Optimism #89 - July 3, 2025
Dear clients and friends, just a quick blurb this time.
Happy belated Canada Day.
Susan in Victoria said her health expenses are being audited, yet again. I tell her it’s nothing personal and 1 in 5 get audited regularly.
She has ‘a few grocery bags full of receipts’ and learned that a pharmacy will print a single detailed summary for us upon request. She wanted you to know.
The market has had an exceptional quarter. It continues to climb this never ending wall of worry. You will be pleased with your statements.
South of the border, that big bill was recently passed. I am getting some questions about it, but I honestly have no idea how it will affect our portfolios.
Markets hit new record highs the same day. Gold, my ‘worry index’, is slowly falling in price.
What exactly to make of it all I don’t know, but in the past, we have been rewarded for ignoring the noise.
Every time we meet with our Portfolio Managers we should be talking about the time horizon of our investments. When do we need the money back?
I’m not talking about the income we draw from our portfolios, that is different. I am referring to the capital, or principal if you prefer.
If it’s less than five years away, that should be built into the asset allocation.
We have a 10% dividend increase at Empire, the owner of Canada Safeway and Sobeys.
John Heinzl has a model portfolio of dividend growing stocks that he started October 1st, 2017 and writes about in the Globe and Mail. Interesting that after almost eight years and a return of 8.7% annually, the portfolio is at $190,393. It holds the same banks, utilities etc that most of you do.
Including reinvested dividends, it’s almost doubled in less than 8 years. I think that is impressive.
Someone calling themselves ‘dividendology’ posted this on Instagram and it stuck with me:
Imagine playing monopoly and never buying any assets or investments that generate income.
Imagine you just went around collecting $200, giving your money to the rich and trying to stay out of jail.
That is how most people live their life.
Have a wonderful summer.
Derek Moran
