January Purchases in RRSP

In January, I made 3 purchases in my RRSP, using cash generated by the sale of Harvest Energy in December, plus some money I added to my account.

First, I established a position in Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT). Who doesn't know Kraft? There is uncertainty due to the Cadbury acquisition, which is driving down the share price. I see this as an opportunity to initiate a position in the company, so I bought 100 shares. Kraft is a solid dividend grower -- the company started paying a dividend in 2001, and has increased every year except 2009. The average increase is 9% over the last 5 years. Current dividend yield is 4%.

Second, I made a small move on Brookfield Assets Management (Toronto: BAM.A). I like what I see in this company, which invest in long-life assets (properties, renewable power and infrastructure assets) throughout the world. Management has a long-term mindset that I like, and the company has a solid cash position that it is using to purchase assets from distressed companies that were not as conservatives as Brookfield. So I purchased 100 shares (a small position) and plan on purchasing more in the future. The company pays a US$0.13 dividend every quarter (even though this is a Canadian company), for a 2.4% yield.

Finally, I doubled my position in PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP). I first purchased 100 shares of PepsiCo in May 2008, before all the market turmoil began. I sold half of those shares in September of the same year, but held the remaining 50 shares through all the madness that was 2009. I felt that now was a good time to add to my position in the company, averaging down. The time when the company usually announces its dividend increase is coming (last time was in May) and I'm confident that shareholders will get another raise this year.

3M Company Increases Dividend

Another company in my DRiP portfolio, the well-known maker of PostIt, 3M Company, announced yesterday that it was increasing its quarterly dividend from $0.51 to $0.525 -- a small 3% increase. This is the 52nd consecutive year that 3M has increased its dividend.

This will have a very small impact on my dividend income for 2010, since my position in 3M is quite small at this time.

Net Worth Update

As of February 1st, my net worth was $109 990 (up 1% from $108 935). If I exclude house-related assets and liabilities, my net worth was $72 528 (up 1.1% from $71 722). A more modest risethis month, as the markets have coller down a little.

Assets ($172 640, down 0.1% from $172 843)

• Bank Accounts $4 312 (down 36% from $6 761)
• Emergency Funds $2 255 (up 0.1% from $2 252)
• RRSP Accounts $47 773 (up 5.7% from $45 200)
• Non-Registered Investments $21 597 (down 0.5% from $21 708)
• Home $96 330 (stable)

Liabilities ($62 650, down 2% from $ 63 908)

• Credit Cards $3 482 (down 22.2% from $4 477)
• Mortgage $58 868 (down 0.4% from $59 117)
• Line of Credit $0 (stable)

Ratios

• Debt / assets: 0.363 (down from 0.370)
• House value / total assets: 0.558 (up from 0.557)

Less cash in in the bank account and lower credit card debt this month, as I paid off my credit cards for the Holliday shopping. I also made a lump transfer of $2 000 to my self-directed RRSP, and I plan on doing another transfer in February. The first municipal taxes tax payment is also programmed for February, so available cash may be tight at the end of the month. I may end up dipping into my emergency fund, but will put back the money into it within two months if I do.