June 2025 Dividend Income Update
Hi Everyone,
Welcome to our latest update: our June 2025 dividend income update.
A reminder for anyone new to the site, this is a standing monthly series related to our hybrid investing approach for semi-retirement funding that I started some 15+ years ago.
This is how we invest:
- We invest in Canadian and a few remaining U.S. dividend paying stocks – about 25-30 stocks that collectively deliver income and growth over time…and
- We invest in some low-cost equity ETFs – that deliver long-term growth for extra diversifcation.
You can always read a bit more about what we own, why and where (i.e., in what accounts) on this dedicated My Dividends page I keep updated here.
I invest this way since I believe a combination of income investing + growth assets will deliver a healthy financial retirement.
June 2025 Dividend Income Update
It’s been a very (I mean very) challenging month, personally, due to some family illness news so I might write about that another time…but suffice to say my mind has been on my father, his health and supporting my family. Hardly about blogging or dividends but I wrote this post anyhow.
Over the years, I’ve posted this mantra a few times: health is wealth. That’s always been true of course but that hits home, quite hard, now.
- Good health is the foundation upon we all live our lives.
- While money can provide access to some comforts and provide some healthcare access itself, money cannot guarantee good health.
- And finally, while prioritizing healthy activities can/could lead to good longevity outcomes (i.e., following a good diet, maintaining consistent exercise, maintaining or improving your mental wellness) those practices cannot guarantee a healthy long-lived life.
The way I see it: health is the ultimate form of wealth.
I only want the very best for my father.
Fritz at Retirement Manifesto previously shared his 3-legged stool of retirement:
…Finding the right balance is the key….I think of those three legs as:
Indeed…and so we look forward, we stay positive, we look for options and we march on.
Last month, I mentioned we’ve sold off most of our U.S. stocks over the years in favour of moving proceeds to XAW in registered accounts in particular but Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill (BBB) had me thinking and had me worried.
Well, that BBB passed (sadly) but to my knowledge there are no U.S. withholding tax changes that should impact Canadian investors near-term. This is what I was fearing from last month:
“For example, the U.S. currently imposes a 15 per cent withholding tax on dividends Canadians receive from U.S. companies. Under tax treaties, however, an equivalent tax credit from the Canadian government generally offsets the withholding tax.
If the measure becomes law and the Trump administration designates Canada as a country with discriminatory taxes, a new five per cent withholding tax would go into effect. That tax would increase by five percentage points per year to a maximum of 20 per cent. It is not known if Canada would adjust its tax credits to offset such a tax.”
The only change I made to my portfolio in early June was purchasing more Brookfield (BN) when it dipped under $80. Otherwise, I am out of money to invest for a few more weeks or potentially months and so we’re back sticking to the broader plan for the rest of 2025:
- Remain invested in our current basket of stocks and low-cost ETFs.
- Continue to try and reduce any future sequence of returns risk for 2026 and 2027 by keeping all near-term spending in cash/cash equivalents. This way, I/we spend from that. It is my hope I won’t be selling any stocks nor any equity ETFs to fund our lifestyle until maybe sometime in 2027.
June 2025 Dividend Income Update
Thanks to many dividend raises earlier this year, with more BN in the portfolio, along with more HEQT dripped inside my small LIRA each month, our *projected income moved higher this past month!
*Recall these PADI updates on my site focus on 1. our non-registered accounts, 2. our RRSPs, and 3. my small LIRA from a former job years ago. I have reported things this way since January 2023 since these are the first accounts I will use to fund semi-retirement along with any part-time work: live off taxable dividend income, live off RRSP withdrawals and live off LIRA/LIF withdrawals.
I share this information not to brag. Hardly. I know folks that earn much more income from their portfolio than I do. Rather, I share it to tell part of our overall investing journey – to keep me honest, motivated and accountable for my investing decisions. I hope this transparency and what I share helps you out too.
What does this all mean? Well:
- That’s averaging just over $4,288 per month without any TFSA or other assets counted.
This is a decent income stream to support our long-term financial future….however long that may be.
A reminder that the first wealth in anyone’s life will always be health.
Take good care, stay positive and fight for your health and that of your family.
Mark
Related Reading:
Here are the returns of the S&P 500 related to dividend policies (i.e., dividend growers, steady dividend payers, and non-dividend paying stocks) with thanks to Dividend Growth Investor.
Young Canadians seem to love passive income (subscription) but they are finding out making money doesn’t come easy.
A reader asked me about RRSP taxation recently so I pointed them to this article. Best to consider getting that RRSP/RRIF money flowing early in your retirement vs. waiting until age 71 to 1. help smooth out taxation and 2. reduce the tax liability associated with those assets. I will be doing just that.
Mark
My name is Mark Seed – the founder, editor and owner of My Own Advisor. As my own DIY financial advisor, I’ve reached financial independence. Now, I share my lessons learned for free on this site. Find out what I did and how I reached financial independence to tailor your own path. Join the newsletter read by thousands.
