Posts by Robb Engen
BMO SmartFolio Review
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of BMO. All opinions are 100% mine. The emergence of online portfolio management has begun to reshape the investment landscape in Canada and the U.S. The market is estimated to reach assets under management of $300B in North America by 2020. With more than half…
Read MoreThe Advisor Doth Protest Too Much
Transferring your investments away from a mutual fund salesperson and into a do-it-yourself solution can be a frustrating exercise. Of course, the advisor – who counts on your commission – doesn’t want to give up your assets without a fight. And when you say that you’re leaving to start a portfolio of low cost index…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: TD Twitter Chat Edition
I should have known better than to check my investment statements online this past weekend. I knew from the daily barrage of headlines that it had been a tough start to the year for investors. I didn’t know it was this bad. Both my RRSP and RESP portfolios were down 6.4% in the month of January…
Read MoreTarget Date Funds: A Smart Solution For Your RESP?
If you think of saving for retirement as a marathon and not a sprint, investing in an RESP might then be best described as a middle-distance event. That’s because unlike RRSPs, where you hold onto your investments for three or four decades before withdrawing the money in retirement, the process for RESPs is much more condensed…
Read MoreIndexers Are Terrible At Indexing
Despite all of the evidence that low cost passive investing outperforms actively managed portfolios, many investors still cling to the belief that an active approach can help steer them through turbulent times in the market. Even investors who have taken the plunge into index funds and ETFs can’t help themselves when faced with uncertainty. Emotions…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Why Target Canada Failed Edition
I remember in school studying some of the most spectacular international business failures – think Eurodisney, Nestle in Africa, Walmart in Germany. Add ‘Target in Canada’ to the list for business students to dissect for the next few decades. Canadian Business published a terrific long-read of Target’s last days in Canada, explaining how the company went…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Housing Buys, Booms, and Busts Edition
Check out this fantastic piece by Financial Post reporter Garry Marr on wild tales of buys, booms, and busts in the Canadian housing market – including a video interview with 100-year-old Ralph Etigson who discusses his housing purchases in Toronto over the last 75 years. Mr. Etigson bought a bungalow for $3,500 in 1945, sold it…
Read MoreGood Habits In Fitness And Finance
Recently I’ve become more aware about how often I sit throughout the day. Research even suggests that too much sitting can be worse for you than smoking. I sit a lot! Since I work in an office environment, I can be sitting at my desk for hours during the day and then come home and…
Read MoreDeceptive and Misleading Advertisements
It drives me nuts when I see deceptive and misleading advertisements in the financial services and investment industry. Personal finance can be complicated enough without having to bring a lawyer and a magnifying glass with you to interpret the fine print of every deal. Worse, still, is that many consumers take the bait without fully…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: New Look Edition
Our blog got a bit of a makeover during the holiday season thanks to Justin Bouchard at Top Shelf Web Solutions. We’ll call it a new look and feel, but with a layout similar to the old design so readers won’t get lost while navigating around the site. Let us know what you think of the update, and give…
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