In my book I explain how I use a covered call strategy to get the kind of return that I want for my portfolio. By comparing it to a rental property, I show how I like to use dividend stocks and trade around them with options to increase my overall yield. When you buy a dividend buying stock it is like buying a rental property with one tenant. You’ll collect that income from them each quarter, year after year, just like rent.

I like to buy big blue chip dividend companies with a 3-5% yield. If we continue like the past, good dividend companies increase slowly over time and when they have extra profit they increase the dividend payment to their shareholders. It’s similar to how housing prices have increased along with rental prices.

Now when I write covered calls on the position, I then add another tenant to my rental. I now have two sources of rent. One source from the call and one from the dividend. I go from getting a 3-5% yield to getting twice that amount when you write these covered calls every other month.

Using this strategy of buying blocks of big blue chip stocks and trading options around them gives me a much better yield. And with this increased yield I will re-invest the money to keep growing my portfolio. It has been working very well for me right now. In my book I explain how I do this and get a third renter by selling puts too!

Keeping my strategy in mind, I’ve come across an entire basket of Horizon’s AlphaPro covered call options ETFs! This takes my strategy and makes it crazy simple for everyday investors. You don’t have to write the calls each month, and you don’t have to worry about replacing the stocks that get called away. There are all of my favourite sectors, like Energy, Financials, and Gold. Plus they’ve just launched a US Equity (CDN $ headged) covered call ETF that helps diversify the portfolio.

The ETFs will sell covered calls on the basket of stocks every 1-2 months at about 5% over the current stock price. In any market other than a crazy bull market, this strategy has been shown to outperform. The fund management fees are only 0.65% too.

Here is what I would do for sector break down:

20 % HEE – AlphaPro Enhanced Income Energy

20% HEF- AlphaPro Enhanced Income Financials

10% HEP- AlphaPro Enhanced Income Gold

25% HEX – AlphaPro Enhanced Income CDN Equity

25% HES.UN – AlphaPro Enhanced Income U.S. Equity (It converts to an ETF soon)

This portfolio currently has over a 10% yield thanks to the extra income from writing the calls. It also writes calls on non-dividend paying companies in the index to generate income on stocks that otherwise wouldn’t have some. The ETFs are available in a DRIP (Dividend Re-investment Program) so that the juicy monthly yield buys more units. Right now HEE is paying a 16% yield and we all know how I love big yield. All we need now is an AlphaPro International Equity covered call ETF!

I heart Horzon’s new covered call ETFs,

Dave

 

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In my book, I Heart Money, I have an income strategy where I buy large positions of Canadian blue chip companies and write (or sell) calls on the positions every few months.  When I do this I collect the dividends each quarter and then get another stream of income from collecting the premiums from the sold calls.  If you have no idea what an option is you have to buy my book!

There are many pluses to this strategy.  Firstly, you increase your yield from only the dividend income by adding the income from the options.  Secondly, the income is tax preferred.  Compared to money from bond income, dividends and the option premiums are tax preferred.  Thirdly, if the options aren’t exercised, the holder keeps the upside of the stock.  Only 20% of options are exercised. Lastly, when markets are bearish the sold options will collect even more premium because of higher volatility levels.  Win win for income investors like us!

It’s kind of like having a rental property and having two floors rented out.  You gain the income from the dividends and then another stream from the selling of the options.  I hold my stocks like the rental property and collect these two streams over the long term, just like how a rental property works.

This strategy takes time to manage.  I constantly need to monitor my option positions and re-write them when the positions expire every few months.  To my delight, BMO has come out with the BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks Exchange Traded Fund or ETF.  It performs everything I described above on our 5 big banks, BMO, TD, ROYAL, NATIONAL, CIBC and SCOTIA, but it can be bought and sold as an Exchange Traded Fund, symbol ZWB.

Currently it has over  a 9% yield and has still appreciated over $1 to $16 from it’s $15 launch price in Jan 2011.  Being a common reader you know that I love yield and for a measly .65 Management Expense Ration it is very cheap to hold for a long time.  Most mutual funds are over 1% Management Expense Ration and are half as sophisticated.

Check out the product at the link below.  I don’t own it yet but It’ll be added shortly for sure.

BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks

Keep loving your money and it’ll love you back with a great yield,

Dave

 

BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF Objective

BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF seeks to provide Unitholders with exposure to the performance of a portfolio of Canadian banks and monthly distributions while mitigating downside risk. Currently, the investment strategy of BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF is to invest in and hold the securities of Canadian banks, Units of BMO S&P/TSX Equal Weight Banks Index ETF or a combination of these. In addition, depending on market volatility and other factors, BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF will write covered call options on these securities. Under such call options, the fund will sell to the buyer of the option, for a premium, either a right to buy the security from the fund at an exercise price or, if the option is cash settled, the right to a payment from the fund equal to the difference between the value of the security and the exercise price.

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Fuel is on its way up and I wanted to share my strategies to save on this necessity.  Not only will it take the pinch out of the pumps but it’ll get your portfolio going.  Vroom vroom!

1. Buy a car that is fuel efficient – this will be more important as fuel breaks $100 a barrel  this year.  I love cars but I also love my money so I got the most fuel efficient but performance driven car.  I have an Audi A5 but with the turbo engine instead of the V6.  Not only is it a driver’s car but I get really good fuel economy.  That is smart for my pocket book and the environment.

2. Get a fuel cash back card and use it.  There are many cards on the market.  I use the BMO Mastercard and fill up at Shell getting 1.5% back on my fuel. Then I pay cash when I’m in the US because you save .10 a gallon.  That is around $1.50 a fill up or $78 a year.

3. Find a cheap gas station a little out of the way and make a route to hit it once a week to fuel up.  In Toronto my place is the Shell on Dupont between Lansdowne and Dufferin.  It’s always $0.05 a litre cheaper and I get my cash back when I use my BMO Mastercard.  In Silver Lake I use the stations at Melrose and Vermont.  They are always $0.10- $0.20 cheaper a gallon than anywhere else in Hollywood.

4. Buy a basket of energy trusts and collect the dividends – not only will you get the stream of income, most of the time monthly, from the royalty or energy trusts you will get all of the upside.  I have 30% of my portfolio in oil or gas stocks and as oil increases in price, it will offset the increase in gas prices.  Oil is only going up from here until we move to a new resource – and I can’t see that happening for a good 20 or more years.

5. Walk or use transit whenever possible.  It’s good for your body and wallet.  You want to keep both firm and fully packed, right?!

Love your money by being smart with oil stocks and it’ll love you back with free gas and a pumped up nest egg,

Dave

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I bet everyone has some new years’ money resolutions on their list, right Bellos and Bellas?  I’m used to seeing these following money resolutions on goals lists:

Pay down debt

Increase my net worth

Track my spending

Spend less on junk

Save eight months of salary

Well I have a great tool to help you achieve all of these on day one of 2011!  It’s called Mint.com. It’s the old Quicken.com and I’ve been using it religiously since I found Quicken.com.  And the best part of this program is that it is FREE!

You add all of your bank accounts, investments, credit cards, loans, assets and mortgages and it tracks all of your spending, budgets, net worth and investment returns.  What fun! You can add accounts from different banks, business and personal, and it even tracks my US Bank accounts for when I spend the winter down here.  All in once place!

Mint.com is available as an iPhone App!

Mint.com has an amazing app that is password protected and allows me to scan all of my cash, credit cards, budget and net worth on the first page.  You can scan your last transactions from any of your accounts, check credit card balances, and feel safe a check has gone through.  If I had to do those things with all my accounts I would have to check with four separate companies. Instead it takes two touches on my iPhone.

Every transaction that goes through any account or card gets categorized by Mint as best as it can.  If it doesn’t recognze someting it will keep it uncategorized and wait for you to assign it a category.  While waiting for someone at a mall (my mom) I’m able to categorize my transactions with a big smile.

It Helps Me Love My Money More

Mint also flags you when a big payment has gone in or out of one of your accounts and when an account has a low balance.  I had a friend coming to visit me in LA last month and Mint emailed me that I had a low balance in my US Bank Checking account.  It flagged that a big check had come out early, so I was able to transfer more funds before the weekend.  I would have never known that the check had come out early and I could have been out money.

Budgets Galore and More!

Another great plus for Mint is that it gives you great freedom to set budgets for the month.  You can set them and it tracks how much you have spent for the month on all of your budgets on the very first page of the iPhone app.  If you click on it it shows how all of your budgets are tracking.  If you do happen to go over (and I know none of my money loving readers would go over) it will send you an email letting you know.

Mint also sends weekly updates to your email account to let you know how much you’ve spent the following week.  It includes your net worth which comes in so very handy to keep you motivated to keep saving and making more money! Can I get a whoop whoop for making more money?

Keep loving your money with amazing tools like Mint.com and it’ll love you back with accomplished 2011 resolutions!

Dave

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Hi Kids,

What is a better gift to give than the gift of financial success!  It’s available at these fine retailers!

US Edition in book and Kindle format – amazon.com

Canadian Edition:

Book City

348 Danforth Ave, Toronto

1430 Yonge St, Toronto

1950 Queen Street East, Toronto

Nicholas Hoare

45 Front Steet East, Toronto

Ben Mcnally

366 Bay Street

Books For Business

120 Adelaide Street

Indigo / Chapters:

Montreal (St. Catherine St.)

Woodbridge

Yorkdale

Yonge and Eglinton

Bayview Village

Thornhill

Square One

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Hey Everyone,

Since my first print run in May I’ve already almost sold out of my first edition!  Thanks for everyone who has bought a copy. I really appreciate your support.

I’ve heard from the book store managers that the first print edition appreciates the most.  So my advice this week is to run out and get one of the last copies for the holiday, friends, kids, Nana and Papa! There are very few left so grab a first edition and profit!  :)

Here is where to still get a copy.  The second print is coming in two weeks!


Book City

348 Danforth Ave, Toronto

1430 Yonge St, Toronto

1950 Queen Street East, Toronto

Nicholas Hoare

45 Front Steet East, Toronto

Ben Mcnally

366 Bay Street

Books For Business

120 Adelaide Street

Indigo / Chapters:

Montreal (St. Catherine St.)

Woodbridge

Yorkdale

Yonge and Eglinton

Bayview Village

Thornhill

Square One

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From my experience with people and money I’ve decided we’re just fancy monkeys.  We respond by positive re-enforcement successfully and not very successfully to negative ones.  Negative re-enforcement will work for a short period of time but I can guarantee you that a banana will get you a monkey to do something faster than a finger wagging.

When we need to go somewhere in our lives financially we need to set the course and then anchor ourselves with what we will truly have when we get there.  If you want to save $500 a month into your RSP this year then there are some steps you need to take.

1. Visualize how amazing you want your retirement to be.  Greek Islands?  Turkish Coast?  Maybe NYC brownstone?  Get the excited feeling when you think about it.  Butterflies single that you’re there.

2. Set up the $500 automatically to come out of your account so you don’t have the chance to stop it.  Be sure to set up the auto investment part too so that you are buying good investments that will pay you a dividend to get you there faster.  Dividends are the key to my hart to by lots.

3. This is the best part.  What are you going to get if you do it?  You could get hit by a tractor and not be able to enjoy it so how do you still live for the now while saving?  What kind of banana do you want?

If you invested $500 a month into an registered retirement plan you would get some tax back at the end of the year.  Allocate that money towards a trip, motorcycle or scuba diving lessons that would truly motivate you to keep up the saving.  You get an amazing retirement and get to live for today too.

Love your money and it’ll love you back with delicious bananas,

Dave

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I’m on a book tour and I’d love for you to come out to one of my event dates to meet me and talk money.  I’ll be signing my new book I (Heart) Money at the following Chapter and Indigo locations.  Hope to see you out and keep loving your money!

August 7th – 1pm -5pm

Chapters Bayview Village

2901 Bayview Ave Unit 132

North York, Ontario

M2K 1E6

August 21st 1pm-5pm

Chapters Woodbridge

East Woodbridge Centre, 3900 Hwy 7 West, Unit 1

Woodbridge, Ontario

L4L 1A6

(905)264-6401

August 28th 1pm – 5pm

Indigo Richmond Hill

8705 Yonge Street

Richmond Hill, Ontario

L4C 6Z1

(905)731-8771

September 25th 1pm-5pm

Chapters Woodbridge

East Woodbridge Centre, 3900 Hwy 7 West, Unit 1

Woodbridge, Ontario

L4L 1A6

(905)264-6401

Indigo Yonge and Eglinton – Coming Soon!

Chapters Square One – Coming Soon!

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I find the psychology around money fascinating!  The way that you treat your money reflects your underlying positive or negative feeling towards it.  Naturally people who invest time and effort into their relationship will benefit just like if you invest time and love into a human relationship it will flourish.  Treat your money like any other relationship you have in your life.  

Here is a list of ways that you can enhance your money relationship.  Ask your self how you can treat your money better to enhance your commitment to it?

1. Do you always get the highest level of interest from idle money?  Making sure that your money is always getting the highest return is a way to treat it properly.  If you have money sitting in an account and not making a good interest return search for the best premium rate savings account and transfer that money!

2. Are you being charged for having too many bank accounts? Do you go down a block to save other ATM fees?  Do you pay a monthly fee when there is a way to keep a minimum deposit to save that amount?  If you’re charged 8.95 a month in your bank account and it  takes a minimum monthly balance of $1,500 a month to wave that fee – that is a $107.40 savigngs a year equivalent to a 7% return on $1,500.

3. Do you always scan your statements to make sure that you aren’t “dinged” any extra charges?  I’ve saved hundreds of dollars by doing just this to every bill that comes through my door.  It shows that you love your money if you’re always watching out for it.  

4. Do you know what your net worth is right now?  If you don’t add up all of your assets and minus your liabilities.  Knowing how much you are worth will help you make big picture purchases and investments.  It’ll help you keep moving towards your net worth goal! 

5. How much interest are you paying on all of your debts?  Can you lower your interest rates right now and save loads of money?  Put in the time and call your credit card company, bank or loan company.  See how much you can save by lowering your interest rates, increasing your payment amount or payment frequency.  On mortgages these changes add up to a ton of cash. Treat your money like any other relationship and benefit!  

Have a great week,

Dave

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If you’re an active investor like I am, days like yesterday can be a scary thing.  The DOW was down 222 points the highest one day drop since Feb.  It is easy to get swooped up with today’s news…debt problems in Spain, Greece and Portugal, a weakening Euro and China pulling back the strings on its economy to try and keep it from boiling over.  What is an investor to do to stay on top?  Here are some “zone” tips to keep you investing at your prime and profiting from it.  

1. Keep Calm, and Carry On.  The worst thing to do in markets like yesterday is to give into your fear.  Keep rational.  CBNC and BNN are all about the story and fear sells advertising and markets.  Keep your head in a good place.  Tomorrow is another day.  Take advantage of opportunities instead of running from them. 

2. Zen Zone.  Before every trading day I think about those days when I was quit witted, making good decisions, and profiting.  I remember what I was thinking that day, what my motivations were and how if felt at the end of the day when I had made all of the right decisions.  Starting that day in the “zone” is crucial to keep you on the ball. 

3. Keep Your Eye on the Ball.  Remember what your ultimate objective is and write it on a piece of paper and keep in in view.  If it is capital preservation, short term gain, or yield for the long haul, or other write it down.  When you process information when the market is crappy you’ll keep your eye on the ball and take actions to support what you want to achieve.  

4. Why do you want it?  Why do you really want the money that you’re making?  Is it family? freedom? security? achievement? or fun?  Anchor yourself to your desired future enjoying the money and re-enforce why you are going to make it or make more of it.  What that money will actually do for you and what happiness it will bring you.  

5. Celebrate!  When you’re a star in the market. Make sure you recognize it and reward yourself for being such a champ.  Re-enforce your positive actions while investing and you’ll repeat them in the future to make even more money. And you know how I love making more money.

Have an amazing week,

Dave

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