My Strategy for a Margin Account

 

 

 

Last Monday, I mentioned the possibility of using a margin account to invest in a TFSA account. To my knowledge, only Questrade offer TFSA margin accounts. It’s kind of counter intuitive when you think about it: why would you borrow money to invest in an account where you can’t deduct the interest?

 

The idea of leveraging in Canada is often linked to the fact we can deduct the interest from your investment income. I’m not a tax expert but the general concept is that you are allowed to deduct the interest from a loan when the money has been used to invest and there is a reasonable expectation of profit. For example, if you borrow 100K at 5% to invest in a bond paying 2%, you can’t really deduct the interest as it is pretty obvious you will lose money.

 

However, this tax rule doesn’t apply when you borrow money to invest in a tax sheltered account (an RRSP or TFSA for example). So what’s the point of borrowing to invest in a TFSA?

 

Because my Expected Return is Bigger

 

If I invest $1,000 in my TFSA margin account and borrow another $2,000, I will have $3,000 to invest. I would pay 6% interest on $2,000, a cost of $120. This represents 4% of my portfolio. By selecting my stocks carefully, I can probably build a portfolio that will pay all interest within 12 months, maybe instantly.

 

There are many Canadian stocks that would fit in this portfolio:

Telus (T) 3.71%,

BCE (BCE) 5.04%

ScotiaBank (BNS) 3.85%,

Corus (CJR.B) 4.39%

Emera (EMA) 4.20%

National Bank (NA) 4.05%

Riocan (REI.UN) 5.21%

Rogers (RCI) 4.19%

 

This is a short list but it’s more than enough for me to build a $3K portfolio. I would probably buy 2 stocks at first and build on that. The idea is to pick stocks that will pay the interest with their dividend.

 

Then, the dividend growth will be “in my pocket” along with the overall growth of the stock value. When I look at my current portfolio, my YTD total return is 7.4%. It is a great combination of dividend payouts and stock growth. This is what I would like to create with this margin account.

 

You Have to be More Aggressive

 

A margin account is not for the faint of heart. If you don’t want to go “all-in”, it’s better off not doing it at all. I was surprised to find over 100 stocks on the Canadian market showing both EPS and positive revenue growth over the past 5 years and paying over 4% in dividend yield. Then, it’s a matter of researching deeper and look carefully at each company. The short list I just pulled for this article is coming from stocks I know well and that were part of my quick stock filter research.

 

Let’s say I wouldn’t have any problem building a “bank & telecom” portfolio with my TFSA. This could be a good idea to maximize both dividend payouts and overall growth of the portfolio. I’m not completely done with the idea of investing on margin but I must admit this is getting serious in my mind right now.

 

Please note that I didn’t mention any US stocks in this article because dividends paid by US companies in a TFSA are subject to withholding taxes (30% if you don’t do anything, 15% if you take care of it). I explain how you can save 15% withholding tax in my book; Dividend Growth Freedom Through Passive Income Canadian Edition.

 

What do you think? Should I go ahead and use the power of leveraging?

 

Disclaimer: I own shares of T, BNS, NA

Leave a Reply

*