Market Efficiency: A Glaring Oversight In Passive Strategies
Passive investors have been allowed to define active investing for active investors. I want to even out the discussion from an active investor’s perspective. How Passive are Passive Investments? Let’s first call into question whether passive investing is really passive investing. We’ll start with the American S&P 500 index. Unbeknownst to many investors, the S&P500…
Read MoreBuilding Your Retirement Income Plan
You’ve spent decades building up your retirement nest egg, worrying about whether you have enough money and carefully selecting your investments to obtain the best growth. Now you need a plan to fund your lifestyle and help you get the most out of your assets going forward. This is a time when it’s especially important…
Read MoreWhere To Find The Best Savings Accounts For Children
Whenever our 3-year old daughter finds a quarter or a loonie lying around the house, she takes it and puts it in her piggy bank. Some people might call this stealing, but I see it as the early signs of a good saver. Now that her piggy bank is getting full, I like the idea…
Read MoreMBNA Smart Cash MasterCard Review
It’s no secret that I love using the MBNA Smart Cash MasterCard for my everyday spending. I’ve been using this cash back credit card for over a year and have received over $700 in cash back rewards so far. Recent changes from MBNA have reduced the amount of cash back you can earn with the…
Read MoreWhy Declaring Bankruptcy Should Be Your Last Resort
What do you do when you are in a deep financial hole? Thousands of Canadians declare bankruptcy every year because they can’t pay their debts. From 1990 to 2011 consumer bankruptcies increased from 42,782 to 77,993. That’s a whopping increase of 121.5%. Declaring Bankruptcy Past mistakes aren’t easily fixable but there are ways to climb…
Read MoreMoney Advice For College Graduates
After four—or more—years of hard work, you’ve earned your college degree – celebrate! Preparing for your life after school is a good opportunity to consider how your financial actions, as you transition to the working world, can have a big impact on your economic status going forward. I saw so many of my college classmates…
Read MoreWhy Do Certain World Events Spark Totally Irrational Behaviour?
I recently read an article about a man who liquidated his entire investment portfolio in 2008, just after Lehman Brothers collapsed. He was convinced this was the end of capitalism and that currency would be worthless. To protect himself he converted everything into gold. While I can understand the fear that drives someone to sell…
Read MoreBest Credit Cards For Travel Rewards
Many people like the idea of using a rewards program to collect points and save money on travel. Some of the best credit cards are travel rewards credit cards, which can help you earn points faster and enjoy perks like free airfare, or upgrades when you travel. I use the MBNA Smart Cash MasterCard as…
Read MoreWhat Are Segregated Funds?
Segregated funds – or seg funds – consist of a pool of investments in securities such as bonds and stocks, similar to mutual funds, but sold by life insurance companies. Segregated funds are owned by the life insurance company – not the investor – and must be kept separate (segregated) from the company’s other assets. Related:…
Read MoreHome Equity Line Of Credit: Friend Or Foe?
Last month, the Bank of Canada issued a report highlighting the explosive growth of home equity line of credit use and mortgage refinancing in the past decade, which have surged from $8 billion in 2001 to $64 billion in 2010. Canadians appear to be using these loans for two main reasons. They are either paying…
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