Welcome to my Weekly Recap January 12th Edition where I discuss some of the key events of the past week and provide an update on what I’m doing with my finances. This week it’s all about Stocks, Debt and Tax Free Savings.
Just a quick disclaimer here: I’m not a financial advisor, the strategies presented here are what I do for my own financial situation. Please remember to consult a financial advisor before doing anything that I mention in this post. Also this post contains affiliate links. As an affiliate of Questrade, Tangerine and EQ Bank this blog receives a small commission on any sign up.
Stock Market and Investing Update
After a horrendous 2018 the stock market seems to be bottoming out. Lots of financial experts are saying that Canada’s stock market, the TSX (or TMX), is really cheap. I’ve been saying that for months as blue chip dividend stocks – once the darlings of investors – were destroyed.
For the income investor this market meltdown has created lots of good opportunities to buy cheap dividend stocks and get a great yield. Not since 2015-2016 has these stocks – especially bank stocks – been so cheap. Week after week I reported to you guys how I was throwing everything I could into the market – even as it continued to go down. Markets can fall very fast, but they can recover fast too. So I just try to buy the sale and enjoy the eventual rebound.
Tax Free Savings: 2019 TFSA Top Up
It’s the start of a new year which means it’s time to contribute to the Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA). For those of you who do not use the TFSA to build wealth, check out my post on the TFSA and how to become a TFSA Millionaire. This year’s TFSA limit is $6,000! Now I had a lot of expenses last year so I wasn’t able to save up anything. But I do have dividend stocks in a non registered, taxable trading account.
Lucky for me both the taxable account and the TFSA is at Questrade. If you’ve never heard of Questrade you can Read my Review HERE. By having my TFSA and taxable trading account at one financial institution, I can easily transfer between the 2 accounts without filling out the paperwork to transfer from one bank to another. So I’m transferring my shares in kind from my taxable account to my TFSA.
When you transfer shares in kind it means that you are not selling them, just moving them from one account to another. There are tax implications if you transfer shares and they are above the price that you paid for them. That means you have a capital gain and you will pay capital gains tax on the transfer at tax time.
If you have a loss – meaning that the current price of the stock is below what you paid – then you can transfer them without any tax penalty. But you forfeit the ability to use the “capital loss” on your taxes. I’m fine with this because I hold my stocks for long periods of time. I’m more focused on building long term wealth in the tax free account. Plus sheltering some of my dividend income will help me out come tax time. Oh and I should mention that this same strategy works for an RRSP too.
Tackling our Mountain of Debt
Besides shifting investments around I also paid down some debt. This is good because investing and paying off debt are solid ways to build wealth and achieve financial freedom.
I’m also trying to hustle like crazy to earn extra cash. Last year wasn’t great for the finances and I’m determined to make up for lost time. We used debt to finance some of our home renovations and I want to minimize the financial impact of that choice. When we use debt we are essentially borrowing from our future. By earning extra money from a side hustle or second job I hope to make up for at least some of that.
I’ve written several post in the past few weeks on banking and ways to earn a few hundred bucks by signing up for Tangerine Chequing Account, (Click Here to Read my Review) or earning one of the best overall interest rate on your savings through EQ Bank (Click Here for My Review). If you haven’t done so already, check them out. With rising interest rates, people are starting to struggle financially so it might just be worth your while to make some easy money on a Tangerine Chequing Account or earning the bucks with a high interest savings account.
Happy New Year Everyone! And thanks for reading my Weekly Recap January 12th Edition.
JC
Saturday 12th of January 2019
If you're sitting on a loss wouldn't it make sense to sell the shares, capture the losses for your taxes then just transfer the cash to the TFSA and repurchase the shares? I'm not sure about Canadian tax law but I guess there might be issues with wash sale rules, I'm pretty sure that's how it would be treated here in the US, so maybe that plan wouldn't work out. Hope you have a great weekend.
GenXinvestor
Saturday 12th of January 2019
Hi JC, yes if I sold the shares I would have to wait 30 days to repurchase which may or may not work out in my favor. I usually transfer at a loss to avoid paying capital gains tax and to shelter my dividend income. These are long term blue chip stocks and the loss is usually minimal a few bucks if that. Have a great weekend!
Frankie @ Fully Franked Finance
Friday 11th of January 2019
Can't go wrong in the long run if you keep buying while markets are down! Look forward to hearing about some of the Canadian stocks you put some money into!
Cheers, Frankie
GenXinvestor
Friday 11th of January 2019
Hey Frankie, I've been buying up a lot of unloved dividend stocks. I focused on the utility sector in Fall and then switched to the Bank sector as these shares were absolutely destroyed. Both moves will mean that my monthly dividend income should be pretty good this year!
Cheers,