Posts by Robb Engen
3 Years Ago I Switched To Indexing. Here’s How My Portfolio Performed
On January 7th, 2015 I sold 24 Canadian dividend stocks worth about $100,000 and bought two low-cost index ETFs (Vanguard’s VCN and VXC). It was a bold move to switch to indexing after years of dividend growth investing. Lots of people questioned my decision. I even lost blog readers because of it (seriously). But it…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Happy New Year 2018 Edition
Happy new year and welcome back to another edition of weekend reading – the first of 2018! We’ve got a lot in store for you this year as we continue to share our money stories and help you achieve your financial goals. As always, we’re happy to take your topic suggestions so leave a comment…
Read MoreNet Worth Update: 2017 Year-End Review
The end of the year is a great time to review your finances and update your net worth. I’m a personal finance nerd, which means I update our net worth every month or so, and I publish a net worth update here twice a year. At the midway point this year our net worth had…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Merry Christmas Edition
Merry Christmas, everyone! Welcome to the last edition of weekend reading for 2017. We’re taking Christmas week off and I’ll be back next weekend to update my net worth for the year. As always, thank you for following our journey towards financial freedom. We feel incredibly honoured that each of you choose to spend a…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: What’s Keeping Us Awake At Night Edition
A thoughtful, well-written essay by Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz highlights this edition of weekend reading. The Governor spoke before the Canadian Club in Toronto and shared that while the Canadian economy is on pace to be the strongest among the Group of Seven economies this year there are still three (or four) things…
Read MoreThe Illusion Of Wealth
Would you prefer a lump sum of $300,000, or its equivalent monthly income stream of $1,000 for life? If $300,000 seems larger and more appealing to you than the monthly amount then you might exhibit a phenomenon known as the illusion of wealth. A 2014 study looked at the illusion of wealth and how it…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Your Trusted Advisor Edition
The financial services industry is in dire need of change. It’s such a me-too industry brainwashed to believe that all you need is a regular meeting with your trusted advisor and your financial literacy problems will be solved. Look no further than the 100+ comments to Rob Carrick’s question on LinkedIn, wanting to hear fresh…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Realtors Run Amok Edition
We live in the information age and yet in certain industries the information gap between the buyer and seller remains a mystery. The financial industry attempted to rectify the problem by introducing CRM2, which discloses how much investors pay advisors and their firms – and expressing those fees in dollars rather than as a percentage…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: The Black Friday Edition
Ahh, Black Friday. The day for personal finance experts to get up on their soap-boxes and preach about the evils of consumerism and spending. It’s also the time for news media to reach out to said experts and get their ‘tips and tricks’ to combat the evil forces of The Black Friday, as if we’ll…
Read More3 Ways For Investors To Get International Diversification
Many Canadian investors suffer from home country bias by holding all, or a large portion of, their investments in Canadian stocks. This makes little sense for those looking to build a diversified portfolio. Canada makes up just 3 percent of the world’s market capitalization and its markets tilt heavily towards financials (banks & insurance) and…
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