(The post title is quite intellectual and came from my mind on a Saturday night. I am currently watching The Sopranos, that's where the Prozac inspiration is coming from :-)). Winter is long here in New Brunswick. I cannot wait to go back to Montreal.
The TSX closed this past Friday's session at a not-so-bad 20,906.52 points, leaving my non-registered portfolio at $142,044.30, my US portfolio at $5,192.93 US, my TFSA portfolio at $125,294.83, and my RRSP stocks-only portfolio at $64,431.65. My margin account debt is now at $12,395.81. I just cannot wait to finally sell my Bitcoins and Ethereum ETFs at a profit.
Interesting fact: Currently, in my non-registered portfolio, only two investments that I hold are in the red. Those two investments are Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) and New Flyer Industries Inc. (NFI). Times have been rough for BNS. I have been holding some BNS stocks in my non-registered portfolio for the longest time. Back in the days, BNS was a Derek Foster stock. If I remember correctly, BNS was from his "Stop Working" book. It's with that book that I began my investment portfolio. Over the years, thanks to the dividend DRIP, my investment in Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) has grown quite significantly. Unfortunately, these days, my investment value is in the red when it comes to that stock.
As for New Flyer Industries Inc. (NFI), it's also a stock that I have been holding in my non-registered portfolio for a really long time. This one wasn't a Derek Foster stock. NFI has experienced a rough ride, but it usually gets back on its feet following a downturn. There have been a lot of downturns with NFI. I actually reduced - several years ago - the number of stocks that I hold of NFI. I was able to sell at a profit. Despite being difficult to hold in reasons of its volatility, I really like New Flyer Industries Inc. (NFI). I thought about selling the remaining NFI stocks that I hold to pay down my margin debt, but so far, I haven't proceeded. One stock that I have been seriously thinking about partly selling to pay down my margin debt is Savaria Corporation (SIS). I own some of SIS inside my non-registered and RRSP portfolio. I wouldn't mind selling some of the stocks of SIS that I own in my non-registered portfolio to pay down my margin debt.
I have been checking on my TFSA portfolio contribution room for 2024, and surprise, I am over 30k! I knew my contribution limit was high, and that being for several reasons. Prior to 2024, I already had over 19k in contribution room left for 2023. The sum of 7k for the usual 2024 limit for the TFSA brings me up to 26k. Another 4-5k came from the fact that I withdrew money coming from selling stock and dividends earned from my TFSA over my non-registered portfolio to pay down my margin account debt.
In a previous post, I shared a list of stocks that I considered as possible investments. I may or may not invest in stocks from that list; you may consider it my little stock "watch list." Personally, I enjoy being exposed to various stock ideas. If you would like to get investment ideas, I have the perfect post for you. Back in December 2023, I posted an interesting review of my top performers. You can certainly refer to that post for investment ideas.
Good past results are not a guarantee of future good results. No stock guarantees success, and no stock is free of risk. That being said, I can tell you for sure that for "middle-class" folks, the only way to get more for your money is to invest in stocks. I started my investment journey when I was still fresh and new to the workforce at 27 years old. With the employer I had at the time, we had some RRSPs that were invested in mutual funds. I didn't know much about investing when I first started, but while looking at the returns of those mutual funds, I was sincerely quite disappointed. I wasn't impressed at all. I had the intuition that there was something better out there for me. After extending my searches, I discovered the stock market world and quickly came to the realization that the only way to one day achieve financial health or improve it a little bit—in my situation—was to invest in stocks. There was just no other way. There was no other way for me because my job income itself wasn't enough, alone, to create wealth.
When it came to my career choices and everything else, I have never been driven by money. Money wasn't something that was important, and that's for several reasons. Back in my days growing up, inflation wasn't driving us crazy like today. The cost of living was much lower, and there was no housing crisis. You could have a minimum salary and live quite okay—depending on where, of course—but it wasn't difficult like today. You just didn't need as much money as today to make ends meet. The cost of living was reasonable in New Brunswick. And when I later moved to Montreal, the rents were not as huge as today. Maybe my attitude toward money would have been different if I had suffered from not having enough while growing up or if I had been raised in an expensive city, but it wasn't the case. So everything has always been quite easy-going for me in my relationship with money. It has always been a smooth one.
What changed for me is the moment I entered the workforce. I wasn't quite satisfied with the salary and the RRSP I was getting from my employer. I knew I deserved much better, but it's just that I didn't know exactly how to get what I wanted. Everything became a lot easier for me when I discovered Derek Foster's book. With my stocks, I am feeling satisfied. I actually feel that I am going somewhere. It's not always an easy road, but it's totally worth it.
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