The following lists Canadian investments that generate monthly income at a rate many times that of banks. Each has shown regular distributions over several years and some have a history of increases many times in the last few years (e.g., Boston Pizza). Even assuming a high tax rate on the income generated, these investments still represent solid returns that greatly overshadow the paltry income that most financial institutions promise.
They are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and can even be acquired by investors who have small amounts of cash to invest. I have followed most of these for several years and have not changed my mind about them being the best way to make your money work hard for you. As with most income investments, buy and hold is the most sensible way to maximize the benefit to your financial situation.
All yields shown are based on recent (2008 April) market prices and are before income tax.
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Followed for 63 months, generates at least 13%/year yield
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Followed for 50 months, generates about 9%/year yield
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Followed for 36 months, generates about 10%/year yield
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Followed for 35 months, generates about 16%/year yield
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Followed for 28 months, generates about 6%/year yield
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Followed for 27 months, generates about 12%/year yield
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Followed for 22 months, generates about 13%/year yield
After looking at many different types of investments over the last 20 or more years, including those that generate regular dividends, and those that have appreciated in value, I have come to the conclusion that speculation on market price is not for me. Regular distributions on a monthly basis are what suits my investment plan the best and produces the least stress for the greatest gain. If you are interested, each of these have a web presence, provides a history of their distributions, the underlying company value, the tax implications and the possibility of future growth.
These are not investments on which to speculate. Having said that, in the past couple of years, with the economic climate, and the changing Canadian tax laws which effect some of these investments in 2011, there have been opportunities for larger investors to generate significant gains using the buy low / sell high strategy based on market price fluctuations. However, I advise sticking with regular income as a goal, and selling only when absolutely necessary. This is a hard lesson I have learned over the last 5 or 6 years and I recently thought that sharing this experience with others was something I felt compelled to do, even though this information may be "old news" to some.
