TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2010
My 3 month DRIP Review with Computershare & CIBC Mellon
It's been a little over 3 months now that I have gotten setup with Computershare and CIBC Mellon and I thought I would share my experience. I have explained the process I did to get setup in a previous post entitled 'Full DRiP: A New Beginning' so you may want to start with that article if you are not familiar.
DRiP Holdings
To show anyone wanting to get started, I thought I would share my current holdings and its progress. I currently have 499.46$. Not a crazy amount. It's very simple and within reach for many. I paid ZERO dollars in fee (note that some DRiP have fees associated) but I did pay an appreciation fee of 10$ per first share setup. It's MUCH cheaper than requesting a share certificate from your broker! I have used the boards from the DRiP Investing Resource Center to acquire my initial purchases. It's a great group of people! For anyone reading this blog, thank you for keeping that community alive.
As you can see, fractional shares are at work here. I have made extra share purchase of BMO (Bank of Montreal) and T.A (Telus non-voting shares) since I got setup. I have also received some dividends which are automatically re-invested. In my case, the dividends are really small but it is still re-invested because of the fractional shares.
BMO, T.A, BCE and REI.UN allow for monthly purchases whereas others only allow quarterly purchases. I am still trying to figure out when is the best time to mail my cheques as I have had some come back. It's also very important that you fill out all the forms you get. I happen to send the 'money laundering' form in a separate envelope and my OCP cheque came back. It's a little annoying as you miss the purchase dates.
Transfer Agents
Both Computershare and CIBC Mellon are transfer agents representing the companies. They work similarly in that not much is done through the web the way we are used to with our banks and brokers. You have to fill out forms and mail them. You also need to do this for each companies you are getting setup with. It's worth it though if you consider that you can purchase 50$ or 100$ of these companies at a time without fees.
Resources
Here are some essential resources for DRiPing. You can always access them on my resource page. I am sure that are US list of companies out there but I have not looked yet. I have been focusing on this side of the border for now. Feel free to share any list or good links if you have them.
My Closing Comment
This is something I wish I had known years ago! For the longest time, I thought mutual funds was the only option to invest small amounts ... Now that I am setup, I just need to get organize with my purchase and let the compounding machine do its magic. At some point, I'll be getting setup with US companies. I started researching the requirements and looking into it. There are some good dividend aristocrat worth having in your portfolio.
DRiP Holdings
To show anyone wanting to get started, I thought I would share my current holdings and its progress. I currently have 499.46$. Not a crazy amount. It's very simple and within reach for many. I paid ZERO dollars in fee (note that some DRiP have fees associated) but I did pay an appreciation fee of 10$ per first share setup. It's MUCH cheaper than requesting a share certificate from your broker! I have used the boards from the DRiP Investing Resource Center to acquire my initial purchases. It's a great group of people! For anyone reading this blog, thank you for keeping that community alive.
As you can see, fractional shares are at work here. I have made extra share purchase of BMO (Bank of Montreal) and T.A (Telus non-voting shares) since I got setup. I have also received some dividends which are automatically re-invested. In my case, the dividends are really small but it is still re-invested because of the fractional shares.
BMO, T.A, BCE and REI.UN allow for monthly purchases whereas others only allow quarterly purchases. I am still trying to figure out when is the best time to mail my cheques as I have had some come back. It's also very important that you fill out all the forms you get. I happen to send the 'money laundering' form in a separate envelope and my OCP cheque came back. It's a little annoying as you miss the purchase dates.
Transfer Agents
Both Computershare and CIBC Mellon are transfer agents representing the companies. They work similarly in that not much is done through the web the way we are used to with our banks and brokers. You have to fill out forms and mail them. You also need to do this for each companies you are getting setup with. It's worth it though if you consider that you can purchase 50$ or 100$ of these companies at a time without fees.
Resources
Here are some essential resources for DRiPing. You can always access them on my resource page. I am sure that are US list of companies out there but I have not looked yet. I have been focusing on this side of the border for now. Feel free to share any list or good links if you have them.
My Closing Comment
This is something I wish I had known years ago! For the longest time, I thought mutual funds was the only option to invest small amounts ... Now that I am setup, I just need to get organize with my purchase and let the compounding machine do its magic. At some point, I'll be getting setup with US companies. I started researching the requirements and looking into it. There are some good dividend aristocrat worth having in your portfolio.
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