Dear Nancy Woods,
I am working on helping my 18-year-old daughter start an investment portfolio. Could you tell me where we could find a complete list of Canadian dividend-paying stocks?
Signed Michael
Dear Michael,
You can find a lot of information on dividend stocks on the Globe Investor site by signing up for Watchlist, its new portfolio-tracking tool. It takes only a few moments and then you'll be able to see all sorts of useful data when you enter in a stock symbol, such as dividend per share, yield, dividend payout ratio, dividend growth, ex-dividend dates, rates, total return and much more.
Whether you sign up for Watchlist or not, you can find dividend stock ideas by going to the Globe Investor funds page, and click on fund selector. Under the Asset Class dropdown, select Canadian Dividend and Income Equity option. Hit "go" and you will see a list of mutual funds. Scan through the funds and look at the top 10 holdings.
You should start to see a pattern of stocks. This will give you specific ones to look to, to invest in if you want to purchase individually. Depending on the amount, it may make sense for her to buy a mutual fund. You can periodically purchase more shares as you want. There are the varying MER costs that you want to be aware of as well. This information is also available on the Globe Investor site.
If she doesn't need the income, I suggest you have the dividends re-invested. The power of compounding will benefit her in the long run.
(Editor's note: For more information, click here for a video from John Heinzl on how to find Canadian dividend stocks that have a strong track record of boosting dividends.)
Nancy Woods, CIM, FCSI, is an associate portfolio manager and investment adviser with RBC Dominion Securities Inc. To ask her a question, send an e-mail to asknancy@rbc.com or visit her web site at nancywoods.com
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Nancy Woods