Archive for May 2017
Gauging Investment Knowledge: Is It Time To Fire Yourself, Or Your Advisor?
It has become increasingly important for individuals to become financially knowledgeable and to be able to plan and manage their financial assets, and especially, to be able to save and invest for their retirement years. Complicating matters is the shear volume of financial information accessible to retail investors, and the large number of investment options…
Read MoreHave We Reached Peak Stock Market?
The stock market has been full-on raging bull since March 2009. Indeed, the S&P 500 bottomed-out at 682 in the depths of the great financial crash, but has since climbed to a record 2,415 as of this writing. Those who started their investing journey in the past eight years have only known markets to rise, but prices…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Calgary Marathon Edition
I’ve been slowly upping my running game and this weekend my wife and I head up to Calgary to race in the Scotiabank Calgary Marathon. I’m still a step behind my wife, who is a more seasoned runner, so I’m entered in the 10 kilometre race while my wife attempts her first half-marathon. I’m aiming…
Read MoreFrom The Boomer & Echo Mailbag: Why Is My Employer Switching Our Defined Benefit Plan To A Defined Contribution Plan?
Q. I have received notice that my employer is switching my Defined Benefit Pension Plan to a Defined Contribution Plan. What are the implications to my future retirement? You are not alone. More and more companies are replacing defined benefit plans with defined contribution plans. This is primarily due to the rising expenses and long-term…
Read MoreFrugal Summer Fun For Canada’s 150th Birthday
Since moving to Kelowna a couple of years ago we’ve experienced the heaviest snowfall in 50 years, raging forest fires that were three times the 10-year average and, now, major flooding with the highest water levels since the 1940’s. My brother claims I’m a disaster magnet (I think he’s just getting back at me for…
Read MoreAn Unhealthy Obsession With Saving Money
I sometimes worry that I’m not saving enough money. It’s a silly obsession, given that we don’t have any consumer debt, we save more than one-third of our income, and I have a defined benefit pension plan at work. I try to strike a balance between saving and spending money, but I’ll admit that I mostly prefer…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: May Long Edition
Welcome to another edition of weekend reading and I hope you’re all having a terrific May long weekend. Grab a coffee or tea and take some time to enjoy the finest hand-curated selection of Canadian personal finance and investing articles from around the web this week. If you’re looking for even more of a weekend reading experience, join…
Read MorePlanning to Borrow Money? Know the Five C’s of Creditworthiness
When I worked in banking, personal and small business lending was a major part of my duties. Customers were often nervous about applying for credit – unnecessarily in most cases. But, sometimes people had really no idea of what we required before we could consider the application. I had people applying for a mortgage with…
Read MoreInvesting For Income In Your Accumulation Years
When I sold my dividend stocks in 2015 my portfolio was worth $100,000 and generated about $4,000 a year in dividend income. I’ll admit it was motivating to watch the dividends grow each year as I added new money to my portfolio and companies increased their payouts. I regularly tracked my progress and projected out…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Kids Birthday Edition
At least once a month for the past few years our kids have attended (or have been invited to) a birthday party where the host parents rent out a facility for the kids to run around and then move to a ‘party room’ to open presents and eat birthday cake. For years we resisted this…
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