In this Q&A, financial expert Gordon Pape provides advice on how to manage a small Canadian dividend portfolio.
Q – Most of the articles I read are about building wealth. I’m suddenly at the other end of life and not sure how to manage my Canadian dividend portfolio.
I think my small ($65k) portfolio of 22 Canadian dividend stocks, is performing slightly better than the available dividend ETFs, with no management fee. The dividend distribution is certainly a little higher than the common ETFs, but it will not be enough to cover my expenses. So, at various future points I’ll be faced with decisions about which holding to sell.
What criteria should I use? How do I make those “sell” decisions?
Or – and I hate to take apart what I’ve built – but should I sell it all and put into one or two ETFs and draw them down as needed? – Bill C.
A – I think you have too many positions for such a small portfolio. Based on your numbers, the average size of any given holding is less than $3,000. This means you probably spent more on commissions than necessary when building the portfolio, and it will cost you more when you sell. Fortunately, the fact it is outperforming likely offsets that.
The sell decisions should focus on retaining those stocks that are doing best, in terms of total returns. Don’t focus on yield alone. Keep the stocks that have given you the best combination of dividends and capital gains. The stocks at the top of the pyramid should be the last to go. – G.P.
Do you have a money question you’d like to ask Gordon? Send it along and then check out our Q&A section regularly to see if it was chosen for a response. Send questions to gordonpape@hotmail.com and write Zoomer Question on the subject line. Sorry, we cannot send personal answers.

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