Build a Pumping Passive Income Portfolio With $35K

Turn $35,000 into a low-maintenance, global income engine with Power Corp’s steady dividend and VXC’s worldwide growth.

Amy Legate-Wolfe

Author Bio Amy became interested in investing in 2018 after having her first daughter. After receiving a masters degree in journalism from Western University, she became frustrated that the finance industry remained a confusing place for Canadians like her: new parents, millennials, and other young people who needed to understand their finances. Now, Amy focuses on tech companies and renewable energy for growth opportunities, coupling that with long-term investing strategies and equities. She also provides investors with a daily newsletter, Canada Stock Digest, for daily market updates. Her work can also be found at Canada's National Observer, where she writes on the business side of climate action. Before joining Motley Fool Canada, Amy wrote for major news organizations including HuffPost, CTVNews.ca, and CBC. When she’s not researching investing strategies, Amy’s time is pretty much monopolized by her two wild daughters, but in what little spare time she has she loves to do yoga, go on walks with her dog, and travel with her husband. Social Media Follow Amy on LinkedIn and Canada Stock Digest. Favorite Investment Quote “October: This is one of the particularly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August and February.” – Mark Twain

Published December 10, 2025 9:00 pm EST

Key Points

Power Corporation owns stakes in insurers and asset managers
VXC gives instant global diversification beyond Canada with thousands of companies
Combine them in a $35,000 portfolio, reinvest dividends, and let compounding build meaningful, tax-efficient income with little maintenance.

A $35,000 starting point is great for building a passive income portfolio. It’s big enough to generate meaningful cash flow right away, yet small enough that it still feels achievable and motivating. With that amount, you can spread your money across stable dividend stocks or monthly-paying stocks and immediately see deposits landing in your account. It’s proof that your money is finally working for you instead of the other way around. It also creates a strong foundation that compounds quickly: reinvested dividends grow the portfolio faster, and future contributions stack on top. Suddenly, you’re building real, lifelong income from a pot of money that once felt like “just savings.” So what stocks can get you there?

coins jump into piggy bank — Source: Getty Images

POW

Power Corporation of Canada (TSX: POW) is a diversified financial holding company with deep roots in Canada’s wealth and insurance sectors. It owns major stakes in businesses such as Great-West Lifeco, IGM Financial, and Wealthsimple. This gives investors exposure to life insurance, asset management, and digital finance all in one dividend stock. Its structure allows it to collect stable cash flows from mature financial businesses while also participating in long-term growth through innovative platforms.

In its most recent earnings, Power reported steady growth in adjusted net earnings thanks to strong performance from Great-West Lifeco and improved contributions from IGM Financial. The dividend stock continued to strengthen its balance sheet, maintain disciplined capital allocation, and grow book value per share. Management also reaffirmed its commitment to returning capital to shareholders, supported by robust cash flows from its core holdings. While quarter-to-quarter results tend to be stable rather than flashy, the consistency of its subsidiaries provides predictable profitability.

POW is a perfect long-term passive income choice for a $35,000 portfolio as it offers high stability, a strong yield, and exposure to essential financial services – ones Canadians rely on regardless of economic cycles. Its businesses generate predictable cash flow, which supports a dependable dividend that has grown steadily over time. Unlike more volatile sectors, financial conglomerates like POW enjoy long-term tailwinds from population growth, wealth accumulation, and insurance demand. These are all factors that help dividends compound for decades.

VXC

Yet one dividend stock won’t be enough. Another option should be the Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap ex-Canada ETF (TSX: VXC), designed to give Canadians one-stop exposure to the entire world outside Canada. It holds thousands of companies across the U.S., Europe, Asia, and emerging markets, making it one of the most diversified exchange-traded funds (ETF) on the TSX. Because it excludes Canada, it pairs perfectly with a Canadian-heavy portfolio and gives investors access to sectors Canada lacks, especially global tech, healthcare, and consumer innovation. It’s a simple, low-cost way to own nearly the entire global economy in a single fund.

Its performance reflects the returns of its underlying global index. Recently, VXC has benefited from strong U.S. equity markets, particularly the growth of large-cap tech, while also capturing steady gains from international and emerging-market holdings. Distribution payouts have remained consistent, and the ETF continues to track its benchmark tightly with a low management fee. Its growth profile has been strong in periods of global market strength, making it a reliable long-term performer.

VXC is a perfect long-term passive income and growth investment for a $35,000 portfolio as it gives you global diversification, low fees, and decades of compounding potential – all without requiring any stock picking or rebalancing. While its yield is modest, its real power comes from long-term capital appreciation across thousands of world-leading companies, all working quietly inside your portfolio for the next 20 to 30 years.

Bottom line

Not only is saving towards $35,000 doable, that number can absolutely balloon over decades. Don’t think it can’t. And when you have two powerful dividend stocks behind you, those numbers rise higher sooner as opposed to later. Even now, here’s what $35,000 could create in dividends from an investment in these two dividend stocks.