Archive for October 2018
CoPower Green Bonds: Good For The Planet (And Your Portfolio)
**This is a review of CoPower Green Bonds** While cannabis stocks got much of the attention from investors this year, a different type of green investment is beginning to emerge in global markets. Green Bonds are used to fund environmental and climate-friendly projects such as renewables, energy efficiency, water efficiency, bioenergy, low carbon and green…
Read MoreYear End Tax Traps For Investors
Who wants to give away their monies to government agencies? Raise your hand. Obviously there should be no hands going up right about now. The cliché is that you work hard for your money. You don’t want to give that money away, needlessly. As Canadians we can pay some very high tax rates on income…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Free Gift Card Edition
We partner with a comparison site called creditcardGenius to share the best rewards cards in Canada and keep you informed of the latest promotions and sign-up bonuses. I prefer it over other comparison sites because creditcardGenius offers an objective, math-based scoring system that sorts through 189 Canadian credit cards and recommends the best rewards card…
Read MoreA Realistic Retirement Income Target
In The Essential Retirement Guide, author Fred Vettese argues that the widely accepted retirement income target of 70 percent of final pay is too high. A more realistic retirement income target, according to Mr. Vettese, may be closer to 50 percent and in some cases could be as low as 35-40 percent (i.e. for couples…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Grouse Grind Edition
My wife and I hiked up Grouse Mountain yesterday. It’s a gruelling three kilometre, 2,830 step, near vertical climb known as the Grouse Grind. At the quarter mark there’s a sign warning hikers that the trail gets even more narrow and steep from here, and if you can’t go on, this is the only point…
Read MoreAn Investing Guide For Beginners
Young readers often ask for investing tips and wonder how to get started. My typical response is that once you have a good handle on your finances – no credit card debt, student loans fully paid (or close to it), some cash saved up for emergencies, short-term goals are funded (or on the way) –…
Read More8 Habits That Are Killing Your Retirement Dreams
A growing number of Canadians plan on working longer because they haven’t saved enough for retirement. We see it at a macro-level; Canadian households owe a record $1.69 in debt for every dollar of disposable income, meanwhile the personal savings rate in Canada stands at a paltry 3.4 percent. There are plenty of reasons why…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Fortune’s Children Edition
There’s wide evidence showing that wealthy families tend to lose their fortune by the third generation. One of the most famous examples of squandering generational wealth comes from the Vanderbilt family, which is chronicled in the book, Fortune’s Children: The Fall of House Vanderbilt. The Vanderbilt story is a classic case of the old adage,…
Read MoreMoney Bag: Smith Manoeuvre and Expected Investment Returns
Today I’m reaching into the mail bag for a new feature I’m calling the Money Bag. I’ll answer questions and address comments from readers on a wide range of money topics, myths, and perceptions about money. No question is off limits, so hit me up in the comments section or send me an email about…
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