Dividends and Passive Income for April 2012

Dividends and passive income for April 2012 was close to $600.  This was contributed mainly from selling off my Pacific Andes rights and collecting the dividends that were also paid out by Pacific Andes.  Pacific Andes is a stock that I have been holding for some time now but I just did not feel comfortable taking a bigger position so I did not subscribe to the rights issue.

The rest of the money actually comes from the monthly dividends that I receive from Gamco Global Gold and Natural Resources Trust (previously called Gabelli but now re-named as Gamco).  GGN (the stock ticker symbol) provides me with $30+ dollars per month.  That is after the 30% withholding tax deduction which is quite huge if you ask me.

Nevertheless, I am satisfied with April 2012's dividends and passive income received. May 2012 should also be a good month for me.

[17 May 2012 Update:  Actual dividends for April was actually above $700.  Realised that I underestimated the dividends and sale of rights arising from Pac Andes]

Innotek Dividends and Ex Dividend Share Price

I have been holding Innotek for a few years now and am pleased that it had recently announced that it would be paying out 5 cents in dividends per share again for this year.  Innotek has been paying out dividends consistently over the past few years that I have owned this stock.  Anyway, Innotek was trading at around 49 cents cum dividend but once it wend ex dividend (XD) yesterday, the share price fell by almost 7.5 cents to 41.5 cents.  This shows that it will be hard to apply any dividend capture strategy.

Dividends and Rights Issue

Being a very analytical sort of person, I cannot really understand why listed companies will have a rights issue while also declaring dividends at almost the same time.   My simple mind tells me that rights issue is to access capital while issuing dividends is almost akin to giving away money.  So why ask for more money when you are giving away money at the same time?

Anyone cares to explain?  Speaking about Pacific Andes here.

Dividends from Suntec REIT and First REIT

Received dividends of $24.79 from Suntec REIT and $193 from First REIT.  Not a bad month in terms of dividends considering that I also collected some dividends from Ascott REIT and Gamco just a few days back.

Dividends from Ascott REIT and Gamco Global

Received dividends of $609.45 from Ascott REIT and $31.59 from Gamco Global Gold & Natural Resources Trust.  Not bad for the month of February.

Will probably be looking at reinvesting the dividends into some other REIT.  There are quite a few REITs and I am thinking of diversifying across the various sectors (e.g. industrial, commercial, residential, hospitals, hospitality , etc).

Will probably need to give it further thought.

Retiring on Dividend Earnings

All investors like to make a return on their investment, and stock dividends give a great return on your investment. There is no guarantee of dividend payment, but it is unusual for most companies not to pay out every year. Investors can use these dividend payments to fund an expansion in their portfolio or just take the money out.

Most companies that are doing well issue dividends to shareholders annually, but this depends on the company being successful. If a company exceeds targets it can pay a larger dividend and if it is struggling it can cancel the dividend payments completely.

What are Dividends?

Dividends are a bonus paid out of profits to shareholders, with a small amount paid to the holder of each stock. For investors with a small stake and few shares it might not amount to much, but it can add up for large shareholders. Pension schemes and other large investors use this income to supplement the proceeds of their investments, and you can use them in the same way to help fund your retirement without having to sell your shares.

In fact, many investors use the dividend yield of a stock to help influence their buying decisions. One trading theory is that a high dividend yield indicates that the stock is selling cheap and might increase in the future. This can make it a desirable investment, but investors should take care to ensure that the company is not falling on hard times.

The size and frequency of any dividend payments are issued to stockholders when the company files its accounts. These should be issued to all shareholders, who can use them to see how their investment is performing.

Using Dividends

While you are working and amassing shares to build a nest egg, it makes sense to invest the dividends back into buying more shares. This is a great way to increase your stock portfolio without having to spend any of your own money.

Alternatively, people use the dividend payments to pay for the nice things in life. They spend the money to pay for a holiday, a new car or anything else they might need a lump sum to pay for.

In Retirement

Once you retire, you can continue to use dividends in exactly the same way as you did previously. However, most retired people are on a reduced income and might even struggle to survive on their pension. For these people, the extra income that comes from the dividends certainly makes life a lot easier. It is important, however not to rely on these dividends as the companies can decide not to issue them at any time. Shareholders should treat them as a bonus rather than part of their income.

For most retired people, it makes sense to hold onto any investment in the stock market for as long as they can afford to. The long term benefit to their income from the dividends might very well outweigh the short-term gains from selling the stock and living off the proceeds.

First REIT and Ascott REIT Declare Dividends

First REIT just declared distribution/dividends of 1.93 cents per share.  A quick look at First REIT's dividend history gives me some sort of confidence to enter this REIT again.  I had previously sold off my entire shareholdings in it but have recently entered into it again buying 10 lots of it recently.  Since the distribution is paid quarterly, it looks like I will be receiving a small bonus every 3 months.  Not too bad for some passive income.  Based on my 10,000 shares, I figure that I will be receiving around $193 for Feb 2012.

Ascott REIT had also declared their semi annual dividends of slightly over 4 cents per share.  I currently hold 15 lots in Ascott REIT so that should also provide me with a neat sum of around $600 for Feb 2012.

I am also still waiting for my dividends from Gamco Global Gold Trust (GGN).  This is a monthly dividend stock and though the dividend is paid on 24 Jan, I figure that I will only receive the cheque in late Jan or early Feb.

Monthly Dividend Stock - Gamco Global Gold Natural Resources (GGN)

Just bought 200 shares of Gamco Global Gold Natural Resources (GGN) on the US stock exchange.  It is a stock that provides monthly dividends.  Yes, not many people are aware that there are stock that actually pay out monthly dividends.  The monthly dividends is around US$0.14 per month.  Anyway, it is only a small investment  and I will probably invest more if I have spare cash.

GGN was previously named Gabelli Global Gold Natural Resources before the recent name change to Gamco Global Gold Natural Resources.

Dividends and Passive Income for Nov 2011

Have been too busy lately to write..  But thought I should just check in to say "hi" to readers.  It has been a busy month both at work and at play for me.

Dividends and passive income for the month of Nov 2011 was around $300.  Couldn't be bothered to do the conversion of USD to SGD but I figure it should be somewhere there.  Managed to renew some ad space on my sites so that helped to boost the income a little.

I have also been thinking a bit more seriously about the charities that I ought to be giving to.  Some days,  I just feel like I have been blessed with so much and I really have not much need for so much money.  After all, there is only so much one can eat, and spend money on.  There is just a numbing effect to spending so much money.  It doesn't give me great pleasure or happiness anymore.  Well, in the past , retail therapy was something that I subscribed to.  But nowadays, I lead a simple life and I am pretty content with simple food and a simple lifestyle.

Right now, I am just waiting for Christmas to come.  Can't believe that it is now the end of the year.  And another whole new year awaits me.

Wishing all readers an advance Blessed Christmas!

Bought Ascott REIT

Bought another 3 lots of Ascott REITs (@$1.065) after I realised that I have not been investing in the stock market a lot.  Thought that it will be good to add to my current portfolio considering the amount of spare cash sitting in the bank that is not earning much interest anyway.  That brings my total exposure to Ascott REITs to 15 lots.  Have been enjoying the dividends over the past few years and hopefully, the dividends that come in will not fail to disappoint me.

August was good in terms of dividends received but September has been pretty quiet.  Other than a Adsense cheque that I received, have not received much passive income.  Can definitely do better for the future.

How to Earn Extra Cash & The Hidden Difficulties

I read with interest a certain article on AsiaOne that gave ten ways on how one could earn extra cash.  The article was well written but I wasn't too sure how helpful it was to people who actually read it.  I mean what was listed down was really ten ways to earn extra cash but I guess the difference really lies in how difficult it is to make extra cash (especially if one holds a full-time job) and also what I would term as the "work-reward" ratio (i.e. how much work you have to put in versus the magnitude of the earnings/reward).

For example, babysitting was listed down as one of the ways to earn extra cash.  Sure, this advice applies well to stay-at-home mums but even if $1000 is paid out for you to babysit a child for all weekdays throughout a month, is it a worthwhile effort?  Likewise, Adsense was listed down as one of the ways but seriously, how long does it take for a newbie to earn $1000 through Adsense?

Why it is probably easier to babysit 

These are difficult questions and will probably require difficult answers.  But looking at it, I can safely tell you that it will be easier for most people to earn $1000/month doing babysitting compared to earning $1000/year from Adsense.  And the context is really important.  And the reason for this apparent difficulty or disparity lies in a really simple answer that probably plagues many of Singapore's local businesses too:  Singapore is too small.

Imagine an American blogger.  With a total resident population in the United States of 300 over million people and a high internet penetration rate, it is fairly easy for this American blogger to reach out to his target group of audience (i.e. customers) in America.  Even if he was only able to capture % of the audience per day, that will amount to 3 million readers per day already.  The same Singaporean blogger has no such luck.  If he managed to reach out to 1% of the residents per day, it only amounts to 50,000 readers.  Of course, the 1% target is really arbitary but it shows that for the same amount of effort, the Singapore blogger (with his/her Singaporean content only interesting to the locals) is placed at a severe disadvantage.

The Solution?

Well, the solution actually seems pretty straightfoward.  Go global!  Blog about things that the global audience can identify with and relate to.  But this is challenging and extremely difficult.  Unless you know what the global audience wants to read, you will probably find it extremely difficult to build up a site that will be visited by visitors.  This is not to mention the language barrier, culture barrier, and other impediments that you face.  And one can safely say that most people who try to eke out a living on the internet will rarely succeed.  But that being said, it is not entirely impossible.  There are good Singaporean bloggers who are making a living through their blogs.

How to Earn Extra Cash Passively

So I will give my own version of what I think is one good way to earn extra cash passively without much effort on your part.  . Well, surprisingly, I have found out that passive income is sometimes much easier to earn than active income (e.g. blogging).  I have earned a lot more from dividends paid out from stocks/shares I own compared to any other area.  Of course, this pre-supposes that one has sufficient capital to invest in stocks that pay out a good yield.  But this method has worked for me and has brought me fairly stable returns without me having to do a single thing.  Talk about earning extra cash without putting in much effort!

Of course, not all is rosy and one must expect that there could be a possibility of the dividends being cut or the share price dropping.  Nonetheless, dividends probably ranks pretty high up in my list of "How to Earn Extra Cash".

Added Alpine Global Dynamic Fund to Portfolio

During the recent market crash, I managed to buy into Alpine Global Dynamic Fund (AGD listed on the NYSE) for a price of US$5.64. This is one of those monthly dividend stocks and the dividends for the next few months is at US$0.06 per share. Not a bad yield considering my purchase price. This should add to my passive income stream quite a fair bit over the next few months.

Dividends for May 2011 from Innotek, China Aviation Oil and Capitaland

May seems to be a good month in terms of dividends. I have not been investing much over the years but my stock portfolio does give me good dividends from time to time.

Received some dividends from my shareholdings in Innotek, China Aviation Oil and Capitaland. The total amount received was to the tune of $1070. Perhaps it is time to reward myself with some good food over the weekend.

$790 Dividends for March 2011

March 2011 is gone. April is here. A new month. Collected almost $800 worth of dividends for March 2011. That has perhaps been my highest thus far for the year. Have been looking to add more dividend stocks lately but also wary about the market conditions now.

I have been toying with this concept for the longest time but have always put it off and procrastinated. What happens if I manage to invest a large percentage of my monthly salary into REITs or dividend paying stocks and then reinvest the dividends that I receive? Will I become financially free within 10 years?

Dividends for March 2011

Received dividends from a few of the REITs that I have been holding. Total amount of dividends collected adds up to $278. Not really a lot. But guess it is better than nothing.

Have been pretty weary the past few weeks. Running about and busying myself with things that do not really matter. But they still need to be done. Weekends always seem to come and go so fast. And then the new week comes. Hardly feel rested at all.

Week after week just seems to pass and it does not seem that much has been accomplished. Already, we are into the 3rd month of 2011 but I don't really have a clearer picture of where I am actually headed in life. It is really just living day by day and week by week.

Bonuses and Dividends - Dec 2010

End of the year. Have received nice bonuses and also some dividends from certain stocks that I hold. What should I do with the money? I haven't really decided yet but it will most likely be saved, spent and also given away. But majority should be put into savings based on my current estimates.

It looks like I will end the year on a high too. The stock market is recovering, and everything has been going well. Perhaps it is time to pamper myself and the family.

Or perhaps it is time to buy some stocks. Do check out OCBC's Market Strategy for 2011 as well as Phillip Capital

I wonder what stocks people are looking at for 2011. Time to do my compilation once again.

Work has been busy and I can't wait for the Christmas break to come!

Great Weekend - $200 in Dividends

One of the real estate investment trusts (REITs) just gave out dividends 2 days back. Received a nice lovely sum of $200. Not a lot but enough for me to buy a few items for myself that I like.

I have also received over USD$250 from selling some adspace on my blogs. This is still stuck in my paypal account as I have no idea how to transfer it out to my bank account yet.

The weekend has been great thus far. Lots of lazing around and trying to figure out what I want to get out of my life. Been thinking about this a little more the past few weeks.

Today is a hot day so we are staying indoors most probably. The family is taking its afternoon nap but I do hope to be able to go out and get some fresh air, clear my head, and get myself all geared up for the new week ahead.

Diversifying Streams of Income - Passivity the Key

I have been trying to diversify the various streams of income that I currently get.

I have my earned income from my 9 to 5 job. This is the most hard earned income as I literally have to work hard to earn it. Any day I stop going to work means that I stop earning money literally. In this time and age with the retirement age set at 62, I need to find some kind of work that will allow me to work beyond the official retirement age.

I have dividends from my stocks and real estate investment trusts (REITs). Sold off my Canadian Royalty Trusts (Canroys) some time back so I no longer am able to get those monthly cheques which were wonderful to get.

Online ad revenue has also been kind to me as I have managed to sell certain spaces on my blogs for cool sums of money. It is sometimes quite amazing how I have managed to diversify the various streams of income. From relying solely on Adsense to other alternative sources.

I have been toying the idea of starting a business but still do not have a concrete idea what to sell. It needs to be something really easy to set up and which requires minimum effort on my part. It doesn't have to bring in much, maybe just few dollars a month.

What I realised is this: Once I open up another stream of income, I become surer of myself and somehow will be able to slowly turn on the taps and increase that stream till it turns out to be a sizeable stream.

I will keep all updated once I have managed to seek out that additional source of passive income.

Stay tune!

Dividends and Passive Income (Aug 2010)

Received some dividends from my holdings in certain real estate investment trusts (REITs).

The following 2 REITs paid out distributions for the month of Aug 2010:

1. Ascott REIT ($423.60)
2. Suntec REIT ($25.28)

Total passive income and dividends for Aug 2010 = $448.88

It seems that dividends are still the main source of passive income for me as I do not have any money generating businesses or stuff to provide me with more passive income.

Dividends from Innotek and Suntec REIT

I received another round of dividends into my bank account over the past week.

These includes:

1. Innotek = $750.00
2. Suntec REIT = $25.13

Including the dividends that I have received from Capitaland, KingBoard and China Aviation Oil previously:

3. Capitaland = $315.00
4. Kingboard = $62.02
5. China Aviation Oil = $140.00

Total dividends received for the month of May 2010 is $1292.15

I guess this can be treated as my mid-year bonus =)