, 2009. Only 3 months later, the value of the investment have increase to 1 069$. In those recession times, it's quite exciting to be able to make money from at least one mutual fund.

Because of my low income, I generally invest less than 5 000$ at a time in each transaction. I generally operate through banks or my broker account. Back in 2008, I open my first broker account with TD Waterhouse, after reading The Lazy Investor by Derek Foster. My first "TSX investment" ever made was 500 stocks of Sprott Asset Management (SII), a firm who manage mutual funds. SII has an annual dividend of 10 cents per stock.

In market volatility, for small investors like me, I figure out that the easiest way to make money from my investments was from stock dividends. By the end of 2009, with my current investments, it's 1 300$ I will be able to earn directly from my dividends. My goal is to reach 2 000$ in dividend earnings by the end of the summer and if not possible, by the end of 2009. In the whole investment deal, I think the best is always to fix some possible realistic goal in order to keep motivate. My current goal is quite realistic as I am only currently missing 700$ in dividend earnings to reach the magic 2 000$.

For the future

I plan to acquire new stocks and invest in different companies. I am register to an automatic dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP) and my dividend earnings help me to acquire new shares every month. I benefit from the program with Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), Methanex Corporation (MX), Fortis (FTS), Pengrowth Energy Trust (PGF.UN), Livingston International Income Fund (LIV.UN) and Pembina Pipeline Income Fund (PIF.UN). So far, my experience with investment had been extremely positive as am continuously learning along the way.

In a very close future, my next investment will be 200 units of Energy Savings Income Fund (SIF.UN) that I plan to acquire during the second week of May 2009. This investment will increase my dividend earnings by 248$ as SIF.UN annual dividend is of 1.24$. After what, my yearly 2009 dividend earnings will reach 1 580$. After what, I will only be missing 452$ in dividends money to reach my goal. Only a few steps will be needed to reach my goal. In my case, dividend earnings had been a salary booster and it's represent a reasonable way to make money from my investment.

After now 5 years, I plan to reach my investment goal in 2010. For 2010, I plan to reach my first 50 000$ value in investments. My road to reach financial freedom and health will have been long and tough, but also full of joy and happiness.